Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rhys had had a less than optimal past as far as dating experiences went. He hadn't always been the best judge of character and he'd paid because of it. Of course, Rhys had plenty of wonderful people in his life- his beloved best bro, Vaughn, and their mutual friends Sasha, Fiona, and Yvette. There were fantastic people in his life and his standards for how people should treat him had increased from allowing people to walk all over him like a doormat to actually demanding basic respect from those around him. He'd come a long way over the years and both he and Vaughn were incredibly proud of that. Still, that didn't negate the impact his past had had on his life. 

Rhys wasn't a complete moron- on some level, even back when he would accept any kind of horrible treatment from everyone around him with minimal complaint, he was aware that some of the things he dealt with from others were… extreme. He knew that some of the things he allowed to happen shouldn't happen. He knew that some things were too far. 

But he had been desperate and he had been stupid. 

Really, that stupidity and his warped perception of how his relationships with other people should work were what lead to Rhys ending up in the worst romantic relationship he had ever had: his revolting coworker Hugo Vasquez. 

Their relationship has followed the sort of typical "enemies to lovers" trope, but, instead of the two of them actually falling in love with one another or ending up genuinely caring and being interested in the relationship, Rhys had just deluded himself into believing it was so, so caught up in the idea of receiving that love from someone that he didn't notice all of the telltale signs of a horribly abusive relationship with the other man. It was obvious looking back at it now, but things were never so clear while they were happening. 

~~~

"Rhys, buddy…" Vaughn, ever the voice of reason between the two of them, gazed at Rhys with something that could only be described as 'puppy dog eyes'- something that usually worked on his taller best friend, "This doesn't seem like a great idea."

"There's absolutely nothing to worry about!" Rhys offered Vaughn a smile that he hoped came off as reassuring. 

"You've known this guy for eight months and have hated him for all of them. You spend half your time complaining about how much he makes your job suck . He embarrassed you in from of your manager."

"That's just our professional relationship! He can be a good guy outside of work even if he's competitive during hours- hell, that's how I am." 

"Did I forget to mention the but about you hating him and hin treating you poorly?" 

"Bro," Rhys settled his hands on Vaughn's shoulders, forcing the shorter man to face him, "I'll be fine, I promise ."

Vaughn frowned, clearly neither believing nor agreeing with him. It made sense, Rhys supposed. Him and Hugo's professional relationship was anything but friendly, but that was how Rhys was with the majority of the people in his sector- he had once even given someone the wrong time of a meeting so he could take over for them and impress their managers (that was probably the sketchiest thing he had ever done for Hyperion so far). Everyone was competition in an environment like theirs; it would be weirder if Rhys and Hugo had an entirely friendly and domestic relationship like the one he had with Vaughn or Yvette- people who didn't pose a threat to him or his position in Hyperion.

" Call me if anything goes wrong. I don't care when it is or what you need, call me of you need it."

"Don't worry, bro. I have everything under control. I'll be fine," Rhys smiled softly at his best friend, "But I will call you if something goes wrong and this turns out to be a big mistake."

"You promise?" 

"I promise."

Rhys broke his promise.

~~~

The first time Hugo hit Rhys, he hadn’t known how to process it. The shock overtook him before the pain did and the sound of the slap rang through his ears more powerfully than the sensation coursed through his being. When the other man lashed out at him, Rhys had flinched back, eyes closing tightly in a weak attempt to protect himself. After the fact, though, his eyes opened wide, refusing to blink as if doing so would allow Hugo the opportunity to strike once more- as if simply blinking in front of the other man was too much vulnerability. 

“Rhys…” 

Hearing his name snapped Rhys out of his stunned stupor. The two of them hadn’t had a perfect relationship as colleagues, but their romantic relationship was good . What they had had always been nice and Hugo always made Rhys feel loved and safe. 

Until now. 

The realization of what had just happened made Rhys tremble slightly as he backed away from his boyfriend. He should have run away- a small part of him was fully aware of that- but something stopped him from acting on that, freezing him in place. 

Hugo took a step towards Rhys, moving slowly as if he were approaching a terrified feral animal in his backyard rather than the man he had been dating for months, now, “Baby…”

“Do not touch me.” Shockingly, Rhys’ voice did nothing to betray the fear and shock he felt. He sounded strong.

“I’m so sorry- I didn’t mean to.”

“People don’t just ‘accidentally’ hit their partners!”

“Rhys…” he sighed as if he was being inconvenienced by Rhys’ response to his actions, “Work has just had me really stressed out recently- everything’s just been overwhelming me these past few days. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you like that, I just wasn’t thinking.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.”

Hugo took a step towards Rhys, and, this time, the other man didn’t scuttle back in terror like he had the previous time, “I love you. You’re my everything . I would do anything to make you happy and keep you safe. I just let stress from work take control of me there. I would never hurt you if I was in the right frame of mind. You know that, right, Precious? You trust me?”

Slowly, Rhys nodded. That stupid nickname that Hugo was so fond of using for him always melted his heart a little, even if, right now, he knew that it shouldn’t have that effect on him. 

“You love me too, don’t you? You love me, right, Rhys?”

“I…” 

“Please, Precious. You’re my everything. I don’t know what I would ever do without you.”

Rhys swallowed hard. He knew he shouldn’t say what he was about to say; he knew that he was not only digging his own grave but carving his own gravestone as well and crawling into the gaping pit in the ground to allow himself to be buried alive as well. 

“You… promise you’ll never do that again?”

“ Never !” Hugo insisted, taking yet another step towards Rhys, “I would never do anything to hurt you if I was in the right headspace, Precious, you know that. I promise I will never do anything to hurt you like that again. It will never happen again. Ever .”

I shouldn’t be doing this . 

“...okay.”

“Okay?”

Rhys nodded, “I believe you.”

Hugo grinned at him, the smile reaching his eyes and making them twinkle in the same loving, genuine way that they only did when he was looking at Rhys. He grabbed Rhys’ hands once he was close enough, lacing their fingers together, “Thank you, thank you, Rhys.”

He simply nodded in an almost uneasy way, saying nothing.

“I love you, Precious,” Hugo pulled Rhys in for a crushing hug, holding him tight against his chest in an almost possessive way that made Rhys feel like he was being wrapped in a fluffy safety blanket and being locked up in a cage all at once, “You love me, too, right?”

“I love you, too, Hugo.”

And he did; he really, truly did.

Besides, it was only one time- Hugo would never do it again and he had already apologized. It was clear that he felt bad about hitting Rhys in the first place and that he would be trying to deal with his outside stressors in a better way so he wouldn’t do something like that again. Rhys trusted Hugo and his word. If his boyfriend said that he would never hit him again, then he wouldn’t and that was the end of the story. This would be the first and last time Hugo would ever hit him, so it didn’t matter. It was nothing to worry about if it wasn’t going to be recurring. 

But it was not the last time.

~~~

Rhys deserved it; he knew he did. He had upset Hugo and that was his fault. If he hadn't upset his boyfriend, Hugo wouldn't have hit him. It was basic cause and effect. It was Rhys' own doing. 

Besides, Hugo always made it up to him. 

Gently, Hugo took his face in his hands, pulling Rhys closer and softly brushing a thumb over the bruise already forming on his cheekbone. As he stroked the pad of his thumb over the bruise, he caught some of Rhys' teardrops, wiping them away as well. 

"You know I hate doing this to you, baby." 

Both of them knew, in some way, that it was a lie. 

The slowly forming bruise ached slightly under the attention Hugo was forcing upon Rhys and the injury he had inflicted upon him, even the gentle motions making the bruise hurt and making Rhys’ heart flutter- not in the fun way it fluttered when Hugo kissed him or whispered that he was a good boy, but the horrible way that it fluttered when he knew Hugo was about to hit or yell at him.

"I know." It was what Rhys always said during these situations. It hadn't made sense at first- somewhere deep within him, it still didn't- but now, it was a thought that came naturally to him. Hugo didn't mean to hurt him; Hugo didn't want to hurt him. It happened because of Rhys and Rhys alone. 

"If you could just be a good boy for me, I wouldn't have to punish you." The reminder sounded gentle, but Hugo tightened his grip on Rhys' chin in a way that any sane person would find threatening. To Rhys, it came as nothing more than a comfort when compared to how Hugo had hit him mere moments ago, even when Hugo punctuated the remark by pressing his thumb down against the bruise, making the pain spike once more.

"I know." 

"Good boy. I won't have to remind you again, will I?" 

Rhys shook his head as best as he could with Hugo still holding his face like he was, "No, of course not. I'll be good."

"I know you will, my good boy," he purred, the words rolling off his tongue like a sonnet written with the very same quill used to write Rhys' favourite shows and novels. The words came like a spell over him, enchanting Rhys to his very core. He didn't care about anything but the tender way that Hugo held his face and the loving way he gazed into Rhys' eyes. 

This time, when Hugo pulled Rhys close,  it wasn't to yell at him until Rhys sobbed dejectedly because of his treatment but to kiss him instead. And when he kissed Rhys, it was with the passion and tenderness of lovers and partners rather than the violent, bruising ferocity that Hugo inflicted upon Rhys some days.

(It was a violence that Rhys swore he enjoyed all the time, but something that he could really do without sometimes. He never told Hugo this, though- and the man would never have listened, even if he did. Rhys was sure of it. Hugo made the rules and Rhys was his peaceful and obedient follower: not the other way around.)

“Be good for me, okay, Precious?”

“Always. I promise.”

Chapter Text

Jack was a dangerous person. That much was obvious even to someone like Rhys who had almost obsessively looked up to him for years, now. Perhaps that danger was why Rhys had been so interested in him for such a long time. He had always found himself pulled towards people who were powerful and scary. Maybe it was because he sought the protection that having someone like that in his life would bring or maybe it was because Rhys was self-destructive. Either way, he had been drawn to Jack for what felt like an eternity, and, now, those desires were being realized. 

Despite who Jack was and everything that a sane person would expect from dating him, he was… surprisingly nice. He was a shockingly good partner. Even if Rhys' standards hadn't been lowered by his past partners- Vasquez most of all- he would have been pleasantly taken aback by how functional and genuinely loving their relationship was. 

Jack was self-centered and narcissistic- not even Rhys could deny that fact- but he was also amazing at noticing things about other people and picking up on small details. It took him only a few days to have Rhys (almost) completely figured out (something that Rhys found intimidating and sweet in equal measures). Jack picked up on what Rhys' love language was within the first few minutes of interacting with him and long before they even began dating ("so your 'love language' is that you have a praise kink."). Instead of being like Vasquez and actively trying to deprive Rhys of it, making him constantly work to "earn" him love, Jack easily showered him with it, more than happy to do everything he could to show Rhys how much he cared about him. He was happy to listen to Rhys ramble about the things he was interested in and actually tried to understand what he was passionate about instead of ignoring it entirely as Vasquez had. He never threatened Rhys in any way despite the fact that he was far more capable of absolutely obliterating Rhys' life than Vasquez was. He made Rhys a priority, not a plaything. 

It was nice.

That didn't change the fact that Rhys occasionally felt… on edge during their relationship. 

The first time Rhys felt genuinely scared of Jack during their time together was a single, simple moment that, to most people, would hold no real weight in a relationship. To Rhys, though, the small moment was terrifyingly impactful. 

Jack rarely bothered to remember anyone's names. Unless they were important to him, he didn't bother learning them. That was one of the many reasons that Jack constantly used ridiculous pet names while talking to people. These stupid nicknames were something that never bothered Rhys- in fact, he found them incredibly endearing coming from him- but there was one term of endearment that Rhys couldn't handle. 

"Hey, Precious! C'mere, I have something to show ya'." 

Immediately upon hearing those words, Rhys froze in his tracks, eyes widening. It was a single, simple word, but Rhys practically felt his heart stop on cue with it. Once he processed what he had heard, his heart began beating again, starting up at three times it's normal pace, pounding in his heart at an aggressively reparative pace that felt like a wild flag throwing itself at the flimsy bars of a cage in an attempt to escape captivity. Ringing started up in his ears, the sound distant but making everything else he heard sound dull as if he were underwater and trying to listen to someone who was still on land. 

It was a word- it was just a word - but that didn't change the fact that Rhys felt absolute terror overwhelming him upon hearing it. It didn't change the fact that, when he heard it, even though he knew it was Jack in front of him and that the other man would never hurt him, he only saw Hugo Vasquez. 

Rhys couldn't help it: he saw the man who had terrorized him for what now felt like an eternity in a hazy apparition around Jack's form. He saw Hugo- Jack- hitting him and berating him endlessly. He was slammed back into the past, feeling trickles of ice up his spine as he relived the sensation of a fist connecting with his jaw and fingers threading through his hair only to deceptively drag him around for disobeying instead of providing the falsely promised comfort of holding him tenderly. Tears stung the backs of his eyes preemptively but he did not allow them to fall out of fear. Hugo yelled at him when he cried. He didn't want Jack to do the same to him now, not after things had been going so well for them for so long. He didn't think he could handle it if Jack started treating him the way Hugo had. He couldn't-

"-ysie. Rhysie!" The words were spoken with intensity, but he wasn't being yelled at. The words were laced with confusion and concern, not anger and aggression. 

Rhys jerked himself from his stupor as he heard Jack's words, "Sorry, I'm sorry. I just, uh... I zoned out a bit there. Sorry." He cringed slightly. Rhys could hear how painfully he was lying and the repeated apologizing for absolutely nothing wasn't exactly something that would assuage a normal person's concerns. 

Jack frowned deeply, eyebrows creasing on worry, "What happened there, Kitten?" 

"Nothing, I just…" he shook his head as if doing so would force the tremble from his voice, "Like I said, I zoned out."

It was obvious that Jack didn't believe him, eyes slitted like a curious cat surveying a darkened room. Regardless, he didn't push Rhys on it. He just took a step back and continued talking about whatever it was that he had wanted to show to Rhys- a prototype for a new gun or something, Rhys was too shaken to really pay attention to what Jack was saying. What he was focusing on was the fact that the cute little pet name had shaken him up so much. Why was it that that single, simple word had such a lasting effect on him? Jack was bloodthirsty and sadistic, but he wasn’t Vasquez and Rhys knew that he would never hurt him the way that Vasquez had so why did it still shake Rhys to the very core to have heard Jack call him by that nickname? Why did it hurt and scare him so much?

Regardless of why, Jack didn't call him by that nickname anymore. Even though Jack constantly used different cutesy nicknames for everyone in his life, Rhys could tell that Jack actively avoided using that specific name, not wanting to reopen whatever he had unleashed within Rhys on that day. He used plenty of other sweet pet names to refer to him with, but he was careful to not use “precious” again. Rhys almost felt bad for inconveniencing Jack like that, but… he really did appreciate the fact that Jack didn’t call him that. 

~~~

Jack was not a quiet person. He had no sense of volume control and didn't care about keeping his voice at a reasonable level when he spoke, regardless of the circumstances. He was more than happy to announce his presence by waltzing into a room and immediately becoming the centre of attention by practically shouting at everyone he saw. He didn't care about being too loud- or was a part of his persona. It came naturally to him and it was fun to scare those around him into submission (not that he needed to with all of the power he had over all of the peons that worked for him). 

Jack was used to sending people into spirals of panic and fear with his voice alone. What he wasn't used to was scaring his wonderful partner, Rhys, with his voice. 

He hadn't been yelling at Rhys- that was part of why he had been so surprised by it in the first place- the other man had only been in the room alongside Jack while he absolutely reamed the poor moron who had managed to get Jack's wrath turned upon them. 

The person in question had practically been reduced to tears by the time Jack sent them out of the room and, when he turned around to face Rhys beside him, the other man wasn't doing much better. Rhys was standing incredibly still, staying there stiffly, eyes wide open and glazed over. 

"Earth to Rhysie. You there, kitten?" 

"Yeah- yeah. I was just thinking about the meeting we have next. We've got fifteen minutes before it starts so we should get moving before we're late." 

"I run this place, cupcake, you don't have to worry about it." 

"I'm not going to just start being a dick for fun," Rhys rolled his eyes, "C'mon, let's go. This meeting is actually important. We can't reschedule this again." 

"Fine, fine, lead the way, Princess." 

Jack followed Rhys as the other man led him to the room where the meeting was being held and said nothing about the incident from before. That didn’t mean that he stopped thinking about it, though. In fact, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. What exactly about their interaction had scared Rhys so much? Why had he reacted so intensely? 

Jack knew something was wrong; he just didn’t know what, yet.

~~~

Rhys was a fairly clumsy person. The mechanical arm helped with coordination a lot- it was difficult to accidentally drop or fumble something when your arm was entirely automatic- but that still didn't fix the fact that he had horrible hand-eye coordination and often tripped over his own limbs. He wasn't an absolute klutz, but he still had his moments. 

That was why it wasn't too much of a surprise to Jack when Rhys had, early in the morning after a night sleeping over at Jack's and still half-asleep, fumbled with a coffee mug of Jack's and dropped it on the floor. The fragile mug shattered on impact, sending little ceramic bits scattering across the floor. The sound had been nearly deafening in the near-silent room and had mildly startled Jack. 

He chuckled as he noticed what Rhys had done and opened his mouth to tease Rhys for being clumsy, already having prepared a smart-ass quip for a moment. 

Then he noticed the expression painted across Rhys' face. His eyes were wide with pure terror and glossy from a thin sheen of tears slowly accumulating in his eyes. Rhys' face had paled with fear and he was completely frozen like a statue, all of his muscles wound tight like a terrified rabbit prepared to bolt away at any moment. He looked like a deer caught in headlights; like a terrified piece of prey staring down their predator. 

"I'm sorry…"

"Baby…?" 

Jack's voice seemed to snap Rhys out of the odd trance he had fallen into. He recoiled, curling in on himself slightly as if he was trying to hide himself away from Jack- protect himself from his boyfriend. "I'm so sorry, Jack, I didn't mean to." 

"Hey, no worries," Jack frowned, taking a step towards him. 

Within a minute, Rhys had retreated from Jack, pressing himself into the corner diagonal from the masked man. He practically cowered there. 

"Rhys, cupcake, you did nothing wrong," Jack promised gently, ceasing his movement, "I'm not upset, kitten. You're perfectly fine. It's okay." 

"It was an accident, I didn't mean to-" Tears welled up in Rhys' eyes. 

"I know. It's okay,  I'm not going to get mad at you for something you didn't mean to do. It's okay." 

Rhys slowly sank to the ground, a quiet, nearly silent sob wracking his body. 

"Can I come over to you?" 

Hesitantly, Rhys nodded. 

Jack slowly approached him and crouched beside him on the ground, "It's okay, Rhysie, it's okay. I love you." 

Rhys squeezed his eyes shut tightly, a few tears spilling over from the closed lids and trickling down his cheeks. When he spoke, it was a whisper, "Are you going to hurt me?" 

Jack felt his stomach drop out of his body. His first instinct was violence but not towards Rhys- to the person who had instilled this overwhelming fear in his beloved boyfriend. He wanted to maim whoever had wounded Rhys like this. He wanted to rid them limb from limb and scoop their eyes out with a hot grapefruit spoon, leaving them in agonizing pain for the extent of the pitifully slow and painful. He wanted to make them suffer as much as they had made Rhys suffer- no, he wanted them to suffer ten times as much as he had. 

Now wasn't the time to think about that, though. Right now, the far more pressing matter at hand was showing Rhys that he was safe and loved. 

"I will never, ever hurt you, pumpkin."

"Even if I'm bad?" It came out so weak and timid, so terrified and broken that it made Jack feel I'll. He hated imagining Rhys being made to feel like that all the time. 

"You're not bad, Rhysie's Pieces. You're perfect. You're my everything," Jack cupped Rhys' face in his hands and kissed his forehead as he wiped the tears away from his cheeks, "I love you so much. I promise I'll never hurt you. I promise." 

Slowly, Rhys finally began to relax. After several minutes of Jack holding him tenderly on the floor of his kitchen, Rhys stopped trembling and the tears slowed to a stop. 

Rhys was okay. 

Rhys was safe.

Chapter Text

"We need to talk about what happened back there, kiddo.”

Rhys cringed. He had known that they would end up needing to discuss what had happened earlier that day- about all of the things that had happened after they started dating due to his past with vasquez- but that didn’t change the fact that doing so was incredibly uncomfortable. He wouldn't even know where to begin. It was such a complicated situation and so much had happened to lead up to where Rhys was currently that summarizing everything into a condensed, ten minute story seemed almost impossible. 

Nothing that had happened really felt linear- it felt more like a jumbled mess in his head, a painful patchwork quilt of memories, experiences, and and feelings. The story had a beginning and an end but everything that happened in the middle felt far less clear when trying to put it into words, as if some liquid had been spilled over the pages that came in the middle, making all of the letters printed there run and bleed together. 

Even if he wanted to tell Jack everything (and he did!), it would be difficult to even begin doing so.

He trusted and loved Jack deeply and genuinely, but there was still a small part of him that told him that he had to stay quiet about everything. The voice deep inside his head that echoed Vaaquez's words. 

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you. No one will ever love you as much as I do. Do you want to be alone, Rhys? Do you want to be unlovable?" 

Rhys knew he wasn't alone- he never had been- and he knew that he wasn't unlovable. He had plenty of trustworthy and loving people in his life who would put their own lives on the line for him and who he had done the same for. They were people he loved and trusted and knew would never abandon him. 

But the fear remained. 

What would people think of him if they knew how weak he was? If they knew he had allowed Vasquez to continuously hurt him and ruin his life, taking him apart piece by piece? If they knew that he was a moron who had stuck around despite everything that the other man had done to him? If they knew that Rhys had loved that man throughout their entire relationship even after he left him bloodied and bruised and in agony both inside and out? 

Vaughn hadn't thought any less of him for it. Vaughn had helped Rhys break up with the bastard, supporting him fully when Rhys was finally able to gather the courage to share his story with his best friend and do what he should have done long before he actually did. Vaughn had held Rhys when he woke up in the middle of the night, panicked and with tears streaming down his face, phantom pains from Vasquez's past torture penetrating his mind. 

Rhys never would have gotten through it without Vaughn. 

Vaughn… was very likely an exception, though. He had been Rhys' best bro for years by then- almost nothing could change how Vaughn saw Rhys and how Rhys saw Vaughn. Something like that wouldn't ruin how Vaughn saw his best friend. 

It had ruined how other people viewed Rhys, though. 

A lot of people already saw him as weak and pathetic. He had imposing height on his side, but was still scrawny and barely had enough muscle to fight for himself if he needed to. He was a genius, but he wasn't necessarily street smart, and, while he could be ruthless and cunning, he could also be thrown entirely off course by a single word or action. 

Rhys seemed far weaker than he was already and knowing that Rhys had been a victim- that he had "allowed" himself to become victimized- was something that made Rhys seem even more pathetic to many people. 

What would Jack think?

So many people saw Rhys as lesser because of what had happened and, as unlikely as he logically knew it was, Rhys couldn't help but worry that Jack would feel the same way. Jack was the all-powerful, unstoppable force that propelled his entire company through the galaxies, expanding the reach and strength of Hyperion every single day. He was a supernova, bold and bright and infinitely powerful.

Rhys was just sone stupid little twink who didn't even have the strength to move in from something horrible that had happened in his past- something horrible thag he had brought upon himself. 

"I just… felt bad?" Rhys winced at his painfully obvious lie, feeling visceral discomfort from the fact that he had so horrible failed at trying to continue hiding the truth from the other man.

Jack sighed and finally sat down across from him instead of standing ominously like he had been before and Rhys braced himself for a conversation that he knew he wouldn't enjoy. 

"We don't have to talk about this now if you're not ready for it, kiddo."

Rhys blinked. 

That wasn't what he had been expecting. 

"...what?" 

"Whatever it is that's bothering you is clearly something huge if it's hurting you this much. I get it if you're not ready to talk about this," Jack scratched the back of his neck, eyebrows furrowed in thoughtful concern, "Don't get me wrong, I need to know what's happening so I can help you- I can't friggin' demolish whatever it is that's bothering you if I don't know what it is- but we don't have to talk about it right now if you can't do it."

"Really?" 

Jack shrugged with forced nonchalance. It was obvious that he was trying his hardest to show Rhys that the choice was up to him, "I'm still going to be here and willing to kill whoever hurt you when you're ready to talk to me about it. I want to know, but I can wait. I'll wait however long you need." 

Rhys nodded slowly. Maybe the fact that Jack was so willing to take everything at Rhys' own pace was a good indication that he would react well to this- that he would be able to handle it and wouldn't respond to it poorly like others had. 

Maybe. 

For now, though, he couldn't bring himself to talk about it. He needed a little more time, even if it seemed useless to wait.

"I'll tell you when I'm ready."

"Take all the time you need." 

Chapter Text

Rhys took a deep, shaky breath, steeling himself. Maybe it was the genuine understanding that Jack had carried in his voice a few days back when they initially talked about everything or the fact that Jack had never before betrayed his trust in the ways that Vasquez continuously had back when they were together. Perhaps Rhys was just tired of holding everything in and trying to hide this big part of himself and his past back from his significant other. Everything that had happened between him and Vasquez back then continued to weigh upon him heavily and the more he tried to pretend it was no longer affecting him- and that it had never happened in the first place- the more it hurt. 

Regardless of what it was, Rhys was sick of not talking about it. He didn't want to continue keeping this from Jack- not when it was something so big.

Maybe this would be good for him. Maybe this could help.

"Jack?" 

The man in question looked up from his com and met Rhys' eye, "Yeah, Kitten?" 

“I’m ready to tell you about what happened.”

In a moment of shocking silence from Jack, the other man pocketed his device and instead reached across the space between them. He took Rhys’ hand in his own comfortingly, running his thumb over Rhys’ knuckles in a soothingly repetitive motion. Jack must have been taking the situation seriously if he was actually remaining quiet and giving Rhys the space to speak. That was comforting in and of itself, but it also made the entire thing seem more real and intimidating. Jack was rarely ever quiet, even under the most intense circumstances and even less frequently genuinely gave people his full, undivided (and serious rather than mocking) attention. It added a layer of reality to the situation that Rhys had been attempting to avoid for the longest time, now. 

What was happening now and what had happened in the past was real, though. Maybe this was what he needed to be able to come to terms with everything and finally move on. 

“You remember that guy I dated before you and I got together? Hugo Vasquez?” Rhys knew full-well that Jack knew- or, at least Rhys knew that Jack had had access to that information, but, with the other man’s lack of attention to details that don't interest him and horrible attention span when it came to certain things, he wasn’t sure that that was anything he had actually retained. 

Still, Jack nodded, “Of course I do.”

“Well, our relationship was...“ Rhys grappled for the right word to sum up their entire relationship. It was hard to put so many months of agonizing suffering into one simple word when he could hardly even straighten everything that had happened out in his own head, let alone vocalize it. So, he settled for something simple, ” Terrible .”

“Colour me shocked,” Jack gave him a crooked smile that lingered only for a moment before fading to his previous expression when Rhys shot him a scathing look. Thankfully, he seemed to understand the severity of the situation and the fact that his usual lackadaisical sarcasm wouldn’t actually help Rhys with getting through this conversation. Jack just shook his head softly, letting Rhys know that he could keep going. 

"He was a really horrible partner to me, but I… it was hard for me to see it while we were together. There were so many things that should have tipped me off but they didn't while we were together because I loved him and… and I thought that he loved me, too."

Jack's gaze hardened at those words, eyes narrowing dangerously just like they did when they were in a meeting with a particularly irritating peon that Jack was mere seconds away from air locking. 

Rhys closed his eyes, finding it difficult to hold Jack's piercing gaze while he continued speaking. 

"He treated me like shit. He used to beat me constantly, hitting me whenever I upset him in any way. He always convinced me that it was my fault that he hurt me, and, eventually, I believed it. I believed him ." 

Jack gave Rhys' hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. It wasn't the aggressive touch of Vasquez whenever he hit Rhys, or the possessive chokehold that Vasquez would occasionally put him in. It was a soft touch that told Rhys that someone had his back. 

Rhys opened his eyes again, finally able to meet Jack's gaze. Jack's expression seemed to be stuck somewhere between rage and worry. He looked like he didn't know which he wanted to do first: kill Vasquez or cradle Rhys in his arms and reassure him. 

Somehow, the look combined with the pressure of Jack's hand in his made him feel better. Safer. 

"He forced me into doing things I wasn't comfortable with and never respected my boundaries. Sometimes he would purposefully do things he knew I wasn't comfortable with and would try to convince me I was a horrible, loveless boyfriend for not giving in to him. It worked, for a while." 

Jack's eyelid gave an aggravated twitch. He was clearly not pleased with what he was hearing. 

"It didn't start off like that, though. When we first started dating, he was always so kind to me. He did everything he could to show me that he loved and cared for me. He completely convinced me that our relationship meant everything to him early on," Rhys sighed, breathing out all of the things he had been bottling up inside him, "That's why it was so easy for him to start treating me like that. By the time he started hurting me, I was completely convinced that our relationship was perfectly healthy and that our problems were just like normal relationship problems. It stopped being weird to me when he hit me because that was normal for us.

"Eventually, I ended things with him. Realized that I wasn't willing to deal with the pain anymore- and that he didn't actually love me like he said he did." 

"Rhysie… I would never-" 

"I know you would never hurt me," Rhys said, shaking his head, "But the thing is, even if I know that logically, I still feel like it isn't true on some weird subconscious level. I'm not used to people treating me like this anymore. I adapted to the abuse from him and now I just expect it, even if I know you wouldn't do anything to me." 

He hesitated for a moment before speaking again, and, when he did, Rhys' voice shook slightly as the words left his mouth, "And, before Vasquez started hurting me, I never could have imagined that he was capable of something like that." 

Rhys couldn't stop the tears that he felt prickling at his eyelids. Although he tried his hardest to keep them at bay, thinking about everything that had happened and finally opening up to Jack about it made his chest clench up into a painful ache and brought a sheen of tears over his eyes. He didn't let them fall just yet, but he didn't think he could hold them back for much longer with how they were welling up in his eyes, making the very edges of his vision ever so slightly blurry. 

Jack released Rhys' hand and instead opted to lean forward, cupping Rhys' face in his hands. The touch was light but firm enough to provide the grounding comfort that Rhys needed, showing him that Jack was there to offer his support. Jack's gaze was powerful, as it always was, but the look he gave him was gentle. He wanted Rhys to know that he was there for him and, based on the expression void of any of its usual teasing, carefree energy, Jack was being entirely serious as he spoke. 

"I will never hurt you, Rhys, and I would want you to leave me if I ever did what he did to you. You mean the world to me. I would destroy galaxies for you. I would give up Hyperion to keep you safe and happy," the powerful eye contact they shared didn't falter once as Jack spoke, "I want to do whatever I can to help you- I want to do whatever it is you need to, well… heal from this. We can take things slower or we can get you a psychiatrist to talk to if that's something that could help you. We will do whatever it is you want or need to help you with this."

Rhys didn't realize that he was crying until he felt the pads of Jack's thumbs brushing across his cheekbones gently, wiping away the tears lovingly just like he always did when Rhys needed him like this. Jack was always there for Rhys when he needed him. That was one of the many things that set him aside from Vasquez and from the image that Jack created of himself for the public eye. 

"I know that you don't distrust me- that's not what this is about. Things like that are a trauma response for you, yeah? I get it. I did similar crap after the first Vault Incident. It's hard, huh? Trying to move on when something is so deep-rooted. It's like you've been rewired. Once someone. breaks your trust so horribly, it's hard to come back and trust people again, even if you know you can." 

Rhys nodded, blinking. He allowed his tears to fall freely, but they began to slowly fade away on their own, him not even needing to force them back right now. 

"Point is: you're strong- a lot stronger than other people give you credit for- and I know that you'll be able to heal from this. I'll do anything I can to help with that process. We can get through this together."

"Thank you, Jack," Rhys gave him a sincere but watery smile. He felt as though a weight had been lifted from his being. It hurt to force himself to face everything that he had gone through, but… it was nice to finally share everything with Jack. It was nice to begin letting go.

"Of course, sweetheart," Jack leaned in and kissed Rhys' forehead before resting his own head against Rhys'. He continued in the same serious tone, "And, if you want, I am more than happy to rip that piece of shit limb from limb and give him an agonizing death drawn out over the span of months to make sure that he suffers like he never had before. We can even get the VR simulation involved for the torture part before killing him to make things extra fun!" 

Rhys couldn't help but laugh at that. Jack had interesting ways of expressing how much he cared for other people, but at least it was obvious that he cared for Rhys. It was nice being able to know without a shadow of a doubt that Jack loved him entirely, even if he expressed it in strange, abnormal ways that made it difficult to decipher. 

"I'll definitely take you up on killing him some time."

"Fantastic," Jack grinned before kissing him again- this time, a quick peck on the lips, "Whatever it is you decide to do to get through this, I'll be right by your side every step of the way. You're not doing this alone." 

"Do you promise?" 

"Yes, Rhys. I promise." 

This time, Rhys knew for certain that it was a promise that wouldn't be broken. 

Chapter Text

Rhys had moved on- or, at the very least, he was in the process of doing so. Regardless of his reputation as a bit of an unfeeling asshole, Jack had kept his word to Rhys. Just as he had said, the two of them had been making progress, working together to get Rhys to a place where he felt safe and capable. Jack had, for as long as Rhys had known him, been a massive control freak who needed to have the upper hand in every situation and needed to always have power. Here, though, Jack was letting Rhys take the reins. It was nice to have a partner who cared about him and did whatever he could to make him feel better- to have a partner who actually cared about his well-being and respected his boundaries. 

It was nice to feel loved by his partner, for once. 

As Jack had suggested, Rhys had wanted to take things a little slower than the average relationship and Jack didn’t hold it against him even slightly. He had never even made shitty, passive-aggressive comments about why Rhys “wasn’t giving him” like Vasquez did whenever Rhys didn’t automatically cave under his pressure and let him take what he wanted from Rhys. Jack never acted like Rhys was doing anything to hurt him by wanting to go slow like Vasquez always had. He never attempted to guilt Rhys into doing things that he wasn’t comfortable with. 

(It was funny how Jack's patience and willingness to go slowly with him made Rhys more comfortable with moving their relationship along at a faster pace.)

Maybe it said something about Rhys that those small things from Jack- the respect that should have been a given in any good relationship- meant so much to him, but he didn’t care. Even if, deep down, he knew that he should expect those things from the people he was with, it felt like a gift receiving that from Jack after finally freeing himself from Vasquez. 

Recently, Rhys had also been seeing a therapist- someone who specialized in working with abuse survivors- who was helping him work through his feelings. It was great, having someone who seemed to not only care but sincerely understand and know how to help. Of course, the support from Jack and Vaughn and Yvette was lovely and Rhys appreciated everything that his friends and his boyfriend said and did to help him, but having a professional there alongside him was helpful, too. 

Months had passed by now- months of working through his fears and traumas in therapy, moving slowly with Jack, standing up for himself and enforcing his boundaries when others pushed him, and being honest with himself and his friends- and Rhys was finally beginning to feel normal, again. For the first time in a long time, Rhys didn’t feel as though he needed to live in fear because of Vasquez- didn’t feel as though he needed to force himself into discomfort to keep Jack’s love and loyalty. He didn’t owe Jack- or anyone - anything, especially when it came to receiving their love. 

Finally, Rhys was moving on. 

Jack, on the other hand, was not . 

Of course, he was glad to see that Rhys was doing better. He no longer acted like a kicked puppy terrified of being hurt again whenever he heard startling, loud noises. Terror no longer painted his expression when he made silly mistakes like spilling or dropping something. He no longer fell asleep trembling from the remainders of fear or woke up gasping for air as he struggled out of the ironclad grasp of a nightmare about the man he had once loved. He no longer blamed himself for the pain that others had inflicted upon him. 

It was amazing to see how much better Rhys was doing, now, and Jack was relieved to see that Rhys finally felt safe in his own skin and in Jack’s arms. 

But… that wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough that Rhys had healed.

He needed Vasquez to pay . 

Jack didn’t know whether or not Rhys wanted vengeance for what Vasquez had done to him, but Jack knew for certain that he did- and, with the power on his side, he knew he could get it easily. He could make sure that that man never bothered Rhys again. 

Jack didn’t want to kill Vasquez without Rhys okaying the decision (although he had discussed it in the past, Rhys hadn't given him any direct "orders", so, resentfully, he would hold off for the time being). Rhys wasn’t as enthusiastic as Jack was when it came to murder- he wasn’t entirely against killing people, but he did believe that killing people without a good reason was something that should generally be avoided, and, as much as Jack disagreed with that, he would at the very least respect Rhys’ wishes when it came to his own life. As much as his “protective boyfriend” instincts made him want to kill Vasquez- and anyone who upset Rhys, for that matter- he wouldn’t do so without Rhys’ express consent (or, of course, if Rhys was in immediate danger). 

A man could dream, though, and Jack would definitely be dedicating some of his time and brainpower to thinking of exactly what he would do to that man if Rhys told him it was okay.

Much like Jack, Vasquez wasn’t moving on, either. 

He was furious that Rhys had left him and that he had immediately run into the arms of another man like some whore rather than the loving, caring boyfriend that he was supposed to be for Vasquez. Despite everything that they had been through together and how much Hugo had done for Rhys, the other man had run away from him, refusing to accept the love that Hugo gave him as good enough. Who did he think he was, acting like he was somehow better than Vasquez? Like his love was some sort of wonderful commodity that Hugo couldn’t afford? 

But Vasquez wasn’t someone that could be easily disposed of like some piece of unwanted garbage. He wasn’t going to let Rhys get away with hurting and abandoning him as he had. He just wouldn’t. 

He would either show Rhys exactly what it was that he was missing out on and make him regret ever leaving Vasquez in the first place, making him run directly into Hugo’s arms apologetically, begging to be taken back- and, of course, as the wonderful, loving person and boyfriend that Vasquez was, he would accept Rhys’ apology without a second thought. And, if Rhys didn’t come running back to him… then Hugo would make him suffer for ever leaving him in the first place. 

~~~

Rhys didn't spend all of his time with Jack- in fact, he would go so far as to say that he didn't even spend the majority of his free time with Jack (which was, admittedly, a 'bit' of a stretch). He still technically lived in his shared apartment with Vaughn (even if he usually wound up staying the night at Jack's place about half the time during he typical week), and he continued to spend time with the other people in his life that were important to him, still meeting with Vaughn on their mutual days off to play video games and still meeting with his Bunkers and Badasses group every other week for their sessions. He spent a lot of time away from Jack, hanging out with the others that meant a lot to him and getting quality time to himself to decompress and enjoy his time alone. 

Work was a different story, though. 

It wasn't often that Rhys wasn't at Jack's side at work, nowadays. He had been working closely with the other man long before they had even begun dating and, now that they were romantically involved with one another, they spent even more time working closely together. As it turned out, working a usually crappy job was significantly more bearable when you were dating the person who you worked closest with… and when that person also just so happened to be your boss- the same man who decided what exactly it was you needed to do to keep your position in the company. 

The two worked well together and had gotten into a nice pattern early on in their time as coworkers. Their productivity increased greatly when they worked with one another, both of them finding it easier to motivate themselves to get through their dull work when at the side of someone whose company they enjoyed and both of them being able to share the burdens they carried in the workplace. Both of them were ambitious bastards who wouldn’t hesitate to screw other people over or do sketchy things here and there (or all over the place, as far as Jack was concerned) to get where they needed and wanted to be- that was how both of them had gotten their positions for the company, after all. They were both work-oriented and didn’t mind the fact that work demanded quite a bit of their time and energy. As exhausting as their jobs could be, the two of them genuinely loved their jobs and the fact that they were able to work side-by-side made it even more bearable for the two of them to get through the seemingly endless workday of running through programming, testing new weapons and pieces of tech, managing the company’s finances, suffering through board meetings, and correcting everyone’s mistakes (among other things)... plus the power and money that came with their jobs certainly didn’t make them any less desirable. 

Rhys had always loved his position at Hyperion, even before he had climbed through the ranks to become Jack’s right-hand man. For the first time, though, Rhys felt truly secure in his job, knowing that no one with a vendetta against him would try to take it from him or ruin him because, to put it simply, they couldn’t . The two people who had the most power in the company were himself and his beloved boyfriend- he had complete job security in every way. He didn’t have to worry about anything (except for the occasional assassination attempt (which he still wasn’t entirely used to)). 

Today, though, was one of the rare occasions when Rhys would be seperated from Jack for the majority of the day. Of course, that hadn’t been the plan, but, as was typical for the two CEOs of the Hyperion company, an issue arose last minute, right before a meeting that the two of them were supposed to take together. 

Just as was their luck, it was a matter of urgency… as was the meeting. 

So, they decided that Jack would (quite begrudgingly ) handle the meeting while Rhys dealt with whatever issues their employees had gotten themselves into this time. 

“Awh, c’mon, Rhysie, these stupid meetings are insufferable without my special boy there to keep me company.”

“Oh, and I’m going to have so much fun down in Data Mining dealing with their latest screw-ups,” Rhys rolled his eyes, voice dripping with sarcasm. Truthfully, though, he didn’t like sitting through board meetings very much, either. Admittedly, he didn’t loathe them as much as Jack seemed to, but he hated being stuck in repetitive, boring meetings where he was wasting his time not being able to be productive as he wanted to.

Jack mainly just hated being forced to talk to the morons that he deemed were beneath him.

Jack snickered at that, “I’m sure you will, Kitten. Good luck cleaning up whatever crazy explosions your ex-dork-friends created.” He pressed a gentle kiss to Rhys’ temple. 

Playfully, Rhys shoved him away, “I wasn’t actually friends with anyone in the Data-Mining department, and we absolutely could have blown the entire office up and left it looking worse than the moon if we wanted to; a disturbing amount of them know how to make bombs out of office supplies.”

“Yeah, I know not to underestimate the loser nerds that work for me- that’s the mistake that Tassiter made with me ,” he beamed at that, seemingly excited to bring up his brilliant conquest of the Hyperion name yet again (no matter how many times he told Rhys about it, he always wore this expression of pure pride and excitement on his face while he spoke of it). 

“I’m sure you don’t underestimate any of your employees,” Rhys snorted. Jack wasn’t exactly known for being humble enough to see anyone as a real threat until they had a gun against his head. 

“ Our employees,” Jack corrected, “Now go deal with the nerd crap downstairs. I’ve gotta get to this meeting before they start making dumb decisions without consulting me first.”

With those thrilling parting words, they went their separate ways to deal with the mundane issues that often arose for the two to handle, knowing that they would have to have a late night there to get through all of the work they’d had lined up for today that they would no doubt fall behind on because of the coveted Problem Department. 

Jack and Rhys had tried their hardest to avoid talking about Vasquez since the time that Rhys, well… had a breakdown in front of Jack. For the most part, everything that he needed to say to Jack about his past situation had been said. They had briefly discussed what to do with him, but, aside from removing the bastard from his position, they hadn’t really done much- they certainly hadn’t murdered him like Jack had suggested not so long ago (admittedly, Rhys did really want to kill him, but he had put that rage on the backburner for now). 

But the man who had hurt him back then was no longer in his life- personal or professional- and that was what was important. He was finally free and finally moving on.

Without Vasquez there, entering the Data Mining sector of their corporation was significantly less stressful. Now, he knew that he wouldn’t have to see the man who had made that place a living nightmare for him the entire time he had worked there. Now, Rhys was the one in control- he was one of the two big, scary CEOs and he didn't need to be in fear of that place.

The second he walked through the doors of the Data Mining sector, the clang of them falling closed behind him echoing through his skull terrifyingly, all of that power disintegrated in a second. 

“Hello again, Precious.”

Chapter Text

Rhys could feel his heart stop pounding inside his chest, freezing like a frightened animal in front of a car barreling towards it. A small part of Rhys’ brain was absolutely certain that he was going to die because his heart simply ceased beating the second he laid eyes upon the horrible Hugo Vasquez once more. 

Alas, Rhys’ heart did not stop beating that moment. Instead, it continued to beat on within the cage of his ribs, pulsating so intensely that it was the only thing Rhys could hear. He clutched at his chest, hand resting directly above where his own heart lay as if he could calm it by doing so. His heart was not a scared friend or worried partner who could be comforted by being held, though, and it continued to pound frantically, attempting to leap into his hand. 

He took a step backwards slightly, reaching behind himself and towards the door in an attempt to open it up once more- to open up the possibility of escape even if he didn’t take it immediately. He needed the safety net of the ability to get away from him and run to safety. 

The automatic door, however, did not open as it should have.

He swallowed hard, attempting to keep the terror out of his voice as he addressed the other man, “Vasquez.”

“Awe, why so cold, Rhys?”

Rhys fought to keep the sneer off his face and the tremble from his voice at that, “What exactly are you doing here?”

“I thought I’d come pay my wonderful little boyfriend a visit, see how you’ve been getting along since leaving me ,” Vasquez glared a little bit at that, but it was quickly replaced by a falsely saccharine smile, voice full of barely contained bitterness, “How have things been? Are you having a fun time playing house with Jack?”

“ Yes , as a matter of fact, I am .”

“If you wanted to just be someone’s pet, you could have stayed with me. You didn’t need to run into the arms of the first man you saw to be just a little kitten .” Vasquez sneered as he emphasized the pet name that Jack often used for him as if it were some sort of degrading title rather than something Jack cooed to him lovingly and affectionately. 

“Yeah, I already know full well that you just saw me as a pet,” Rhys glared. 

“Now come on, Rhys, you know that isn’t true,” Vasquez took a step towards him and Rhys instinctively retreated a step backwards in turn, “You know that-”

“That ‘real men like you’ get to do whatever the hell you want and just fucking get away with it? That if you’re good enough at lying you can get anyone on your side regardless of how horribly you treat them? That you can be as selfish as you want because hurting people is just one step towards forging your own destiny?”

Vasquez didn’t even bother denying it. “ Your destiny is with me , Rhys, not with that fucking moron .”

“Jack treats me better than you ever did.”

“He treats you like someone who doesn’t actually care about you. He has had three wives and all of them are dead , Rhys. I know you’re not the brightest but you should at least be able to use that pretty little head of yours to put two and two together: you aren’t special to him and you will never survive with him!” Vasquez kept stepping towards Rhys, advancing on him until Rhys had his back pressed up against the door- the stupid fucking automatic door that he couldn’t get open, ”He’s going to use you to get what he wants from you- sex or puppy love or free labour or whatever else you’re good for- and then he’s going to kill you .”

“No, he isn’t ,” Rhys shoved Vasquez back using his mechanic arm, the metals having the strength that his flesh didn’t to get Vasquez away from him, “Unlike you , Jack loves me and he would never use me.”

“You did not just put your hands on me,” Vasquez glared. He wasn’t used to Rhys fighting back- he never had throughout the entirety of their relationship together. 

“You never seemed to have a problem with doing it to me when we were together.”

“Everything I did for you was out of love-”

“The only things you ever did to me were out of some disgusting desire to lord your control over me. The only thing you “loved” was the fact that I made you feel powerful when nothing else could. I’m not a thing , Vasquez, I’m a person . You can’t treat people like that and expect them to love you.”

“Really? You could've fooled me with how you acted the entire time we were together." 

Rhys couldn't help but glare. It was just like Vasquez to constantly blame him for what had happened in their past. He had done that throughout their entire relationship and he wasn't going to stop just because Rhys had started acting like it was a problem. 

"You came here, we talked, you got what you wanted. Now kindly leave ."

"Not so fast, Rhys," his voice morphed into something like what he used in business meetings when he was ordering some underling to do something for him if they knew what was good for them, "I didn't just come here to chat . I came here for you ." 

“What exactly makes you think that I’d do anything that you tell me to do?”

“Because I’m not giving you a choice. I know you’ll always choose the wrong thing when given the option because you’re too stupid for me to trust you to leave you to your own devices. I’ve taken it upon myself to just make those decisions for you.”

Rhys narrowed his eyes fiercely, “And what exactly have you decided for me?”

“You’re coming back home with me.”

Rhys scoffed, “‘Home’ has never been with you.”

“Home has always been next to me. At the office, in the bedroom-”

“I only thought that because you convinced me love was violent.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” his voice softened as if he were a sensible parent speaking to a toddler throwing a tantrum, trying his hardest to explain to a screaming child that they couldn’t eat ice cream for dinner because it would make them feel sick, “The only reason I ever hit you back then was because-”

“Because you’re a control freak and an asshole.”

Just as blindingly quick as it had always been in the past, a punch with the force of a charging skag slammed into Rhys’ stomach, forcing him to double over with a pained wheeze, lungs deflating. Rhys struggled in vain to refill his lungs with much-needed oxygen, mouth gaping open like a fish out of water, body spasming as he frantically tried to breathe. Despite the fact that Vasques had done this to him several times in the past over the course of their relationship, it never stopped being terrifying. The fear of not being able to breathe was something that remained, even if it was expected. It wasn’t something Rhys could get used to. 

Vasquez took advantage of the fact that Rhys couldn’t talk back to him, “See? If you were a good boy for me, then I wouldn’t have had to do that to you. Now, will you behave and listen to reason?”

Rhys didn’t respond- he couldn’t have, even if he wanted to. He was still focusing on trying to make his lungs work again and keep himself from spiralling into a panic attack over the current situation. 

“Good. You know that no one else will ever love you as much as I do, Rhys. I love you so much. You’re the love of my life. Other people, though? They find you insufferable . You're lacklustre at your job, you’re not good with people, you don’t treat your friends and colleagues very well- you’re a lot to deal with, Rhys. No one else wants to have to be tied down to you. I’m the only one who will be willing to put up with you long-term. Jack may be having fun playing with you for now, but that isn’t going to last. He’s going to get rid of you one day- either because he’ll finish using you for what he needs or because you’ll annoy him. He isn’t a patient man, Rhys. I am . I’m the only person who has the patience to love you. You need me.”

By the time that Vasquez had finished with his ridiculous little tirade, Rhys had caught his breath and, slowly, he straightened, standing and meeting the other man’s eyes once more. 

He knew that nothing Vasquez said was true. He was fantastic at his job, his friends loved him, he got along with a lot of his colleagues who deserved kindness, and, while he wasn’t always the best with people, he wasn’t a piece of shit like Vasquez was. He wasn’t a project for someone to take on to fix. He wasn’t broken. He was fine just as he was. 

It had taken a lot of time and energy to convince himself of these facts: it was almost impossible to unlearn all of the things Vasquez had so successfully instilled inside his mind while they were together. He’d spent more time believing Vasquez’s words than he had spent knowing that they were untrue. Moving on wasn’t easy, and Vasquez certainly hadn’t done anything to help make the process any quicker or easier. 

Still, he had managed. Even with everything that Vasquez had ruined inside of him, Rhys had gotten better. He had healed . He didn’t believe Vasquez’s bullshit manipulation tactics anymore. It would take a lot more effort on his part to break Rhys down like he had before. He wouldn’t be s easily fooled anymore. 

Still… he was in danger right now. Rhys was woefully unarmed and, although Vasquez hadn’t threatened him with it, yet, he could see the gun attached to his hip. He knew the man well enough to know that he would not be afraid to use it if he didn’t get what he wanted. 

And what he wanted was Rhys and his compliance. 

Rhys swallowed hard. He had spent far too much of his precious time playing along with Vasquez’s bullshit in the past, and, as much as his ego and general desire to move on told him that he should refuse to play along anymore, he was smart enough and had strong enough self-preservation skills to know that playing along was probably the safest bet. He wasn’t a moron. He knew that people who were taken hostage usually lasted longer when they played along. 

He’d done this for years in the past. Rhys could play his stupid games for a little longer. 

“Maybe… maybe you’re right.”

“Of course I am, Precious,” Vasquez smiled and, although it was paired with the gentle word, there was a viciousness behind it, something that told Rhys that he had narrowly avoided a much more violent fate. Some underlying venom that told him, if things played out the way Vasquez wanted him, it was possible that he would never stop paying for his “betrayal” of the other man. 

As much as he hated feeling like he needed help, Rhys knew that this wasn’t something he could get out of on his own. He didn’t have any weapons on him and he was significantly physically weaker than Vasquez was- he was a twig of a man who could be easily overpowered by him. He didn’t stand a chance. He needed someone- he needed Jack . 

“I’m… sorry for leaving you.”

“Good boy,” Vasquez stepped forward and grasped Rhys chin- one would assume that it wouldn’t be as threatening of a movement considering the fact that Rhys was several inches taller than Vasques (something Wallethead had lamented during their time together)- but the height difference didn’t make Rhys feel any less small and vulnerable. Pathetic , even. 

“Make it up to me?” 

It wasn’t a question; it was a command. 

Vasquez tugged Rhys down and smashed his lips against Rhys’. 

Rhys swallowed hard, pushing the bile that rose up his throat down in a panicked manner, trying desperately to not vomit directly into Vasquez mouth like he was a parent raak feeding its babies (even if Vasquez deserved someone else vomiting into his mouth). 

Rhys closed his eyes tightly holding back tears. He didn’t bother truly kissing back- he just remained pliant for Vasquez, even as his mind was filled with visions of what they used to be.

At least, with Vasquez in this position, and with Rhys’ eyelids scrunched shut, he wouldn’t be able to see Rhys activating his ECHO to send a message to Jack. 

He just hoped that Jack would get it in time.

Vasquez was a cocky little bastard who didn't believe he could be taken down by anyone. He didn't even have the brain power to fear Jack like any sane person would anymore- most big-shot CEOs with too much power on their hands seemed to believe they were too good to be on the receiving end of one of Jack's violent tirades. Usually, this included people who had been around for longer than Jack had- Vasquez was a notable exception to this rule, though, if the fact that he was there even to begin with was any indication of how little he respected and feared Jack, now. Clearly, he didn’t think that Jack was a worthy adversary anymore. 

That was something that many people got wrong about Jack- and, more importantly, something that all of them paid for dearly when they did so. The people who underestimated Jack always suffered because of it; Jack always made sure of it. 

Once they finally separated, Vasquez stroked Rhys’ cheekbones with his thumb, giving him a smarmy smile that was supposed to be charming, “Isn’t that better?”

No . 

“Yes…” Sensing that that wasn’t enough, Rhys kept talking, trying to keep him happy while he waited for Jack. He needed to stall for time, “I did miss you, Hugo. I missed you every day.”

“I missed you, too, Rhys. I missed you so much.”

What Rhys missed right now was his stun baton. 

“I want to be with you again.”

“Good. Jack may not love you like I do, but he doesn’t like when people take his playthings-” Rhys just barely managed to keep himself from cringing at the thought of being seen as Jack’s plaything rather than his equal - “We’ll have to make a fast escape. Lucky for you, I thought ahead. We can get out of this shithole and head for one of the Edens. Jack will never find us.”

Rhys bit his lower lip, nodding nervously, “Okay.”

He sincerely hoped that Vasquez was wrong about that. 

He needed Vasquez to be wrong about Jack finding them. 

And he knew he would be.

Chapter Text

Jack trusted Rhys implicitly. 

That, of course, was something very important for Jack in any kind of serious relationship- whether it be a romantic one like the one that he had with Rhys or a close work-related relationship like the ones he had with Blake and Wilhelm. Jack needed to trust the people that he had close to him in his life. If he didn’t trust a person 110%, he wouldn’t let them near him- not really, anyways. 

Even of the few people that Jack trusted, Rhys was the one he trusted the most and they hadn’t even been one another’s lives for as long as some of the other people that Jack trusted less than him had been there for. Blake had been working for him for years and Wilhelm and Nisha had been friends of his even before he became the powerful person that he was today. Still, he found, for whatever reason, that he trusted Rhys even more than he trusted even them . 

Jack knew that Rhys was more than capable of handling whatever issues were going on right now down in Data-Mining. Hell, back when that was Rhys’ actual job, he had practically ran the department even if he didn’t actually have the title to go around with the responsibilities that he took on while working there. He was someone that had always put his everything into his shitty little desk job, even if he didn’t get the respect or power that he deserved for doing so. He could handle his shit when it came to this kind of thing. 

Something felt off, though. 

Jack, despite his best efforts, was a bit of a paranoid person. 

It didn’t hurt to always sleep with one eye open when you were someone like Handsome Jack. He was an incredibly powerful man and there were a lot of people who wanted him dead both for personal reasons and simply because of his power and success. There were plenty of people who eagerly awaited his downfall and were more than willing to do ridiculous things to try and make their dreams of his collapse finally become a reality. It was always a good idea to be aware of how many people wanted to ruin him and to be wary of people who might try something with him or his company. If he wasn’t careful enough, if he made even the most minor misstep within Hyperion, someone could use the edge to try and take him down (and, while Jack didn’t believe that anyone could hurt him or Hyperion in any meaningful way right now because of how successful everything had been recently, he knew better than to let his confidence get the better of him and prevent him from protecting his company).

But Jack would be lying if he said that his concern was a reasonable amount of concern for someone in his position to have and not downright paranoia (not that he had any gripes with lying). 

Right now, he was trying to work out whether he felt strangely about this situation because he was paranoid or because his gut instincts were leading him well and there was actually some cause for concern. 

As he sat in the ridiculously stupid and boring meeting that he wished he hadn’t needed to deal with on his own, only half paying attention to what everyone was saying and spending more time focusing on his internal debate of whether or not to cut off whatever moron was currently speaking so he could go check up on Rhys, his ECHO device pinged with an incoming message. 

Long ago, Jack had made sure that he wouldn’t get audible notifications from anyone regarding anything during most times unless it was one of the four people that he actually gave a shit about hearing from. 

Because of this, Jack didn’t hesitate to check his comm the second that he heard the telltale chirp of the message notification, not even bothering to pretend that he was still listening to the peon who was supposed to be giving him an important update on how Hyperion was faring financially ( shocker , things were going well). 

The message was, unsurprisingly, from Rhys. The contents held nothing but coordinates for a specific location and a simple message. 

‘Hurry.’

Jack stood up the second that he read the message. He barely even finished saying, “Fuck off, we’ll pick this up later” to his employees before he was out the door, walking briskly to the nearest elevator to get him down to where Rhys had indicated, muttering profanities under his breath as he pulled the gun from his hip and readied it. 

Jack always walked with purpose and rarely had a care in the world for the wellbeing of the others who worked beneath him regardless of who they were. Right now, though, that increased tenfold. When people were unlucky enough to get in Jack’s way during his trek to Rhys, Jack responded by practically throwing them out of his way with no regard for what happened to them when he did so. 

All that he cared about was getting to Rhys as fast as humanly possible. 

Rhys also only cared about Jack getting to him quickly. 

Well, that and both of them being able to get out of this situation alive . It wasn’t often that Rhys found himself fearing for his life- not these days, anyways. Generally, Jack’s security and power kept him safe from anything or anyone that would want to lay a single finger on him. 

The fact that Vasquez had even somehow managed to get to him meant that either a lot of people had messed up or someone had been working with Vasquez from the inside. 

Whichever one it was, Rhys felt certain that Jack would “deal with” their problem as soon as he found out- almost certainly in ways that Rhys typically wouldn't condone. 

He could worry about preventing his boyfriend from going on a murderous rampage later, though. Right now, he had to focus on his ex -boyfriend- something that he had never enjoyed much even back when they were dating and that he certainly didn't want to be doing right now. 

Not waiting for a response of any kind from Rhys, Vasquez seized his flesh wrist, clutching it between his fingers so tightly that Rhys- from past experiences with him- was almost certain it would bruise. Free hand falling to his hip to check his gun was still there, Vasquez dragged Rhys down the hall, making the taller man stumble along beside him. His fingers twitched like he was getting ready to pull the gun from its holster. 

“Please don’t!” Rhys’ voice escaped him before he even thought of a reasonable lie for why he didn’t want his captor to be armed while they were making their escape off to the lovely Edens. 

Vasquez was- as came as a massive shock to everyone around him- not a complete fool. When he turned to look at Rhys while the other man spoke, he wore an expression of clear scepticism and distrust. ‘I don’t want you to arm yourself with a weapon while we’re in this dangerous situation’ wasn’t really something that a caring partner would say while making a getaway with someone that they truly wanted to spend the rest of their life with. 

“Jack is… too dependent on those stupid guns. You’re better than that. You don’t need to constantly be waving one around to overcompensate.”

Vasquez snorted, seeming placated by that explanation, “Does he make you nervous carrying a gun around with him all the time?”

Rhys lowered his voice like he was embarrassed to admit this scandalous truth, “Yes..”

“Poor baby,” Vasquez cooed, voice stomach-turningly saccharine, “I bet he doesn’t take care of you like I do, huh?”

Truthfully, Rhys responded, “He doesn’t treat me anything like the way you used to.”

Rhys tried to move as slowly as Vasquez would allow. He wasn’t sure how long it would take Jack to get there, but he didn’t want to make Jack go hunting for them, and he knew that, if they managed to leave the station, his chances of ever being able to live to see Jack or any of his friends ever again were slim. 

“Wait, slow down,” Rhys urged, tugging his wrist back slightly- not enough to break the other man’s grip (he knew better than to do that and unleash Vasquez’s rage), but enough to get his attention, “There’s no rush.”

Vasquez looked disgusted by how stupid he thought Rhys was being, “Do you know who we’re up against, Precious?”

“I think I know him better than you do,” Rhys urged, “He’s busy. We have time.”

“Time for what ?”

Thinking fast, Rhys adopted a sultry tone, “I think you know exactly what I want.”

That got Vasquez's attention. 

The other man halted in his tracks and stood there staring at the wall opposite them for a few seconds, thinking it over. 

“He’s not even going to come look for me for at least another half-hour- and we both know we don’t need that much time.” Even saying those words falsely made him feel sick. It took everything Rhys had within him to convince himself that he was going to be okay and he needed to play the role that Vasquez wanted him to play for his own safety. Everything would turn out fine if he just stalled a little longer. 

Rhys hoped more than anything that Jack would find them before he had to go through with any of the numerous things that ran through his head as Vasquez gave him the look that Rhys had grown so familiar with over the course of their relationship- any of the things that haunted his nightmares and sometimes left him waking up shaking and in a cold sweat.

Even with the understanding that he would very likely be in danger if he didn’t give in to what Vasquez wanted of him, he didn’t know how far he would be able to take this before he broke. 

Fortunately (or, realistically, un fortunately), Vasquez didn’t give Rhys the chance to think about that too much. 

Without giving him time to think, Vasquez strode over to Rhys and roughly pushed him back until his knees hit the edge of a desk and Rhys was forced to bend backwards with Vasquez's advances. Vasquez continued to shove Rhys until he was lain prone on top of the empty desk. 

Rhys let out a nervous chuckle as Vasquez climbed practically on top of him. He wasted no time in pressing his lips harshly against Rhys', silencing him in the process (a blessing in disguise as it prevented Rhys from being able to audibly retch against Vasquez). He had no problem forcing himself into Rhys' space just like he so often had during the rougher parts of their relationship ( all of them were rough points, really, the more Rhys thought about it). 

In the beginning of their relationship, Vasquez had been gentle with Rhys and very receptive of his wants and needs. He had been very aware of Rhys' desires and did what he could to fulfil them. As time went on, that changed as Vasquez no longer needed to hide behind the mask of a good and loving boyfriend. 

He didn't bother with that facade now. 

There were no gentle touches or slow foreplay or whispered sweet nothings. There were just teeth and lips and tongue and, most of all, something that Rhys hadn't been a stranger to while dating him: fear . 

Now that Vasquez knew that Rhys either wouldn't or couldn't fight back against him, he didn't worry about doing anything that would make Rhys happy during this. Every single one of his movements was inspired by nothing more than his own greed and desire. He didn't care about Rhys. And, right now, he didn't care that sex usually involved at least a little foreplay before you tried ripping your partner's pants off. 

Rhys was so  afraid. He could hardly breathe. He couldn't hear anything over the deafening sound of blood rushing in his ears painfully. Burning lungs struggled against every shuddering breath he forced in and out of his body. Rhys' ribs felt like they were clenching around his lungs like a vice, preventing him from being able to fill them with the air he needed so desperately. 

For a moment, he thought he might die. That he might suffocate from the combination of his lungs not working properly and Vasquez kissing him so forcefully. That his brain might explode from all of the blood that must have been rushing to his head with how loud it was in his ears. That Vasquez might kill him in a fit of rage even if Rhys complied with every single order he gave him. That he might simply die from fear like some pathetic rodent. 

That was not to be his fate, though. 

Not if Jack had anything to say about it. 

Suddenly, Vasquez went limp atop Rhys, the sudden increase in pressure making the taller man squawk in surprise. The extra weight was only there for a second, though, before Vasquez’s unconscious body was flung to the floor beside him. 

“Are you okay, Rhysie?”

When Rhys opened his eyes, instead of being met with a pair of dark, lust-filled, uncaring eyes, he was met with the mis-matched blue and green ones that had brought him so much comfort recently. 

In lieu of a response, tears began to stream down Rhys’ face, flowing down his cheeks freely. He didn’t care enough to try and hold the tears back. He knew that Jack wouldn’t judge him for crying- wouldn’t hurt him for expressing the emotions that he felt. Within seconds, Rhys’ vision became so blurred with the hot tears that he could hardly make out the silhouette of Jack as the wonderful man drew closer to him and wrapped his arms around his shaking frame. 

Jack pulled Rhys into a tight hug, holding him firmly against his chest so Rhys could hear his rapidly beating heart and smell the fabric softener and cologne that clung to the worn sweater Jack wore beneath his other usual layers of clothes. His broad hand rubbed up and down the expanse of Rhys’ back comfortingly as he whispered nonsense into his ear until Rhys composed himself enough to try to speak, struggling through a few sentences.

“I wasn’t… I wasn’t going to-”

“I know,” Jack’s voice was oddly soft.

“I didn’t want -”

“I know. It’s okay.”

“...Thank you.”

“I will never let him hurt you again. I promise.”

After a long moment of quiet, Rhys whispered out his thanks once more. 

Jack didn’t respond this time. Instead, he just pressed a kiss to the top of Rhy’s head.

Silence hung in the air around them- one that would be almost comfortable between them were it not for the unfortunate circumstances that had led to them being there.

But, as much as the two were happy to share space with one another without needing to exchange words at all, Jack wasn’t the biggest fan of silence. 

“Wanna lock him up in the shooting range and test out some of the new Hyperion weapons on him?”

“I’d like nothing more.”