Chapter Text
It’s quiet now.
Peaceful.
A rarity on Helios—but Rhys has learned to carve out peace for himself where he can. And tonight, that place is the small, private, glass balcony off what used to be Jack’s suite. Now, it’s theirs. The cold metal beneath his bare feet is softened by the warmth of Jack's hoodie draped over his shoulders, and the glow of Elpis washes the view in soft, dusky lavender.
Rhys leans against the railing, elbows braced, mug of something warm between his hands. Below, the sprawl of Hyperion hums with steady life. He watches the lights flicker across the distant halls and skybridges like fireflies in glass jars.
It’s been six months since everything fell apart—and then somehow, against all odds, stitched itself back together.
Six months since Vasquez. Since the leak. Since Rhys kissed Jack in a moment of panic and watched everything change.
He still has bad days. Nights where sleep won’t come easy, where the ghost of old wounds lingers too close. But the weight in his chest has lessened. He breathes easier. Laughs more.
Loves, without shame.
The door hisses open behind him, and footsteps pad across the room—slow, familiar.
“You okay out here?” Jack’s voice is low and scratchy with sleep. He’s rubbing his eyes, hair messy and sticking up in a dozen directions. Rhys turns slightly to look at him and smiles—just a little, just enough.
“Didn’t mean to wake you.”
Jack shrugs and comes to stand beside him, pressing a hand against the small of Rhys’s back. “Didn’t. Bed’s cold without you.”
Rhys laughs softly, cheeks flushed from the breeze—or the sentiment. Jack’s gotten… weirdly affectionate. In private, anyway. Less posturing. Less ego. More quiet touches and half-mumbled compliments Rhys pretends not to hear, even when they warm him from the inside out.
“I was just thinking,” Rhys murmurs.
Jack glances over. “About?”
“Everything.” Rhys exhales, his breath fogging faintly in the chill. “How far things have come.”
Jack’s quiet for a moment, then leans in to kiss Rhys’s temple. “You did the hard part, kiddo. You came out the other side.”
Rhys closes his eyes. Lets himself believe it. The worst is behind him. He’s not the same person he was back then—and neither is Jack.
Even Timothy is doing better.
Tim’s still recovering, physically and otherwise, but he’s found his footing. Rhys visits him often. They talk more now, real conversations, not ones loaded with trauma and hesitation. Sometimes they even laugh. Last week, Timothy told him he was taking a vacation. A real one. Said he wanted to see Elpis again, from outside Hyperion’s walls, under real stars. Rhys had nearly cried.
Hell, even Yvette had come around again. After everything with Vasquez, after everything she'd been tangled in—she came to Rhys in tears, apologizing for the things she didn’t know and the ones she did. They weren’t best friends again overnight, but it was a start. A good one.
Everything’s changed. But it hasn’t all been bad.
“I didn’t think I’d ever feel like this again,” Rhys says, voice softer now. “Safe. Wanted. Like I’m not just… someone’s pawn.”
Jack’s quiet, but the hand on Rhys’s back tightens just a little. Not possessive—comforting.
“I know I’m a bastard,” Jack says, after a moment. “I’ve done a lot of shit I’m not proud of. But with you? I’m trying, Rhys. Every day. You make me want to be… better.”
Rhys looks at him, a little stunned by the sincerity. Jack doesn’t say things like that often. Not without wrapping them in a joke or a smirk. But tonight, he’s open. Honest.
Rhys turns toward him, heart thudding. “You don’t have to be perfect, Jack. I don’t want perfection. I just want you.”
Jack breathes in sharply. Then he closes the distance, pulling Rhys into his arms. Their kiss is slow, deep—not rushed, not lustful. Just full. Of everything they’ve built. Everything they’ve survived.
When they part, Rhys leans into him, their foreheads resting together. “So what now?” he asks, voice barely above a whisper.
Jack chuckles. “Well, now I take you back to bed. Because I’m freezing my ass off.”
Rhys snorts, but lets himself be tugged inside, the door sliding shut behind them with a soft hiss. The stars outside fade behind glass as they disappear into warmth.
And maybe tomorrow won’t be perfect. Maybe there’ll still be challenges and echoes of the past.
But tonight?
Tonight, Rhys is loved.
And for the first time in a long time… that’s more than enough.