"Welcome, Rhys." Felicity greeted as Rhys set foot in the Hyperion Hub of Heroism. Surprisingly, there was a giant Christmas Tree in the centre.
Rhys smiled up, "Hey, Felicity. I'm guessing Jack's still slaving away in his office." Everyone from Hyperion had gone home for Christmas and it was now reaching 9pm.
"You guessed correctly."
With a sigh, Rhys headed towards the elevator that lead to Jack's office, "Is Angel with him?"
"No. She has gone walk-about around Helios."
"I'm surprised Jack let her go off on her own."
"He didn't."
Rhys paused, stopping in his tracks, "Oh."
"He hasn't noticed that she is gone due to the stack of paperwork he is going through."
"He needs to cut down. I don't care if he is the CEO of Hyperion, he needs to have a break."
"I couldn't agree more..." Felicity agreed, "Now. I have scanned Helios, and it seems that Angel is located in R and D."
"R and D?" Rhys questioned, "Isn't that where Hyperion stores Torks and Stalkers for testing?!" Rhys was worried that the Torks and Stalkers would escape but... Jack assured that it was highly unlikely.
"Affirmative."
"R AND D, YA SAY?!" An annoying yet familiar voice echoed throughout the base.
Rhys groaned before mumbling, "Please no..." he turned around to see a-
"I am a CL49P215-T315P473TP-"
"Alright, alright! I don't need to hear your entire unit code! I'm just gonna call you ClapTrap if that's okay with you!"
"Hmmmmmmmmmm..." 'ClapTrap' began, "I dunno, Minion. I would rather have you call me CL49P215-"
"ClapTrap it is!" Rhys said with a fake smile before walking off in a random direction, hoping to just come across R and D.
Felicity assured, "I will unlock the door for you."
"Minion! Hold up!" ClapTrap exclaimed as he rushed to Rhys' side, "Who's gonna protect you from those nasty f*$%!&£#, huh?"
"D-Did you just beep out a word?"
"It's in my programming!" he started, "Now! I'll lead the way!"
"ClapTrap..." Rhys muttered as he stopped walking, causing ClapTrap to stop too.
"What's wrong, minion?"
Rhys glared at him, "Why do you keep on taking me round and round in circles?!"
"What are you talkin' about? We've never been here before!" ClapTrap exclaimed.
"Yes we have! We're back in the Hub of Heroism! This is the exact place where we started almost two hours ago! You've taken me to the same bathroom five times now!" Felicity had silently been enjoying what was going on, so she decided against telling Rhys where R and D was, "Aren't you supposed to know where everything is?!"
ClapTrap beamed, "Of course, Minion!"
"Look... Christmas is finished in just over an hour and I would kindly like to see Jack before it ends. So if you could be a big help and take me to R and D... I won't have Jack throw you out of an airlock!"
The yellow robot didn't say anything for a moment, "HA! Like Jack would throw me out an airlock!"
"Really?" Rhys questioned.
"We're best buds! Of course he wouldn't! I can ECHO him right now and prove it!" a ringing sound occured from ClapTrap, "Shh... The phone's ringing..." he paused, "SHUT UP, MINION! I NEED ABSOLUTE SILENCE FOR THIS VERY IMPORTANT PHONE CALL!"
"But I didn't say anything!" he assured.
"SILENCE, I SAY!" the phone continued to ring... "Minion... what did I say? You're really getting on my nerves."
"Two things... One: I didn't say anything... Two: You're a robot. Robots don't have nerves."
"Who the heck is ECHO-ing me at this hour?!" Jack's voice sounded from ClapTrap.
ClapTrap then shouted, "AHA! JACK! We're buds, right? You would NEVER throw me out of an airlock!"
"Why don't you come up to my office and I'll show ya..." Jack told him.
"What an excellent idea!" ClapTrap said with glee.
Rhys told ClapTrap, "Err... if you were a smart robot: you wouldn't go up to Jack's Office."
"Rhysie? Why are you hanging around with this insufferable CL4P-TP Unit? And more importantly... Why are you on Helios?"
He replied, "ClapTrap is supposed to be helping me get to R and D but he's been taking me around in circles for about two hours. And I'm on Helios because I came to see you."
"Why today of all days, kiddo? I got loads of paperwork to do."
"Becau-" Rhys was cut off by ClapTrap.
"EXCUSE ME! But this is MY phonecall!" the robot complained.
Jack warned, "Don't you dare cut off Rhysie again you pointless hunk of metal." ClapTrap just shrugged.
Rhys continued, "Anyways... It's Christmas, Jack. Why wouldn't I visit? Haven't seen you in almost two weeks!"
With a sigh, Jack replied, "Ok, Pumpkin. I'll see if I can finish this paperwork first-"
"No." Rhys started, "You're the CEO. You can do that paperwork whenever you want. You need to relax."
"You're gonna get tossed out an airlock with a tone like that, kid." Jack joked... kinda joked... "Huh..." Jack paused.
"What is it?" Rhys asked.
A hint of worry appeared within Jack's voice, "Wh-Where's Angel?"
"Oh, right. That's why I was going to R and D. Felicity told me that Angel went on some sort of expedition around Helios, and she should be in R and D. Although... I have been trying to get to R and D for about two hours now. It's possible that she might not be there anymore." the phone call then cut off.
"Jack's an asshole." ClapTrap stated.
"I wouldn't tell that to his face if I were you."
Jack then soon appeared as he exited the elevator, "Alright, little robot. Go away before I kill ya."
"I thought you had some paperwork to do." Rhys folded his arms.
"Angel comes before paperwork, darlin'." Jack assured.
"I need to oil my joints!" ClapTrap announced as he quickly zoomed away.
Rhys was about to comment on ClapTrap's statement, "Uhh...-" Jack soon took a hold of Rhys' shirt and pulled the company man into an unexpected kiss.
"Missed ya, kitten." Jack smirked before releasing Rhys' shirt and heading towards R and D, he turned around to Rhys who was standing still: Frozen, "Hurry up, Pumpkin. I know that you are utterly obsessed with me but now is not the time to show it. Close your mouth before you catch flies." Rhys shook his head before quickly walking towards Jack.
The pair soon arrived at R and D and entered quickly, "Hey, Felicity! Is Angel still here?" Jack asked.
"Yes, Handsome Jack." she confirmed, "She is located in Gladstone's lab."
Jack smiled as he pulled Rhys towards the lab, "That's Angel. Always been interested in Gladstone's work."
"Angel?!" Rhys called out as they entered the lab. It was indeed the largest lab on board Helios, Nakayama's being second.
Jack questioned as he walked around the room, "Angel, baby? You in here?"
"She is 100% located in Nakayama's lab." Felicity said.
"What?!" Jack exclaimed, "You said that she was in Gladstone's! Nakayama's is on the other side of the R and D!"
"Mistakes were made." Felicity responded.
"Come on, Jack." Rhys placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, "Let's just get there as fast as we can." he soon realised that there was only twenty five minutes left of Christmas, "Gonna be honest. Not what I had in mind for the last couple hours of Christmas."
Jack nodded, "Don't worry about it, Pumpkin. We can have Christmas all day tomorrow aswell. I'm Handsome Jack, so what I say: goes." Rhys was about to walk out the door but Jack grabbed his arm to stop him, "Where ya going, kitten?"
"To er- To Nakayama's lab." he stuttered.
"Aww but, kitten. I thought we could have some fun." Jack fake-pouted before pulling Rhys closer towards him.
"B-But er- B-But what a-about Angel?"
He shrugged, "She's a siren. She's fine."
Rhys' eyes widened, "Errr... O-Okay?" Jack smirked before quickly reaching behind him to push a button.
Rhys fell to the floor, "Y-You asshole! You know I hate using fast travels!" he exclaimed as the remainder of his body materialised. They had just fast-travelled to the outside of Nakayama's lab.
Jack sighed, "That's why I had to trick ya into stepping into it with me, pumpkin! Keep up! You really think I would leave Angel on her own?" he put a hand out for Rhys to grab.
"No." he replied as he refused Jack's hand and stood up on his own.
"Oh, come on, don't be like that." Jack put his his fingers on each side of Rhys' mouth to force him to smile, "Turn that frown upside down, princess." Rhys still glared at Jack, "Don't make me go all soppy, kiddo. I'll do anything to make you smile." Jack ran one hand through Rhys' hair, "Kitten. Rhysie, baby. Don't be mad at Handsome Jack."
Rhys sighed, "I'm not mad you idiot. Just... don't make me go through a fast travel ever again."
"Maybe." Jack smirked before turning to head into Nakayama's lab, "Angel?!" he called. Rhys followed shortly after.
"D-Daddy?" Jack and Rhys both heard the girl call. They ran towards the office at the back of the lab. They were greeted to the sight of Angel who was currently stuck under a huge metal piece of debris.
Jack instantly knelt by the girl, her head the only thing visible, "B-Baby, girl, you okay?"
She nodded, "Y-Yes."
Rhys quickly crouched and started to pull the metal off of Angel. Jack then started to stand up to help, "N-No. It's okay, Jack. I got it." he assured. The last time Rhys was on Helios, Gladstone had given Rhys an upgrade for his arm - which made it just a tad stronger. Jack was about to protest but Rhys soon had the metal hovering above Angel, "Just pull her away."
"Okay, Angel." Jack quickly grabbed Angel's arms and started to pull her out from under the metal.
"Oh, God, Jack! This is really heavy, so if you could hurry..." Rhys complained. Moments later, Jack had Angel cradled in his lap. Rhys let out a sigh of a relief before dropping the metal with a loud bang.
"You sure you're okay, baby?" Jack asked, frantically checking for injuries. Angel bit her lip before nodding, "Don't lie, Angel..."
Rhys sat next to Jack before his eye illuminated, scanning Angel, "She's okay, Jack. If that metal was just a bit heavier, she might have had a few broken bones but... other than that..." Rhys paused, "Hang on." he carefully reached over and took Angel's left hand in his. Angel closed her eyes just as a tear fell, she tried to conceal her pain.
"What's wrong, baby girl?" Jack asked. He looked at Angel who gave no response. He soon looked at Rhys.
After scanning her finger, "Well... Looks like there's one broken bone. Just a little finger, nothing to worry about, Angel." Rhys assured. Angel's siren powers weren't fully developed, so self-healing was off the table.
"I-It really hurts." Angel whispered.
"Why did you say you were fine?" Jack asked.
"I want to be strong like you." she said as Rhys stood up to head out of Nakayama's office and back into the lab.
Jack shook his head, "Even I get hurt sometimes, baby. It's okay to show that you aren't fine." Angel nodded in response as Jack cradled her hand in his. Rhys soon re-entered the office with some bandages, "You know how to fix it?" Jack asked.
Rhys nodded, "Of course I do."
Angel ran around Jack's Office, dragging her new plush diamond pony that Jack and Rhys had got her for Christmas. It was giant. Like... Life-Size.
"At least she likes it." Rhys said, sitting on Jack's desk.
"Yeah." Jack groaned before stretching in his chair, "Looks like she's forgotten about that broken finger already." Jack raised his arm to look at his watch, "One minute til Christmas ends, pumpkin."
Rhys sighed, "Wasn't too bad... to spend Christmas looking for Angel." he smiled as he looked over at the girl on the far side of the office. She was hugging the pony with all her strength.
Jack nodded before standing up and walking forward so he was right in front on Rhys, "We'll have an extra day for Christmas. I close the doors to Helios so no-one else can get in."
Rhys then smirked before leaning forward off of the desk, he quickly pulled out a piece of mistletoe from his back pocket and held it above his and Jack's heads, "Oh, who put that there?" Rhys wondered before placing his lips on Jack's. Jack pulled away before yanking the mistletoe from Rhys' hand. Rhys laughed, "Can't wait for tomorrow, Handsome."
"Don't go bringing more mistletoe, kiddo. Or I'll snap ya neck." Jack joked... kinda joked...
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! FROM ME AND HYPERION!