Handsome Jack was a man very used to betrayal by this point in his life, but this? This really took the trophy. He screamed every obscenity, every single stinking filthy curse word he could possibly think of, as he fired a pistol in any and every direction he was able to point it. Statues of his own handsome face exploded, showering the room with debris. When the pistol finally ran out of ammo, he threw it harshly against the nearest wall, smashing it to pieces from the force he exerted. His breaths came deep and ragged, the heavy rasp barely containing the rage in his heart. He glanced around himself, and if an object wasn't nailed to the ground, then it was soon in his hand and being tossed as far as he could manage to throw it, or smashed into as many pieces as he could break it into.

By the time he finally exhausted both himself, and his supply of throw-able or smash-able objects, he stumbled numbly backwards, his legs buckling as he fell in a heap against the nearest wall. He slammed his head backwards, grunting from the impact and relishing the pain of the sudden contact between his head and the hard wall. His eyes drifted closed, and he tried to stop the treacherous feelings in his heart from overwhelming him, although, it was to no avail. His eyes stung, burning with the tears he stubbornly refused to allow to fall. He curled his hands into fists, and smashed them into the wall beside him, a scream of denial and rage erupting from his throat and piercing his otherwise silent office. This wasn't supposed to happen, it wasn't in the plan. How, why?! He'd had everything under control, he was just about to win, at last.

"Dad?" Jack scrambled to dry his face, determined not to let his baby see him in quite such a deplorable state. However, as Angel slowly, carefully made her way through the debris that was what remained of his office, he could tell from her expression that he had failed exponentially. He added it to his growing list of failures for the day. "I heard the noise stop, figured you were probably out of things to throw or shoot... for the time being at least..." She said, crouching down beside him.

"Hey baby girl," Jack said, mustering the best smile he could for her, though he could tell himself, it wasn't his usual charmer. He averted his eyes and surveyed the destruction he had managed to cause. "Just suddenly decided I hated everything." He half joked, though the words were hollow in his own ears. He glanced back at his daughter, finding she hadn't moved at all, and was merely watching him sadly. After a moment, she crawled closer, curling herself beside him and wrapping her arms around his chest. Jack closed his eyes, returning the gesture as his arms fell lightly around her shoulders, tucking her head under his chin.

"I miss him too." Jack felt his throat throb, his heart crashing painfully in his chest. His rage still simmered, but with Angel tucked in his arms, he wasn't able to use it to fully drown out the pain. "What... what happened? Why did he..?"

"Because he's a goddamn little dipshit who thinks he knows better than me!" Jack spat vehemently. Angel flinched, but didn't move away, used to her fathers temper.

"You don't really mean that." She said quietly, and Jack would have laughed at her astuteness, if the pain and anger in his chest weren't so out of control.

"He..." Jack paused, wanting to rant about what a complete and utter selfish, dickish, unthinking, universal asshole his most trusted personal assistant was, only to remember that he wasn't anymore. He wasn't anything but dead anymore.

"I'm sorry..." Angel whispered, her shoulders shaking as she cried silently.

"Hey, hey, baby girl," Jack cooed softly, rubbing her back gently and leaning away enough to tilt her head up and meet his own troubled gaze. "You have nothing, nothing, to be sorry for sweetheart." He said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"But, he saved me, even after I almost-"

"It doesn't matter Angel, it wasn't you're fault. Rhys..." Jack hesitated, his throat tightening painfully at the mention of his lovers name. "Rhys... made his own choices. You aren't to blame baby girl." Angel wiped the tears from beneath her eyes, shaking her head as if she didn't fully believe him. "Hey, what was the last thing he said to you?"

"He... he said he loved me." Angel said after a momentary pause. She glanced up to her father questioningly, and he nodded gently, as if this proved his point entirely.

"There, see? If it were anything to do with you, it would have been something way more depressing. Not something... good." Jack said, moving a strand of his daughters hair as it flapped in her face.

"What about you?" Angel asked. When Jack didn't answer, she pressed again. "What did he say to you, before he-" Angel trailed off as she looked up, for even though her father met her eyes, she could see his thoughts were somewhere else, remembering whatever had happened between them before their world was turned upside down.

*~N~*~Y~*~M~*~P~*~H~*~E~*

"Jack please, listen to me..." Rhys tried again, hoping to break through the older mans stubborn will of steel, even though he already knew from years of experience how impossible it was to change Handsome Jack's mind about anything once it had already decided something.

"Rhysie, I'm done talking about this, those Vault Hunter, bandit scum are gonna pay, and the only thing I'm gonna accept as payment, is their blood... well, maybe their screams too..." Rhys frowned at Jacks back, the man still staring out the huge window in his office, at the wasteland that was Pandora. Only from such a distance could the planet ever hold any semblance of beauty, the planet itself was fifty shades of fucked up.

"Jack-"

"C'mon cupcake, lets celebrate. This time tomorrow, The Warrior will be under my control and all the wonders of that Vault will be ours." Jack said, spinning around quickly and crossing his arms in his trademark hero pose. Jack smirked, raising a brow as he saw the concern and doubt on the younger mans face. "I promise Rhysie, we're gonna remake the whole damn planet, in whatever way we want." Jack's eyes burned with passion and determination, and Rhys swallowed whatever other protests he had thought to make, knowing in his heart that Jack's mind was set. He offered the other man a small, tired smile, his robotic hand coming to restlessly run through his hair.

"You'll make it beautiful all the time, not just from space..." Rhys said quietly, admiration filling his gaze even as it his heart broke and he was smothered in sadness. He watched Jack, careful not to let on to the other man about his thoughts or feelings. "Here," Rhys said, turning away to a small table suddenly, grateful for a moments respite to gather himself together before facing his the man he would do anything for once more. "To your victory." He added, raising a glass of champagne in the air for a toast. He carried a second glass over to Jack, handing it to him with only the slightest of tremors in his hand, something the elder male thankfully missed as he grinned and accepted it eagerly.

"Our, victory cupcake." Jack corrected, taking the flute of champagne as it was offered by the younger man. "You saved this war more times than I can count Rhysie..." Jack leaned back and stared down at the planet which had taken that which he had cared for most in the world. He may not have always agreed with his daughter, but he had loved her unconditionally none the less, and her betrayal struck a hard blow to the mans well hidden heart. He narrowed his eyes, and raised his glass in silent tribute, not noticing that Rhys merely set his own glass down on the side, as he tipped his head back and downed the entire drink in one go. He swallowed and closed his eyes, relishing the satisfaction he felt that only too soon he would finally be able to see his plans through to their completion.

"Jack..." Rhys's voice seemed to waver slightly, and Jack glanced back to show the other man had his attention. A wave of dizziness hit him hard, and his free hand came to his forehead, while he seemed to stumble over the floor as it began to move beneath his feet. He dropped the glass from his hand as he reached out towards Rhys, who grabbed him forcefully around the shoulders and slowly sank to his knees, holding the President of Hyperion close to his chest as he eased him to the floor. "Jack, I'm so sorry..." Rhys whispered, stroking a stray hair back into the mans impeccable style. Jack gazed up at Rhys with eyes that blurred, unable to focus as both his panic and his fury began to rise.

"Rhys..!" Jack attempted to growl, but his tongue was thick and unresponsive, slurring the word as he tried hard to glare angrily at the younger man. Rhys merely chuckled sadly, ignoring the obvious fury coursing through the man who was his idol, his hero, and the best thing that had ever happened to him in his life.

"Jack, I can't let you go down there." Rhys said slowly, gently stroking his hand across the President's jacket to smooth out the wrinkles which had formed as they sank to the floor. "See, I know just how this will end. They're going to kill you, and Hyperion will die without you to lead it. I can't let that happen, I can't let everything you've ever worked for, just go to waste like that." Rhys murmured, purposely avoiding Jack's gaze. "I'm going to go and wake the Warrior for you, and I'm going to do so by keying it into your blood."

Rhys gently raised one of Jack's hands, bringing it close to his face as his other hand picked up both a small vial, and a sharp pin. He glanced at Jack's face briefly before focusing on his task. "This may sting for a second." Rhys said, before he jabbed the pin into Jack's finger. He dropped the pin and raised the vial, squeezing lightly on the new wound to encourage the blood to well at Jack's fingertip. He turned the finger and squeezed harder, watching with a morbid fascination as Jack's blood slowly filled the vial. Jack tried hard to watch, but it was taking all of his raging fury just to keep his eyes open, which he did purely out of stubbornness as he could barely see through all the dizzy, blurry vision he currently had.

"I'm not a martyr, just so you know." Rhys explained, "but I believe in you. I believe in what you've made Hyperion and, without you, Hyperion will fall. I can make it so you get the Warrior under your control, and I can make it so you live to lead another day. I can handle your temper, so long as you live. Besides, I'll probably die in your place, and then I won't have to worry about your plans to kill me anyway." He added, laughing blandly at his own joke.

Jack felt a spike of fury in his chest, and he used the power of it to raise his hand enough to grab Rhys's wrist, trying to clench tightly, but only succeeding in gripping it lightly. Rhys smiled tiredly, finally placing a stopper into the top of the vial and drying Jack's finger with a small cloth.

"You don't need me anymore Jack," Rhys said, patting the other mans hand gently. "Now, I've got someone coming in to take care of you, so don't worry. It will all be over by the time you wake up." Rhys eased his legs out from beneath Jack, thinking it better to leave the move to his bed to someone more capable of carrying the other mans bulk easily.

"Jack," Rhys said suddenly, before he shook his head, huffing out a light laugh. He got to his feet, and brushed invisible dust from his clothes. A faint touch to his foot had him smiling down at Jack sadly, eyeing the weak grip the man had on his ankle. "Jack," he whispered, easing his ankle free before hunkering down beside the Hyperion President.

Jack fought to keep his eyes open, to stare at Rhys so he understood the level of this betrayal, but the energy he had use trying to move was catching up to him, and his eyelids were far to heavy for him to continue to fight against any longer. As his world went black around him, he was aware of a whisper into his ear, though he could not hear the words. He felt a soft touch to his cheek, before a wetness dropped onto his nose. Beyond that, Handsome Jack knew no more.

*~N~*~Y~*~M~*~P~*~H~*~E~*

Jack shook himself from the memory, closing his eyes as he clenched his fist, feeling the betrayal and rage grow inside him once more. "He didn't say nothing but a bunch of typical martyr shit." He said roughly, squeezing her shoulders briefly. "Didn't even tell me about you, sneaky little bastard." He said, changing the subject unsubtly.

"He wanted to..." Angel defended, biting her lip as she sat straight and turned to look at him over her shoulder. "I just... I needed some time. After, well... everything." She said, looking away guiltily.

"Hey now, baby girl," Jack said, sighing as he sat forward and ran his hands over his mask tiredly. "I get it, I'm... I'm not mad at you. I just... I can't forgive that, stupid little-"

"Dad... what happened?" Angel asked, her crystal clear eyes raising to Jack's intently. Jack hesitated, leaning back to the wall as he considered for a moment. "How did all of this even happen? What did Rhys mean-?"

"I don't know, Angel!" He roared suddenly, grabbing the nearest hunk of debris and tossing it towards his already destroyed desk, scowling hatefully towards the planet looming through the great window. "I don't know. All I know, is that the snivelling little dipshit thought he knew better than me, and he got himself killed!"

"Dad..." Angel pressed, curling into his side again. "Tell me." She said, taking his hand between her own and rubbing it gently. "Please. I wanna know everything I missed..." She insisted, looking up with such a confindent smile, that Jack was almost reminded of the little girl she'd been so long ago, before the curse of the Siren had touched their lives.

"It's a long story, baby girl." He said tiredly, shaking his head as he felt his fury begin to dissipate, replaced by an amused sense of resignation to his daughters curiosity. "But, I guess I can make time to talk about myself..."

"Daaaad," Angel protested, groaning as she nudged him firmly, while he grinned at her fondly. He sighed and tipped his jead back to the wall, searching through his memory for the best place to begin weaving his tale.

"I guess, it started before you were even born," he said thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes as he recalled his first meeting with the gutsy kid who'd become his most loyal and trusted follower; and ultimately, his worst betrayer...

A/N:~ so this has been sitting in my box for almost a year now? I decided to finally bite the bullet and publish it as is, as my computer is broken and my writing is now therefore limited to my phone - so i have got this to a point where the story can vegin, but... i have my Endless Summer fics to finish on AO3 before i really consider updating this (unless you like this and tell ne firmly i must update!) XD

x My love to you all x