Chapter 16

Jack

They had lived on Helios for years, and yet, time did not dampen Jack's feeling of awe at the size of the damn place. The space station was easily the size of a small country, one Jack was glad had copious amounts of Fast Travel Stations. He was especially glad on days when he had hit the snooze button on his alarm one too many times, and only managed to clock in to his office on time thanks to strategically placing their bed next to the apartment's Fast Travel, which Megan had recently built for them due to Jack's repeated tardiness. On more than one occasion, this had resulted in the man landing gracelessly into his office chair still in his pajamas.

"Y'know, they really need to hand out maps on the door," Jack commented as he and Megan entered Helios' largest supermarket. "This place literally has a horizon."

In a place the size of Helios, isolation met self-sufficiency…which met keen business minds. This created a strange internal machine that echoed the outside world in terms of business, with Helios becoming home to a number of shopping malls, supermarkets, and grocers. There was even something of a competition between the stores and eateries on Helios' western branch and its eastern branch.

In fact, the station was so enormous that it even housed indoor gardens. There were whole stretches of the space station that were covered in lush grass and tall trees, even a small river, though Jack suspected the water was a hologram and had made a mental note to visit it sometimes and try and dive-bomb in. For all intents and purposes, one could live their whole life upon the space station and forget they had not seen the outside world.

"Angel, hold Daddy's hand so he doesn't wander off and get lost," Megan smirked at Jack on the way to looking down at their six-year old and smiling. Angel laughed and clamped both her hands securely onto Jack's left hand. The man scowled, though he found a smile quivered his lips and betrayed him. It always did with these two.

"Oh, okay, I see how it is. Well, I'll remember this team-up when you're asking me to lift something down from the top shelf," Jack replied, pointing with his free hand between Megan and Angel, index finger darting left and right accusingly. Their daughter only laughed all the more.

"Daddy, you can't reach the top shelf anyway," she helpfully pointed out. "That's why I have to stand on your shoulders to reach the cereal!"

Jack felt his lips purse. His height was something of a sore point. It wasn't that he was particularly short, but in his mind, it was an insult how horrifically average his stature was. He only drew a few inches taller than Megan, and a few inches shorter than most of the other men working at Hyperion. Jack was happy to admit his vanity, and the fact he wasn't particularly tall to go along with his dark and handsome visage felt like a personal failing on his behalf. Average really was a heinous word in his books. He would much rather be called a liar or ugly (hey, he'd know that last was bullshit at least), before being called average.

"Okay, Daddy's blood pressure is high enough without you pouring salt into his open wounds of betrayal, sweetheart," Jack drawled.

"Jack, can we at least get beyond the store's doors this time before you or Angel starts sulking?" his wife asked, voice laced with good humour as she began to walk away from the pair. Angel trotted after her mother, pulling Jack along behind her. With his free hand, Jack pulled the small trolley that hovered off the ground behind him, forming a strange chain of a trio.

Before Jack's back could protest at being hunched over for his daughter's less-than-coordinated hand-holding, Angel gave a gasp and let go of Jack's hand. She all but ran away, and his heart dropped for a beat, lips parting to call after her. But she hadn't gone far — a large, fluffy, rakk toy that had almost certainly been designed by someone who had never clapped eyes on a rakk before had captured Angel's attention completely. She picked the toy up, flapped its wings a few times while muttering "flappy, flappy, flap-flap, flap!" before marching back to her father and plonking the toy into the basket behind him. She then wandered back down the toy aisle, fluffy rakk forgotten, and gasped at the next-best-thing-in-the-whole-wide-world.

Jack chuckled to himself, and made to step forward, only to come to a screeching halt as he came nose-to-nose with an amused looking wife.

"Are you serious?" Megan asked, nodding down at the rakk toy. "You're gonna let her have that?"

"Aw, well, y'know..."

"Jack, she had a new soft toy last week. Y'wanna know where Fluffears the Skag is right now?"

"Errr..."

"Yeah. In that overflowing toy box full of stuff Angel played with and forgot about! You don't have to get her a new toy every shopping trip, Jack. They're expensive, and...well..." Megan folded her arms, shifting her weight to her other leg and looking away down the toy aisle after their daughter. "Don't you worry we're spoiling her a bit? Or, maybe...that you are?"

Jack's jaw dropped with indignation, a hand over his heart as though Megan had aimed a knife at it.

"Me? Spoiling our daughter? Megan, I am offended that you think I just let Angel walk all over —"

A loud clatter cut Jack off. Looking down, the pair of them watched as Angel dropped another toy into the basket on top of the rakk plushie. It looked like a robot wearing a kraggon's skeleton and wielding a chainsaw-sword, and honestly, if Angel hadn't spotted it, Jack would have put it the basket himself. Why didn't Hyperion have robots that badass?

Megan arched an eyebrow, clearly having noticed the glittered eyes of awe Jack was giving the plastic robot toy.

Jack looked up at her sheepishly.

"...me?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, before stooping down to pick up the latest toy Angel had dropped into the basket. Both Jack and Angel gave an audible noise of complaint.

"I'll put this back, but you can tell Angel to put the soft toy back."

"Awww, Megan, c'mon, you know I—"

"Jack! I wanna raise our daughter right. And that means being firm, but fair," Megan said, though her expression looked a tad pained, as though she were reciting what a hundred other busybodies had told her was the 'correct' way to parent. Jack hated those people. Not one of them had pointed out on a DigiPad where the manual to parenting was that they kept spouting shit from.

Jack snapped out of his sulking thoughts. He was pretty sure they were doing a good job, but he supposed he did maybe let Angel have a few too many gifts. Jack's shoulders sagged in defeat. He knew Megan was right. It was kinda cheesy, he thought to himself, but he just didn't want his daughter to be without. He didn't want her to have a childhood like his. Plus, spending money that he maybe didn't quite have yet was something of a destructive vice of Jack's.

But maybe he had been a little too much of a pushover.

"...Okay, okay, alright. You're right, she's got loads of toys," Jack relented, before turning to face down the aisle to call after their daughter. "Angel? Hey, come back to base, spacegirl!"

After a short while, Angel wandered back to her parents, a quizzical look in her eyes. Jack steeled himself. He was her father. He could do this.

Jack inhaled deeply through his nostrils, jutting his chin out a little and folding his arms over his chest.

"Alright Angel, put the cuddly toy back. You just got Fluffears last week, remember?"

Angel didn't miss a single beat, replying before Jack had even finished his sentence with a pre-prepared statement on the matter.

"Fluffears is a skag, Dad. Skags aren't solly-tarry animals. He needs a friend."

"She's got a point, honey, skags do need comp—"

Megan didn't need to say anything. With a single look, Jack felt his entire soul collapse inwards and every fight-or-flight instinct flick directly to wanna-sleep-on-the-sofa-tonight-dickhead mode. Also known and run-Jack-run mode.

"Oooookay, message received, Mom," Jack trailed off, before fixing Angel with what he hoped was a stern look. "No can do, kiddo. Fluffears has got you for company, right? Put the rakk back."

And there it was. The dreaded bottom lip began to tremble. If his wife could collapse Jack's soul with a look, his daughter could cripple his heart with a pet lip. Megan, apparently satisfied that Jack would handle this impending sulk (what in the living hell gave her that impression, Jack would never know), walked away from the pair to continue the rest of their shopping. Jack was pretty sure she could finish the whole week's worth of shopping before he and Angel resolved their stand-off.

"Angel," Jack did his best to raise some sort of defense. He wasn't going to get beaten by a six-year old. "Do as you're told and put the toy back. You have lots of toys."

Angel called his bluff. She started pulling out the major weapons — blue eyes welled with tears. She even gave a little sniff. Her eyebrows furrowed up, and the incoming tantrum was coiling overhead like a storm. Jack was utterly certain Angel could sense his resolve quivering in fear, as she picked up the rakk toy...and hugged it close, as though it were the only friend she had ever, ever asked for.

She sniffed again. A tear teetered close to the edge of the corner of her eyes.

"...Goddamit, alright, fine, listen up," Jack stammered, crouching down so that he was eye-level with Angel. He glanced over his shoulder, ensured his wife was out of earshot, then spoke in a hushed tone. "We're gonna work together. You and me, kiddo. Look, you put the soft toy back just now—ah ah, wait, listen!" Jack put a hand up before Angel could start crying. "You put it back just now, and Daddy'll swing by the store tomorrow to buy it for—"

"John. Alexander. Bryant."

Every word struck him like a boulder to the back. Jack visibly recoiled, face scrunching up in palpable pain.

Ah crap.

"...Uh-oooohhh..." Angel murmured, holding up the rakk plushie to hide from her mother, who was looming over Jack. "Dad...are you in trouble?"

"...Yeeeaaah, Dad's in trouble," Jack said, refusing to move. Maybe if he didn't move, Megan would forgive him. Or something. "Y'know what? I'm just gonna get ready to die right here, save you the trouble, my darling wife, love of my life, my muse and flame."

With that, Jack lay down on the floor and closed his eyes. He cracked one open as he stage-whispered: "Remember me fondly, Angel."

Valiantly, Angel shook her head and held out the rakk toy at arm's length towards Megan.

"Nooo! Mommy, don't kill Daddy please! I'll put Fluffwing back!"

Fluffwing. Who names a bird Somethingwing? Jack found himself wondering. Maybe he ought to buy Angel more books in future; smart kid, but damn did she need to work on her cool naming skills. If she was going to build badass robots like her mom, she would need to be able to give them cool names. When he eventually ran Hyperion, he couldn't have a legion of robots called Steelarms or Robotface.

Still, Angel's heroic sacrifice was not in vain, nor was it ignored by Jack. She put the stuffed toy back on the shelf and, with a face painted with such grief that a widower would look cheerful by comparison, Angel returned and took hold of Jack's hand to pull him up off the floor. For a moment, Jack made no move to help her do so, before gradually sitting up so that it seemed like Angel had gargantuan strength.

Megan was holding the bridge of her nose between her finger and thumb by the time Jack was sitting upright.

"You two are a pair of drama queens..." she muttered, but the laughter ribboned in her words tripped up any real sense of irritation. "Let's try and get through the rest of the shop without one of you acting like Mommy is the Evil Queen?"

With that, Megan picked up the basket handle and started to head off again. Jack watched after her for a moment, feeling a little guilty for admittedly making out like she was the bad guy in all this. Really, he was just an amazing pushover.

"Hey, thanks for savin' Daddy, Angel! High-five!" Jack turned to hold up a hand, but his daughter was having none of the celebrations right now.

"Both toys, tomorrow."

"Hey, woah, what?" The hand dropped, forever un-high-fived.

"You said you'd swing by the store tomorrow if I put it back today," Angel smiled, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking onto her toes. "I put it back, so...Fluffwing and Moon Smasher 3000 tomorrow please!"

Jack blinked. Holy crap, he just got played. He blinked again. Nope, still winded. People were starting to glance over at him funny now too, given that he'd been sitting on the floor in the middle of a busy supermarket for the last ten minutes.

"You are waaay too smart for your own good, kiddo."

Jack was not one for making friends. Megan, however, sadly was. So it was that that afternoon, the Bryants were hosting one of Megan's more insufferable friends. Apparently, his wife assured him, she was very nice usually. But for some reason, whenever this particular friend came round to visit, she just had to make a comment about parenting Angel.

Jack could see it on her face right now. Her stupid, pinched, weasley little face was screwing up even further as Angel sat on the living room floor playing with a toy gun, shooting down the Moon Smasher 3000 that Jack may-or-may-not-have bought after work that day.

Go on. Say it, he silently dared her, taking a sip of his beer. I fricking dare you to—

"Angel," Megan's friend set her coffee cup aside and leaned forward, clasping her hands together on her knee. "Don't you have any dollies to play with? We could play princesses!"

Angel glanced at the woman, then went back to pistol-whipping Moon Smasher 3000. Jack had to admit, that was alarming. He was pretty sure he hadn't smacked anyone in the face with a gun while Angel was in the office.

"Nah, that's boring. I'm saving Helios from Moon Smasher," Angel explained, going back to her game. Megan's friend sat back with a loud sigh, eyeing Jack over the rim of her glasses.

"Those toys are for boys, you know. Look at her! She's clearly picking up violent tendencies from it. She really ought to be playing with something more suited for a little lady!"

Jack nodded and took another swig from his beer. He then set the bottle aside and took great pains in getting out of his chair. His silence had alerted his wife, as she was staring at him as he made his way to the storage closet.

"Jack?" Megan's voice was weary. Of course she knew he had to respond, Jack knew that. He wasn't about to let this slide.

He rifled around in the storage closet for a good few minutes, finding what he needed. Without a word, Jack returned to the living room with a large paper scrolled up under his arm.

"Yo Angel, give me a hand with this, please?" Jack asked, tapping the roll of paper as he swung it out from under his arm. With Angel's help, they unfurled the massive paper along the biggest wall in the living room, pinning it up in each corner. Angel then hurried off to her parents' bedroom, reappearing a few moment's later with Jack's reading glasses in her hands. She handed them to him once the poster was safely pinned up.

"Glasses!"

"Thank you, Starburst."

After around ten minutes of this set-up and preparation, Jack perched the glasses on the end of his nose and pulled out a large pointing cane from the cupboard. He walked back to the presented paper, one hand behind his back, and rapped the end of the stick against display.

"Okay Karen, I need you to point out on this map of the known universe exactly where it was that I asked for your goddamn opinion on how to raise my daughter."

Karen had not come back to visit after that. Something about wanting Megan to have a word with her asshole husband. Little did she know that Megan had indeed had a word with her husband soon after her interfering friend had stormed out of the apartment.

Two words, in fact: 'well' and 'played'.