Chapter Text
It was three in the morning on a Sunday when Jack was awoken by the steady rattling of his space station. A low, deep rumble echoed through the halls of Helios and when his eyes shot open, Jack's first thought was that the entire Hyperion base was falling apart and that they were under attack. A large shadow that passed across the room had him throwing back the sheets, racing to the window and slamming his hands against the wall of glass, heart thumping. A ship - bigger than he'd ever seen - was slowly powering past Helios, descending upon Pandora. He followed the length of it with his gaze, scrunching his eyes a few times to make sure he wasn't still dreaming. As his blurry eyes focused, his vision came to rest on the logo that adorned the side of the gigantic vessel.
"Atlas," he repeated under his breath. His mind raced, trying to dart between lack of sleep and mining for information. The name rang a bell. Yeah, he'd heard of them. They'd been an old Pandoran company who'd retreated back to Promethea years ago after the idiots fell bankrupt. It had been way before Jack had come into power. Tassiter had always been one to complain about the company but really, he'd been one to complain about pretty much everything, so Jack had never paid them a lot of attention. Nevertheless, a knot tied in his stomach and bile licked its way up to his throat. What the fuck were they doing back?
He next noted the smaller spacecraft that were following the mother ship and lost track as he tried to count them all.
"Holy hell ."
With a grunt, he ran a hand down his face. He was too fucking tired for all this bullshit. His hands balled into fists and before he could firmly smack himself awake, his ECHO buzzed on the nightstand. He quickly snatched it up and returned to the window, a hand on his hip.
"You seeing this?" Jack snapped down the line, not giving his PA a chance to speak. He closed his eyes and snarled. " Atlas is back."
"I saw, sir," Meg said softly, her voice thick with sleep. "I'm already in the process of emailing the board for a seven am meeting. Is that acceptable?"
Jack's eyes flew open. "Make it six. Tell them if they're not there on the hour, I'll fucking kill 'em."
"That's already disclosed in your permanent email sign-off to the directors, sir."
"Good."
"I wonder what they want?" she said, her voice small and concerned. It took everything in Jack not to let out a bellow of rage; instead, he opted to slam his fist against the glass. He did not need this. He really did not need another douchebag swooping in to stake a claim over what was rightfully his. He had the ground. He had the numbers. Pandora was Handsome Jack’s and there was no way in hell that he was giving it up without a fight.
"What do you think they want, sir?" Meg asked. Jack took a deep breath, narrowed eyes locking onto the Atlas ship.
"They want my fucking planet. "
*
Jack hadn't slept in days. Currently, his poor, heavy head was resting on his desk and his eyes were tightly screwed shut because if he didn't focus on keeping his cool he would bludgeon a man to death. He squeezed his fists. To death. He was overworked, overtired and over this goddamn Atlas company already. He'd planned on sending hellfire blazing down on the pilfering Atlas scum in the form of a couple well-aimed moonshots and an invasion but had been talked out of it by his stupid board of directors - something about 'suicide missions' and 'keeping the peace’ and ‘avoiding an all-out planet-wide war’ or some bullshit like that. In truth, Jack would love a good firefight. He needed to shoot some sons of bitches in the face or in the dick just to release some energy and boy would he love to get that asshole Atlas CEO on his knees to put a bullet in his brain. But Jack wouldn't get to do that. Couldn't do that. Not unless those Atlas idiots screwed up big time. Groaning, he rolled his head around and sat up, slumping back into his chair.
Instead, he'd had to watch from afar as Atlas quickly established itself on Pandora. They had already developed their headquarters and had taken various points on the planet in a matter of days. To top it all off, they were making huge strides in weapons sales. Huge. The arrival of a new-old weapons manufacturer seemed to have sparked the interest of the natives and bandits and many had flocked to weapons machines all over the planet to purchase Atlas’ munitions. Jack's fingers, aching as they were, twitched at the thought. They were itching to curl around the neck of the beast and hurl it back to whatever dark fucking hole it had crawled from. Pulling at his jaw, he dragged his eyes over to the screen on his desk which was open on a live feed of the Pandoran stock market. Every passing second, Atlas was going up in the world. Jack buried his head into his hands and let out the roar of anguish that had been building in his chest.
“Coffee, sir,” Meg announced, appearing beside him like a goddess sent from above. He hadn’t even heard her enter the room. She sighed and patted him on the shoulder as his hands slid from his face and he took the coffee. He slumped forward again and laid his head in his folded arms, the screen illuminating his eyes and his finger tapping on the warm mug in his hand. Meg tutted. “Staring at that won’t make things better. What might is that the shipment of their weaponry you procured arrived in R&D on schedule this morning. They’re expecting you down there."
“This,” Jack waved a hand at the screen, “is a fucking nightmare.”
A look of sympathy crossed the girl’s features and she sighed again, tilting her head to the side and staring at the screen. The hand on his shoulder tightened its grip. She leant forward and flicked off the monitor, dropping to her knees at his side. He turned his head, still resting on his arms, and admired the slyness of her expression.
“Go and check out their stupid guns. Take them apart piece by piece and find out what makes Atlas tick. Get the upper hand, Jack. You know that’s what you’re good at. Make them pay by beating them the way you know best.”
A small smile crept onto Jack’s lips. Yes, she was right; of course she was right. He stood abruptly, fingertips pressed onto his desk, and grinned.
Atlas was about to get their ass whipped.
He made his way down to R&D with a skip in his step, whistling as he exited the elevator. Oh boy, he was ready to demolish this company who thought they could just waltz onto Pandora by flying right past his front door. What a dick move - they clearly wanted a fight. There was a crowd of people in the central lab, fighting to see what was being brought into the centre of the room. Jack greedily pulled himself right through the scientists, knocking one particularly measly one to the floor in the effort to get to his guns. There was a group of his best developers huddled around them but Jack barked and they parted like sheep. The makeshift crate was already open and when Jack lunged forward to get a look, he swore under his breath. Four of the most distressingly beautiful guns laid there in their padded container, sleek and gorgeous and...and sexier than any weapons Jack had ever seen. His mind whirred with the implications of this. Nevertheless, he slammed his hands down on the edge of the crate and let out a forced shriek of disgust. No one, damn it, no one would tell him that these were better quality than his. No one...but his own damn eyes. Fuck's sake. He wanted to punch something but sucked in a breath instead. He wanted to pour lighter fluid into the box and burn it all but traced his fingers across the infuriatingly pretty pistol instead. A lump formed in his throat and immediately, rage consumed him. Atlas wouldn't have this over him. They couldn't have this over him. He grabbed the box and yanked, spilling the weapons to the floor. He then turned to his R&D team, who had fallen silent since his arrival, and spread his arms. He swallowed the mass in his throat and grimaced, gesturing at the trash all over the floor.
“This is what Atlas came here to sell? Abominations? How pathetic.”
“Would you like us to-”
“Take them apart,” Jack growled, eyes never leaving the weapons on the ground. “Rip them to shreds and tell me what these Atlas pieces of shit are carrying. I don’t want a soul leaving this lab until I have a full report on each gun…” He sneered and bent, sliding his hand around the pistol. His whole body shuddered. “If you could even call them that.”
“Don’t you think they’re stunning, sir?”
Jack snapped and he shot the idiotic scientist beside him in the leg. A howl erupted, along with a spurt of blood, but Jack didn’t care. Oh, he didn’t care at all. He was too busy taking in how that had felt. The kickback on the pistol was downright erotic, though he hated to admit it to himself. And whatever that grip was made from...the sensation it sent through his hand…through his cock… He bit down on his lip.
Shit.
“Sir!” Meg’s voice broke through the crowd. She pushed her way towards him and Jack really didn’t like the way her eyes were wide and her cheeks were pale. She reached him and clutched her clipboard to her chest. “Sir, we have a problem.”
“ What ?” he hissed, tossing the wretched gun back at the box. “What now?”
The look on her face, panicked and wary, warped into downright fear. He had seen it before. It was the face she always pulled moments before he went fucking crazy.
“What is it, Meg?” He stepped into her space, eyes already wild.
“It’s Atlas,” she murmured. She lifted her eyes from the floor. “They’ve gained access to one of our abandoned Eridium mines and...they managed to get it working again.”
She’d been right, of course.
Jack had gone absolutely apeshit.
*
“Where is he?” Jack roared, tearing out of his Hyperion shuttle and cursing Atlas to hell when he had to stop because twenty guns were being aimed at his face, heart and dick. He scowled, his own Hyperion men crowding behind him with their weapons poised. He pointed at one particularly smug-looking Atlas soldier. “Where the hell is your boss?”
“Hello!” came a sing-song voice from his right. He swung his head around to take in whoever it was and was oddly intrigued by what he saw. A young man, dressed head to toe in black with the occasional dapple of orange, was standing between the Atlas guards with his hands tucked behind his back and his hair perfectly coiffed. He was a pretty thing, Jack decided, admiring the brave little smirk on his lips. The man leant forward, his smirk growing. “You must be Handsome Jack.”
Jack folded his arms. “And you are?”
“Personal assistant to the CEO. I’m assuming your sudden arrival at Atlas corp is due to your excitement to meet him? I'm not surprised! I’d be happy to take you to him if that’s what you would like?” The smarmy tone and sarcastic, sharp tongue had Jack on edge. There was mischief in the kid’s eyes, but then again Atlas was a greasy dickhead of a company so of course all of the employees matched. The corner of Jack’s lip upturned sourly and he advanced forward with his Hyperion guards, but the PA raised a long, slender finger and waggled it back and forth, tutting.
“No no, that just won’t do. No soldiers. No weapons. Can’t have the possibility of an unfortunate misfire affecting the diligent work of our employees!” He clapped his hands and Jack could have smacked him in the mouth. The PA turned on his heel. “This way!”
With great hesitation, Jack waved off his guards and followed the irritating man into the building where he was stripped of his own weapons, scanned and processed. The PA grabbed him before he walked through the final metal detector and pointed. Jack's eyes followed his finger. Something flashed.
They gave him a pass with an ugly-ass photo on it.
Jack pulled a face at the PA as a receptionist handed it to him and the assistant beamed widely before looping it over his head and hurrying them along further into the Atlas building. Everywhere inside was dripping with luxuries that even Hyperion didn't choose to provide. It all made Jack’s stomach turn. Where had this company come from? How had they established themselves so quickly on Pandora and done it so...so lavishly ? They walked through many hallways of expensive tech and well-dressed employees, many eyeing Jack with the same disdain he’d seen lurking in the eyes of the CEO’s assistant. The idiot hadn't stopped babbling since Jack had arrived and it was really starting to grind the Hyperion man's gears.
“-and you must understand, our boss is a very busy man and you should be thrilled that he’s dropping everything he's working on to meet with you-”
“Can you please shut up?” Jack snapped, hand running through his hair. All he wanted to do was march - alone - up to the stupid prick of a CEO and wring his neck in peace .
As they rounded a corner, Jack spotted a sign to their R&D department and he flicked his eyes back and forth between the sign and the PA just ahead of him. A small grin flickered on his lips; the things he could do with the information stored in there. Oh yes, he'd absolutely destroy Atlas from the inside out if he knew he wouldn't die in the process. A cunning plan began to concoct itself in his head. One chop to the back of the neck of that an annoying excuse for a PA and he could sneak in, steal something, run back to the shuttle and-
“Want a peek?”
Jack shook his head and stilled for a few seconds. The PA had turned around, apparently during his crazed moment of scheming, and was now gesturing at the set of doors. Jack’s mouth fell open. Cocking his head to the side, the assistant shrugged.
“It’s really no bother.”
Blinking, Jack looked back from the kid to the doors and then back again. “I don’t under-...I’m sorry what?”
Waving him off, the assistant smiled, but something strange cut through the warmth he’d pushed into the action. It unnerved Jack and now he really didn’t trust a hair on that little thing’s head. No matter - the glass blade in his jacket pocket would help if push came to shove. And so what if there were a little pushing and shoving? Jack would win, of course. Duh. He was Handsome Jack. Atlas had nothing on him (except cooler guns and competitive stocks --- get it together, asshole). To get into the R&D department of Atlas would be something else. He’d only need to swipe something small and he’d have a leg up over this clearly moronic company. Letting competition into their research department? Letting Handsome Jack into their research department? If this had been his PA, he’d have squeezed the life out of him for this. Instead, Jack allowed his own “warm” smile to curl onto his lips.
“Lead the way.”
*
The PA flitted about, pointing out a variety of developments with great enthusiasm. Jack followed like an excitable puppy dog, noting the ways Atlas were working and the strategies they were implementing. He couldn’t believe what was happening - he was a freaking kid in a candy store. He tried not to run his mouth over the poison weapon prototype the PA showed him, literally shoving it into his hands and beaming at him as he looked it over.
“This is something else ,” he muttered, mesmerised, watching the purple liquid swirl under the surface of the state-of-the-art gun. He wished then and there that he could just sew his stupid mouth shut because the PA arched his eyebrow, watching Jack closely.
“You’re impressed.”
Jack moved his head from side to side as his lips turned down. “It’s alright, I ‘spose. I mean, Hyperion is working on something similar-”
To Jack’s surprise, the PA let out a bark of laughter. “Pah! You don’t have a patent for that!” Immediately following his blurted comment, his eyes widened and the man straightened, regaining composure. “Ahem. It’s patented under the name of the Atlas’ corporation. You’d be breaching infringement if you were developing such a weapon." He stepped closer, dragging a finger along the workbench. "So I highly doubt that you are, Jack.” It was the way that his name slipped off of his tongue that made a breath catch in Jack’s throat. He coughed a little before tossing the downright ugly, obnoxious gun back onto the workbench.
“You have no idea what’s in our pipeline, kitten,” he growled, voice rolling like thunder. His features darkened and he stepped towards the assistant who didn’t even have the decency to goddamn flinch. Jack’s rage began to boil inside him at the insolence. What a prick?! Anyone at Hyperion would have shit their pants at Jack's advance, but not this guy. No, he simply sneered at him and stood his ground like a champ. That was it for Jack. His hand flew out, ready to take him by the scruff of the shirt (he assumed the throat would have had him killed) but jerked and stumbled when he was stopped abruptly by the hand around his wrist. The kid’s hand . What freakishly strong bullshit? The two men glared at one another but the PA was first to break. He cracked a smirk and Jack’s eyes slid to his hand; for the first time, he noticed that it was cybernetic. It was the highest quality cybernetic hand Jack had ever seen. The craftsmanship...the intricacies. He gasped despite himself.
“Holy hell, that’s sick.”
The grip tightened around his wrist to the point where it was painful but he was still so in shock that he didn’t make another move. He just gawked at the hand, and then at the man before him. Their eyes met, all hints of the smirk now gone, and it suddenly dawned on Jack that this tight piece of ass was hot as fuck . If he could shove some tape over his arrogant mouth, he would thoroughly wreck Atlas's PA. Maybe just to piss the asshole off. Maybe just because Jack hadn't gotten himself laid in a while. No matter the reason, it really just came down to the fact that Jack hadn't realised being challenged toe-to-toe was apparently a kink? Of his? It hadn't really happened before. At least not in a way that had left Jack speechless.
An agonising squeeze brought him back to reality and he very quickly noted that perhaps it would probably just be just as effective to his libido to kill the PA. A little blood always got Jack going. Plus, if he didn't stop thinking with his dick then it would land him in all sorts of trouble. Jack dragged his gaze to the man in question who now had his lip curled under his teeth and his eyebrows low, heterochromatic eyes travelling over Jack’s own features. A small shift in his breathing, in the rise and fall of his chest, was barely obvious but Jack saw everything . Maybe a fuck shouldn't be off the table? It was finally his turn to smirk.
“You gonna let go, pumpkin? Or do I have to prise myself out of your cold, dead, pretty little fingers?”
The PA scoffed and released his hold, immediately turning to the table and picking up the poison gun. He inspected it closely, wiping a speck of dirt from the trigger. Jack watched silently as the man almost caressed it, running a slow finger along the barrel.
“Oh, I won't be one of those who are dying today,” he murmured, winking at Jack and moving in the direction of the door. The comment was backhanded, but rather than fearing for his life Jack found himself following his semi-hard dick out of the door.
*
They reached a large set of double doors and the PA swept in, almost letting the door slam on Jack’s face but catching it just in time. Jack rolled his eyes as he entered an imposing office filled with sleek black furniture and lavish decor. A strange machine whirred in the corner and a menacing cranchala fish swam around in an enormous tank on the far wall, teeth glistening in its orange tank lights. The PA offered Jack the seat that sat before the desk.
“I think I’ll stand, thanks,” Jack replied, words filled with venom that he couldn’t wait to inject into the thieving Atlas tool who owned this place. The PA shrugged.
“Suit yourself. He’ll be along in a moment.”
Jack huffed a laugh and looked around some more, taking in what the room had to offer. It was smaller than his own office but warmer in more ways than one. A bead of sweat trickled to the top of his mask. He noticed that the machine in the corner was bubbling with some kind of electric blue substance and he went to examine it more closely but thought against it. He couldn’t be shown to think he thought anything Atlas had was even mildly interesting. He eventually turned his attention back to the desk and drew back in surprise when he found the PA sitting there, a silver gun in his hand and a smile on his mouth.
“Jack, I presume?” he asked, voice all of a sudden deeper and filled with intimidation. His eyes flashed with malice.
This man was no PA.
"So nice of you to drop by. I’m Rhys.” He cocked the gun, aimed it at Jack’s head and grinned wickedly. “CEO of the Atlas corporation.”