Reputation (Handsome Jack X Reader)

Chapter 3

"I... I don't know what to say..." I stammered.

My lifelong idol... my hero... He's standing above me... Talking to me! On Pandora! I could scream right now! But that'll get me killed...

"Well, first..." he groaned, "Maybe start by apologizing?"

S-Sh*t! I literally shot him! I could've killed him! Holy crap... I'm a horrible person.

I stood up as fast as I could, standing on weak legs. I unwrapped the cloth bag that was slung around my shoulder and dumped the supplies into the sand. I slowly dragged myself toward Jack, and hesitantly wrapped it tightly around his wounded arm. Wow... I can't believe that I'm touching this legend! Calm down, relax. Apologize, and move on. You got this...

"Y-You can get it healed up when you get back to Helios..." I muttered. "I'm so sorry."

His mismatched eyes met mine. "Thanks. I guess."

I turned away toward the supplies on the ground. There were packs of pistol ammo, canned edible mushrooms, random vehicle keys, a psycho mask, a decent sniper scope, and random metal parts and tools. As well as a strange, glowing purple thing.

I kneeled down, but collapsed on the sand. Already down and hurt, I picked up a few packs of ammo, a can of mushrooms, the scope, and only a few tools. I slid each item into a place on my belt. I found myself staring at the strange object, trying to figure out what it was.

"So, kid, you on your own?" I heard Jack ask.

"That's none of your business." As much as I look up to him and want to talk to him, I felt like describing my life on Pandora would be pushing it too far. It's a waste of time for the both of us, in my opinion.

"Your arms are pretty messed up." He continued. "Like, seriously, that's gross. You're getting blood everywhere, and there's like, bits of metal in there..."

I turned on him, flinching. "Haven't you got a bandit to strangle? Why are you concerned about getting messy? Why are you concerned about me?"

Jack sighed and groaned in annoyance. "I didn't come here to kill off psychos, princess. I came here for some bare supplies-" He suddenly tensed up as he looked past me, at the strange object.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded as he pointed to it.

I turned around, grabbed it, and turned back toward him. I looked at it thoughtfully. "Stole it."

Jack squatted down and rest one hand on the object, and the other on my shoulders. It hurt on the outside, but on the inside, I was screaming.

"Have you seen anything else that looks like this? Red? Yellow? Blue?" he asked impatiently. "Come on, answer me!"

I looked down and studied it. It was a two-foot long rough gray cylinder with black stripes, and a purple tube going through the center. I hadn't focused on its details before.

"Yes I have, actually. I found a red one of these things just around the mountain that the cliff is attached to. It's rectangular though, not like this. Then... Yellow... I stole a yellow one from another bandit camp a while ago. That one was shaped like a triangle."

Handsome Jack looked away and muttered something underneath his breath. Then he looked at me straight in the eyes. "Can you show them to me?"

"They're crushed under a metal trailer, Jack."

"We'll get them out. I need you to give that, and the others, to me," he stated, pointing to the purple object.

"Why? To destroy another planet? To kill people?" I retorted.

He stood up, sighed, and shook his head. He crossed his arms and gazed off toward the cliff. "There's more to me than that. As much as I love the idea of people trembling before my name, there's just something else. I don't know what. It's like something's missing."

"Its the reputation you have. It's what you're known for, Jack," I whispered.

"Look, I just need those objects. What use are they to you?" he stated, irritated.

"Promise you won't kill me?" I asked.

A slash of shock crossed his masked face. "Why would I kill you? Didn't we just go over this, princess?"

"Just asking."

(Maliwan-Issued Time Skip)

One of the soldiers held onto a metal pipe, pushing the crushed metal of the trailer upward. The bandits and psychos from before had scattered after they saw Handsome Jack, so there wasn't as much danger around the cliff's base. I squeezed my way into the trailer, bending around sharp metal spikes and edges that jolted from the walls and the ceiling.

"Can you see them?" I heard Jack ask from outside.

"I think so. They're glowing," I replied, hearing my muffled voice bounce off the walls. "I guess that whatever they are, they're working?"

"Just grab them, then."

I reached out as far as I could, and grabbed the closest one- the yellow, triangular object. I backed out of the trailer and handed it to Jack, who held the purple one. I noticed that the stretch broke open the thin scab that covered the knife wound. I had regained a more stable consciousness over time despite bleeding through my other arm from the explosion. It was indeed excruciating but I got used to it quickly. However, focusing on the wounds now made them a bit more painful than how it felt before.

"It's probably infected now..." I mumbled half to myself.

"What was that, cupcake?" Jack replied.

"My arm..."

"We'll get it looked at on Helios."

"Thanks..." I suddenly tensed up and stared at him, surprised. "We'll get it looked at on Helios?!"

He looked down at me and handed the two objects toward the other gray man behind him. "Yes, Bandit. I'm taking you back with me."

I felt my mouth drop open. "Me? To Helios? What? Why?! Are you sure you're thinking straight, hero?"

He placed his hand on my shoulder and kneeled down, taking me down with him. "You were useful to me. I was very lucky to have run into you the moment I got here. I think I can make something of you."

I brushed his hand off and looked at him sternly. "You don't know anything about me. For all you know, I could kill everyone on that moonbase while you sleep."

"You're not like the other bandits and psychos I've seen on this planet. You've only tried to kill me once, and even then you weren't even trying that hard," he replied, gazing at his cloth-wrapped arm.

"Still," I said, "Why? I have no business up there, and you have no business with me. Even though I look up to you as if you were on the highest golden pedestal, being taken back to Helios with you seems a bit much, don't you think...?"

He stood up suddenly. "You're right. That's it! I tried to be nice to ya! But whoopsie-daisy, I slipped up somewhere!" he exclaimed as he walked in circles, flailing his arms as he spoke with an attitude.

I stood up after him. "Wait! Handsome Jack! I'll go!"

"Oh, so now you want to come with me?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. I'm just... not used to any of this."

"This is going by way too quickly..." Jack whispered. "The author of this crappy fanfiction has no idea how to slow things down."

I stared blankly. "Wait, what?"

"Nothing."

"So... Am I going to Helios with you?"

"If you want to see the glorious moonbase." He turned back toward me. "It's okay, princess. Why don't you climb back into that trailer and get me that red glowing object?"

I nodded and slowly picked my way back inside, the adrenaline running through my whole body.