Resolve

Chapter 7: Control

An: Sorry about delays. I've had some serious mental health days lately, but I'm feeling ok now.

     A couple days passed as you tried to learn the whole science of genetics quickly enough to make Jack feel like you were keeping up on the agreement. Rhys and Vaughn kept back from you like they'd said, but the words lingered in your mind, circling.

     It wasn't healthy, you knew. The obsession you had with making sure Jack lived. But you wouldn't call it abuse, not when you were so utterly aware of Jack's intentions and true thoughts. When you knew how he really worked. More like you were intentionally allowing yourself to be bent to another's will for a purpose you couldn't quite ascertain. Was it really just...that you wanted him to better the world? It wasn't love or anything childish, you knew. Those feelings were reserved for Mordecai. So why did you torture yourself so? Why endure it after what felt like a half million failed attempts?

     A tap on the glass wall making up half your lab startled you so badly you literally dropped Nakayama's file, scattering papers and clippings everywhere. To your credit, you didn't shriek or gasp. Just quietly twitched. You looked up to see Jack letting himself in. "Hello sweetcheeks." He was eating a bag of the pretzels he insisted were shitty.

     "Jack." You got over the initial horrible shock you weren't alone and gathered the papers.

     "You forgot to report."

     You resisted the urge to flush angrily. "Jack, I just got down to the lab an hour ago. I've been working at full productivity for maybe half that."

     He gave you an odd look. "Oh pumpkin, you've been down here for almost eleven hours now." He pointed to the wall clock to accentuate what he was saying. You couldn't believe your eyes. It...suggested a gap in your memory nearly nine hours long.

     "That...that can't be, Jack. I've barely had time to open up all the files I need and make a cup of coffee." You were utterly alarmed. Amnesia had never been an issue before.

     "Don't worry about it." He said and immediately your mouth closed. You would've questioned it, the action that seemed out of your hands, but he was speaking again. "So you forgot the time. Tends to happen when you haven't seen sunlight for weeks." He put a hand on your shoulder. "Would you like to see Angel?"

     You blinked, uncomprehending at first. "I'd love to!" You sorely missed the other female.

     "Go put your face on or whatever it is you girls do before going out in public." He patted your back and off your went.

X

     Jack felt an obscenely predatory smile grace his features. It was a good trap for a being capable of time travel, he thought, not being able to remember chunks of time themselves. It was a rather fortunate side effect of the pills. She could expect amnesia, loss of free will, apathy, all kinds of things that were going to helpful to Jack in the grand scheme.

     He supposed this was all very double sided of him, but that hardly anything new. He crossed his arms and waited for (Y/n).

X

     Angel practically glowed, a sight you never thought you'd see. It was strange how quickly being free made her forget her father's wrongs. Sure she still hated him, but it was like she didn't care as long as he didn't get too close to her. It made a warmth spread in the pit of your chest. She had gotten free. She had options, and could pick for herself. She was studying code in a way vaguely reminiscent of her father's career path, but you said nothing about that. The last thing you wanted was to seem like you were being discouraging.

     By the time it was midnight, you jumped realizing you had truly lost track of time. "I'll have to be going Angel. Remember, you need to stay away from the Vault Hunters. Siren's honor."

     She frowned a little, the one thing she had disagreed with you about the entire time. "But why? They're good people, like you."

"You'll just end up dead. Be your own self. Go crazy on your dreams. Chase your happiness, Angel. Live that life full to bursting. Experience it all and then more."

     The concerned expression was replaced with a very warm one. "Fine, but from one siren to another, or better from one woman to another, you do the same."

     Although you held none of the emotions she did about chasing her own life, your response was true. "I already am, dear."

X

You spent time with Jack when you got back in a strange sort of silence. Before, over dinner, you finally broke it. "You don't have to drug me, Jack. I'm not going anywhere. Not even if I could."

     He seemed completely unsurprised. "And why do you think I did what I did?"

     "I stand by my first assertion that you were unfairly treated and while an extreme version of it, your reactions to betrayal are very, very human. So you do what you must to ensure loyalty or you just...Get rid of the potential risk." You paused and put the food down halfway to your mouth. "But really Jack, if I was anything less than devoted to my cause of you remaining alive, I wouldn't have tried so many, many times." You gave him a brief look and continued eating.

     "Well pumpkin, ya really got me there." For one half heartbeat, you felt like he was giving in, making a joke. Then he leaned close across the desk. "But you happened to forget that I'm a very smart man. I take no chances, especially not with someone who's heart remains firmly with one of my enemies."

     Your eyes stung for a moment. You shouldn't have dared believe there was a breakthrough. Jack shoved his chair back and stood, positively slamming your office door on the way out. When he was gone from your field of vision you dropped the fork and let your head shoot down into both hands, trying to fight the shaking that wrought your entire body.

     You let yourself cry. It wasn't fair, more it wasn't possible to keep going at this rate. Something had to change, to break or give, even just bend a little. You looked up from your semi panic attack and fixed your eyes on a standard Hyperion issue Jack poster. Somehow, you would get clearance to the refined eridium and this time, you would really, really push it. You would go so far back that your nose bled down your shirt and your insides churned and threatened to rupture. You were going to go back into Jack's childhood and change it all.