New Perspective ~ A Handsome Jack x Reader Story

Chapter Three ~ A Rough Landing

          Soft light shone through the pod as it reaches your lidded eyes, waking you up from your unconscious state. Lifting your head softly, you heard the shuffle of some sort of figures not too far from the pod. Deciding you didn't want whatever creature it was to find you, you attempted to get off the ground and out of the pod as soon as possible. As you pushed your back against the floor, you were put at a halt when a weight restricted you. Looking down, you saw Handsome Jack sprawled against your stomach, completely passed out. His head was by your right hand, as his hips were just past your left, the rest of his bottom half dangling off of you and onto the metallic surface.

          For a moment, you just sat there, watching him sleep. He looked relaxed - at peace. You eyed him as he breathed softly, his mask still tight on his face somehow, despite the rocky trip and rough landing. His hair did take a toll, however, as it was unkept and messy. When breaths escaped his lips, it pushed a few strands of his single streak of grey hair that was laying over his face. Hearing the shuffle of the creatures once more, you carefully wiggled out from under him. You made sure to be quiet, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention from dangerous Pandoran creatures. 

          Your upper body was out from under Jack, however you stopped at your legs when you heard a soft groan from him. You peered down at him cautiously as he felt around with one hand, clearly subconsciously searching for his rifle. Merging into a fully awake state, you pushed your legs up, causing him to roll down and hit the ground, waking him up. You snatched up the rifle he was feeling around for as he staggered up quickly, his eyes landing on you. He looked agitated - and tired - his brows knitted together on his face. 

          "...don't make a sound..." you warned softly as your voice was accompanied by slightly louder shuffles, and it became clear that the creatures were now closing in on your pod. You watched Jack's face as it conveyed several emotions, the clearest one being anger. 

          "..how dare you survive..." Jack grumbled, his feet beginning to walk towards you. It appeared that he didn't care for caution as his shoes made thumps against the metallic surface of the pod.

          "What...?? Is now the time for this...?" You whispered to him, watching him as he raised his hands up like he did on Helios, obviously preparing to attempt to strangle you once more. 

          "You're not supposed to survive.. well, obviously third time's the charm!" He rose his voice, growling louder. You made haste to shush him, however you were too late, as he lunged forward to tackle you. Having nowhere else to go at the back of the pod, you were forced to endure as he knocked the rifle out of your grasp. You both clonked against the back wall, making a loud thud. Entangled with Jack, you tried to push his hands away from your neck as the shuffling outside became louder and faster. "Quit squirming!" Jack barked, glaring down at you as if you were a fly that had buzzed directly into his ear. 

          "S-Stop it!" You yelled back at him, clearly in more of a struggle than he was. Although you were a Vault Hunter, you weren't fit to face Jack one on one and defeat him just yet. Your arms began to shake as his stayed steady, the force from the both of your strength combating. Both of you froze, however, when a loud growl came from the entrance of the pod. You looked past Jack's shoulder as he slowly turned his head toward the open entry. There, staring back at the two of you, was a gigantic figure. The shadow in the pod made it hard to tell what it was, yet you were just able to make out what was standing there: a badass bullymong. 

          You both stood there, frozen. A single rifle between the two of you would not be enough to kill it, especially since the bullymong had cornered the both of you and you were thrown off from fighting each other. Jack was the first to move, reaching down and grabbing the gun. The bullymong growled, as if it were a warning to Jack to stay still - as if it didn't like it when his meals put up a fight. Jack visibly didn't take this note, as he continued to cock the gun and point it at the badass. It was almost as if he didn't realize he wouldn't stand a chance. 

          "Get out of my way you thing," Jack huffed, shooting at the badass, as if he expected anything to happen. His confident expression faltered when he noticed that the bullymong barely flinched. "...you heard me!" Jack yelled, now becoming agitated as he shot at it once more. The bullymong then growled loudly, as if yelling back at him. The rifle almost flew out of Jack's hands as he jumped back, not expecting that. His brows furrowed as his teeth began to grind together, pulling the trigger on the rifle a couple more times. Taking the chance given, you ran past Jack and slipped past the bullymong, being met with two slingers directly behind the badass. You stuttered to a stop, face to face with the slingers. They snarled as the rifle shots continued. However, as if they decided you weren't worth it, they passed right by you and behind the badass, waiting for their meal to be killed. Thanking the gods, your eyes darted around, spotting a few boxes. Immediately, you rushed over to open them, searching through the bullets and rounds to find a shotgun. You managed to load the gun and cock it. The sound of the gun drew the attention of the two slingers, deciding that it was a bad choice to let you slip by. Ah well - they must've thought - one more meal for the day. You quickly got in place and shot the both of the slingers a couple of times in the face. Blood splattered as their bodies fell to the ground. This drew the attention of the badass, as it slowly turned around. It had made it halfway in the pod at that point. You ran up to the open door, loading and cocking the shotgun once more. 

          "Shoot it!!" Jack shouted from the back, his voice more shaken up than before. The badass turned its head towards Jack, and you took the opportunity to shoot it in the back of its head. The bullymong then lumbered around to face you, growling loudly. Then Jack's rifle went off as he shot in the same spot that you shot at. The bullets pushed their way through the badass' head as it began to lose its balance. At that moment, you shot it once more in its stomach, the force of the bullets pushing it back. You heard Jack yelp as the figure toppled down, trapping Jack's legs under its shoulder. 

          You climbed over its legs, peering over to see Jack struggling to crawl out from under the monster. His eyes landed on you as he was in a moment of panic. "Get over here and help me get this thing off of me!" He barked, looking back down at his predicament. You huffed and made your way over, standing on the part of the badass' shoulder that Jack was trapped under, causing him to wince more. "What the fuck is your pr-!" he began, but faltered when he saw the barrel of your shotgun in his face. His look of anger quickly turned to desperation as he shifted his head to look at you. "W-Wait!! Don't shoot me!" 

          You rose your eyebrow and chuckled at him, not moving your shotgun from his head. "And why should I do that?" You hissed, enjoying seeing him in this state of helplessness. He always had the upper hand. He was the guy in the office chair that antagonized you with a cup of coffee as you almost died at the hands of bandits and thugs. Seeing him lose his superiority was pleasurable. It was karma.

          "B-Because it's what you do!" Jack stuttered out. This made you falter slightly, however your intense glare didn't change. 

          "What?" you responded simply.

          "S-Saving people! It's, heh, w-what you do! I mean, you're a Vault Hunter, r-right...?" Jack attempted to reason. His attempt was rather weak, and yet it struck a nerve with you - because he wasn't wrong. Saving people, it was something you found yourself doing almost everyday. But, the goal of the Vault Hunters was to see Jack dead. You shouldn't let him persuade you... but you couldn't help the pull you felt in your chest, like it would be a bad decision to kill him right then and there. This wasn't his time. 

          With a harsh and long huff, you rested your arm and lowered your shotgun. He laughed nervously, clearly relieved. "T-Thank god... now get me out of here! I-I mean.. please..." he forced out the politeness, wiggling furiously under the bullymong's shoulder. You sighed and hopped off of the shoulder, causing a grunt to come out of Jack's mouth. You stepped behind him and knelt on one knee, grabbing his arms as you carefully dragged him out from under his enclosure. He groaned as you set him to his feet. You watched as he stretched out his legs, picking up his rifle from the ground. Turning to you with a now friendly yet devious grin, he hummed, "Well then, let's get out of here, pumpkin~" With a groan at the nickname, you climbed out of the pod with him, stepping into the Pandoran sunlight together.