New Perspective ~ A Handsome Jack x Reader Story

Chapter Fourteen ~ Seeing Double

          "Woah, calm down, Timmy!" One chuckled with a grin, shooting a look toward the other. 

          "Yeah, we're just excited is all! No need to snap, cupcake!" 

          "I'm in hell. This is hell. Oh, why does bad stuff always happen to good people..." Tim sounded defeated, rolling his eyes and covering his face with his hands. 

          "Oh, you're far from good, Timmy boy," Jack piped up, making sure you all knew that he was still there. "You killed many, many bandits... and now you're hiding in their home base!" 

          "S-So are you, apparently!" Tim defended himself as the cat began to scratch at his leg. Tiredly, he leaned down and picked it up, letting it make its way onto his shoulders. 

          "Hey! Don't change the subject!" Jack huffed, giving Timothy a stink eye. Timothy just let out a fatigued sigh. As Jack continued to batter Tim with judgements and such, the digijacks began to round on you now.

          "So~ You're the boss' new companion, huh?"  One hummed, approaching your left side. 

          "His new partner in crime!" The other added, approaching your right side.

          "Uh..." was all you could manage to mutter, glancing between the two of them. They wore leather jackets with yellow Hyperion sweaters beneath. They had jeans on, with a strap on one of their legs to hold guns. Well, you used 'wore' loosely, as they appeared to be just holographic figures that were created with the clothes on. You felt your face grow hot as they began to scooch closer to you, speaking over your shoulders. 

          "Has he told you his past yet?"

          "Have you heard his spoon story yet?"

          "Has he shown you his-" 

          "Hey!" Jack called out now, his attention on the digital copies beside you as he crossed his arms at them.

          "What? I was going to say diamond pony," one snickered, shrugging his shoulders as the two of them finally backed off. 

          Jack rolled his eyes and turned back around to Tim, growling. "Turn them off," he ordered, pointing at a watch looking thing on his wrist. 

          Tim seemed to shrink slightly, his voice softer than before. "I can't..." 

          "Why not?" Jack asked angrily, throwing his hands up to emphasize. 

          "It's..." Tim mumbled the last word, looking to the side embarrassedly. 

          "Sorry, what? You gotta speak louder, kid." Jack huffed, raising an eyebrow at him. 

          "He broke it~" A digijack sang, walking over now to Timothy. The other one followed, a grin playin on his lips. 

          "He what?"  Jack growled, his voice dangerously monotone and calm. 

          "He broke it!"

          "It's malfunctioned~"

          "Defected~" 

          "Practically kaput!"

          "I hate the both of you. So, so much," Tim groaned, glaring at the digijacks as they cackled, one of them patting his head. 

          "How the hell did you break it! Why would you let that even happen! It's one of a kind!" Jack yelled angrily, his eyes burning into Tim's. Tim whimpered and sighed, his focus now on the watch on his wrist. With his fist, he hit it a couple of times until the digijacks finally disappeared. Timothy let out a relieved sigh, rubbing his temples. 

          "It was an accident... trust me, I didn't mean to. This is worse that before it was broken." Tim groaned and reached over his shoulder to pick up the cat, now holding it in his arms and petting its head gently. 

          "What happened." Jack demanded furiously, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Tim let out a tired breath, then gently put his cat onto the ground to let it lay down.

         "After it was announced that you were dead, everyone at the casino panicked as things were shut down," Tim began. You rose an eyebrow at the word 'casino.' It was a rumor that Jack had a casino somewhere in space, but you thought that it was just a rumor. 

          "I took my chance, gathered my stuff, and ran out before things became worse. Some of the other doubles were helping people, some were fighting for themselves. I was just trying to escape," Tim continued, sighing deeply as he glanced to the couch where the handsome mask was. "The guards tried to keep me there, so I had to fight my way out. At one point I was knocked over. To soften my fall, I tried to land on my shoulder and side... but in result, it cracked the digijack watch," he scowled, recalling what happened. "They were activated and helped me survive, but I couldn't turn them off. For days I tried to shut it off, up until I found my way to Sanctuary. At first, Lilith wanted to kill me. I could've sworn she was going to... but maybe she had a change of heart? I don't know." 

          You listened intently as Tim wandered to the couch, gently picking up the mask. "She sent me to the mechanic, Scooter, as he tried to fix the watch. Poor guy could barely get through trying to fix it with the other jacks bothering him," Tim laughed softly, an apologetic look playing on his face. "But he managed to do something. I can turn it off with a couple of hits to the watch, but now they activate at random... at least I know how to shut them up."

          Jack didn't say a thing for a second or two, which made Tim shift uncomfortably. There was just an angry frown on his lips as he glared at Tim. Deciding he didn't like the atmosphere, Tim tried to lighten it up a little. "W-Well, in other news, I have a cat now!" Tim tried to sound cheerful, reaching over and picking up the tabby cat. "Her name is Springs." 

          You gave a small smile as you stepped over to Tim. Gently, you reached out to pet Springs. She accepted your touch by pushing back into your hand with her head, a small purring sound emitting from her. This made Tim chuckle, as he glanced from the cat to you. 

          "She seems like she likes you..-" Tim began, giving you a friendly smile - something that looked as though it should've been foreign to a face like his. 

          "Who cares about the damn cat?" Jack interrupted, a growl escaping him as he glared towards the side, clearly upset. Before you or Tim could respond, there was a knock at the door to your abode. The three of you looked towards the door, sharing uncertain glances. Who is at the door...