[log][007]

[plasticasshole]

Who: Connor, Hank and Handsome Jack
Where: Jack's house
When: 17th Feb
What: Hank and Connor confront Jack about his past



[After hearing about Jack's past and misdeeds, Connor and Hank have finally decided to confront the man himself and get answers. After all, they should get both sides of the story. It wouldn't be fair to just assume the worst, right?

Connor knocks on the door to Jack's place and rubs his hands together, shivering slightly despite his warm clothes. He has some vague hope that Jack will be able to smooth things over relatively easily, but his expression is still grim as Jack opens the door.]

Hello, Jack. We need to talk.

[No point in messing around.]

Can we come in?

Comments

[sociallychallenged]

[Hank's not sure that he wants to do it, but at the same time it seems like something that he ought to go after. When he talked to Krieg he found out some important things. Some he hadn't told Connor yet, for whatever reason, mostly because he fell into a hole of preparing for holidays and doing his aimless work. Because honestly, he's a dipshit from Detroit, how do you talk to a motherfucker that took over a planet?]

[Hank huffs out a dragon's breath of his warm air in the cold, letting Connor go through the spoken preambles because he's still lining up the miscellaneous wad of motley maniacal bullshit in his head's cluttered and post-it note ridden filing system into something helpful and coherent.]

[All of his pokemon are in their balls (save for Connie who is in a pocket again). So that adds to the air that it's not a social visit. Worse, Hank does note that he can't really help that "We're here on official police business" vibe despite the only title Hank currently holds is Pokemon Breeder and professional Mop Ninja.]

[Still, there he is, waiting behind Connor like his personal watchbear.]

[thedifferencebetween]

Uh...hey, guys.

[Jack opens the door, casually dressed in an over-sized yellow sweater and loose fitting pair of jeans, slippers on his feet. There's a cigarette dangling out the corner of his mouth and a mug of coffee in one hand. A handful of dogs are bounding around his feet, eager to see who's come to call.]

[This is weird. No call, no text...what's going on here? Why does Jack feel like when he was in his 20s and security would come around because of a noise complaint... Something's off. Should he be defensive? He feels like maybe he should, and there's two on one here, whatever's going down...]

Yeah, sure. Everything okay? Cause you dudes are giving off some weird vibes today...

[plasticasshole]

[Connor nods in thanks as he enters, eyeing the Pokemon scattered around the house before turning his eyes back to Jack. There's a certain sympathy he has for the guy after being in his body for a couple of days, and maybe that's why he softens his voice a little.]

We've heard some... disturbing information about you. We just wanted to come by and hear your side of the story.

[He tries to loosen his stance a little, because he's aware that he's come in looking and acting like a cop. He looks to Hank expectantly. Feel free to reel off the list of accusations. Just maybe not in a cop way.]

[sociallychallenged]

[There are some direct questions that Hank has, but somehow it feels weird to start out with that. Connor may not be intending to go in for cop mode, but Hank's brain is permanently there in a way. Wanting to go for the smaller stuff, and see what it says about the larger situation.]

I heard the planet you came from was pretty shitty. It was hard to get by. And you did some things because you wanted 'peace and order' there.

[His hands remain loosely in his pockets, and he's staring at Jack's slippers. A ridiculous side note in the back of his head records that they look comfortable in case he wants to go future slipper shopping. And now, after that wayward thought, onto the next question.]

I also heard you're dead.

[That bit he didn't hear from Connor. He heard from Krieg.]

[thedifferencebetween]

[Oh for the love of...]

[Jack rolls his eyes and sighs. Oddly enough, his body language relaxes. He turns to the living room and flops himself down on the couch. This. He's gone through this before.]

Yeah, sit down, I can guess where you heard that stuff from. And I'm also gonna guess your source of info didn't happen to mention that for one, Pandora wasn't their planet, and also, they're terrorists who've spent years just slaughtering the hell out of anybody who's Hyperion 'cause they hate us.

[They always leave that part out. They always leave a lot of parts out.]

And I'm not being hyperbolic with the terrorist thing, I dunno what the hell else you call an organization that systemically sabotages and slaughters and tries to bring down an entire people over ideological differences.

And obviously I'm not dead.

[plasticasshole]

[Connor sits down, at least somewhat reassured by Jack's reaction.]

No, they didn't mention that.

[Which is suspicious, but not entirely grounds to dismiss their claims altogether.]

I didn't hear anything about you being dead, but is it possible you died before arriving here? Obviously you're alive now, but it's impossible to die here.

[sociallychallenged]

I heard you'd been shot before you came here. But they also said that you claimed not to remember it.

[Hank finally sits next to Connor, though rather than a respectable human sit, it's half on the arm of the stylish couch and not in the properly butt-ordained cushion as one should.]

So why did they hate the Hyperions?

[First question is first.]

[thedifferencebetween]

Yeah, I'm sure they really like thinking I'm dead, but...I'm not. And I'm pretty sure I'd remember that, so...

[He doesn't know what he remembers. It was years ago, it was chaotic...whatever. Even the two people he's admitted that the possibility may be true to are long gone, and Jack enjoys his staunch denial of the possibility.]

Look...it's a big complex galactic political thing. And I'm honestly not sure just what their issue boils down to? They do a lot of yelling about helping the people of Pandora, but they don't do anything about the cannibals or the marauders or the roving bands of murdering monsters... Hell, I used to friggin work with the two people that started the whole terrorist group! Then one day, they just decide 'hey, we don't like you guys, even though you just risked everything to save a moon full of innocent people, so we're gonna kill you now'. Literally. One minute we're chatting and working on helping better society, the next minute they're trying to blow up my space station. One of'em friggin mutilated me.

So...it's a big messy thing, but...it doesn't matter here? Here is not there. Here has different laws. Here doesn't have terrorists and war. Here I run a greeting card business and look after my animals and my family and I leave those shitheads alone - even though they're always pulling this crap on me.

[plasticasshole]

[Connor frowns a little. Jack has a point, here is not there. Still, a person doesn't just change after doing some of the things Jack has been accused of, right?]

You understand why we have to ask though, don't you?

[As for the issue with Angel, he's really not sure how to bring that one up. It's a very personal subject, one he's not even sure he has the right to talk about, but it bothers him to know that Jack could have done that to another human being, let alone his own daughter.]

[sociallychallenged]

[The thing that jars Hank in that testimony is that Jack says that he "isn't sure" what a terrorist's issue boils down to. Which seems a little unlikely. Every terrorist act he's known of has been loud, boisterous, and full of declarations based on valid points that were well-coated in fanatical nonsense. Terrorists don't terrorize without making their cases well and thoroughly known.]

[After all, it wasn't so long ago that he and Connor were hunting 'terrorists'.]

[But he doesn't say anything to that bit. What he does say is-] I heard you made some questionable sacrifices to make that better society, too.

[He knows it's thin ice. And for the moment, he doesn't name her by name. He could only imagine how throwing 'Cole' out there as weaponized dialog would hurt him. But it's the idea of Cole that actually makes this thought ache even more. And god they gotta talk about this shit with the man in his fucking slippers and yellow-ass taxi cab bullshit sweater too. Maybe he should have called first.]

[thedifferencebetween]

And I'm gonna stop ya right there and point out that those people? Whichever ones you were talking to? Don't actually know shit about me or what I've sacrificed. And they sure as hell don't actually know shit about my personal life or anything connected to it. And if you're here to get the deets on anything beyond what went down between me and the Crimson Raiders, I'm gonna have to ask ya to leave. Because you guys are my friggin friends, you've been guests in my home, and I'd really friggin like to think you'd take actual evidence in front of your face over whatever bullshit propaganda a Vault Hunter spun for you.

[Because Jack knows damn well the usual rhetoric the Vault Hunters like to spout about him. He can see where this is going, and it pisses him off. And not just the usual Vault Hunters talking shit about him way. For all they claim they care about Angel, they're never hesitant to drag her personal business out in the light to people she doesn't even know.]

And I'll go further and say this: if you're here to ask me about Angel, you're not getting much. Because that's private, and it's not my private to talk about. What the hell? Some strangers spew a bunch of crap, and all of a sudden it's cool to bring up deeply personal shit about somebody who's not even in the room? Not cool!
I'm not gonna start putting her private shit out there when I know she doesn't want me to. And I'm sure as hell not about to use her in some bullshit smear battle between me and them. What I will say is that my daughter is happy and healthy and I'll call her up right now to prove it!

[Jack drags his hands over his face, suddenly feeling very tired. Why can't they just leave him alone? He leaves them alone! He doesn't try and destroy every single relationship any of them make! How is he still the bad guy?!?!]

Look...you guys get how this is all really not cool? Not even a friggin text, not even some kind of friendly pretense, just banging on my door and ambushing me two on one in my own home... That's a shitty way to treat a friend on the word of some third party.

[plasticasshole]

[Connor tilts his head. They hadn't even mentioned Angel, and all of that talk... it seems defensive.]

Jack... we're not here to antagonise you.

[He's speaking calmly despite Jack's reaction.]

We came to speak with you face to face because it felt like the right thing to do. We won't make you talk about anything you don't want to, this isn't an interrogation. We just thought that, as a friend, we'd give you a chance to share your side of the story.

[He'd really been hoping Jack would be able to put his mind at ease, but he's just given him more doubts.]

[sociallychallenged]

[He had very carefully not mentioned Angel. Out of respect for Jack, of all things.] I wanted to talk to you to your face. And yeah, I didn't even text. When the hell have I ever texted you?

[And then he actually has to think about it. Has he texted Jack? Not really, they've just hung out. Before he raises his hand placatingly.]

You told me once, 'why don't you try something different here'. I want to think you really believe that. I remember you saying you got most of these dogs from your girl. Don't know if it's Angel or not, but I assume you had to talk if it was the case.

[He rights himself off the couch, though.]

I'll give you your space.

[thedifferencebetween]

[Jack sighs again. They have a point, and it's not like he's pissed at them.]

No, no, I get it. But look...years of this, while I'm just trying to live my life...yeah, I get tired of it. You'd get pissy if you were just trying to live your life and leave the past in the past and these people you're trying real hard not to make trouble with keep trying to make trouble. And keep going out of their way to hurt you and destroy every connection you make with another human being.

[Vault Hunters are why Jack can't have nice things. Even now, here, everything is still their fault. What do they think they're gonna do? What do they think they're protecting? As far as they know, he's been a perfectly law abiding citizen for years in this world.]

Don't pull the 'I'll give you space' shit, I'm not pissed at you. You just caught me really off guard - you can see that, I'm sure. I'm pissed at Vault Hunters who can't just leave me alone. And yes, Angel and I talk. And spend holidays together and have a perfectly fine relationship. And I got a couple of adopted kids, too.

[plasticasshole]

[He can tell now that Hank is mad, even if Jack isn't. So he looks between Jack and Hank, not sure what to do for a moment. They only just got here, after all.]

...I'm sorry that we had to bother you. It might be better if we leave, though.

[Before Hank starts to lose his cool. Connor gets to his feet, a little disappointed in how this all went. He can see that Jack is unhappy about this too, and maybe he really did want to be friends, but Connor is leaving here with more doubts than he came with.]

[sociallychallenged]

[Hank closes his eyes for a moment and draws in a breath through his nose as Jack explains himself. The knowledge is still relatively hard for him to deal with, because he can't imagine being able to experiment on your child. Especially to a point where that kid begged to die (a place that Hank wishes on no one, having been there). There's no real repentance that he's hearing here. Not that Hank outright said what it was that Jack was accused of, it was pretty telling that they had only mentioned sacrifice and his first inclination was to associate that with Angel. He also remembers what Krieg told him concerning how Angel felt (which hadn't been much, just enough).]

[Hank does believe that Jack did, does, want a family. He does believe that Jack genuinely doesn't think he was killed back home (not that it's terribly relevant outside of Hank wondering if this is his only second chance). He does believe the guy is lonely. But he also does believe Krieg's comment that, judging on what he's seeing here, Jack probably does manage to frequently hurt her through choice words or attitudes.]

[It doesn't help Cole always weighs heavily on his mind. Even as Connor helped the struggle with his death, the boy is always an afterthought, and it makes him hate the idea that someone so sure of wanting to be a father could have willingly done that to their kid. And he doesn't really want to go on a rant because if that rant went the wrong way he'd want to throw down. And up until this, he'd actually been considering Jack a pretty good friend. Moreover, Hank is a respectable enough human being that he won't fuckin' deck a dude in his own home. Well, probably.] Alright, let me be more specific. I need the space, because there's part of this that hits a personal spot.

[He pulls out Tubbs's ball and wags it at Connor.] Gonna step outside.

[Which means if Connor wants to get more specific details on the 'truth' or varying versions of it, he can. Hank just needs some fresh air.]