Though she would later claim that she'd known all along, she didn't actually realize until she first made the mental comparison: ' He's definitely better than August '. It had freaked her out, at first - why the hell would she ever compare them? Then she caught Rhys and Sasha exchange a smirk while they sat at the campfire. Oh. Oh shit. Sash had terrible taste. Seriously? This Hyperion nonsense?

Fiona quietly watched as Sasha explained to her surprisingly eager student about how to maintain a gun. As Rhys "helped" cook dinner one night, and made it take twice as long. As Sash took pity on him and helped his character out before her own sister's when they played that old table-top game. Sure, it could all be friendly - if it wasn't for the quirk in Sasha's smirks. The slightly faster reaction time when Rhys heard that Sasha needed something. Goddamn it, Sash, couldn't you choose a normal guy for once?

But, if she was really, honestly fair… they seemed like decent guys, at the very least. Rhys even more so. How he had ever learned to be compassionate she would never know, but he genuinely did seem to care about people. Sash had mentioned his call with his boss (the fact that she'd felt the need to share the story was evidence enough for Fiona's suspicions of a crush). Through their late-night discussions, he was slowly beginning to admit how shitty things were up in Helios. He tended to his Best Bro with more compassion than she'd thought a Hyperion capable of. If he wasn't careful she might have to admit to thinking him an okay guy.

And then, damn that idiot, he fessed up about Handsome Jack. Even in the moment, as she filled with rage, she acknowledged two things:

It was an incredibly difficult thing to admit to, and She'd better keep things calm or Sash's heart would shatter completely.

Because even Fiona had to admit that Sash and Rhys would be pretty cute together. So she'd tried, even then, to help him out a little bit with damage control.

They had looked for both guys. They really had. But it was so hard to keep their cover and look for two Hyperion dopes. And the more Fiona thought about it, the more she began to suspect that idiot had intentionally released Handsome Jack into Helios. God only knew how much of the shit that had gone wrong was because of Jack. Sasha was getting over it and keeping busy with Fiona's work and helping out Janey. So maybe Fiona didn't always look as hard as she could have.

She decided before the subject even came up - she'd bring in Sasha. Maybe Rhys wasn't so bad after all. If what he'd said was true - and he wasn't smart enough to lie that convincingly - then he was a lot stronger than she'd realized. A lot more moral. He'd stood up against the thing that could have fried his brain in an instant. He'd risked so much for his friends. He'd self-amputated to stop Jack. He was the least-unworthy person for Sash that Fiona had ever met. So she was happy to give Sash this little surprise.

And she might have felt a little guilty that he was still out tracking them down, long after she had given up.

Fiona slyly watched the two of them at breakfast. They were laughing and teasing Vaughn and each other. Sasha had stolen everyone's dragonfruit chunks, and Rhys had already been repulsed twice during his attempt to reclaim what was rightfully his. Eventually Sasha recanted and released her loot, and Fiona noted that Rhys just smiled and pushed back Sasha's hand when she tried to slip him his fruit. They were playful with everyone, but when Rhys managed to drop a pancake on his shirt, Sasha's laughing attention softened into affection. Oh god, Fiona's little sister was adoringly watching a corporate dope wipe pancake crumbs off his button-up shirt. And they were both offensively cute about it.

All in all it was damned inconsiderate. She liked Rhys, she really did. He was a good guy and during the times they weren't nearly dying they actually had a grand time together. If she were the sentimental sort she might call him her best friend. But then he had the audacity to realize how amazing a person her sister was, and start falling for her. Because that meant that Fiona had to distrust his doubtless lying, devious ass. No one was to be trusted with Sasha's heart, not even Rhys.

...except he was kinda to be trusted. Even from the start, he had been most definitely not August . Considerate, respectful, and blatantly, hopelessly smitten with Sasha. Good god, that whole flower thing had been the most disgusting, embarrassingly adorable thing Fiona had ever heard. And there were all the stupid times she'd caught Rhys watching Sasha - not her ass, not her in some unintentionally sexy pose, just watching with a smile as she went about her life. When Sash had-... had almost-... he had cried. He really cried, desperate to save her.

Ugh, fine, so maybe she could consider not shooting him in a dark alley.