This fic was inspired by a fanvideo, of all things. Enjoy!

"Nice throne room," said Daxter, eying the New Haven HQ's drape-strangled windows from his usual perch.

Ashelin ignored his comment. "It's late. You're late." She snapped the holo table display to life via remote. A gray-lined representation of Kras City spiraled into view. "Did you get the mission done?"

Jak shifted. He watched the holo display center on Rayn's headquarters. "No."

Ashelin sat forward in her father's old throne. The cloth was tattered. Beneath the various symbols attributed to Praxis, the seal of Mar gleamed where the framework showed bare. "Why not?"

"Rayn's got my face plastered on the tvs, the walls of every bar-"

"Urinals, too," said Daxter, smirking.

"-newspapers, everything. I could hardly walk down the street at night." Jak took a deep breath. "But we got into her headquarters and I was able to locate the room."

"How much of the mission did you complete?"

"We had to hightail it outta there before I could break the seal on the door. Everything else you asked us to do before that- we did it." Jak brushed his hands together and watched Ashelin's face.

"You sure?"

"Sure we're sure!" shouted Daxter. "You can always count on us! Except for the last part. But that wasn't our fault! The sensor thingy you gave us lit up like crazy when we found the right room! I don't know what Rayn rings her spooky hallways with, but they knew we were there as soon as it went off." Daxter handed the sensor to Ashelin.

She frowned. She jammed the sensor box into the table. A secondary readout, framed by a real-time portrait of Kras' pollution-smeared sky, appeared. A spool of blue text highlighted Ashelin's face, throwing deep shadows around her eyes.

Jak scrounged his mind for some good news. "Also, I found Jinx. He's dealing with Razer's guys, making some money on the side. His connections trust him. Next time Dax and I get the chance, we'll meet up at the-"

"No," said Ashelin.

"Uh. No?" Jak leaned forward onto the holo table. He squinted at the text. It was all scientific lingo. Something to do with eco and stabilization points.

"How did you get into her HQ?"

"I crawled through miles of ducts, bravely faced down a few thugs, and rewired the front entrance so it'd take Jak's code." Daxter inspected his digits. "Delicate work, you know. After that, everything was smoooooth sailing until your little box went spazzy."

"Great." Ashelin made a fist. "We'll have to find a different way in next time."

"If Sig joins me and Torn plays the getaway man, I can bust the door down, grab the prize, and be out in ten minutes," said Jak. "I needed backup last time. Shouldn't be a problem if Sig's with me."

Ashelin stood. "No. You failed the mission, Jak. Your reward is to sit back, relax, and work out trade regulations between Haven and Spargus." She slid an electronic readout across the table. It flickered through Rayn's HQ, distorting the image for a moment, and came to rest at Jak's fingertips.

"But." Jak and Daxter glanced at each other. "Who's going to complete the mission?"

"I am," said Ashelin. She glanced around the room. "That's your throne, by the way. Maybe you should get used to sitting in it."

"Hey!" shouted Daxter, but Ashelin was already out the door. "You knew the mission was impossible when you gave it to us! Why'd you set us up to fail?"

"Because I want to take care of this personally," said Ashelin.

Keira yawned and sat up. The room was dark and cool. Her bed was still half-empty; Jak wasn't back yet. "Hmm?" She scrounged around between the mattresses for the sound that had woken her, an urgent, irritating beeping. It was her directTalk readout, a direct link to the government, an old-but-good piece of KG technology. Rubbing her eyes, she read the screen. "Emergency contact from Ashelin."

Keira, Tess, we're going to Kras.

Keira groaned. "Looks like Jak failed the mission." She pushed the warm blankets off her legs and reluctantly stood.

Tess put down her directTalk readout and sighed. She pulled a tiny set of clothes on, wrestled her tail through her pants, and pushed her fur smooth around her face. She scrambled up her vanity and glanced at the mirror. It used to be the perfect height. She gave her reflection a half smile.