Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Jak and Daxter or the games, they rightfully belong to Naughty Dog. The characters that I do own are Mia and Lokie as well as Yoma but the Stalker Metal Head belongs to its rightful creator. This is for entertainment purposes only.

I Don't Date Animals

Prologue

Lightning flashed across the sky, it appeared to have a bluish hue, reminiscent of blue eco, the dark night was covered by the thunder clouds, and silver drops fell from the sky. Lights flashed in a cell inside the prison of the building, a desolate place that had not been used since Ashelin Praxis took the throne as the ruler of New Haven City. Quiet boots stepped cautiously across the concrete floor, the heels never touched the floor while the body turned just slightly around the corner, orange eyes widened in horror as they landed on the sight, and a single tear fell down the side of the feminine face. A gloved hand gripped the outer corner of the wall that she was hiding behind as she watched one of the last remaining scientists experiment with eco on a metal head egg. It was clear that the scientist was using blue eco by the electricity that it was producing but the sadness soon turned to anger as she crept out from the wall with a pistol in her hand. Black boots clacked roughly against the floor once she made it behind the male, the sound caught his attention, and he looked over his shoulder.

"I see you found me, did the Baron send you?" came his question. She didn't reply as he continued, "Well, judging by your silence, you're a very good soldier. But she can't stop me, not even you can stop me even though I'll probably die here. My work is finished and my papers destroyed so there's no copy of my work." Still silence from the female, "You could at least tell me who sent you before I die."

"No one."

"Oh really?"

"I eavesdropped on the Baron and heard that there were still followers of the old ruler and that they were conducting experiments similar to the Dark Warrior Program."

"Hmm...seeing as you know about that, do you happen to be a renegade Krimzon Guard?"

"No."

"Then who are you and what faction do you belong to?" More silence from the female and this made the male chuckle. "So you belong to no one but yourself. Interesting. So tell me, why are you here?"

"To stop you from experimenting on life."

"But it's just a metal head egg. One left over."

"It doesn't matter, a life is still a life, even if it's a metal head one at that. You don't get to play creator here any longer."

A chuckle resounded around the empty room, "It's nice to know that there is someone out there that thinks like that. Do you know what our greatest creation was?"

"The hero of Haven City, Jak."

"That's right. He was the greatest but your love of life...that's something new altogether. There isn't anyone living right now that would say the things you've said. Would you help an injured metal head?"

"Yes."

"Even if you knew that it would possibly kill you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Without hesitation she replied, "Everyone deserves a chance to live even if it's an instinctive creature like a metal head."

"Then this will be the last thing you see."

"Huh?" Nothing else was able to be said as the scientist had grabbed a wire through their entire conversation. He turned around sharply and threw the wire in the woman's face, the blue eco burned her eyes and the skin around it. But she was able to fire one shot directly at the male's head before being blinded by the electricity. She feverishly rubbed at her eyes but was unable to stop the flesh from burning and falling off. The woman could feel the pain, the exposed muscle tissue was something excruciating but she forced her eyes open, and they laid upon the metal head egg. With her free hand, she grabbed it, pulled a small sack from her side, and shoved the egg inside. Once it was sealed, she swung it over her shoulder, and began to leave the complex while her vision continued to blur and the pain intensified.

She managed to make it out of the complex without anyone finding out about her but she soon collapsed in a nearby alley as the rain drops fell on top of her, she hoped that someone would be able to find her, and she hoped that it was a friend as her eyes closed but she kept a firm hand on the pouch. It wasn't long before she felt someone pulling her to her feet, the familiar scent invaded her nostrils, and the weight was familiar too. In a quiet voice she uttered, "Lokie?"

"Yeah, hold on Mia. We're going to get you some help right now. Did you get him?" She nodded and he replied, "Good. He deserved what he got for experimenting on people."

"It wasn't people. It was metal head eggs."

"Oh."

"I've got it in my bag here. When we see Torn...I..."

"What is it? You know that you can tell me."

"I want to keep it." Lokie was silent as he helped his friend through the city streets until they were able to reach the Underground's headquarters in the dead end alley. Lokie helped Mia into the room, once she was seated, he left so that he could get Torn, and some ice. Her friend reappeared, she recognized his footsteps, and he placed an ice pack over her eyes. She hissed at the mixture of pain and cold but soon relaxed as she realized it was healing her charred skin. A second set of heavy footsteps reached her ears, it was Torn. "Hello."

"I see you made it back but what happened?"

"The bastard threw some blue eco in my face. I don't think I can see."

"Well we'll try some green eco, maybe that will help." Torn looked at Lokie, "Go get Samos and see what we can do about this." Lokie left the room as Torn took a seat in front of Mia, "Tell me what he was doing."

"Experimenting on metal head eggs."

"What do you mean?"

"He told me that they were trying to create a warrior, so they used left over metal head eggs, and he was trying...not trying, he did infuse a metal head egg with blue eco."

"What then?"

"When he threw the blue eco in my face, I shot him at the same time so he's dead. Then, before my vision got too blurry, I snatched the metal head egg," she explained quietly.

"Is it in that pouch that you have grasped so tightly?"

"Yes."

"We need to destroy it."

It was then that Mia shouted loudly at the prospect of even destroying the egg. Yet another set of footsteps reached her ears, it was Lokie and Samos. She kept her mouth shut even though she knew that Torn might try to take her precious egg from her. Mia turned so that the egg was hidden behind her body as the sage approached her to remove the ice.

"Torn, let her keep the egg."

"Why? It's a metal head and needs to be destroyed!"

Samos sighed as he removed the ice pack and inspected the damage, "Just between us four, Mia may need someone around to help her." Torn and Lokie stared at one another as they saw Mia shed a few tears down her face. Samos wiped them away carefully and began to heal her damaged skin. "She knows what I mean and let's keep it a secret until she's ready to share with everyone else. Mia will no longer be able to see but I'll do my best."

"What do you mean?" asked Torn.

"The blue eco damaged her optic nerves, they've been fried, so to speak. What I'm doing now is healing the outside of her skin and then we'll see about the eyes themselves." Just as he finished the charred flesh had returned to its normal color but it was clear that there were some scars from her ordeal. "There will be some scarring is that alright?"

Mia replied, "Yeah. I can live with that, it wouldn't be the first scars that I have."

"What do you mean child?"

"I have more on my back from training and doing suicidal things on missions."

"You remind me of Jak sometimes but you'll need to be more careful from now on. I don't think that I can repair your sight."

"Just do what you can and I'll let you know what I can see." Samos nodded and he began to work on her eyes, it wasn't long before he finished, and told her to open them. Her eyelids fluttered open and there were gasps, she could see their bodies, they were all covered in shadow. "You guys look like three dimensional shadows. But I can see the floor, at least what I presume to be the floor, the table, and a few other things. But I can't really see you guys. No colors, no faces, nothing. Everything is sort of shadowed."

"I expected as much," replied Samos.

"But why the gasps?"

Torn rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away, "Your eyes are no longer amber, Mia."

"What are they?"

"They look like-" he cut himself off as he didn't want to say anything more. "Something white."

Mia had gotten the underlying tone and she smiled, "I'm honored." The men looked at her, "I feel honored to have been blessed with this gift."

Lokie asked, "How can it be a gift? You can't see Mia!"

"That may be true but now I can hear things, feel things, and smell things that I've never known before. Don't worry, I'll get used to this but don't tell anyone. I don't want others to think that I'm a burden and can't do anything. Just give me a few months and I'll meet you guys at the Naughty Ottsel."

They all nodded and it was Lokie that spoke up, "I'll come pick you up in a few months. This way we can all see your progress but what about the egg?"

"I'm going to keep it and call him Yoma. He'll be my guardian and friend, you'll see."

Torn added as he watched her get up, "Just remember that if he maims or mauls anyone in the city then you're responsible for it. I'll go ahead and inform Ashelin about the metal head in your possession but I'll leave out your..."

"Blindness."

"Yeah."

To all of their shock, Mia smiled, "Don't worry, I'll be fine." On cue she bumped her hip against the table and knocked over the chair. "Sorry...I guess I need some help. Lokie, would you?"

"Of course. I'll always help you Mia. You're my sister."

She grinned, "Thanks. Let's get out of here and begin training!" There was a bit of laughter from the other two males as Lokie wrapped his arm around Mia's arm. They walked out of the hideout and Torn noticed that Mia had her free hand wrapped tightly around her pouch that contianed the egg.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing by letting her keep that egg and by letting her train without her sight? I think we should just fire her from the Freedom League. She can't do anything," said Torn as he went to pick up the chair.

Samos shook his head, "That's not true Torn. I think this will be very good for both of us."

"What do you mean?"

"Well she has a different out look on life than most people here. I think she's the only one with it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Mia loves life even if it's a metal head one. I think her love of life will be able to help someone else we know. Someone that doesn't believe he deserves to be alive with his abilities."

"You mean Jak." Samos nodded, "But how can she help him?"

The Sage of Green Eco laughed wholeheartedly, "Torn my boy! You have so little faith. I'm sure her love of life will be able to get him out of his depression. You do realize that he believes he's a monster because of his abilities."

"You mean his abilities to channel eco?"

"No Torn. Jak can channel all eco, including dark and white eco but those two have a balance inside of him. They run in his blood now, well I'm sure if you look over the security footage of Haven City in the past few years, you'll see what I mean. I'm surprised you haven't noticed it."

"The fact that he can change into a monster or a flying blue..thing. I've noticed and he thinks he's a monster because of that?"

Samos nodded, "After all, who can love a monster?" Samos left Torn to think about the question, the leader of the Freedom League and husband of Ashelin, sat down in the chair that he had righted. The question rang through his mind and he had no idea what Jak had thought of himself even though everyone else seemed to view him as a hero. This was something new to Torn and he knew that he would need to help Jak as much as possible since he had helped Haven City so much but the question was, how could he help his friend who had done so much for the city when the hero himself believed he didn't deserve anything?