A/N - Hello there and welcome to this little story. This plot bunny popped up in my mind one day while listening to "Scorn Not His Simplicity", which I recommend you listen to when you read the story, or the next chapter, anyway!! The chapters are going to be short, I think, but if I get some reviews perhaps they will be longer!! Anyway, enjoy it,

Warnings - JakxTorn-pairing, which obviously means it's slash!! Insults and perhaps a curse or two as well, so be aware!! Come ON, it's taking place in Haven City, did you expect courtesies from everyone??

Disclaimer - (sighs deeply) Naughty Dog owns these fantastic characters, I just pretend to and borrow them for feeding my plot bunnies!! o.O

Summary - Torn doesn't think much of Jak; he merely sees him as a useful tool to break the Baron's control of Haven City. But then one night Jak is gone and Daxter is insisting on that Torn should go looking with him for the once-prisoner. Torn grudginly agrees and gradually comes to ask himself the question - IS there more to Jak than meets the eye, even when you know about his dark side??

Chapter 1 - Missing

The quarters of the Underground he was using were always buzzing with activity, or so it seemed to Torn as he paced back and forth behind his desk late at night, alone for once. Either the Shadow was here to talk with him about the strategy for overthrowing the Baron or giving him news, which was rare these days, or Tess would come in to claim her money for the information she had from working at Hip Hog Saloon, or one of his men was giving him updates on what happened. Most often though, the ones who would interrupt him was one dark eco experiment hero and his orange, big-mouthed sidekick.

Torn growled at the mere thought of that irritating fur ball with the smart comments and the quick insults. Some times all he really wanted to do was to grab that thin neck and see how big a crack he would get out of it when he broke it.

He always kept from doing it, barely. More often than not the reason would solely be because he knew how much Jak cared about his fuzzy little friend. Mar know why, but the kid actually seemed to appreciate having Daxter with him on the missions, even though the rat did little else than clinging to Jak's shoulder all the time and shouting comments, and Torn needed Jak. He needed him for the difficult missions, as it was only the former prisoner who would do that sort of dangerous things.

He went back to studying his maps over the city and drawing plans for the next missions that he was going to send Jak on. Luckily for him Krew sent the duo on a lot of missions for him as well, so Torn wasn't burdened with them coming barging in all the time.

Speaking of the devil, the little orange sidekick and his quiet, but very angry and dangerous friend came walking through the door. Daxter jumped off Jak's shoulder as soon as he spotted Torn.

"Hey, Tattooed Wonder," he called, using his favourite nickname for the second-in-command, who instantly sneered. "Did ya miss us? Looks like you've been busy. What you're working on? Oooh, that looks inter-"

The ottsel was cut short when a gloved hand covered his mouth and another grabbed him by the scruff. "Shut it, Dax, I don't want to go on a mission right now and I definitely don't want to watch you two fight again. I think I've seen plenty of things blow up for one day. Now, let's go and find somewhere to sleep in this place that isn't totally filled with filth and flees." With that he walked towards on of the big posters, ducked under it and through the door that it hid from view.

Torn looked at where the two had disappeared and couldn't help blinking twice in astonishment. That was one of the largest speaks he had ever heard Jak give. Not that when the green-blond did talk it was nice words that came out of his mouth. Torn didn't know how Jak had been before he was captured – and truth be told, he didn't really give a damn about it – but now he certainly was a man that was bent on getting his vengeance over the Baron. Not that the ex-KG blamed him; he himself had a great, well known hatred for the so-called 'protector' of Haven City and he wasn't the one who had spent two years as one of the Baron's little experiments, and now had to deal with the consequences of that.

Torn looked at his maps once more and yawned. He had been working for three days straight without any sleep and he was beginning to feel the effects of it. His eyes were so fogged with sleep that he could barely make out his own scribbling even though he was standing a mere metre away from the desk.

Sleepily he ran a hand through his dreadlocks before he made his way to his bed, taking off his clothes as he went. Now wearing nothing but his black boxers and the red scarf around his neck, which he never took off, he slipped under the covers and curled up into a ball. Not that he was cuddling at all, he was just trying to protect his vital areas if he should get attacked in the middle of the night. As if the second-in-command of the City's resistance movement would be doing something like that.

There was something on his chest. Torn thought it was only a trick of his sleepy mind and body, so he ignored it and tried to get back to sleep. But the illusion didn't want to be dispelled like that. In fact it wanted his attention and it wanted it now, so it started jumping up and down, hitting his ribcage and midriff rather hard each time it made contact.

The ex-KG wakened fully at that point and choked in an effort to get some air back into his lungs. He opened one heavy eyelid to see what or who was so intent on deriving him of his well-earned sleep and somehow he found the breath to groan when he could make out an orange and yellow face and a pair of goggles.

"Get off of me, rat," Torn growled as he tried to get his arm around so that he could grab Daxter by the scruff and throw him to the floor. Hard. If there was anything Torn hated more than the Baron it was being waken up when he was still tired. That the one to wake him up was Daxter, by using him as a jump-pad no less, didn't exactly make things better.

The sidekick in question jumped out of reach of the arm and landed squarely on Torn's chest, his furry face coming very close to the other's. "Don't think so, Sleeping Beauty. Now get your sourly ass up from there an' get movin'. We're in a hurry!"

"Why should I do that? Why should I take orders from a talking furball?" Torn asked, leaning back into his mattress and pillows. "Go annoy that mute friend of yours and leave me alone!"

Daxter, who had been just about to hop off of Torn and land on the floor, turned back to face him. "First of all, Tattooed Wonder, he is NOT mute anymore, thanks to the Baron, and second of all, I'd love to, since he is much more fun than you, but he's missin' and now we're gonna go find him!"

Torn barked out a laugh. "The whereabouts of your friend is none of my concern. Now get the hell out of here before I tear that orange fur from your body – without killing you first." Again Torn tried to get the ottsel off his chest, but to no avail.

"Oh, yeah? Well, if it wasn't for us ya wouldn't have anyone who would go on your nice little suicide-missions, so my suggestion is you get dressed faster than a yakow on fire running down to the water and we go looking for Jak. I think he's been missing for a couple of hours." Daxter's face assumed a thoughtful expression at that point, which looked rather weird on his fuzzy features.

Grudgingly Torn got up and started to dress. "You think so? Some poor friend you are if it has taken you hours to find out your buddy was missing!"

The former Krimzon Guard-member had expected Daxter to insult him at that point, since that was what he usually did. But the sidekick merely shook his head with a sad smile, which caught Torn slightly off-guard. "Jak has been going on little nightly trips for as long as I can remember, and he wants to be alone when he does so. He usually comes back within a couple of hours, so I really don't think about it too much." The ottsel looked at Torn again, a most unusual expression on his face and one that shocked the elf. Worry and sadness mingled together. "But tonight he hasn't come back and it's got me worried."

Daxter jumped up on Torn's shoulder once he was done getting dressed. "Well, he could be out hunting for babes, but I doubt it. After all, he doesn't have my fuzzy charm, which the ladies love." Dax tried one of his lop-sided grins when he said it, but he couldn't quite pull it off, showing how much he really cared about his friend.

Torn looked funny at him, then shook his head. It definitely wasn't his problem what the kid was running around doing, even if it was in the middle of the night, and he really didn't care, either, as long as he was still able to do the missions. Not that Torn was an altogether cold and cruel person, he was just a very practical being.

"Okay, rat, tell me where we're going," he said, taking his gun down from the wall where it hang hidden behind the zoomer. "But you better find his location fast, or else you'll be looking on your own." Torn knew the threat was nowhere near powerful, but he was too tired to actually care.

TBC

A/N - So, what do you think? Good? Bad? Boring? Crappy? I know the threats and insults aren't of the highest quality, but even though I've played the game a lot and know how Daxter behave, I don't go around insulting people myself on a daily basis, so I had to just try and hope for the best!! Leave a review on your way out, please?? I need your response BADLY, so I can improve and go on with the story!! PLEEASE (falls to her knees with big puppy eyes) - I know I'm begging, but people haven't left very many reviews at my other fics, so I'm getting desperate here!! :'(