Hi, everybody! This is my first attempt at making a story based on a song, otherwise known as a song fic. I came up with it while listening to "Time After Time", a song by Cyndi Lauper. I felt that the lyrics could easily describe what both Jak and Daxter were feeling. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to leave a review.
Oh, and don't forget to read my new Jak and Daxter story. It's pretty interesting and... Well, I'll just let you see it for yourself. For now, though, enjoy this story.
A Hero's Savior
"Boy, isn't it great to finally have a chance to be lazy after going nuts everyday?" Daxter asked as he gave out a loud sigh of contentment. "I'm telling you, it's about time that we got to have a nice relaxing moment with each other. I mean, it's been days since we've been able to take a break from killing Metal Heads and taking care of the stupid KG Robots on the loose."
"Yeah, you're right," Torn's rough and raspy voice agreed as he lifted his glass to his lips and took a sip from it. "It is great to just kick back and enjoy a well-deserved break from this whole war business. It sure does take a lot out of a man, especially on the person who has to make sure everything goes according to plan, which is to say me," he added in a very proud voice. "Although, tonight would be even better if you weren't in this picture perfect moment and spoiling it with your loud obnoxious voice, you annoying little orange ball of fur."
"Hey, I resent that, you tattooed freak!" the small Ottsel exclaimed angrily as he shook his glass at the man, causing him to spill some of the amber liquid in it. "I deserve the right to be drinking with you guys. After all, I did as much of the work as Jak did on all the crazy missions you've put us through. Don't forget that I also happen to own this wonderful bar and the liquor that's in it; my beloved Naughty Ottsel."
"Of course you do," the man stated with a sarcastic edge in his tone. "Being that you're the owner of this place, you do have the right to have a drink or two with your customers while shooting the breeze. However, I don't think patronizing your customers is a part of your job description. That and I don't think that having orange rats serving patrons drinks is highly sanitary."
"…I ought to kick you out for saying that, you know?" he threatened the man half-heartedly as he lazily took a bottle on the table and refilled his glass with more of the amber liquor. "I don't go around bugging people in here. I just bring a spark to their table when they need it. Isn't that what I do, Jak?"
The third person sitting at the table, Jak, had been quiet for the whole of the conversation as he stared blankly into his glass filled with some kind of clear liquor, which seemed to have been untouched for the most part. It seemed as though he was busy contemplating things within his own little world and had little to no regard for what was going on around him. It was only when the small furry animal had called out to him did he snap his head up and stare at the small blue eyes.
"Uh, sorry Dax; what did you say?" the blond questioned as he felt his mind quickly return to the real world, so quickly that he caught a mini headache because of it. Pinching the bridge of his nose to stifle it down, he said, "I didn't really hear what you said."
"I can see that, big guy," Daxter stated with a raised eyebrow at his best friend's rather strange behavior before letting it quickly disappear. "I was asking you whether or not you thought that I bugged the people who come here for a drink. Old Tattooed Wonder here is saying that I tend to drive people nuts and won't give them a moment of privacy."
"I suggest that you stop trying to twist my words around and making them sound worse," Torn said with a slight growl accompanying his already raspy tone. "If I were someone else, I would have easily have you killed for doing that. Be happy I'm not that kind of person."
"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" the orange Ottsel asked as if he were trying to further patronize the man. "Well, I guess in your own twisted mind, that's how it was supposed to have sounded. Well, let me give you some news mister; it didn't work. In fact, it kind of makes me feel even more irked at you for saying that."
"I'm sorry you feel that way. To be quite honest with you, though, I could hardly care less about how you feel. All I came here for was to have a drink with one of my best men in the entire Underground Army and acknowledge how great of a warrior he was and still is to our cause."
Before the small animal could get in another complaint, Torn quickly finished what was left of his glass and placed it hard on the table, not so much so that it would break, only so that it was loud enough to shut him up. He then stood up and threw a few bills on the table for his portion of the drinks before making his way out the door.
"Thanks again for all your help and hard work, Jak," the tattooed man thanked the blond with a quick wave behind his back before he pushed the door open. "You really don't know how much you've help us these past few months. If there's anybody who truly appreciates all the things you've done for this city, it's me."
Jak just tilted his head slightly at the former KG commander and gave off a small grunt in acknowledgement before turning his attention back to his drink, which still seemed to have been untouched by his lips. The door then opened and the man left without saying another word.
"Well, at least he was nice enough to pay for his share of the drinks before he left," the animal stated as he picked up the money and left to take it to Tess, who was busy manning the bar station. It was near closing time, so there were not a lot of customers inside the bar itself and she was practically just cleaning up the stray glass cups the people left behind.
When he came back, he made his place on the table next to the still preoccupied Jak. "Are you alright, buddy?" he asked with concern lacing his voice. "You haven't been yourself all night. You're a lot quieter than normal, and it's kind of hard for me to read you. What's on your mind?"
"Huh?" the blond replied dumbly as he looked up and once again locked his eyes with the Ottsel's. They were completely blank and he could not read anything from them like he normally was able to do. "Oh, uh, nothing Dax. I'm just thinking of a few things right now."
"Like what? Why don't you tell me about it?" he asked as he tried to motivate Jak into telling whatever it was that was bothering him. After all, he was always more than willing to listen to whatever it was he had to say, even if it had to do with something sad or morbid or anything else along those lines. "Maybe I can help you with whatever's keeping that mind of yours busy. I am a pretty good listener when it comes to you and your problems, you know?"
"Yeah right," Jak's eyes said as they showed the slightest smile his lips refused to show. That, however, quickly disappeared and the empty gaze dominated his eyes once again. "I don't think you can help me with this. Actually, I don't think anybody can. I don't want anybody to be dragged into my personal problems; you especially Dax. It's not that I don't want your help, I just…don't want to burden you with problems that are meant only for me."
At this remark, Daxter was shocked into silence. He definitely was not expecting this answer from his best buddy. Sure, he knew that Jak had some inner demons that he had been trying to conquer ever since they were reunited a year or so ago after being separated for a little over two years. He had always confided to the Ottsel whatever it was that was bothering him, be it something completely stupid or real serious; he always told him about how he felt and knew that he was more than willing to listen when nobody else wanted to. So to be shot down like this while he was lending his ear yet again to his best friend's woes was pretty shocking.
"B-but Jak," he whispered softly, so softly that he himself hardly heard what he was saying. "What are you talking about? How can you already know that I can't help you with whatever it is that's bugging you if you don't even talk to me about it first? How do you know that you'll just be burdening me instead of giving me a chance to help you? You'll never know for sure until you try."
"…I'm sorry, Dax," the blond apologized with a rather resigned sigh as he broke his eye contact with Daxter. "These are problems I've been having with myself ever since I escaped the Baron's prison last year. I can't even find a way to tackle them, much less get over them; so I doubt that having you listen in on it would be of much help. I'm really sorry…"
Upon hearing this, the Ottsel felt his heart practically sink into his stomach. He never expected that his best buddy had problems that were this bad to the point where he felt that nobody, not even himself, could fix it. He never saw him looked so resigned and ready to give up in his entire life as he did right now. He was always the strong one of the two and was always ready to take on whatever came their way. He never gave up on anything, no matter how impossible it seemed. It was therefore very surprising at how he seemingly easily gave up on whatever was bothering him and just allowing it to eat away at him from the inside out.
They both sat in silence, both in shock and resignation, for a few seconds. It was enough to make one emotionally numb. Jak would sometimes give out the occasional sigh, but they sounded rather depressing and just added to the tense silence between them. Daxter was busy trying to shuffle around the thing he just heard the blond admit to and was trying to find a way to help him.
Even though his best bud had told him that there was no way for him to be helped on whatever was bugging him, the Ottsel knew that he needed to try his hand at it. For one thing, he said that he had tried everything he could to fix his problems. He never said anything about having other people trying to help him along the way.
The second, and probably most important thing, was that they were the best of friends. Best friends always tried to help each other out, no matter how hopeless or impossible something may seem. Jak might have thought his inner demons were impossible to cure, but Dax thought otherwise and was not going to rest until he found a way to have the blond open up to him about it.
Just then, the orange Ottsel's eyes caught Tess moving away from behind the counter and towards the back of the public area of the bar. He also saw that she had a coin in her hand, so he could wager a pretty good guess as to what she was going to do. She was going to activate an old Jukebox that they kept in a bright corner so other patrons could play any kind of song whenever they felt like it.
Before she was about to reach the machine, though, she turned around and faced his and Jak's table. She made eye contact with him, indicating that she was trying to convey something to him. Jak was oblivious to this as he was still wallowing in the sadness that no doubt dominated his heart every second he was awake.
"Sing this song to him," she mouthed with a small smile. Apparently, she managed to hear most, if not all, of what they were discussing. It was not much of a surprise; they were kind of talking a bit louder than usual and anybody that was inside could have heard them. "It might help him to open up to you."
He raised a questioning eyebrow at the woman, but it was unseen as she turned around and placed the coin into the Jukebox. A few seconds later of her visibly shifting through the available music in it, she pressed a couple of buttons before turning back around to face him.
"Tess, what are you thinking?" Daxter asked as he hopped off of the table and started to walk towards her. However, she motioned for him to stop and he did so, not without giving her another questioning eyebrow that she saw this time around. She simply smiled in response.
"This is a song you said the both of you knew," she stated as the warm smile never left her lips. "They say that music is one of the best ways to try and get through to someone who's suffering. Use it to tell him that you really want to help him. I'm sure it'll work."
Before he could even inquire as to what she was talking about, the music started to softly play from the Jukebox. When the first few note left the box, he automatically memorized the tune and knew what song was being played. The woman simply nodded at his realization and the Ottsel understood what he was going to do now.
After taking a deep breath, he prepared himself to sing the song that he desperately hoped would help Jak to open up to him. He then started to sing in tune with the melody; the words did not come with it because Tess made sure to press the button that would prevent it from doing so. Even though the lyrics were not his, they were going to be sung by only him with his heart behind every word.
Lying in my bed
I hear the clock ticking
I think of you
Caught up in circles
Confusion
It's nothing new
Daxter felt pretty embarrassed about singing inside his own bar where people other than Tess and Jak were sitting around inside and kept his back towards his friend. Even though there was really only one unfamiliar face inside with them that was listening to him practically sing his heart out to the blond, he still felt genuinely scared. He quickly swallowed his nerves, though, and continued to sing the song provided to him by the woman. After all, it might have been the only way to help Jak and he was certainly not going to botch this chance.
He did not see through his thick nerves the blonde's head lift up ever so slightly once he heard him singing the song that was familiar to him. He also did not see the blue eyes that lit up a bit and momentarily reflect the pain that was coursing throughout his body at that moment.
Flashback to warm nights
Almost left behind
Suitcase of memories
Time after…
Suddenly, the sound of a chair scooting back stopped him and he turned around to see who was getting up. Almost immediately, he heard another person picking up right where he left off, not missing a single beat as he did so. Once his eyes rested on the person, he was surprised at who it was. It was Jak; he had gotten up from his seat and was not only looking at him with eyes filled with the slightest ounce of expression, he was also singing along with him. It was almost as if his nerves melted away at that point and he felt empowered to continue on with this.
Sometimes you'll picture me
I'm walking too far ahead
You're calling to me
I can't hear what you've said
Almost as quickly as he had started to sing along, Jak had turned his gaze away from Daxter. It was not because it was out of embarrassment; he was the last person you would think to be embarrassed about anything. It was more like a symbol that he was starting to withdraw back into his emotional shell after managing to crawl an inch out of it. He did not stop singing, though; a sign that he was probably debating whether or not to start opening up to the little guy.
Then you say go slow
I'm falling behind
The second hand unwinds
Daxter then jumped back onto the table and locked his eyes onto Jak's. The movement was somewhat sudden and caused the blond to clam up, thus stopping his singing in his tracks. He seemed ready to withdraw within himself again, but the Ottsel refused to let him do so.
He picked up the lyrics without missing a single beat, just as the blond had done earlier. He placed his heart into the next set of lyrics that he was sure would reflect how he felt at that moment. He also made sure that he kept eye contact with the teen (Jak was leaning on the table and kept turning his head so as to refrain from meeting his gaze) so that he could see the truthfulness reflecting off of his small blue eyes. He was going to make sure he saw it; even if Jak did not want to see it for himself right now, he was going to make him see it.
If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting
Time after time
If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you and oh I'll be waiting
Time after time
As the song entered a short rest period where lyrics were nonexistent, Jak quickly took his hands off of the table and stood upright. He then turned around and started to walk a couple of paces away. He was stopped, however, when he sensed Daxter's eyes boring into his back and trying to tell him something.
"Let me help you Jak," the blond felt the question being stated and the gaze that no doubt followed it burning into his back. He did not bother turning around to face the Ottsel; he just stopped in his tracks and had his gaze towards the wooden floor. "Don't just walk away from me. Give me a chance to help you out with your problems. You don't have to deal with them all on your own."
Jak only gave out a heavy sigh as his response. At least it did not sound so resigned as it did before they started singing, so it was a small step in the right direction. It was a sign that he was starting to open up, yet at the same time, showing that he was still not ready to fully disclose the demons within his heart. He, instead, chose to continue singing the next part of the song.
After my picture fades
And darkness has turned to gray
Watching through windows
You're wondering if I'm okay
He turned his head a bit in a way that it looked almost as though he were trying to look over his shoulder. If his eyes were not focused on something else other than the small Ottsel behind him, that was what he could have been mistaken of doing. Daxter clearly saw this and figured that it was Jak's way of unconsciously reaching out to him. He figured that if he was ever going to get through to him tonight, now was his best chance to do so.
Secrets stolen from deep inside
He then joined his voice with the blond on the next line. They momentarily merged together, sounding as if they were just one clear voice, and seemed to be conveying two differing feelings that complimented each other. One sounded as though he was displaying what he was feeling; the other sounded like he was portraying understanding.
The drum beats out of time
The blond immediately stopped singing upon hearing the tone Daxter sung the last line in. It was a surprise to him to hear how his tone sounded so supportive and understanding at the same time. Whether he knew it or not, it gave him a big boost of hope and quickly dissipated some of the dark clouds hovering over his heart. The Ottsel clearly saw this happening inside his eyes and continued on, pouring out more emotional strength and support into his singing as he jumped down from the table and approached his best friend.
If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting
Time after time
Jak then turned completely around and faced Daxter eye to eye. The Ottsel almost had a sort of pleading look on his face; whereas the blonde's was a bad mixture of both turmoil and uncertainty. Even a person who was not familiar with the two could easily read what was being reflected off of these facial expressions. Hell, even a child could read it as if they were reading an easy children's book.
"Stop trying to push me away from you," Daxter pleaded with his entire body as it seemingly slumped downwards in ever the slightest. His eyes also seemed to started to shimmer around the edges a bit, no doubt a result of feeling so desperate and putting so much emotion behind every word radiating off of his body. "We've always been able to deal with things together. Why should this be any different now? You know I'm always there to help you."
Upon seeing his best friend practically begging for him to open up, a move that he never saw him do before, the blond felt every dark shroud that had been surrounding his heart all this time quickly melting away. It was such a sudden change for him; he could not help but to fall to his knees in absolute relief, although it looked anything but that to the other bystanders; Dax included.
"You're right Dax," Jak indicated with a smile; a real genuine smile that had not graced his lips for only the Precursors knew how long and completely reassured the Ottsel. "This shouldn't be any different. You've always been able to help me with anything; you can help me out on this, too."
When he saw those words being said to him, Daxter was completely blown away. Not only was this the first time since forever since he saw Jak smile a genuine smile; this was also the first time he heard him actually acknowledge that he could actually help him out. It was practically like a dream come true.
Of course, he was in too much shock at the moment to do much of anything. The blond simply gave a small chuckle at this before he decided to finish up the song with a big smile. After all, they already came this far emotionally with this one song; it seemed only right that he at least finished it.
You say go slow
I'm falling behind
The second hand unwinds
Daxter had finally managed to regain some of his senses. With a dopey-looking smile on his face, he sang along with Jak, determined to finish it along with him and therefore marking a new chapter in their friendship, a chapter separate from all this crazy action and drama.
If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting
Time after time
During the middle of the duet, the blond brought his hand out in front of the small orange Ottsel. Without giving it a second thought, he gladly took it with his own furry hand and gripped it tightly. Then without much warning, Jak pulled Daxter off the ground, bringing out a small squeak of surprise from him. He then placed him neatly on his right shoulder and allowed him to adjust to the sudden change as he sang the second-to-last line of the song with a great light feeling of happiness behind it.
If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
As Daxter was almost readjusted to the new footing, he brought his right hand in front of him where Jak could see it and gave him a thumbs-up; his way of saying that he would always be there for him. And as if to back up that claim, he sang the last line by himself with that same silly smile.
If you fall I will catch you and oh I'll be waiting
Time after time
As the words "time after time" were echoed at the very end of the song, Jak and Daxter looked at each other with smiles on their faces. The Ottsel's was that of happiness and achievement at what he managed to accomplish; the blonde's was that of reassurance and relief that he had such a tenacious and supportive friend. Two totally different smiles, both reflecting their personal achievements.
Tess was standing behind the bar counter again, watching the two people she came to know during the war grow closer together like no other pair she had ever seen before while wiping down the counter with a rag dipped in a bleach solution. It was such a wonderful scene; she could not help the big smile that grew across her lips as she saw the two convey to each other many things simply through their eyes. She may have not known what they were saying, but she could take a guess as to what it was. Then again, she also knew that it was not her place to know that, so she simply continued to smile for what they had each accomplished tonight.
As for the other person that happened to be inside the bar during this whole heartfelt moment of singing, he was so drunk that he only stayed awake for less than half of it. Even from that half, he was too wasted to even comprehend what was going on; so this whole once embarrassing, but very enlightening scene was kept between the three sober people.
"I'm always going to be here for you, Jak," Daxter whispered as the jukebox became silent once more. "It's going to take a lot more than just shoving me away to keep me away from you. Actually, nothing can keep me away from you. After all, we're the best of friends, and the best of friends always help each other out as best as they can and even more."
"You can't be more right on that, Dax," Jak admitted with a quick nod of his head. He then had a slightly sad look on his face as his ecstatic demeanor fell a bit. "Uh, I'm sorry for trying to push you away all this time. I was just…, I mean, I didn't want you to be tangled up in own personal problems and feel burdened by them. I just wanted to keep you away from all of that so that only I would be carrying the burden. I see now that I don't have to handle it all on my own. I can…, No, I do need your help; more than ever this time around actually. And I really mean it this time."
"Aww, are you starting to get all mushy on me, tough guy?" the Ottsel teased as he lightly patted the shoulder he was perched on. "That definitely isn't like you. But in all seriousness, I'm always here to help you whenever you need it. If you need me to help you with something, just look for me. Even if it's just to have an open ear to whatever it is that's bugging you, I'll be free to help anytime. Don't you dare forget about that this time, alright?"
"Don't worry; I won't," the blond smiled back as he scratched the back of Daxter's ear in a tender and loving way. "I'll always keep that in mind. Besides, I don't think I'll be able to forget that since you're always practically on one of my shoulders and screaming in my ear. It's kind of hard to forget something like that with a constant screaming reminder on my shoulder."
"You better believe it pal! I'm like a sticky piece of gum that gets stuck under your shoe. You can't get rid of me no matter how hard you try or how much you might hate me, which is practically never, by the way. I mean, how can you hate such a small, cuddly orange Ottsel like me? You can shoot me dead and feed me to the Krimson Guard robots if you can find even one sane person in this city that doesn't like me and really wishes me out of their life.
"Anyway, are you going to tell me what's eating at you, Jak?" Daxter asked as he jumped off of the shoulder and landed on the wooden floor of the bar. He then turned around to face the blond, the boyish smile that made him who he was still plastered on his face. "I didn't make myself go through what I consider to be public humiliation just to have you stay clammed up within yourself. I put my image and reputation on the line for you tonight."
"Hey, you put nothing of yours on the line tonight; I can guarantee that," Jak stated as he bent down and ruffled the top of the animal's head, which earned him a small pure of contentment. "All you did was put yourself in the front lines of my personal battles and helped me to find myself. You put me before yourself, and that's something that I won't forget in a million years.
"Now, in regards to me telling you my ever so wonderful woes locked deep within the once dark caverns of my heart," the blond added in a playfully sarcastic tone with a playful smirk at his best friend, "I think that you're going to have to wait until we get home. I rather we talked about this where we can have some privacy; our place is where there's only going to be the two of us. I don't like it when people other than you know about all my personal stuff, you know what I mean?"
"So you're going to keep me in the dark for another hour or so, huh?" the Ottsel asked as he gave out an overdramatic sigh of annoyance. "Oh well, I've waited over a year to get this far emotionally with you. I suppose I can wait a couple more hours. Besides, I don't think Tess'll let me leave without at least pulling my end of the cleaning here. I'll go and see what she needs help on. You stay right there, big guy. Orange Lightning will be back with you before you know it."
At this remark, Jak could not help but laugh at the Ottsel's comment. It was not a laugh of scorn or even a chuckle that was normally paired with a rather aggressive smirk; it was a genuine laugh that had not left his lips for the past three or so years. It felt great for the blond to actually laugh a real laugh; it sounded even better to the small animal's ears as he approached the bar area, a bright smile on his face and his ears perked straight up.
He was proud at what he managed to accomplish tonight, with the help of Tess, of course. Not only did he managed to get his friend to fully open his heart up to him, something he had been trying ever since he busted him out of prison, but he also got him to laugh and smile in the same way he used to before they got sent to this no-good Hell of a city. This was no doubt the greatest accomplishment of his life and one of his shining moments. After all, he managed to dig up his old Jak from the dark reaches of his heart and bring him back to life.
Sure, the scars of the past would dampen it away from time to time, but there was no way those dark scars would ever push it so far away again; not with Daxter fighting alongside the blond at the front lines of his emotional turmoil. So long as he was with him, he would be damned before he allowed his best bud to be lost within the maze of his heart again. It took him forever to get him out of there, and he was determined to not spend another forever looking for the same thing again in the same place. He'll stick by him through thick and thin and make sure that never happens again so long as the both of them are together and alive.
I hope you enjoyed it. For those of you who choose to listen to the song while reading the story, the descriptive parts in-between parts of the lyrics where there is no pause are meant to happen in a split second. They're just basic actions that take place while Jak and Daxter are singing the song without missing a beat. Once again, I hope you liked it. Please leave a review and tell me how I did on my first song fic.
And don't forget to go and read my other Jak and Daxter story; "Jak and Daxter: The Altered Journey"!