You guys really made me all warm and fuzzy inside with the reception of my last story. Although it has the least amount of hits it still has twice as many favs as my second most faved piece "A Love Unknown" and it has the most amounts of reviews. I don't care much about the numbers but I do care about all the lovely reviews I got, so thank you! It's been a pleasure to read your thoughts.

Well anyway since it was kind of fun to write a Jak & Daxter fiction and people seem to like it, I decided to give it another try. I can't promise it will be any good but I will try. I know it's a lame title and a lame summary but it's kind of hard to come up with anything good to a story that only has one chapter so far. I might change it later, we'll see.

I had a new beta for this one. I thought it could be appropriate to have a beta who are interested in these kinds of stories and who actually knows who the characters are. :) So a big thank you to sillynekorobs, make sure to read her great story "Talk to me"!

Title: After friendship

Author: Sione

Pairing: Jak/Daxter

Disclaimer: I own nothing, the characters belongs to Naughty Dog

Notes: This is eventually going to be a JakxDaxter (human) story. Please spare me any comments about the pairing, you don't have to like it but you don't have to read this story either.

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"I don't like this."

Jak could almost feel Daxter gripping the shoulder plate he was crouched on just a little bit tighter. The ottsel had been scanning the area suspiciously ever since they left the zoomer, while he of course was keeping up with his usual chatter.

They were outside Haven city to investigate some sort of cave. Torn had heard rumours about eco and there had been metal head activities spotted in the area. Jak was a bit sceptical about the eco rumours. He didn't think it would be much to see, a big cave and maybe a few metal heads to take out, but it should be a pretty uneventful mission.

Daxter didn't seem to agree.

"I'm telling you there's something creepy about this place, my ottsel senses are tingling like crazy. You can always trust the ottsel sense. If Torn is so damn interested in this place then why doesn't he check it out himself?"

"You know, we wouldn't get paid if we never actually went on the missions Dax. Think positive, at least it's not the sewers."

He knew Daxter hated that place. It was almost impossible for him to get his fur clean after being down there. And let's not talk about the stench. It was bad for Jak but for Daxter's sensitive nose it was hell. But even though he had suggested it on many occasions, Daxter refused to stay at the headquarters.

And here they were once again on one of their many missions that his friend had insisted on joining. The vast landscape surrounding them now maybe was "a big mood killer", as Daxter expressed it, but at least it didn't stink and it was fairly clean. Definitely an improvement according to Jak. Besides it was nice to get out of the city once in awhile.

"We just need to get this done." He reached up and scratched the frustrated ottsel behind his ear. "It's probably just a few metal heads then we are out of here, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah big guy but you'd better keep us alive." Daxter crossed his arms. "We're always doing Tattooed Wonder's dirty work," he muttered to himself.

"Hey, I thought you liked taking out a few metal heads," he said in attempt to lighten the mood. Jak was well aware of the fact that Daxter never really liked the missions even though he made sure to brag about them at the bar afterwards. Well, Tess did make an awful excited crowd.

"I guess, but this place just gives me the creeps. Are we even sure something is out here anyway? This seems like a strange place to be storing eco."

"I don't know but I think I'm sensing something."

"Yeah, there's definitely something strange about this place, that's for sure."

Jak took the ottsel's complaining with ease, this was just the usual ritual on their missions. Daxter complained, Jak reassured him and got the work done so they could go back home. Then Daxter could brag about it later.

But he was starting to feel a bit more apprehensive about the place when standing in front of the big black opening of the cave. A gush of cold air hit his face and blew a couple of loose strands of golden hair into his face. He must agree with Daxter, he was sensing something. Jak grasped his morph gun just a bit tighter when he entered the cave.

The cavern turned out to be bigger then he had first thought. But it was hard to determine just how big since darkness closed in around them as soon as he got a couple of steps in. He wouldn't say it to the already nervous ottsel but he wasn't so sure that he liked this mission so much anymore either. He could feel the essence of eco in the air and it unnerved him. A few metal heads he could handle, but this was something else.

He dug out of a flashlight from his backpack and let its light spread over the damp walls of the cavern but he still couldn't see an end to it. He handed the flashlight to Daxter so he could have both hands free as he ventured deeper into the darkness.

"I don't like this Jak," Daxter whined once again. Jak only nodded in reply. His senses were on high alert and he was listening intensely while trying to make out any movements in the dark. It wasn't an easy task in the weak light the flashlight offered.

"Shouldn't we call for back-up or something; we don't know what's in here."

"That's the point of us being here Dax, we're going to check it out."

The ottsel muttered something more that Jak didn't register. He was looking perplexed ahead of them. He wasn't sure if his eyes were fooled but he thought he had spotted light ahead of them. He squinted his eyes, there was definitely some kind of light in front of them.

"Oh look, they do have some light in this place," Daxter exclaimed when he also spotted it.

Their path soon widened and they entered a large dimly lit room. The roof of the cave raised high above their heads and small holes in it brought down some of the outside's burning sunlight in form of shining beams that hit the slippery cave floor. Jak took the now unnecessary flashlight from Daxter who was still struggling with the big thing in his small paws.

"Hey, it looks like the metal heads have got themselves a cosy little den in here."

Jak snorted in reply. Maybe cosy for a metal head but he wouldn't define this chilly and damp place as cosy, but at least it was spacious. Though he still couldn't be sure if this in fact was a metal head den. They hadn't met a single one of them yet which seemed odd to him, especially if this was supposed to be some sort of gathering place for them.

"I'm not sure if that is what it is. Just look at these markings." He leaned forward to study the strange symbols he had noticed covering the stonewalls. They seemed to be some sort of geometrical forms. "I don't really think metal heads would be painting on the walls."

"Psssh not likely, the day I see a metal head paint will be the day I see Torn in lace trimmed panties. C'mon, let's explore!" Daxter exclaimed and before Jak could stop him, his little ottsel friend had jumped of his shoulder.

"Stick close, and don't go too far ahead," he hissed. "We still don't know what's in here."

"Yeah, yeah, don't sweat it big guy, I'm right here." Daxter waved him off as he went to study one of the walls with the strange markings.

Jak mused over the fact that he suddenly had become the anxious one while Daxter seemed to be comforted by the fact that no metal heads had showed up so far. But he wasn't ready to put his guard down just yet. So with a still steady grip on his gun he started to explore the strange room while still making sure to keep close to Daxter.

He always felt a bit unnerved during their missions if he didn't feel the reassuring weight on his shoulder that told him that Dax was safe. Usually it wasn't a problem; Daxter was in most cases glued to his shoulder during their missions. But from time to time, he would chose to do a little exploring on his own. Jak would rather have him safe on his shoulder but didn't say anything. He knew he couldn't force his buddy to stay put on his shoulder all the time.

A small yelp from behind quickly brought him out of his thoughts. He raised his gun as he turned around but lowered it instantly when he saw what predicament Daxter had gotten himself into. A smug smile spread across his face.

"Eww, what is this stuff?" Jak watched Daxter fighting his way on to his feet again while trying to shake off some green slimy goo that he had slipped in. He wasn't very successful.

"Damn, I showered this morning, now my fur is all disgusting and full of metal head drool." He carefully sniffed himself and made a face. "That's disgusting, I even smell like a metal head. You know it's harder than you think to get this coat clean and in perfection. This mission officially sucks."

Jak couldn't help but to think the whole thing was rather amusing. "Maybe you should have stayed on my shoulder," he advised and got a glare in return. He dug out an old rag from the backpack which admittedly wasn't very clean but at least better than nothing and handed it to Daxter. "Here."

Daxter muttered a thanks before he started to rub furiously over the lower half of his body until he was satisfied with the result. He still looked rather messy but he had at least got most of the sludge off him.

"So what do you think this place is anyway?"

"I'm not sure, but it looks like it has been inhabited by metal heads at least at some point." Jak ran his gloved hand over one of the marked walls. "But with all these marking it looks like some old Precursor place."

"Who knows, those guys seemed to have been everywhere."

As they ventured deeper in to the spacious cave, Jak noticed opening in the surrounding walls and it seemed like tunnels of different sizes were connected to this larger part of the cave. He pointed it out to Daxter.

"I don't think this is the end of the cave. If you follow one of these tunnels I'll bet you could go even deeper."

"That sounds like fun," Daxter answered sarcastically. The little ottsel was busy climbing a high rock formation that was standing dangerously close to a big dark hole in the cave floor. Daxter was a pretty good climber but Jak still didn't like to see him being so close to a suspicious looking hole.

And he especially didn't like to see him leaning over it.

"Dax, get down from there!"

"Chill buddy, I'm just checking. I think I saw a light or something down there, maybe it's eco stuff."

Jak went to join him to both have a look and to make sure Daxter didn't end up falling in. But just then a clicking sound had him on high alert. He froze and tried to determine the direction of the sound.

"Jak?" Daxter must have noticed his tense posture and he worriedly looked at him. Jak shushed him and took his gun in a steady two-hand grip.

There it was again, it was coming from one of the adjoining tunnels. Daxter seemed to have heard it too because in the corner of his eye Jak saw his ears perk up. They soon got the explanation for the mysterious sound when a metal head appeared from one of the adjoining tunnels. It wasn't a very big one Jak noted, but it definitely had its goal set and ran directly towards him.

He raised his gun and fired.

The shot went right through its head and it immediately dropped dead on the ground. However it was soon followed by three more which jumped over their dead companion. 'So that's where they have been hiding,' Jak thought grimly.

He shot at the first one in line and it went down with a shriek before he looked back at the rock where he last saw Daxter, who surprisingly enough seemed to have become unusually quiet. He saw that the ottsel was making his way down from the high rock to join him. That didn't seem like such a good idea anymore. The rock was definitely a safer place for him to be on right now, a hole in the floor seemed a lot less dangerous than two vicious metal heads.

"Damnit Daxter, get back on the rock and stay there!" He shouted at the same time as he dodged a big metal head paw. The remaining two metal heads were definitely a lot bigger than the first one. And they were fast, very fast.

The short moment of inattention resulted in him being tackled to the ground by the metal head he had being trying to dodge. He groaned in pain when the heavy bulk of the metal head pressed the air out of his lungs. In the background he heard Daxter screaming his name. Luckily he still had a steady grip on his gun. He took it in both hands and jammed the broadside against the throat of the creature which got the dangerous looking teeth at a more safe distance from his face.

"Daxter just stay on the rock," he panted out between breaths but he had no idea if he was actually still there.

He hissed when the metal head managed to slash his arm and he felt the moisture of blood but the pain quickly faded. After a moment of struggle he managed to get a foot under the metal head's stomach and with a hard kick pushed it of him. He ignored his arm that now burned painfully and he quickly got to his feet. Before it had time to counter attack he aimed at it. Unfortunately it was too quick to move away and all he managed to hit was its leg which made it screech in anger and pain.

At least it gave him a moment of respite and finally he spotted Daxter again. He was still on the rock but the other metal head was doing a good job at trying to getting him down from there. It was swinging one of its heavy paws with dangerous sharp claws at the ottsel. Daxter tried to back away from the blows but the rock didn't offer much space to do so. Jak knew it would only take one hit by those powerful paws to either send Daxter tumbling down the black hole or to the cave floor were he quickly would be crushed by the metal head's paw or jaws.

Jak didn't like any of the alternatives.

He raised his gun and shot. But he missed the creature by a couple of inches when he was jostled by the injured metal head who decided to attack him again. He was tackled to the ground and this time the gun flew out his hand when he made a second visit to the cold hard floor. He grunted as his shoulder painfully met the hard stone surface. When coming over the first sensation of pain he growled, angry at missing his target.

A faint cry of his name reached his ears then a scream.

Daxter.

He struggled wildly against the heavy creature on top of him. He needed to get up now. He felt the dark eco building up in him along with his anger. Daxter was in danger, he had to save him and this damn metal head was in his way.

It was going to die.

With a roar he let the dark eco take control over him and he hardly noticed the pain when the horn grew out from his skull. It didn't matter, pain was a trivial thing. When his black claws emerged Jak slashed them through the throat of the metal head on top of him. Blood poured down on him but he didn't even notice it.

That was when he heard another shrill scream echo in the cave. This time it was full of pain.

Filled with dread Jak pushed the limp body off him. He felt that the dark eco was already starting to retreat from his system. The burning anger it fed from was giving away to cold fear. His breath was ragged and he now felt that his arm throbbed even more painfully than before. A raw scream left his lips when the horn grew back into his head. His heart was beating wildly in his chest as he got to his feet and spotted the last metal head alive. It was still standing by the rock formation staring down the black hole but there was no Daxter. It turned its ugly head towards him and seemed to decide he could replace its lost prey.

Jak didn't think he had enough dark eco to kill it with his bare hands even if it was tempting. He could feel that his claws were already retreating so with fumbling motion he grabbed his gun from the floor and shot it before it even got a chance to attack. He stared numbly at it for a moment as it slid to the floor. The complete silence that followed was deafening.

He shook his head to bring himself out of his daze. Daxter, he needed to find Daxter.

'Since I didn't find any limp ottsel body he must have fell down the hole, right?' He tried to ignore the horrible thought that he actually could have been eaten by the metal head. He fell on his knees and peered down the big opening in the ground. He wished he could tell how deep it was.

"Daxter, Daxter!" he shouted but his echo was the only answer he got.

'He can't be dead, he just can't be.' Jak thought with rising horror. He heard him scream after all, that must mean he's alive. He must be down there, maybe he's just unconscious.

He needed a rope.

Daxter groaned when his conscious slowly returned to him. He knew this mission had been a bad idea from the start, it was just bound to go wrong. To fall down a mysterious big black hole was not his idea of a fun time after all. And let's not forget the big metal head paw that hit him in the chest and made him loose his balance in the first place. His ribs stilled ached from that blow, but that was definitely not the only thing that ached, he noticed.

Come to think about it, shouldn't he be dead? The memories were still a bit fuzzy but he tried to make some sense to the situation. He remembered that he fell but not for very long. Then he hit stone, it must have been a protruding shelf and it had hurt like hell. Soft ottsel body was not meant for making violent contact with hard stone, it just wasn't a good combination.

He could feel that he was still lying on cold stone but he knew that he wasn't on the shelf anymore. Before he had time to recover from the fall he was already rolling of it. But after that it got really fuzzy. He fell once more but for a much longer time than the first time. He remembered pain, he thought he must have screamed. But it was not the same pain as when he hit the stone shelf. He didn't think he landed on anything hard at all actually, but it burned and it was almost just as unpleasant as hitting the stone floor only in a different way.

Maybe he fell down in a sea of nettles but could nettles grow in caves? Whatever it was it must at least have dampened his fall since he was still alive even if he didn't feel so great at the moment. He was cold and every damn part of his body ached, this really wasn't his day.

Where was Jak by the way?

Jak!

Reality slammed in on Daxter and it was the thought of his big buddy that finally made him force his eyes open. The last time he saw him he had a big ugly looking metal head on top of him. That alarming thought made him momentarily forget about his miserable state and he tried to sit up.

"Try" was definitely the right definition for it because it wasn't a very successful attempt.

"What the…" He muttered and rolled over to his stomach so he could use all four paws to get to his feet.

The only problem was that he didn't have any paws.

Daxter's eyes widened when he stared down at two pale and very hairless hands lying in front of him on the cold ground. He raised himself up on his elbows and held out his hands in the faint light. He shakily flexed his fingers while drawing in a ragged breath. Hands, nice soft hands and not small hairy paws.

'This is a dream, I hit my head too hard, didn't I?' He pinched his arm.

"Oww, that hurt!"

"Daxter, are you down there?!"

His head snapped up so fast at the familiar voice that he heard his neck crack painfully.

"Jak!" He cried out happily.

Of course a few metal head couldn't take out his Jak. He should never have doubted the big guy.

"Are you ok?"

He looked down at what he now saw was his naked body, well that would explain why he felt so cold. "Ehh, kind of..."

"I'm on my way down, just stay where you are."

"Yeah, like I could go anywhere," he muttered.

TBC

Reviews are always encouraging! I'll try to get the next chapter out pretty soon.