Tess was sitting in Torn's seat.

Technically, it was hers now, but she felt like he was going to walk in any minute now and ask her what she was doing there. Once, a few months after joining the Underground, she'd actually tried on his armor-his boots and greaves and pauldrons. He hadn't caught her playing pretend then, but she felt like she was doing the same thing now. His boots would always be too big for her to fill.

Daxter was curled up in her lap, asleep-he and Jak had just returned from a mission to liberate some agents from a compromised safehouse. She stroked his fur absently while she examined reports from one of their people stationed in the palace.

The Dark Warrior Project had continued without Jak, but hadn't achieved any success. Prisoners-some of them former Underground agents or sympathizers-were being brought in as test subjects, and Praxis was going through them fast.

Praxis was keeping the war with the metalheads going on purpose. Jak had found out that much, and that he was supplying them with eco. To stop the project, Tess reasoned, she'd have to cut the Baron's eco supply. But cutting the supply also meant removing his bargaining chip with the metalheads, who would likely attack the city en masse.

Removing Praxis directly-even if it could be managed-would also shut down the alliance with the metalheads, leading to outright war with them. And if that happened, Tess doubted the city would survive. The KG were Haven's police and military both, and were the only force that could possibly stop the full force of the metalheads. Would they be able and willing to respond if their leader was murdered?

"Probably not," Tess murmured, putting her face in her hands.

What was she going to do? What were they going to do?

A soft touch on her arm broke her out of her thoughts. Jak was leaning against the desk frowning down at her.

"You should get some sleep," he said, quietly, so as not to wake Daxter. "It looks like you're not getting anywhere right now."

"I can't. There's too much to do."

"You sound like Torn," he said, managing a weak smile.

"I do, don't I?" she replied, smiling back. "I feel like I'm turning into my father, or something."

That got a chuckle out of Jak. "Good thing he's not around to hear you say that. I can just picture the look on his face."

Tess giggled. She could, too.

Jak offered his hand. "Come on. You and Daxter both need your beauty sleep."

"Well, we can't help it that we're not as pretty as you are, Jak," she replied.

Jak smirked. "No one can help that."

Tess was so startled that she laughed loudly enough to wake Daxter, who jumped out of her lap and on to the desk.

"I wasn't ready for that," she said through her laughter.

"You weren't ready for what, babe?" Daxter asked, looking back and forth between the two blondes.

"Jak to admit how pretty he is."

"What?"

"She's delirious; don't believe her," Jak said, though he was smiling. "Now, both of you need to go and sleep."

"C'mon, Daxxie," Tess said, rising and stretching. "Let's get some shut-eye."

Daxter eyed Jak suspiciously, even as the ottsel hopped onto Tess' shoulder. "I am totally gonna figure out what you said to make her laugh like that, just you wait."

Jak shook his head. "I'll stay out here and hold down the fort while you guys rest. Tess, if anything critical comes up, I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Jak," she said, giving him a genuine smile. "See you in the morning."

When Tess actually woke the next morning and had gotten some coffee, she found Jak still poring over mission reports.

"Anything useful come in?" she asked.

He shook his head, lines of fatigue showing around his eyes.

"No. Just thinking about how to put everything together." His smile was rueful. "Never had to think about the endgame of all this before. Just did what I was told."

"You don't have to now, you know," Tess said slowly, stirring her coffee, even though there was no point-they had no cream or sugar in the base, given that they were hard enough for normal people to get. The Underground couldn't waste resources on those kinds of luxuries.

Jak sighed and leaned back. "I don't have to. But I should, shouldn't I?" He looked up at Tess. "I can't just run off and do what I want to do. Not when so much is at stake. I can't expect everybody else to handle the responsibility."

"You feel like you did that with Torn?" Tess asked, brow furrowing.

"I know I did that with Torn."

"For all your flaws, you know, you've done a lot for the Underground. Don't beat yourself up. At least you helped, even when you were being irresponsible."

"So you're not denying that I've been irresponsible." He said, eyes darkening.

"No. But nobody's perfect. You're young and you went through a lot, and the fact that you're even functional is kind of an achievement, really," Tess said, setting her coffee down on the desk. "Now, let's switch. You go get some rest while I try to figure out how to get us out of this mess."

"Wait. Question for you."

Tess cocked her head. "Shoot."

"Does Ashelin know her father's working with the metalheads?"

"I...don't know," Tess said slowly. "She mostly spoke with Torn and the Shadow, so I have no idea what she knows."

"Maybe we should call her. Get her over here. Or one of us should meet her somewhere?" Jak suggested. "We need to figure out where we stand with our most important double agent. And maybe she has some suggestions about dealing with Praxis without causing a metalhead invasion."

"I'll call her right now," Tess said. "I should have thought of that already."

Jak shook his head. "You've had a lot on your mind. Sorting out all this stuff, and dealing with the daily crises. I'm going to go get some rest-but wake me if Ashelin comes by, would you?"

"Sure thing."

Ashelin, as it turned out, did not know that her father was working with the metalheads.

And she wasn't taking it well.

"You're sure about this? Absolutely sure?"

"Yes, Ashelin," Jak said, eye twitching. "I hate the Baron, but giving you the wrong information doesn't really help anyone. I saw KG giving dark eco to the metalheads, and I know that he's working with the metalheads to keep the war from ending, and to keep them from destroying the city."

"And I saw it too," Daxter piped up. "Face it, Red, your pop's workin' with the metalheads."

Ashelin was standing in front of Tess' desk with her hands braced on top, and she leaned forward, getting in Tess' face.

"Why didn't Torn tell me about this?"

Tess was unmoved. "Maybe because he thought you'd react this way? Or that you'd refuse to believe it?"

"How has he kept it from me all this time?" Ashelin snarled.

Tess shrugged. "All I know is, that's our intel. We wanted to know if you knew about it, and now we have our answer. The question is, where do we go from here?"

"Why would he work with them? He's trying to beat them right now! He's looking for the-" Ashelin paused, biting her lip.

"He's looking for what, Ashelin?" Tess asked, voice hard.

It was at this moment that the Shadow came into the room.

"My apologies for being late to this meeting," he said, "but I was tending to some of the soldiers' injuries. Nothing fatal this time." He looked between Ashelin and Tess. "I seem to have interrupted something."

"What is the Baron looking for, Ashelin? What does he think will help him defeat the metalheads?"

Ashelin looked back and forth between Tess and the Shadow, unsure. Then her face smoothed out to a blank expression.

"Nothing, Tess. Forget I said anything."

"Bullshit," Tess shouted, slamming her fist on the desk. "Do you not trust me? Is that the problem?"

"I think the Underground needs to remember that they're not the only ones who protect this city," Ashelin replied. "And that they couldn't protect it alone. I agree with you about a lot of things, but-I don't always know that you're going to make the best decisions for Haven."

The time for caution had come and gone. Tess threw out her usual subtlety.

"He's looking for the Precursor Stone, isn't he?"

Ashelin started back. "How do you know about that?!"

"Because, Lady Praxis, we want to save this city just as much as you do," Tess snarled, leaning over the desk. Her nose was inches from Ashelin's. "And we know we need the stone to do it. Did you think we were too stupid to figure that out? Or maybe you thought we were too busy feeding and clothing and protecting the citizens that you seem to forget about while you're up in clouds? Doesn't leave us much time for research."

"Tess," the Shadow said in a warning tone.

Tess took a deep breath through her nose. "Shadow, with all due respect, she's half in, half out on helping the Underground. How can we trust an agent who's only conditionally committed to the cause?"

"Conditionally?" Jak asked quietly from Tess' right.

"On the condition that we follow her vision for what the city should be. Which includes her in charge, I'm sure, once her father is gone." She looked hard at Ashelin. "Am I wrong?"

Ashelin's hands were balled into fists at her sides, and she looked as if she'd just eaten something sour. Opening her mouth to speak, she paused, then closed it again, not trusting herself to speak.

"Ashelin," the Shadow carefully began, but she shook her head, turned on her heel, and left.

Jak, Tess and the Shadow sat in silence for a few minutes, Tess sitting back down and chewing her lip in frustration.

"So," Jak finally said, "what now?"

"We keep looking for the stone, of course," Tess said. "And continuing daily operations."

"Couldn't Ashelin sell us out?"

"She could," Tess admitted. "But what would it gain her? We're the only tool she has to combat her father that's not under Praxis' or Erol's control. She needs us, or at least still sees us as useful."

"Tess," the Shadow said quietly. "I'm not sure I agree with what you just did."

"We'll see what she does now," Tess replied. "And then you can tell me what you think about it."