I know I'm bad at updates please don't remind me I have extreme writers block and probably will for the next like four chapters but omg i promise it's getting so good and I have a bunch of stuff already written and planned for later chapter bare with me please.

Also hi hello I've been really busy, life happens. And I'm gonna forewarn you this chapter is probably riddled with mistakes that I'll run through tomorrow and check for now I actually just wanted to get it out.

"No I'm serious! If that place had better areas to set up a sniper I could have taken out twice as many metalheads as you."

"You wanna prove that out by the pumping station then?"

I grimaced, "I'm just trying to keep a low profile right now, I've been leaving the city a lot more than I should."

"Don't tell me all that talk that's been getting thrown around is true?"

"Hey, if it's anything to do with me and the Underground, I can't confirm or deny it, not right now anyways." I said shaking my head. I was about to ask what Krew had been dabbling in lately but was interrupted by a series of loud explosions coming from the docks just around the corner. Sig and I both threw each other worried glances and headed in the direction of the commotion.

I stopped, shocked, when I saw the mess in front of me.

"Holy shit! Are you serious!? Are you for fucking real!" I stared dumbfounded at the wreckage lying all over the docks, cursing. "You know sometimes I wonder why I even fucking bother with this shit!" I watched in utter rage as the suspected culprit hopped off his jet board like nothing happened. I covered my face and groaned into my hands, my patience was really being tried here.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot!" I mumbled over and over as I left Sig to report back to Krew and jogged up to the moron who was about to get his shit kicked in.

"What the ever loving fuck was that!?" I shouted out to him before I even got close enough to hit him. Jak turned his head to me but didn't have too much of a reaction to my raised voice. He stood and waited for me to reach him but he was even more of an idiot for that.

Somewhere in the back of my head I knew it was useless to even try to, but I just laid out hit after hit against his arm, the last one being powered by a little more force and eco but that didn't faze him.

"You're such a dumb piece of shit! Why in the world would you blow those up? What the fuck is going on in that dumb head of yours!" This being one of my more subdued outbursts, he just looked down at me and started to push my fists out of the way.

"Hey, I'm just doing the work that's being dished out to me."

"Oh fucking hell, it was Krew wasn't it. Fan-fucking-tastic! That just makes this worse."

I sighed in frustration and pushed Jak by his shoulder to face the docks.

"Do you know who has to repair that crap? Me! Do you know how long it took to even build one of those things? A very long time! Add that to the fact that Krew had you do it, I'm so deep in it right now."

"Honestly Elie, I don't care how this effects the Krimzon guard at all, if it's a hindrance then good, I'm glad I did it."

"You don't understand! Those things are used to monitor what gets shipped in and out of the city, it's so that we can catch drug dealers, black market traders, all kinds of shit. With them blown up it just doubles the work load for us. Honestly I don't care what anyone in this city does or is hopped up on but if dealing with those idiots keeps me away from stuff that matters then I'm gonna be pissed!"

And of course, on cue, my communicators alarm went off. A signal sent out that equipment had been destroyed and the alerted squad were to investigate. If I was caught hanging around here just as it happened I'd look even more suspicious.

"You're so lucky that no one showed up in time to catch me coming back into the city cause without me around, oh boy, you probably wouldn't even be standing here right now. And I am in the right mind to confiscate that dumb hovering piece of crap from you!" I turned tail to put as much distance between me and the docks as I could. I needed to get back to my apartment, I had to drop off my gear. I was off duty so being caught carrying a rather large weapon around wouldn't be a good idea.

I had passed into Main Town and thought I was home free but of course I wasn't, I'd be dumb to think I wouldn't get caught up in this.

"Officer Elizabeth!"

And of course, there it is.

I was definitely being called by a superior, this was bad.

I turned towards the small group of KG. One of them had his mask off, he must have been the one who addressed me, and he did look like one of the older captains, big and mean looking with an ugly face. I'll be honest I don't put a whole bunch of effort into remembering names.

"Sir, is there a problem?"

"Wasn't your squad just mobilized? Why are you heading away from the docks?"

"I saw a couple of suspicious looking characters head this way, I thought they may have been the culprits."

"Shouldn't you bring back up?"

"I can handle them alone."

He looked down on me, it was that same look everyone who knew gave me. Whether it was condescending or disgust I couldn't tell. I wasn't a regular human to these people, I wondered if any of them saw me as a human at all. Whatever, they can think what they like of me. Being singled out wasn't all bad, I could have most of these idiots put in their place before they could even cry for help.

"Right, don't screw up." He said as he threw a smirk to the men behind him before wandering off.

"Tch, idiot."

I hated this, now I just felt angry. Something like that shouldn't anger me. I just wanted to get home now, I had a long day to look forward to tomorrow after all.

I had decided to review a couple of shipment notes Erol had given me once I was settled down for the night. We may not do any dealings with Kras City on a big scale anymore, that much was true. But there were still the small groups who traded barely legal items with us. I didn't even want to know what they were giving Krew.

A lot of this was basic ammo and gun supplies. Nothing new from Kras. I opted to glance over some of the names that popped out at me as being big gang lords, that's a whole other shit storm I wasn't going to dive into. All I had to do was check the shipment details and make sure they matched with the confirmation papers, no use making things complicated.

I perked my head up and away from the paper strewn across my desk when I heard a knock at the door a while later. Odd, Erol was at the palace and I didn't normally get visitors. I hopped up from my seat to go answer the door anyway, my curiosity having gotten the better of me.

I sighed upon seeing the two faces stood outside my apartment.

"Ugghh, I'm not gonna even ask why you two are here. And you smell like the sewers, what happened?" I asked wrinkling my nose.

"No real, don't ask." Daxter drawled.

"Alright, just get in before I change my mind."

Daxter jumped down from Jak's shoulder and scurried inside, but the latter hesitated by the door a little.

"I'm not annoyed."

"Huh?"

"About earlier. I get over stuff fast."

"Oh uh, well yeah that's good, I guess."

"Yeah ok, come on hurry it up."

I motioned for him to come inside quickly; I didn't need a wanted escapee hanging around my door.

I sauntered into the living room, mostly to make sure Daxter kept his greedy face out of my kitchen. "Let me guess, Torn sent you. As if Ashelin on my back isn't enough." I sighed and plopped down onto the couch and offered up the seat next to me to Jak.

"Yes and no."

"Uh-huh…explain?"

Jak reached into one of his pockets and threw a small package onto the space between us. I raised a brow and glanced from the package back to him.

"Uhhh?"

"It's a green eco pack. Samos…uhm The Shadow wanted me to give it to you."

I frowned, "Thanks but I have a team of paramedics on call for me twenty-four-seven."

"Really."

That was definitely a statement and not a question. I glanced at him confused for a moment but then I realised.

"Ahh, I still help you out huh. Thanks."

"Torn also thought it would be a good idea to keep well stocked on that stuff, just in case."

I nodded. But I have to admit they underestimated me and while before that annoyed me now I'm sort of leaning towards it being genuine concern over my combat skills lacking a little, ugh maybe Torn was right but I wasn't fully ready to admit it out loud. I would however hit up the training room a little more frequently.

I picked up the eco pack and placed it on the table. I caught Jak shift in his seat and my curiosity over his main reason for being here peaked.

"So go on." I said with a quick glance behind me to make sure Daxter was still in plain sight. "what was your reason for coming here."

"My reason?"

"Oh come on don't give me that. There's no way in hell Torn would send you on dumb little errands when he can get you to do jobs that would normally take a small team. You obviously made the decision to come here first."

Jak seemed to look anywhere that wasn't near me and eventually decided on just staring out the window.

"You don't have to help me you know."

"I know."

"Then why do you? You're so tied up with the Krimzon Guard, which to me seems to be exactly where you wanna be. Why risk it?"

I sighed, "I know my help isn't needed constantly but you have to admit sometimes you get yourself into some rough shit. Whether I want to try and prevent it or just scold you for it afterwards…I don't really know why I feel like I need to. Maybe it's instinct or some bullshit like that." I stood up and walked over to the kitchen counter to pour out a drink, Jak waited for me to continue.

"I guess it could also be due to guilt."

"Guilt?" Jak looked back over the couch at me and I nodded. I took a short sip from my glass before I had to pry the whole bottle away from Daxter. I tapped his head and told him to behave.

I huffed, "Well yeah, I mean I was enlisted into the Guard shortly after you were taken in. Prison Watch is a newbies job mostly, remember?"

He nodded.

"Hey wait a sec." We both turned to Daxter as he mulled something over in that little head of his before looking up and pointing at me.

"I knew you looked familiar!"

I cocked my head and that seemed to be enough to make Daxter real back on his previous statement.

"Anyway, I suppose at first I didn't care too much. A lot of the prisoners scared me so of course why would I care what they went through. As I toughened up I cared even less. But somewhere in the back of my mind I always felt some kind of sympathy towards those on the DWP. I'd see a new scared face enter the testing room and never come back out. At least I knew most of them were convicted for whatever reason, but you weren't." I paced around my kitchen area a little walking off some of my embarrassment at how open I was being, I had a reputation to uphold after all.

"I was fifteen when I entered the Guard, which would have made you seventeen. I'm gonna be honest, I can't imagine what it would be like to be in your situation right now."

There was a tense silence for a moment. It only gave me time to think over how dumb and over emotional I must sound. I was getting soft I really was. I was about to brush past the quiet air when Daxter jumped up surprised. He had been very still this whole time which was unusual for him.

"It was you!"

"Excuse me?"

"You opened that door!"

I stared at him for a minute, but then I remembered. Gosh it hadn't even been that long ago.

"Ahh yes. And here I thought I had been very discreet about the whole thing."

"What are you guys talking about?" Jak asked sounding a little annoyed at being left out.

"Daxter's oh so well thought out 'Prison break' wasn't as well planned as he would have liked to think. Dumb animal got as far as getting inside the prison but didn't realise that the testing room of all places would be secured so well."

"I had faulty sources."

"Your sources were idiots."

Jak cut in between the two of us before we could get caught up in another argument. He had left his place on the couch and was leaning on the counter across from me.

"Are you telling me, you let Daxter in to get me out?"

"Look who's got some smarts."

I wore a smug smile as I finished my drink. I was still pretty proud of that little deed. Also the looks on their faces were fantastic.

"It wasn't that difficult really, I was on watch at all the security cameras. Daxter's lucky or he would have been caught and fried long ago. The switches to every single door in that establishment were right in front of me."

"But wouldn't they know that someone had to have flipped one of those switches?"

"Are you kidding me? With the commotion this idiot caused." I pointed to Daxter with the end of my glass, "You do realise he got himself tangled up with a metalhead leader right?"

Even if that statement was made to undermine Daxter, all it did was fluff up his ego.

"I just blamed it on a rat in the system, literally. I was also gonna pop the cuffs on that chair but uhhh you got there before me."

Jak looked bewildered. How could a Krimzon Guard of all people have helped him? The two of them looked between each other and alarms rang in my head.

"And don't either of you fucking dare tell anyone, understand?"

They nodded.

I decided that was enough chit chat for tonight, I needed to get my rest for a full day of work tomorrow, and kicked the two of them out. Just as Jak had stepped outside the door he turned back to me.

"Why was a metalhead leader in the KG prison?"

"Goodbye."

I closed to door and locked it, I was doing that thing again where I almost let too much slip. It wasn't really important anyway seeing as how Kaeden was dead. And good fucking riddance too.

Morning was this sort of inevitable thing I was just getting used to greeting. I was more of a midday kind of person. Regardless of how much I wanted to stay wrapped up in my nice warm bed, I had to drag my ass out of it and get ready. I was still washing my breakfast down with coffee when I pulled up outside the palace and locked my zoomer in place. I was also ten minutes early, that was a nice change. I greeted the secretary and checked in to see if I had any withstanding paperwork.

"It looks like the Commander already took some of your mission reports up with him this morning, other than that I only have the files from yesterday. I'll send them up to you when they're ready."

I nodded, "I'll be with Erol for now, But I'm expecting some prison duty so you can send it to the office there."

"Alright, thank you Officer Elie."

I rode the elevator up the many floors until I reached the hall that held most of the offices, well for the commanding officers anyway.

I came up to Erol's door and knocked once before walking in and closing the door behind me.

"Morning."

"Ugh I wish it wasn't."

Erol shook his head at me and finished up with papers he was filing before sliding a holopad across to me.

"I had hoped to catch you in a better mood, the Baron has issued some orders you're not going to like."

I scoffed, "When do I ever like his orders." I picked up the pad and scanned over it, then I sort of wished I hadn't.

"Where the hell does he get off giving orders like this!?"

"Well he's getting desperate that's for sure."

I couldn't believe what I was reading. He had issued permission to take every child in Haven into custody. I paced back and forth in front of Erols desk trying to wrap my head around this.

"And what the fuck is this gonna do then? What is he gonna interrogate kids until one of them finally turns around and says 'yep it's me, I'm the heir to the thrown you've decided to stake you're dumb fucking ass on'?"

Erol sighed and leaned back in his chair, he quite clearly didn't give a damn but I knew he would humour me. "I don't know Elie. From what I've heard the kids got to have some sort of air about him that will stick out."

I let out a frustrated groan, "Look I don't give a rats ass about whether or not he finds the right kid, I draw the line at him even looking. Can't he just let it go?"

"The kid ties into the tomb, he isn't going to drop it."

"Oh and here we go with the god damn tomb again. Maybe the city wouldn't be in a giant shit hole if the Baron stopped looking for a fairy tale and concentrated on pushing the metalheads back!" I slumped down in a chair by one of the windows and threw the holopad onto the coffee table.

"We're dealing with the metalheads Elie, just give it time."

"Do you not see the holes they're punching in our perimeter? They're in Haven Forest for God's sake. Next thing you know you'll be kicking back at home and a fucking scout will break down your damn door."

Erol pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, "Trust me Elie, the Baron is dealing with it. We don't have those stores of eco for nothing."

"And another thing," I said turning to point at him, "What are we even giving them eco for? Up until now I thought we were bribing them so why the fuck are we missing out on our supplies while they still lay waste to the city?"

Erol turned away from me and was quiet for a moment before sighing and sitting up straight.

"You know we can't talk about this Elie."

"Yeah yeah, I know." I brought my legs up to my chest and looked back to the window.

"I'll be honest Erol, I feel left out lately. I'm not sure what's going on with the Guard anymore and now ones telling me anything."

Erol had gotten up from his chair and was standing next to me. "Just trust me when I say we're taking care of it." He said, resting a hand on my shoulder.

I nodded, but I was sick of that answer. I was confused I wanted to know what was going on. I wanted to know what all these plans were so I could keep the Kid safe, keep my friends safe.

"Sorry I just…it's early."

"Well no better way to wake up than with some work." Erol said as he patted my shoulder and walked back to his desk.

"Oh yay, you know me. Love to work."

Erol chuckled and shuffled through some papers.

"I want you to go down to the Bazar and check out a situation we have there with some black market dealers." He said, handing me a couple of the papers.

I glanced over them and nodded.

"You're not usually one to care too much about the black market."

"They're getting cocky, deal with them now and we shouldn't have much more trouble."

"And when you say deal with them?"

"Scare them off, I don't really care. Just get them out of there and make sure they're out, and if you can't do that I'll send someone else."

"Is there anything specific I should know?"

Erol sighed, "Not really, it's just a bunch of Lurkers you shouldn't have much trouble."

"Lurkers? You don't normally get Lurkers running black market traders. Are you sure that's it?"

"We did background checks, it's just the Lurkers."

That was odd, Lurkers weren't known for their criminal tendencies. Maybe there had been a mistake.

"I'll head out now then."

I had never run into Lurkers who did anything to spite the law. Most of the time if they did something illegal it was because they wanted to survive. I'd gotten into my fair share of trouble helping them out too.

I pulled up my zoomer around the corner from the spot that had been marked on my comm. unit. I felt bad about this. I took a quick scan of the place to see if I could dump the work on a newbie but I knew I could probably handle it better.

Calling this little set up a black market dealers was an overreaction at best though, the small group of three Lurkers that I could see had set up shop amongst other traders that were commonplace here in the Bazar. The only thing that stood out was how colourful the little stall was. Lurkers were skittish around the guard at the best of times so I kept my hands free of any weapons as I approached them.

One of the glanced up at me and I caught the look of worry on his face. I turned on the small holopad I had brought with me for looking over legal issues and everything else I'd have to check for. I really didn't want to do this.

"Can I help?" The Lurker who had seen me approach asked.

"I'm sorry to bother you but do you mind if I take a quick look at your stall? It won't take long I promise?"

Even though he nodded his approval I could tell he was nervous. That didn't surprise me. The guard treated Lurkers like vermin and never even gave them the benefit of the doubt. They were just bullies towards them and I wasn't going to sink to that level.

I checked the stock they had for sale and nothing came up as prohibited, it was just a lot of fish, meat and seasonings really. I thought I might have missed something if Erol received a report on them but even a thorough inspection behind the counter showed nothing was being hidden. The only thing I could see that may have remotely put them in the wrong was where they had set up, it was a little crowded but regardless even if I got them to move, I'd come back in a couple of days and find them gone.

"Is this your usual produce?" I asked as politely as I could.

The Lurker nodded.

I sighed, Erol had lied to me but I couldn't get angry right now, I had to try and resolve this first. I couldn't shut them down, but if I didn't do it someone else would and they deserved better than being humiliated by some other dick head.

"Ok, I'm not sure how to go about this really but…we've gotten reports saying there have been illegal drugs passed through here. Now I've checked and nothings come up, there aren't even traces so for as much as it's worth I believe you're totally in the right but…"

The Lurker seemed to nod in understanding and gave me a small smile.

"We've seen you before. Always nice to everyone, including Lurker. Other guards take for granted but not you."

I smiled sadly and nodded. "I'm afraid if I don't do something someone else will, and I'd much rather handle this."

I had an idea and flicked through my comm. unit.

"I'm afraid you can't keep the stall open, but I know some people who can help you out if you need anything. They operate out of the slums, they may seem a little intimidating at first but they'll have you're best interests in mind." I paused, "But you didn't hear any of this from me alright?"

The Lurker smiled in appreciation and nodded

I sent the info for the underground to the Lurkers own communicator and wished him the best. I would be having harsh words with Erol once I got back. This wasn't dealing with the black market this was blatant discrimination, trying to reduce Lurkers to animals.

I was seething on the elevator ride up. I was ready to punch a hole in the wall. I flung Erol's door open and threw the holopad onto his desk.

"That's real fucking low Erol even for your standards."

He retrieved the holopad and looked up at me.

"I'm sorry Elie, you've lost me."

"Sending me out to deal with a group of Lurkers as if they were the scum of the earth when they were just trying to get by." I could feel my palms tingle, I was so ready to punch something.

"Elie if we let everyone set up shop wherever they wanted there'd be chaos, we enforce laws for a reason." Erol replied calmly leaning forward on his desk.

"But you lied to me! This small group weren't causing any kind of fuss or obstruction, if you had of just let me move them even."

"If you had moved them they still would have become a problem eventually, they always do. Lurkers are a thorn in my side. And I cooked up a small white lie so you'd get the job done before getting angry."

I clenched my fists and shook my head "You're fucking unbelievable, you have no problem ignoring some of the shit that goes on around the Hip Hog but you'd have the nerve to disrupt and intimidate a poor group of Lurkers."

"Elie, I'm just keeping the streets clean."

"If that's what you're doing then I advise keeping yourself and your sick attitude off them too!"

And it was out of my mouth before I could stop myself. I clamped my lips together as Erols head snapped to me.

"What was that?"

I swallowed, "I'm sorry I didn't mean-"

"No no, repeat yourself Elizabeth." He stood up and walked towards me. I took a step back from him and my gaze dropped to the floor.

"I didn't mean it to sound like that Erol I'm sorry."

"I'm glad you realize your mistake, now get out."

I turned and left as quickly as I could. I could hear my heart beat clearly and felt it racing in my chest. I got outside and walked, I didn't concentrate on where to I just walked. My bind drew a frightened blank and I found myself at the door to the underground. I cursed under my breath, why did I come here? I could have led some KG group here with how careless I was. I was about to walk in when the door slid open and I was met with two familiar faces.

"Oh uh, hi Samos. Hey Kiddo."

Samos didn't look too surprised at my being here and greeted me with a nod. The kid regarded my shyly before a croca-dog came bounding past him and caught his attention.

"Uhh, is Torn around?" I asked, my eyes following after the croca-dog as he caught up to the kid.

"No, he's out coordinating another safe house, why do you ask."

I shrugged, "No reason. Hey when did the croca-dog show up?"

Samos sighed, "Not long ago, although I wish he really hadn't."

The little creature seemed to sense we were talking about it and raised his head to growl at us, baring its teeth.

"Oh yeah, I can see why. Are you sure it's ok to have that thing around the kid?"

"He seems to be the only one who can keep it happy."

I guess I was just going to have to take his word on that, the kid seemed happy regardless.

"Hey Elie, what's happenin'? Oh and Old Green."

I turned and was met with the main exhibit themselves, "Hey Daxter."

"You don't look so good." Jak commented. I raised a brow and crossed my arms.

"Oh really? Cause you're the expert on emotions, right Sunshine?"

He answered me with a look, it felt like one of those 'I'll ask later' looks he keeps giving me.

Samos shushed us and pushed past me grumbling a little.

"I want you boys to escort the Kid over to Kor at the power station. He promised to look out for the boy, and I'm just too busy to baby-sit right now."

Both Jak and Daxter gave me a sideways glance and I laughed.

"And there's not a chance in hell you are dropping that on me. What do I look like to you? A walking day-care?"

"Well you are-"

I leaned in closer to Daxter who was perched on Jak's shoulder "Do you wanna finish that sentence?" I said tilting my head.

"-an excellent role model?"

"You were this close."

Samos cleared his throat and I stood back again.

"Oh, and take the Kids croca-dog with you." As he finished Samos approached the small animal who was quick to turn and relinquish another growl. "Oh, hee, hee…isn't he sweet."

"Yeah, absolutely coated in sugar." I remarked sarcastically.

"So what's this kid's story?" Jak asked.

The Kid, having finished playing with his pet, stood beside Samos and the older man gestured a hand out to him, "I found him just wandering the streets. But that amulet around his neck means he may just be the lost heir to the city."

I shook my head, still in a little disbelief from learning that the other day. Jak didn't seem to care a whole bunch, I guess that sort of thing wasn't a concern for him. Even I wasn't sure what it meant for me, sure I was around for a few years before Praxis got his fat ass in charge, but I have absolutely no memory of it. I don't remember the last person to have ruling status over this city at all.

"Take the Kid and the mutt to the Power Station. Watch out for guard patrols and defend the kid at all costs." As Samos spoke the Kid toddled over to Jak and to my amusement tried to take a hold of his hand, Jak reeled back in surprise a little and I smirked. "Oh…and if you happen to lose the croca-dog…" His comment was once again answered by a grumble from said croca-dog.

"Oh, and Elie will-"

"Not be accompanying you." I really hoped I wouldn't have to opt myself out of this sort of stuff all the time. "If you hadn't noticed, I'm on duty." I said knocking lightly on my chest plate. "It's gonna look a little odd being escorted by a Krimzon Guard, isn't it?"

"But you'll know where the patrols are set up, you could make sure the Kid gets there completely unharmed."

I sighed, "Still not gonna happen, as much as I care for his safety, that's a huge risk I'm taking."

"Uhh, she has a point." Daxter added.

"Maybe you can just point out where the patrols are, I'll worry about avoiding them."

"That I can do." I held my hand out for Jak's comm. unit and tapped in a couple of commands. I lit up a few areas where the resistance between here and the power station might be strongest before handing it back.

"Oh, and if you see Vin, tell him I've got some work for him later and I'll bring it all over once I'm finished my night patrol."

Jak nodded and turned to address the Kid, only to find he had run on ahead after the croca-dog.

"Hey Kid! Wait!"

I shook my head. Samos turned to go back into the hideout before I called him back.

"Could you uhh…could you tell Torn I wanted to talk to him?"

"You're not going to make a fuss and argue again are you?"

I rolled my eyes, "No, no. I just…I wanted to thank him for something I guess." I rubbed at my neck and averted my gaze.

Samos smiled and nodded, "I'll tell him dear."

"Thanks, ok I really have to go work is kind of a big deal."

He shook his head and laughed lightly. "Thank you Elie, for your help."

I almost did a double take and turned back, instead I gave a small node of my head and continued on away from the hideout.