Rise and Fall

Chapter 11: Papercut

I didn't speak to Jak as we drove through the city. Originally we were supposed to go straight to Onin's but Jak got a call from Krew. Turns out he needed someone to collect money for him. Which worked out perfectly seeing as I needed a haircut. Now I was sitting in one of the bar stools as Tess cut my hair.

"Are you sure you want to cut it?" she questioned for probably the tenth time "It's so long and pretty."

"In my line of work it kind of gets in the way" I stated.

The blonde haired woman cut my hair to just past my shoulders. It was still on the long side but not so much that it would get in the way. After she had finished cutting it she French braided it to keep it all pulled back and out of my face.

As I thanked her Jak returned to the bar with the collection of money. He and Krew exchanged a few words before the three of us left for Onin's

Jak beat me to the zoomer and I was forced to climb on behind him and wrap my arms around his waist so I wouldn't fall off. I could almost feel the smirk on Jak's face. But little did he know I was already planning my revenge.

It didn't take long to get to the bazaar but it annoyed me how slow people drove on the road above the bazaar. Jak managed to find a corner on the road to park in order to keep the zoomer from being run over. I walked down the ramp and followed the blonde renegade towards the back section of the bazaar. There was a small tan tent in this section that I assumed was Onin's. Jak held the flap open and I ducked inside with him following in behind me.

An old woman was sitting on the floor on a rug. I assumed she must be Onin. Daxter became intrigued with a monkaw that was hanging from the ceiling nearby.

"Coooool! Check out all the dead stuff!" he said poking the thing in the stomach.

The brightly colored monkaw suddenly came alive and slapped Daxter's hand away.

"Touch the goods again, rat boy, and you'll be, arrrk, counting with your toes!" it threatened before flying over and sitting on the woman's large hat "I am Pecker."

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips and I heard a small snort from Jak.

Pecker rolled his eyes before continuing, "Yes, yes, I know, my mother, she was… very vindictive. I am Onin's interpreter."

Onin clapped her hands together before making various hand gestures with bright blue sparks coming from her hand.

"Onin welcomes you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah… the usual boring salutations. She says it is good to see you again, Jak" Pecker informed.

Jak crossed his arms over his chest, "But we've never met before."

"Before… after… it is all the same."

Daxter jumped on the floor, "Oh! Oh! Let me try!" the ottsel shouted "Aaah… she wants a… she wants a yakow bone! A yakow bladder! No… No.. I got it! For many moons… she has… waited for… a juice pop? A jewel shop? Oh… Oh… I know, she's got a hairball? A hair lip? A hairy chest?"

"Close…," Pecker said nodding his head "but NO! Onin says you seek answers… arrrkkk, about the Tomb of Mar."

"So what do we need to know?" Jak asked.

"She's going on and on about mystical energy channels, evil curses, stupid 'ooooooo' crap," the monkaw rolled its eyes "Forget all that. I'm gonna sum this up quickly, because now you're cutting into my siesta time. Onin wants you to recover three artifacts from the Precursor Mountain Temple. Not two! Not four! THREE! Use the Warp Gate at the northwest of the city, and bring back the three items you find!"

Jak and I nodded before leaving the small tent.

Daxter jumped down off of Jak's shoulder, "I think I'm going to skip out on this one. I'll be at the Hip Hog if ya need me."

The little ottsel scurried away as I rolled my eyes.

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I bent of putting my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath. So much for just collecting a few items. We'd out run an army of metalhead hoppers, almost got smashed by an avalanche of rocks, and taken down three metalhead beasts. To say the least I was worn out.

Jak was bent over beside me breathing heavily. We'd just defeated the last metalhead beast that was guarding the last item. Jak finally stood, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He walked up the steps in the temple as I followed behind him, slipping my pistols into their holsters.

Jak picked up the blue, vibrating gem and slipped it into his pouch before turning back to me.

"That's the last one, let's get out of here before something else bad happens" he stated, walking past me.

I quickly caught up to the blonde hero as we made our way back to the entrance of Haven Forest. It didn't take long before we were back at the warp gate. Jak went first and I quickly jumped in after. The blue eyed man hadn't moved far enough out of the way and I ended up falling on top of him. Our noses touched as I laughed before standing up.

"Way to be in the way" I joked walking towards the airlock.

Jak just rolled his eyes as he laughed before entering the airlock.

The door slowly closed behind us and we waited for the other to open. I figured now would be the best time to get Jak back for earlier.

I stood in front of him blocking him from leaving the airlock. I tried my best to look seducing as I ran my hand up his chest to his shoulder.

"Remember what you said about me having you all to myself?" I questioned in a low voice as I leaned closer.

I saw Jak swallow as I stood on my tip toes. Our lips touched and I pressed my body against his. Jak wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me to him. The blonde deepened the kiss as he pressed me against the nearby wall. He gripped my hips firmly as he trailed kisses down my neck and across my collarbone. I couldn't help but smirk.

The blue eyed man kissed back up my neck towards my ear and whispered, "I want you."

I shoved him off as my smirk widened, "To bad ya can't have it."

I laughed lightly as I left him standing there stunned. I swayed my hips as I walked down the ramp and the blonde finally decided to catch up to me.

"That was not fair" Jak growled.

"Call it pay back," I winked at him over my shoulder "Just be glad Dax wasn't there to see it. He would never let you live it down."

As I climbed onto the zoomer I thought I heard him say, "I'm not finished with you."

Jak climbed on behind me.

"Now while we got some down time we should go talk to Vin about the elevator" Jak shouted over the engine.

I nodded, "Let's go get Daxter first."

I took off towards the Hip Hog and we quickly picked up Daxter before heading off towards the Power Station. I parked the zoomer at the base of the ramp. Daxter jumped on Jak's shoulder and we made our way up to the Power Station

Vin was standing inside type furiously on the keyboard.

"Vin buddy, we need a favor" Jak stated as was walked towards the center of the room.

"I can't help you with your eco bill" Vin stuttered as he continued to work.

"Actually we need you to switch on the access elevator in one of the Palace's support towers" I informed crossing my arms over my chest.

"Sheesh, that's part of the old B-Zone power grid? It hasn't worked for years" Vin said.

"Well, if it's too hard for you, we understand," Jak turned back to me and winked "Power stuff can be tricky."

"Tricky?" Vin hmphed before moving swiftly around the Power Station and talking to himself as he did so.

Jak smirked back at me and I rolled my eyes laughing lightly.

"… and presto, you've got instant lift juice!" Vin said to us lifting his arms in the air.

"Vin you're a genius" I smiled kissing him quickly on the cheek.

He turned red and rubbed the back of his head as he looked at the floor, "Actually Mar was the genius. People said he made most of this stuff long ago – the shield wall system, the eco grid. Anyway, to get that elevator moving, you gotta find and turn on all the old B-Zone power boxes located in the city. There are five of em!" He quickly pulled up a map on the big screen and pointed them out to us.

"That doesn't sound so hard" Daxter stated looked between Jak and I.

"No except those power boxes are guard by motion-sensing turbo cannons! But, if you can destroy the cannons, and switch the box on, I can do the rest," We smiled at Vin and made our way towards the exit "Just don't tell the Baron I ever saw ya!"

I rolled my eyes as I followed Jak down the ramp towards the zoomer.

Jak looked back at me as he climbed on the zoomer, "You switch on the power boxes and I'll cover ya. The guards are sure to notice."

I nodded and swung my leg over the seat. Daxter clung tightly to Jak's shoulder as we took off into the air towards the first box.

Jak landed the zoomer near the box and I looked around quickly. Everything seemed to be calm and no one was really paying much attention to us. I took a deep breath and climbed off the zoomer heading towards the box. I pulled the cover door open and saw the main switch inside. I heard a noise behind me and turned around quickly.

A small turret was pointing directly at me ready to fire. I froze, eyes wide waiting to be taken down.

Jak quickly fired two shots from his blaster at it making it explode. A siren began to wail and Krimson Guards were swarming in from every direction. I turned and flipped the switch before making a dash for the zoomer. Jak changed hoover zones and took off as the guards drew closer. Made it to the next power box and I turned it on before the turret could shoot. We continued around the city and I switched on the other boxes as Jak took down the turrets and any guards who got to close.

Once they were all on we found a place to hide to let things calm down. We were in a small alley way near the Hip Hog in the port. It was a tight squeeze, I could barely stretch my legs out all the way, but the guards weren't likely to find us here.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my head on them as I tried to catch my breath. Once my breathing was back to normal I looked over at Jak who was sitting slightly across from me.

"We should probably wait till morning to make a strike on the baron" I offered, sitting up and leaning back against the metal wall.

Jak nodded, "True lets head back to the Hideout."

"You two can go back to the Hideout but I'm going to see Tess, later!" Daxter scrambled away as I raised my eyebrow at Jak.

The blue eyed man merely shrugged before standing. He over his hand and pulled me to his feet before we headed towards the Underground.

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It had gotten dark by the time we made it back to the Underground. Shockingly, we found the place to be empty. There was a small note left on the table that read:

Gone to get supplies. Be back by morning.

Torn

"Well looks like were home alone," I stated looking over my shoulder at Jak "I'm going to take a shower."

I grabbed some clothes and a towel from under my bed and made my way to the shower. It didn't take long to clean up and I quickly dried off before pulling on a black sports bra and a pair of black spandex shorts. I walked back into the main room, towel drying my hair as I did.

Jak was lying on his bed in just a pair of gym shorts. His arms were stretched back under his head as he stared up at the bed above him apparently in deep thought. I combed through my wet hair and sat down in front of the furnace to let it dry a little before going to bed.

"What do you think will happen tomorrow?" Jak finally spoke up as he continued to stare upwards.

"Probably nothing as long as we don't go into the palace," I stated, fluffing my hair out a little "We have a way to make it up to the roof but we're really not prepared for a full scale attack. We should do some scouting on the roof, find a way in, then make a plan. Hell, we might even be able to get Torn in on it."

Deciding that my hair was sufficiently dried enough to go to bed, I stood and made my way towards my bed. I sat down on the edge facing Jak.

"I know how much you want to take down the baron," I sighed as he finally looked over at me "I want it just as bad. But rushing in without a plan is only going to get us killed."

Jak nodded. He stared at me for a moment before sitting up and facing me. He stood crossed the small space between us. I raised my eyebrow at him wondering what he thought he was doing. The blonde leaned down and grabbed my chin pulling it up before he pressed his lips against mine.

I gasped lightly and shoved him back, "What are you doing?"

"Kissing you obviously" Jak glared lightly at me as he stood up crossing his arms over his chest.

"But why?"

Jak's eyebrows drew together, "Because I care about you."

Now I was the one glaring, "You barely know me."

"I didn't say I was in love you," Jak rolled his eyes smirking slightly "I care about you. I don't want to see you get hurt."

I laughed sarcastically, "I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself. I didn't just fine before you came along."

"You're so difficult," the blonde groaned "I never said you couldn't take care of yourself. I just don't want to see you get hurt is all."

I put my hands behind me and leaned back, "And what does this all have to do with you kissing me?"

Jak rolled his blue eyes, "Because I care about you and you're a good kisser."

I shook my head laughing lightly, "You are confusing as hell."

I crawled under the covers with my back to him. It was only a few seconds later that I felt the covers being lifted and Jak crawled in behind me. I shook my head lightly and smirked as the blue eyed man wrapped his arm around my waist.


A/N: Dang I'm so slow… This took forever! And I've had it done for the past two days and just never got around to actually posting it. Please don't come and kill me. That last scene was really difficult to write so let me know what you think. R&R!