[Co-Author: Butterfly123199]


The gang had returned; a fun, easy, and mass-murdering metalhead mission had turned into a worst scenario. While Dark Jak was tougher than normal and had taken the brunt of the damages, Jak was still too injured to continue.

He was unconscious for most of the day, the Green Eco demanding Jak's own energy in recovering itself.

Daxter and Elise…

Well, Trinity didn't know what to make of things. Clearly after the whole fiasco, they were still loyal friends. Trin himself, felt different however. How could they be loyal? How could they be his friends?

Nightfall came upon the city, Torn and Trin being in the main room like old times.

"Why is it that when you take these recruits, something horribly goes wrong during any mission?"

Trinity shrugged, half tired. "Pretty much my entire life goes wrong." He laughed.

Torn shook his head, "Most of your jokes are just to insult yourself, Trinity." He crossed his arms and leaned on the table, his back and scabbard of the dagger facing Trin. "So, how did it all go down this time?"

"Well… I was unfortunately right about Okasan. And the DWP."

His ears perked up at that.

"I also confessed and spilled out the truth that I was the one who looked after the DWP subjects - Jak being the last one before I, you know, stopped."

Torn didn't want to admit it, usually being the tough-guy, but even the mere thought of the prison made his insides churn. "I take it that it didn't end very well now, did it."

"Mhm…"

There was a small pause.

"El, uh, Elise, I mean." He looked down slightly as it caught Torn's attention. "She really does remind me of her."

"You tell her that?"

"Mm…"

"Oh, I hope she didn't- "

" -You could tell, didn't you?"

"She fell for it?"

"Yep." The masked man wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose, instead he pinched the metal eye hole corners of his mask. "Damn."

"Somehow, you have a strange knack of doing things."

"It wasn't on purpose, Captain Ass."

"Damnit, Trin - don't start giving me a headache like Elie with that silly, pathetic nickname of yours!"

"Why you so defensive then, mm?"

They both chuckled. Torn putting a thoughtful hand under his chin. "So, did a little heartbreak make her turn?"

"No, surprisingly enough." Then he hummed. "She had more control than Jak at that point… Jak normally has self control, but that time - he was dangerous."

Torn and Trin shared a tense gaze.

Trinity formed a tight fist. "I'm not going to let that happen. You know it."

"Sure hope so."

Trinity actually refused to eye his old partner's gun for once. He treasured it, but lately, there was some kind of odd hatred he had for it. He didn't know why, exactly.

Or maybe he did. But he refuses to admit it.

"While Jak's recovering, I'll be off doing his missions." He continued before Torn had retorted, "I'll be collecting money for Krew. I'm the best candidate out of the rest of us."

"First though, you get some shuteye before I find you laying in the ditch somewhere with a blown up Zoomer - all because of the lack of sleep."

"Fine, fine."

The night was long and eerie, more so than usual for Trinity. The time flew, but he couldn't tell. 'Maybe it's because I'm too focused on things to realize the quiet.' He thought to himself, laying on the bed and staring skyward. The light was off, he ironically wasn't tired, and now Trin found himself staring with wide eyes. 'Everyday… It feels like it's getting harder and harder.' Trinity's mind raced as he thought of Onin and El's quotes.

"The future scares me."

Into the distant void, Moria's words crossed with his thoughts.

'You're not Moria though.'

He knew fully well she wouldn't act like this; not this grim, or this serious, or this sad. It wasn't truly her. Trinity glanced at his arm, the violet in his nerves or veins glistened in the dark.

His heart jumped up a few beats.

'I can't lose myself. Not like Erol. Not like Okasan.'

"Not like me."

They shook a bit, but he tightened his grip so hard that the sounds of his stressed leather gloves squeaked so ever slightly. In the corner of his eye, he could see his friends sound asleep. Clearly too tired to wake up or notice anything in the waking world. Trinity silently stood up from the worn bed, he avoided the gun in the corner and instead grabbed the Snipertron. He sheathed the Dark Dagger and headed out.

When he knew Elise could control herself as a sign of hope, it felt as if weight lifted from his heart.

But suddenly and lately, his burden was growing heavier.

Trinity headed for the rendezvous of the dropped package Krew had scheduled, he took out the Communicator. "En route, proceeding smoothly. I order the recruits, personally, to be taken out of the field Torn."

Torn (Communicator) : [Fine.]

[ Meanwhile Trinity was on the mission and had taken a few breaks, time passes, and his friends had finally began to stir. . . ]

Jak was knocked out cold, there was no point in trying to wake him up. Torn could hear sounds from the other room, but he didn't pay mind to it. It was completely normal to hear Daxter's flirtatious retort and end up getting thrown into the main planning room as a response from El.

To think that Elise knew the very same man (Okasan) who was one of the founders of the Dark Warrior Project however… Back in the KG days, he hadn't gotten the proper authority to freely look into the DWP. Unlike Trinity or Erol. Only the most trusted and the best of the best slaves of the Baron were able to be considered hand picked for it. The amount of death tolls, loss of resources, soldiers, and even researchers put into the Prison was more than mere whispers of the horrors about the DWP. Everyone knew of it. The citizens themselves had knowledge despite hearing rumors of no one surviving the "experiments".

What confuses him the most is the fact that Trinity spilled the truth to TWO TEST SUBJECTS of the project (of all people).

Trinity.

A man with an honest tongue with many secrets.

A man with more blood on his hands with a heart of gold.

A man with a recognizable identity - yet with an unknown visage...

One wonders if he really is the person he says he is.

Then it had hit him, was that the reason why people found him so fascinating? Trinity may be the kindest towards his friends, but what if he snaps like Erol once did with the Dark Eco poisoning?

Torn would never say these thoughts to everyone. All he was doing was staring at the map of Haven City, it looked like he was doing nothing but that. As much as he wanted to go out there for the missions himself, he couldn't risk it. When The Shadow isn't at this hideout, it's his job to fill it in and take leadership. He knew fully well that he was the head of the snake in this rebellion organization.

"NO NO NO PLEASE 'PRINCESS' NOT MY TAIL!"

"Ugh." Torn rolled his eyes.

"Shut up you moron!" Elise whispered and held the ottsel up by his tail. She looked over to make sure Jak was still soundly asleep. "If you wake him up, I swear, I'll be making you into a carpet."

Daxter whimpered and shook his head. "My lips are sealed!"

*Bang!*

"Ack!"

She dropped him into the ground. She gave him a warning glare before she hesitantly walked out of the bunkers. After everything that went down, she hardly ever left Jak's side and couldn't even look in Trinity's direction. She was embarrassed, frankly. She heard Torn and Trinity speaking, and felt arrogant for allowing herself to fall for her partner. Especially while he was still mourning. She stepped into the main planning room and leaned against the table.

"You okay?" She asked softly and almost visibly flinched at the question.

Torn looked up from the map, his gaze softening when he saw Elise in front of him. "I should be askin' you that." He stood up straight. "How are you feeling?"

Elise shook her head. She looked at her bandaged wounds. Torn had treated her when they came back, after she had tended to Jak. Her scar was the worst wound overall. Her fight with Jak had ripped the old wound open again, elongating it. She noted to herself that the scar would be worse and more jagged than before. She brushed her hand over the bandages, sighing softly.

"I'm as good as I can be right now, Torn."

"Which isn't good at all," He retaliated and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I assume Trinny— " She bit her tongue harshly. He took note of her actions."Trinity. I assume he told you everything, yeah?" She looked up at him.

"Mhm."

"Shit." She whispered and brushed a hand over her face.

"He also told me you three are taking a little vacation from missions." Torn saw an expression of protest and he quickly added, "It's small errands and deliveries for Krew, I can bet on my skin that all of you wouldn't want to do his work right now."

"Ah, a well deserved break from missions!" Daxter stretched. "Orange Lightning's finally getting the rep for hard work!"

Torn glared daggers at the ottsel, "You're definitely getting rep - but it ain't the healthy and nice kind from me. I might consider having a nice new carpet to tidy up this place…"

He gulped.

Elise let out somewhat of a scoff. "Even if I didn't want to do Krew's missions, I'd give anything to take my mind off of—"

"Him?"

She glared at Torn. He seemed unfazed and raised an eyebrow. "Am I right or wrong, El?"

"Don't!" She slammed her hands on the 'desk'. Daxter quickly hid behind Torn's leg. "Call me that!" She growled and pointed her finger at Torn.

"You know you're as frightening to me as a muse." He gently pushed her hand away. "But judging by your reaction, I'm right."

She went silent, glaring down at the table.

'No more tears, Elise.' She thought to herself as tears began to prick her eyes. She felt her chest tighten as she gritted her teeth. 'You're so pathetic. Stop. Crying. Pull yourself together.' She shook her head and looked back up at Torn. He was awaiting her response.

"So, what? You're gonna make fun of me? Call me a dumbass? Tell me I'm pathetic for letting myself get caught up in feelings?" She raised her arms. "Go ahead. I already know I'm an idiot."

Torn slowly shook his head, "I pity you, Elise."

"Wha?"

"You remind him so much of her. You remind us both of her. I pity you two, and myself." He looked back down at the map of the city. "You look like her, act like her too." He chuckled to himself, but it wasn't like any Elise had heard before. She could hear the pain in it.

She felt her chest tighten more. She instinctively put her hand over it, alarming Torn. He quickly looked back up at her and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Something hurt? Hard to breathe?" He asked, stepping out from behind the desk to stand in front of her.

"I'm fine," She waved him off. 'You lie so much, you're starting to believe them too, aren't you?' She cleared her throat. "You and Trin ask me that constantly. The answer is always the same, you know."

"Yeah, and we've always noticed you're lying every time."

"I- " She couldn't find any words to defend herself.

All of the sudden they heard some stumbling down the stairs from the outside, then some odd clinking of bottles…

Torn tried to conceal his smirk. 'This is a bad idea.'

Elise quickly snapped her gaze towards Torn. "What the hell was that?" She raised an eyebrow. "Most importantly, why are you looking at me like that? What's with the smirk?"

Daxter peered his snout out from behind the table. "Something smells.. Good! And STRONG!" He quickly jumped up. "I KNOW THAT SMELL!" He began to dash his way to the direction of the noise. "COME TO PAPA!"

With a swift flick of his wrist, Torn grasped Daxter by his ears and held him up. "Not so fast, rat. It's not for you."

"Then who?!"

They could hear grunting, "Could you HELP ME TORN?! Goddamnit- "

"No." He yelled, his smirk now a smile.

The man stepped in with a giant burlap sack that's huge and bulky and saggy like it was a cartoon. "I'm so going to put glass down your throat, Cap'n Ass."

As much as Trinity wanted to smash the bag into the ground, it'd be wasteful to.

"You said I owed you, and I got you." Masky laughed. "If you want this Dax, ask her not me."

"What - is it what I think this is?"

"Have a look for yourself." Trinity leaned on the planning table, yawning. "Mission was boring to be frank."

Elise hesitated before peering into the bag and blinking in shock. "I didn't think you were serious."

Torn let out another chuckle. "You doubt him often, don't you?"

She decided to ignore his comment and grab the bag. "If you need me," she pointed towards the two men. "I'll be drinking my sanity away."

Daxter latched onto her leg, "Wait! Just one bottle of Mar's Heaven! Pleeeeease! Just one!"

She stared down at the ottsel on her leg. "Lemme think about it." She leaned down. "No." She grinned and flicked his nose, causing him to topple over. She looked over at Trinity and forced a smile on her face.

"Thank you, but you seriously didn't need to raid a bar for me." She let out a nervous chuckle.

He waved it off, "It's fairly easy since Krew owes me and his bar business is as deserted as The Wastelands."

"Trin, if I find a dead rat or anyone because of this, that one's on you."

"Wanna bet?" Trinity leaned towards Torn, everyone could practically feel his sly smirk under the crimson mask. "If I lose… Elise, what do you wanna do, since this bet's on you?"

"I didn't even agree, Trin." Torn shook his head, but he hadn't said no either.

Elise thought before grinning mischievously. "If you lose I get to braid your hair and paint your nails." She placed her hands on her hips. "And vice versa!" She pointed at Torn.

"And trust me," She clicked her tongue and winked at the both of them. "I'm not the brightest gal when drunk."

Dawn: Finally, some alcohol. I'm sorry baby, I'll never stay away from you that long again.

Beth: Are you sure about this? I mean, she's been very temperamental lately… are you sure she won't do something she might regret?

Dawn: No, I'm not sure. That's the best part! :D

"I'll be fine," Elise whispered to herself with a small smile. She noticed Torn giving her a look. "Yeah, I'm talkin to myself." She joked but gave Trinity a knowing look. She only ever told him about Beth and Dawn. Then something hit her, "Wait… What's the catch if you won the bet?"

Trinity hummed playfully. "We'll see…"


JV007 A/N: Overall, mellow chapter for the rest of the gang. Trinity himself wants a time away from the others, he thinks it's the best for now. So! Upcoming chapters will be some independent ones, next fan mission or small errand, we'll focus on Trinity unlike this one.

Also some drink names I made up…
White Haven

Black Creek

Mar's Heaven

Eco Rum

Metalhead Dew

Precurian Walker Red

Day Star Shine

Butterfly A/N: White Haven sounds fire :D

Also

Ily guys. Jane and I both do. Elise is gon have a much needed alcohol break while Trin sips water like a mega weenie.

JV007: He ain't a weenie!