Disclaimer: I don't own Naughty Dog's characters; I'm just borrowing them for the story. I do own Ezra though, so no touchy unless you ask.
A/N: Yeah I know. I should be working on my other stories, but I haven't a clue on where any of them are going. So I'm writing another story that will hopefully go better than the others. Expect the characters to be OOC, although I'll try to keep them in character as best as I can.
Also suggestions for a title (because I'm at a loss for one--;) would be greatly appreciated, although you may want to wait until later chapters before suggesting one.
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Ashelin sighed as she sat back in her chair and rubbed her temples. It was late and she was tired, but she had so much work left. And chances were good she wasn't going to get much sleep. Her father had left such a mess that it was going to take months to sort it all out. There were hundreds of things that she had to go through, everything from rebuilding projects to new laws, all of which had to go through her for approval and everyone wanted it done now. She was glad that Torn was taking care of Guard situation, it gave Ashelin one less thing to worry about.
"Screw this!" She muttered glancing over at the wall clock. There was no way in hell she was going to do anything else until she got some sleep. And with that thought in mind she stood and stretched; her back and shoulders popping at the movement. She flicked the light off as she left the room. The guards outside the door came to attention as she exited. "Go ahead and take the rest of the night off." She told them, not bothering to be formal about it.
"Yes Governor." They answered in unison.
"I'll see you in the morning." She shot over her shoulder from the end of the hallway.
She made her was towards the elevator, her feet practically dragging. Once inside the elevator, Ashelin leaned back against the far wall, her eyes closing during the ride. She made a mental note not to stay up late like this again, well at least not during the week. Ashelin jumped when her communicator began to buzz. "Damn it!" She growled, grabbing the offensive device.
"This had better be good." She hissed into the communicator.
"My apologies Governor," came the voice on the other end. "But we have a situation over at the prison."
"What, did a prisoner escape?"
"No Ma'am."
"So what's the problem?" She said becoming irritated.
"The problem is over at the old prison." The voice said. "The demolition crew found something."
"What kind of something."
"Not sure, but they said you should come and see it."
'So much for taking the rest of the nigh off.' Ashelin thought bitterly. "Fine, I'll be there shortly."
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Ashelin stepped off the Hell Kat as it landed out side the prison, one of the guards approaching as she did so.
"So what is this thing I need to see?" Ashelin asked sounding just a little annoyed.
"Not sure." The guard answered. "One of the demolition team members said there was someone locked up in one of the old prison cells.
"Do they know who it is?"
"Can't tell," He shrugged. "We're not even sure he's still alive."
Ashelin gave an exasperated sigh. "Has Torn been notified about this?"
He nodded as he spoke. "He should be here soon."
"Very well," She said. "Have him join me once he gets here."
"Yes Ma'am." He answered as he saluted her.
The section of prison in question had been shut down for years. After the city's power grid was changed over and a new prison was built, the old prison became pretty much obsolete. For a while though, it did served as a place to hold prisoners until the new prison was completed. After that it was abandoned and left to rot. It was now scheduled to be torn down.
Ashelin made her way through the deteriorating corridors by way of lighting put up by the demolition team as the building was being checked out, and rigged with explosives. Wires and pipes hung from the ceiling and walls, cell doors lay on the floor, their hinges longs since rusted away. The entire place reeked of stagnant water, mildew and animal waste. The smell was strong enough, that it made Ashelin practically gag; she was half tempted to turn around and go back outside because of the stench.
She rounded the corner and saw a group of guards and construction crew members standing at the end of the hallway by the cell that she assumed held the 'prisoner'. They looked up at her as she approached.
"He's in here." One of the workers said as he pointed to the cell.
The first thing Ashelin noticed as she stepped up to the door was that it wasn't rusted and rotting the others. Instead it looked as if someone had recently installed it. The second thing she noticed; was that the door had no handle, no lock and no key pad on it; the only thing the door really had was a small barred window.
"Looks like who ever did this didn't want anyone getting in or out." She said as she peered in the window.
The cell was almost pitch black, the small amount of light that filtered through window did little to illuminate the cell. She squinted, trying to see through the darkness, barely making out the figure lying on the bed.
"Damn." She muttered. "Someone hand me a light."
A flashlight was handed to her, and she once again looked into the cell. The figure was now clearly visible under the flashlight's glare, and she gasped at what she saw. She could see now that the figure was indeed male, wearing little more than a pair of black pants, and metal collar around his neck. His body was extremely thin, almost emaciated. He lay on his back, his right hand resting on his stomach, his left lay on the dirty floor; long tapered nails grew from his fingers. His hair was almost shoulder length, and was brownish, maybe red, in color. His head was turned away from the door, so Ashelin couldn't make out his face, although she could see the tattoos on his dirt smudged ears. 'He's a member of the Guard.' She thought in surprise as she backed way from the door.
"Get this door open now!" She ordered.
"Yes Ma'am." A crew member said as he ran off to find help and tools.
Ashelin then turned to one of the guards. "Send for a medic. If he is still alive, I want to know why he's here.
Once the guard left, Ashelin looked back into the cell. "Who are you?" She whispered to herself. The dirt on his ears distorted the tattoos, so she couldn't make a positive identification by them. And the fact that his face was turned away from her didn't help either.
"Governor, we're ready to open the door." The demolition team was back with cutting torches and crow bars.
She nodded and stepped way from the door allowing them to get to work. "Notify me when you get it open." With that she exited the prison to wait for Torn and the medic team, and to get some much needed fresh air.
She was approached by Torn as she stepped outside the prison. He looked just as bad as she did. She could help smiling at him.
"So much for sleep, huh?" She asked smirking.
He glared at her before answering. "What's this all about?"
"There is someone locked up in one of the cells." She said becoming serious. "I have a team opening the door right now."
"So what did he do, accidentally lock himself in?"
"Not unless he installed a lockless door himself, besides," She shrugged. "It looks like he's been there a while."
"Lockless?"
Ashelin nodded. "There's no lock, no handle, just a small window. There's something else too."
"What?"
"He's a member of the Guard."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded again. "I can't see his face, but I can see the tattoos on his ears."
They were interrupted when a guard approached them. "Governor, the medics are here." He said has he motioned towards the landing transport.
"Thank you."
"So, you gonna show me the reason I'm not in bed right now?" Torn said smirking.
"Oh, shut up!" Ashelin muttered walking towards the prison again, a chuckling Torn and medics in tow.
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"Remind me again why your father didn't tear this place down." Torn said as he tied a scarf over his nose and mouth in an attempt to block out the smell.
"I think he said it was because he didn't want to waste time or manpower."
"Oh."
The group rounded the corner just as the demolition team finished cutting through the door. The man with cutting torch back away and let two other men approach so they could pry the door open.
"You weren't kiddin' about the door." Torn smirked.
The door creaked and groaned as the workers forced it open, the metal slab finally giving way to their efforts.
"Watch your toes ladies." One worker said as the door fell to the ground with a resounding clang, dust and debris flying into the air as it landed.
"I'll check it out first." Ashelin said stepping towards the door.
"You sure?" Torn asked.
"Are you worried about me, Torn?"
"Hey, I'm just checking."
Ashelin smiled. "Thanks for the concern, but I'll be fine." With that she turned and walked towards the now open door, flashlight in hand. She squinted through the haze left by the dust the door had kicked up. Her eyes glance around the room. It looked much like the rest of the prison did. Rust had begun eating away at the steel, water dripped from cracks and holes in the walls and ceiling. Up in the corner near the door there was an old surveillance camera. Her eyes eventually traveled down to the floor. Animal bones and other debris lay scattered about; there were also deep gouges, like claw marks, in the floor and the walls as well. Her gaze finally settled on the individual in question.
She stood only a few feet away, and already she could make out more details of his person. She could see now that the collar around his neck was chained to the wall, and what she thought was dirt smeared on his body, was mostly dried blood. Whose blood it was, Ashelin didn't want to know. As she looked the rest of him over, she noticed details about him that didn't make scene. For one, his nails, they looked a lot like Jak's did when he changed, except they were dark silver not black. And then there was the tail, what was perhaps the most out-of-place feature on his person, since when did people grow tails? Ashelin could only imagine. She shifted the flashlight up towards his head.
'May as well find out who you are.' She thought, swallowing a lump in her throat.
With the light now illuminating his head, Ashelin could now see that his hair was not brown, but red, flame red. Blood and dirt coated most of the fiery strands, giving them the illusion of being brown. She could just make out the tattoos on his ears, "It can't be." She whispered. Ashelin hesitantly move forward to get a look at the man's face. She gasped when she saw it.
"By Mar, no!" Ashelin said slowly sinking to her knees. The movement caught Torn's attention.
"Ashelin?" He moved to stand in the door way. "Is something wrong?"
Ashelin looked over her shoulder, her eyes wide. "…It's Ezra."
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Author's Rant: A little rough starting, but it'll get better. And you're probably wondering who Ezra is, well I'm not telling until chapter 2, but you're welcome to guess. Anyhoo, I'll have chapter 2 & 3 soon, I just have to type them up, so please R&R and let me know what you think.