A/n: Okay, I don't know much about Jak II or Jak and Daxter other then the stuff my friend T9 tells me, so if I mess people up, I'm really, REALLY sorry. Also, if I get names wrong, please just chock it up to the fact I'm a complete idiot and refrain yourself from flaming my poor, little ass! Thankies for understanding! –bows-

Disclaimer: I don't own Jak II...hell, I've barely even played it!

For T9-chan, my sempai.

He was at it again.

Nothing new there.

Ever since he first figured out how to work that game, he had become addicted to it, like a little, furry, orange moth to a Metal Head busting flame. At first, she cheered him on, a 'Watch out, Dax!' or a 'Poor thing!' being cried out when he rarely hit the red Metal Heads. After he steadied himself, he'd turn back to look at her, give her a flirtatious wink, then go right back to bashing the mini Metal Heads down into their holes. She would giggle as that mysterious Jak actually cracked a smile for once.

But lately, he winked less and less and seemed to get more and more wrapped up in the game. She'd still rush to his aid when he was electrocuted or got so worked up he either fell into one of the holes or fell off the game platform all together. Other than that, she just cleaned or cooked or whatever Krew needed her to do and let him do his own thing.

And that was what she was doing now.

Absently humming to herself, she wiped away a liquor stain from the bar with her almost clean rag.

Mar, she hadn't hummed in forever. Hell, up until that fur-ball of an ottsel opened his greasy, flirtatious trap, she didn't think she'd ever smile again. He could make her laugh, even giggle, and, as of late, doing something that was supposed to be so natural had become very hard for her to even force.

In a way, she was thankful towards him for that, more then he could ever know. He even got Jak, of all people, to chuckle, which from what she knew about the guy, was near impossible. But he was just that funny! His sarcastic humor seemed so natural, so easy to him, that she was sure he didn't even have to try.

Daxter was a lot different from his partner.

She looked up from the counter, towards the booth the blonde in question was sleeping in. Jak and Daxter were and odd pair. Jak was quiet, distant, seemingly heartless, everything Daxter wasn't. She had seen Jak smile on occasion, even heard him laugh, but he seemed to fit exactly the description people had made for him; an outlaw. It made her wonder exactly why someone like Daxter was with someone like Jak. They seemed to be the best of friends. It made her wonder what made them so different...

"This thing's filthy," she muttered to herself as she wrung out the dish towel. Greasy, brown water dripped away. She scowled. That's gross.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOWCH!"

"Daxter!" she gasped, spinning on her heel and rushing over to him.

"I'm—I'm good," he called weakly, waving her concern off with his little paw. "J-just a lit—little shock." He swooned a bit. "I'll b—be perfect...perfectly fine, cupcake. No n—need to worry." She giggled at the pet name as he fell back into her arms, his fur slightly singed and sticking on end.

"Maybe you should take it easy, Daxter," she suggested, holding him out at arms length to look him over. A few burnt patches, but no blood. Other than his smoking tail, he was pretty much okay. "You've been going pretty hard on those poor Metal Heads lately." She cocked her head to the side. "Is something bothering you, Dax?"

"Nothing," he replied much too quickly.

"Daxter," she repeated. "You know you can trust me." He looked at her for a moment.

"Okay, but not here," he said quietly.

"Why?" she asked just as quietly while she set him back down onto the game consol. He opened his mouth, thought for a moment, closed it, and jerked his furry little head at his sleeping partner.

Okay, so it had to do with Jak. Or maybe something he didn't want Jak to wake up and hear. Either way, now she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what was wrong. If Daxter couldn't tell Jak, his best friend, but needed to tell her, something had to be terribly wrong. But, then again, he was the closest thing she had had to friend in a while, and in a place like Haven City you don't find many. She'd hear him out, if only for his sake.

"Okay," she said quietly, picking him up again. "We can talk in the back." He looked so relieved as she carried him into the dirty little kitchen behind the bar, she couldn't help but smile. Setting him back down onto one of the tables, she started pulling out some glasses. "You want something to drink, Dax?" She gave him a suggestive smile. "Maybe some of that purple stuff you like so much?" His ears perked up.

"Oh, yes, ma'am!" he crowed, jumping to his feet. She laughed to herself, the two glasses slowly filling to the brim with the thick, purple liquid.

"Here." She set down the jug in front of him, a long straw poking out of the top, before pulling up a chair for her to sit in. He licked his lips and grabbed up the cup to chug it, ignoring the straw completely. She giggled when some of the liquor started to stream down his furry chest. When near half was gone, he slammed down the jug, wiped his mouth, and gave a content sigh.

While playing idly with her own straw, she waited for him to begin this 'heart-to-heart' he had been dying for her to hear. When he didn't say anything, she decided to start for him.

"What's on your mind, Dax?" she asked simply.

With that, the flood gates opened.

"I'm...I'm scared of Jak," he said unsteadily. She froze.

That was not what she was expected to hear.

"I can't lie to myself anymore," he continued, wringing his paws. "I can't keep telling myself that I'm scared for him. Mar knows I am, but I'm also scared of him at the same time, and dammit, that just ain't right."

"I'm...I'm sure that Jak can be a very scary guy sometimes, Daxter," she said, trying to sound reassuring as she placed her hand on his little shoulder. "From what I've heard about him, he sounds like he can get very...well, brutal."

"Oh, believe me," he said quickly, "they weren't lying. You get him pissed and...holy shit." Dropping off, he ran his paw through the fur on the top of his head. "But this is Jak! It's...it's just seems so wrong."

"How is it so wrong?" she asked. Mar, how naïve she felt asking such a simple question.

"Two years ago," he replied slowly, "things were a lot different." He let out a long sigh, twirling the straw still in his mug. "We used to live on this island way out in the middle of nowhere, just me, Jak, his goodie-two-shoes girl friend, that old bag you call Shadow, and like five other people." He chuckled half heartedly. "Back then, it was just me and Jak, all the way. And...and I wasn't an ottsel, which probably made a lot of things much easier."

"What were you?" she asked, a little confused. He cracked a wide grin.

"All man, baby," he replied, hoping to his feet to strike a few poses. She giggled. "Oh yeah, a total babe magnet, lean and hansom. I blew Jak right out of the freakin water!" He paused and straightened, leaning on the glass. "Of course, I only knew like two girls, my mom and Jak's girl, but that just means my great powers over women had gone to waste!" He sighed again. "But then I had to go and fall into the vat of pure Dark ECO, and BOOM." He threw his paws into the air. "Instant ottsel." He slumped on jug. "Ah, those were the good ol' days. Just me and Jak, gettin' into trouble like the thirteen year olds we were; always pissin' off Samos and everyone else on the island. It was great!"

His eyes hardened and he drew in a deep breath only to let it out again slowly. "Jak was...Jak was a lot different back then. For one, he didn't say anything. You know, looking back on it, I guess he never really needed to. Of course, he had me. I was loud enough for the two of us, ya know?" She let out a light laugh before she nodded. "He also had this way of expressing what he was thinking with is body. His eyes spoke for him, and his posture spoke for him, and...well, I spoke for him.

"He smiled a lot more back then, too. It used to be I thought I'd never see him with out that caring, goofy smile of his..." He plopped back down onto the table, studying the pattern of the hard wood. "I'm still thanking Mar that he even smiles now. I don't think I'd be able to smile after going through what those bastards put him through."

"What...what happened to him?"

"You know what Dark ECO does to you if you get it on you, right?" he asked, looking up at her. A little shaken by his serious tone, she nodded.

"For two whole, long years, the Baron pumped Jak full up to his pointy ears with that shit."

Her hand shot to her mouth. From what she had heard about Dark ECO, it was suicide to mess with. It'd eat the very skin from your bone if it got on you.

But to have it pumped into your very veins...

"I can't believe he survived it, even now," he continued. A dry laugh forced its way up out of his throat. "But that's Jak, right? Good ol' Jak..." She was surprised when his voice cracked. His left paw was covering his eyes as he tried to get a hold of himself. "I searched that stupid prison up and down for almost a year and a half before I found him. Turned in upside-down and shook." He paused again, fighting back the prick of tears left in the back of his eyes. "Damn, was he a mess. Blood everywhere. The guards were beating the living shit out of him as I was crawling through one of the few vents. If they hadn't been using his name, I wouldn't have recognized him." Another half-hearted chuckle. "Can you believe that? I couldn't even recognize my best friend, that's how messed up he was.

"It took another half a year just to figure out how the hell to get him out of there." His voice cracked again as he shook his head violently. "Oh, who am I kiddn'? If they hadn't ordered his death right in front of me, he might still be in there right now." His paws played idly with the straw as she listened.

She hadn't known...

Oh, Mar, she hadn't known.

"You know what the first thing that he said to me was?"

His voice jolted her from her own thoughts back to him.

"What?" she asked.

"'I'm going to kill Praxis'," he quoted simply. "The first time I had ever, ever, heard his voice, and he was vowing to dismember someone to me." He shook his head. "Okay, in his defense, he was really out of it. I mean, if someone did all the crap that bastard did to him, I'd be swearing a yellow streak to anyone who would listen. I'm not even sure if he knew it was me. But...but Jak just isn't that kind of person. At least, he didn't used to be. I mean, he'd kill to save the world, which he did do, but not for personal gain. Jak has never done anything for himself...let alone end a life...

"It just shocked me, ya know? For two years I had these two scenes worked out in my head on how I'd break him out. One involved me smackin' the guards silly and Jak kissing my furry little feet for saving his sorry ass, which, let's faces it, was never in a hundred million years going to happen. But the other one...it didn't involve the guards or anything. I'd some how get into his cell, and there he'd be, normal, happy, goofy, goodie-two-shoes Jak, just sitting there. He'd look up at me, be a little surprised and then smile that 'Now-that-you're-here-it's-time-that-I-fix-everything-so-you-can-quit-shedding-from-worrying-so-much' smile of his and say my name for the first time." He waved his paw around his head as if to get rid of the idea. "I truly don't know what the hell I was on when I thought that was going to happen...but...

"I was in the ventilation system under the bloody rack they kept Jak on when I heard Praxis give the order to get rid of him," he continued. "I couldn't take it, thinking of him being gone for good, so, plan or no, I made my way up to him, ready to break him out by any means possible. He was a total wreck. What ever they did to him beside use him as a freakin' science project had beat him up pretty good. I decided that if I talked to him, he'd recognize my voice and maybe come-to." He sighed again. "Well, I got his attention, that's for sure. I jumped a mile when he barked out he'd murder the Baron, whom, might I add, is a stupid jackass.

"He was planning to off Jak caz' he thought his little experiment didn't work." He laughed dryly. "Oh, it worked alright. I got a face full of it!" His arm shot into the air, waving around to emphasize his point. "They turned Jak into a freakin monster! And I was pretty damn sure he was gonna' tear me to shreds too, until he said my name." The paw dropped and he shook his head. "Good ol' Jak remembered me, and for what? My selfishness that got him put in there! I bolted on him, and he doesn't even blame me for it. I'm the one he should vow to kill, not that jackass, Praxis."

"Don't say that!" she blurted out. "You went back to save him, didn't you? And you two are the best of friends! Jak wouldn't hold that against you."

"Exactly," he snapped back. "Jak wouldn't, but he should. He should hate me with every fiber of his being for me leaving him to die! And that's why I'm scared of him. I'm scared that one day, when Praxis is cold and dead, that sadistic side of him that Praxis made will turn on me, realizing its my fault too. It's selfish and wrong of me, but I just can't shake it! I know I should tell him, Mar knows I want to, but...but what if he's offended? What if he hates me? What if...Dammit!" His paw, which had balled up into a fist, slammed down onto the table. "Being torn to shreds by Metal Heads would be a hundreds of times better then seeing him hurt over my own selfishness. He's done so much for me...I just...I just can't do that to him.

"I love him too much, Tess. I love him as much as a friend can, and look what I put him through."

She had never heard him use her name so seriously before. It was...weird. She opened her mouth, wondering what to say. What could she say? That everything was going to be alright?

Not in Haven City it wouldn't.

That she'd be here for him if he needed her?

Yeah, but how long would that last with all the shit going on?

She closed her mouth, feeling terrible that she couldn't help him. Almost on their own, her arms wrapped around him and pulled him into a hug. He was shocked by the action, a bright blush rushing over his cheeks, but he slowly circled his own arms around her neck and returned the hug.

"You're not scared of him, you're just scared for him," she whispered softly. "You said it yourself, and sure, I'd be a little frightened of someone like him if I had seen all you've said he can do, but," she held him a little tighter, "I can tell how much you care for him." He sniffed, a few tears running down his furry cheek.

"Maybe...maybe you're right, sugar," he said, using another one of his flirty pet names for her. "I can't let this get me down. Jak needs me to the good ol' Daxter he remembers and that's what I need to be. I can't let all this precursor crap get me down." He pulled away slightly and smiled up to at her.

"That's the spirit!" she said, trying to sound pumped for something. "You can do it Daxter! I know you can."

"Hell yeah, I can," he replied, his normal, cocky smile back right were it should be. He was about to say something else, but a long yawn came out instead. She giggled.

"Someone's sleepy," she pointed out, scratching behind his left ear.

"Am not," he argued, leaning into her hand, egging her on to scratch harder. She removed her hand and gave him a look that said 'Go-to-sleep-now-mister'. He rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother," he said, trying to sound mad, and failing.

"C'mon," she ordered with a smile. Still holding him in her arms, she carried him back out of the kitchen and into the main room. He squirmed in her grip and, after a bit of a fuss, she dropped him. He landed on his feet and scampered over to his partner, who was still sleeping peacefully, and snuggled into his chest. Jak instantly wrapped an arm around him, using his friend as a teddy bear.

She smiled. They looked so cute! Just the best of friends they always acted they were.

And are.

He let out a long sigh as Jak's arm tightened around him. This was where he was meant to be.

Right next to good ol' Jak when he needed him...

"Thanks, Tess," he whispered only loud enough for himself to hear.

"For...everything."