A/N: Jeez, I'm really sorry for the long wait. That little slump I've been talking about just won't go away, and I had to drag myself to the computer and start with this 'coz I don't want to make you loverly people wait longer than you really need to. I'll try my best to not make you all wait that long again, but I won't promise 'coz you never know what the future holds, I guess. But I just want you all to know that I DIDN'T FORGET ABOUT CHUUUU!

I also plan to start making chapters look a bit more cleaner if I can. And and and... and wow. Just...

Wow! I really really enjoyed the reviews that tumbled in this time around! So thank you thank you thank you to the following!

goggle head girl: You liked that one the most? That's no surprise, I guess, on the count of... anything with a naked Jak is yummy. As for my muse, It hasn't decided quite yet to come and inspire me but I think I just MIGHT be capable enough to go on without him for a little while longer. I sure will try, anyway.

Midnyte Wolf: No no! Squeal all you like, my dear, for my story very much enjoys being your loverly friend. I know I took forever to get this chapter up, but I hope that by now, things at home have cleared up. God Bless.

Demyrie: As always, such a filled review! And I luffluffluff it!!! Uhm, I never meant to make you have ebil thoughts all day, 'coz I'm betting that's a scary, scary thing... Buuut on the other hand, I'm siked that it made you wanna get going some more on JAM, 'coz I rape every day and your story is the first thing I look for. Happeh you lerved Daxxie's comments as much as I did writing them!

jess: Yes.... YES!! 'Coz when it comes to Jak and Daxter, ANY story or work of art or... really ANYTHING is wonderful. Yaoi or placid, it is a beautiful thing to experience. I know I'm making it all seem like it's the most wonderful thing on the face of the planet – which don't be surprised if I really feel that way – but in short, glad you liked the chapter, and may more yaoi get in your way and force itself upon your brain.

shark: I think almost... all of us would have been in such a trance. I had a blast writing that line, cause all I could think about was Daxter having that look on his face when Jak was fully EXPOSED! And your feeling everything Dax is feeling? That... may or may not be a good thing, considering that Daxter was quite the horny little fellow in the last chapter. O.o

Kyrie Sanctus: Just let me say THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!! I was having THE worst day and your review made me feel better! -dances- I uber lerved your review 'coz I've discovered that it's a pretty damn cool feeling to know that someone truly thinks that I have our favorite little ottsel 'down' and everything! I think he's an emotional character with a lot of depth and I really wanted to touch on that, but I never thought I could pull it off. So thank you!

Umi Fox: A good story always needs some hate or conflict in it somewhere. And since for some reason I can't really stand Keira, I figured I would use her for my own hating pleasure !!! Ya and uh, that last chapter...was...written when I was in an interesting mood...

Yakow: I keep on bringing up how much it hurts to love someone so close to you and then not being able to have them. I'm serious about that folks. And 'coz I felt so guilty about putting Daxxie through that (having to see Keira's grubby hands all over him) I figured I'd make it up to him with the ending of that chapter.

kamicountd: We'll see if Jak and Keira end up together or not eventually. Not too soon, though, I'm afraid. Sorry! But anyway, sorry for the wait and I hope this one makes up for it. No voodoo please!!! I bruise easily!!


Waking up from a horrible sleep full of nightmares (which I was starting to get used to, by the way...) with the smell and taste of my own morning breath was never something I got around to enjoying. It was on the very bottom of my To-Do List. But when I looked over and remembered that a sleeping Jak was literally right beneath me, none of it even mattered anymore. No matter what, Jak looked so peaceful in his sleep, and it was hard to hold any grudge against him. A content smile graced my face and I rested my head on his chest.

And in hopes of not losing that wonderful night last night, I didn't want to wake him up and go about our business for the day. Because yesterday ALREADY seemed like it happened a long time ago, just as I dreaded it would. Don't get me wrong, I'm very attentive to the lovely little fact that Jak was naked with ME in the SHOWER and he gave ME a little BACK RUB yesterday, but sleeping kind of tries to delete details from the brain. Heh, like I'm going to let THAT happen. I've already got it chiseled into my memory, so I can go back and treasure it on lonely, rainy nights.

Malice to my wishes, Jak rustled in his sleep anyway, and soon his eyes fluttered open into a drowsy half lidded gaze. And that gaze was directed at me.

"Morning, Princess," I drawled, rolling into a more comfortable position and resting my chin on my paws to simply blink at him and give a mockery of a dreamy smile. He yawned and licked his lips and breathed his hello before rolling over to the side to grab some blankets, curl up into a little ball and close his eyes. Needless to say, I fell off from his heated belly and onto the cold floor. My first intention to yell at him for one: knocking me down from a position I was very fond of, and two: having worse morning breath than me was evaporating at an earth-shaking pace when I turned around to see Jak's sleeping face caving itself into the clump of blankets.

With me, he let his guard down, and it was a nice sensation knowing that in a crazy dog-eat-dog, or dog-eat-ottsel, I should say, he trusted me enough to let down all of his defenses and slip himself into dreamland.

Hell yeah, he looked edible, too. But I'm still an ass, even if it IS the object of my desires that's in front of me.

"C'mon, sleepy-head. Get up!" I gave him a good kick – or as good as someone as small as me can do to a guy like him – and tugged violently at his pillow and sheets. Jak moaned a few protests and didn't budge from his spot, sprawled upon the mattress. I leapt up onto his chest again and let my furry face linger only a mere inch or so from his until his eyes reopened in a confused comatose ogle.

"Since when are you a morning person?" Jak muttering into the cushiony material, eyes still closed and words slurred with sleepiness. "What's your hurry, anyway?"

That was just it. I don't think we really HAD any plans today. So my brain started to tick in Jak-logic. Let's see... Wake up one tired hero plus one ungodly really early hour of the morning... toss in a day with no current plans... that SHOULD equal the maximum amount of time to spend with said hero. It's not rocket science, people. Even I can figure that one out. But then again, I don't really think of very much else.

I yanked all the covers from his form, causing him to instinctively twitch into a fetus position to give himself warmth. His hand reached out for the blanket that was in my possession. When he found he was unable to reach the damn thing, he sat up, rubbing his eyes, his loose hair cascading down his shoulders to curtain around his head and frame his face.

Dear God...

Arching his back when he stood to get all the kinks out, he put on all of his gear and polished his weapon with his sleeve in what seemed like seconds.

"Jak?"

"We're heading over to Snake's place," he informed without even looking at me, assuming that my question was relevant to what we were gonna be doing today.

Just wonderful.

It's either Keira and her perfect little face that sucks him away from me, or Snake's mysterious and shady character that lures him into trouble. Cause the guy can't resist something like that. His lust for adventure was shoved into him along with all that dark eco. Or at least, that's how I think of it. Either way, I lose because whatever time he spends with things like that, it's less time that he notices a certain little rodent's presence in the world. There's another bugger about being like... like this. It's hard to get people to notice you. Not that I didn't have a hard time in the first place to get somebody to take me seriously, but now the difficulty has been doubled. Nowadays even if I DO get somebody to look down at me, they never care about what I have to say. To them I'm just a fuzzy little animal following Jak, the big hero, taking up breathing air as well as space on Jak's shoulder and bringing absolutely not relevance to anything whatsoever.

Case you didn't catch it; I've had a lot of time to think about this. But you should know this by now.

Jak was already up and heading for the door, gun in tow, knowing full well that I would follow without question, just like I always did. 'Coz I don't really know how to do anything else. I'm either too small, too scared, too incapable, or too STUPID to know what to do with myself should I decide to stay behind. I know full well what could happen to me if Jak was not around. Dead is what I would be, dead. I just thought I would throw that out there to those who don't catch onto it. He knows that I'll follow, like some tired kid following his Mum or Pa, draggin' his feet to keep up and really not wanting to be there in the first place, but not saying anything 'coz anything you say could be the wrong thing.

My paws were pitter pattering against the floor before I even knew I was facing the doorway that held Jak's retreating figure. My ears rang as the ever-calming silence of our room was intruded by a loud murmur of thousands of conversations, vehicles and their horns, and guns firing at anything suspicious as soon as that door to the outside world cracked open. The sad part was... it was completely normal. But the outside world, the one that could hurt me in a heartbeat, and break even the strongest of men, was terrifying and I increased my speed and jumped onto Jak, clinging onto his clothing with my claws and scampering up to the place I knew I was safe.

For a short while, everything seemed to move in slow motion... except for me and Jak. The people, the stray animals, even the wind. But everything returned to its normal pace upon arrival to the two buildings that Jak would inevitably squeeze between. You know, being right all the time, as good as that can sometimes sound, can be a bad thing. I took a moment to take one more glace around us. I could see so many homeless people, some in groups crowding around a small fire. The streets were dirty, of course, and dangerous. There were a few selected people in the city that DID have a place to stay and food to eat. It was easy to point them out, 'coz they had nice clothes and a good beer belly to show for it. And it made me think; that even though Jak and I risk our lives every day for someone else's bidding, and even though we get little to eat and a crummy old den to sleep in, we were one of the luckier people in Haven. So even though I would sometimes curse myself and the skies over my head, inside I couldn't help but think about how good I have it compared to other people. No wonder the streets are so hazardous and people are so rude and defensive. It was a little something called survival.

I guess I'm kind of guilty for it, too. When I was still looking for a way to rescue Jak, a strange sense of paranoia washed over me and I survived any way I could. My trust became a rare thing to find and God, I even stole from other homeless people a few times. And when the guilt became too much, I started to dig through the trash. Not that there was really anything in there worth eating.

Back to the present, Jak sidestepped through the buildings and into the graveyard. I averted my eyes to the side and spotted the grave we had dug up before, courtesy of Snake's request. The soil there gave a slightly different color and was evident that somebody – or somebody's - had tempered with it. I swallowed as we passed it and entered the door and went down the steps. Only then did I speak up.

"Jak," somehow I sounded quiet. "What are we doing?"

We reached the bottom of the stairs and for the first time since I've been there, Snake wasn't standing there, watching us as we rounded the stairway's corner. And that's when I decided that I didn't want to be there anymore. Jak never even stopped to consider anything else other than we were alone, and it was a perfect opportunity to explore. And explore he did, with me having really no choice but to follow. Feeling fresh and new, Jak opened the door on the other side of the room and left behind the one that we had occupied so many times before. The hallway was dark, with the torches on either side of the door unlit, just as I remember it when we had very first arrived. And even though it was oddly familiar, it was eerily different. Jak kept on walking, his boots tapping against the floor and ringing against the walls, until we had reached something that I had personally forgotten all about.

Those colored doors(1) were brought back to light in my mind and my fear was abandoned and in return, transformed into nothing short of intrigued. I guess Jak was on the same page as me because he had stopped to look at the doors as well. His hand slowly reached out, and he rested his palm against the nearest door and gaped at it intently, until it was shattered by a voice that I unfortunately knew.

"You must really think you're something," I could almost FEEL her biting at that lower thick lip of hers. Jak and I both whipped around at the same time, slightly started to find that we were not that only ones in the room like we had thought, to find a conniving Snake leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and – you guessed it – her lip tucked somewhere underneath her movie-star white teeth. "Sneaking in here like this."

While I was frozen and a little shocked that we were caught, Jak didn't seem daunted in the least. So of course I scrambled behind his leg, fingering and twisting my fingers into the fabric of his boot.

"What are these for?" It's almost funny to hear Jak's voice in the area of curiousness of all things, about something little like a hallway of doors. His head nodded sharply to the left, indicating what he was talking about.

"You really wanna know?" Her eyes widened at us with the spoken words and she chuckled, her shoulders bouncing with each quick breath. It was more of a statement than a question, and Jak nodded his head. She pushed herself away from the wall and strutted towards us with a feminine sway. She was peering into our souls, as if trying to see if we were worthy of the information.

Oh and for the record, I really DO believe she lives down here. We haven't been here ONCE when she wasn't here. Some people just need to get out more, is all I'm saying.

Snake sighed and traced one of the doorframes with her finger.

"Look at this door," she ordered Jak. Jak gave a confused glare, but did as he was told anyway. I did the same.

"Tell me," She lifted her head. "What do you see?"

"I see a black door." It was a simple sentence form Jak's mouth. But as his breath slowed and his facial expression became visibly deeper, his voice lowered and he continued. "A black door with dead vines peeking from beneath rotting wood." He reached out and pressed his fingers against it. "It's colder than ice and has a dark aura surrounding it. It's dusty, so I'm guessing that it's never been opened."

Now uh...here's what confuses me...

WHAT THE HECK IS HE TALKING ABOUT!?

First things first, that door isn't rotting! It's a black and made of metal! Last time I checked, metal had a hard-ass time makin' itself rot! And... And there's no vines anywhere around it whatsoever! There's not even a firggen doorknob! I'll give him one thing, though, it IS bitter to the touch.

"You don't agree with him?" Snake raised her brows, amused, letting her chin rest against her chest to look at me. I noticed my face was twisted in nothing but confusion only after I discovered she was speaking to me. My hatred for the woman currently hiding, my head bobbed up and down quickly, looking at Jak only to find him returning the same lost idiom as myself.

"You both see different," she tried to explain, but I never was good at solving riddles. "This door represents your deepest, darkest fears."

I snorted. Whatever it was that she was doing when she was here all by herself, she needed to stop because it was taking a serious toll on her sanity. Or something...

"Look deep inside of yourself," She came closer to Jak, brushing her face so close to his that her hair tickled his face. "I know that you have something deep inside of you that eats away at your mind during the day, and keeps you awake at night. Everybody does. Something that scares you and turns you into a little child."

She was seriously beginning to scare me. Not only was her whole entire attitude taking a sinister turn, but everything she was saying was totally and completely true. Everybody, including me, had little secrets that they didn't want to get out to the public. Little fears that seemed impossible if you thought about them, but still irk you enough to find a home in your brain. Fears that we fight back and try to keep shadowed behind our smiles and laughter. But they're still there. They're always there.

That's not that scary part. The scary part is... That we can never make them go away. Heck sometimes, we're too attached to them in a strange way to let them out. We're too afraid to let them loose in fear of what they'll do.

"These aren't any ordinary doors..." I hate it when people state the evident. "These doors reflect you. They reflect your soul."

I could feel my face deadpan. I have... no idea what she's going on about.

"Everybody sees it differently. One person may see just a regular wooden door. Someone else may see something resembling the entrance to Hell itself. This certain door right here represents your worst fear. What your mind preserves your worst fear to be will be represented in its appearance. It's sort of like taking a picture of what your brain sees it to be and putting it in the form of this."

I think I might have an idea of what she's taking about, but I can't be sure on that. From what I'm getting, I'm seeing this door as my brain sees my worst fear. So...I'm gonng just conclude that if the door looks creepy on it's own, then I don't think I want to know what's behind it. But something inside of me just had to know. I just had to ask.

"So..."

"What's behind it?" I don't like this. It's like she can read my mind. "I can't tell you that. Only your mind can tell you that. I can tell you this, however..." She strutted past me and Jak and motioned towards each door as she passed it. "That every color represents a different emotion. Black is fear. White is fantasy, dreams and hopes. Purple is the future. Green is the past. Red is desire."

She turned to face us. In return, we gave her blank expressions. I mean, wouldn't you? Some lady starts babbling on that a hallway of doors is a visual concept of the unconscious mind? Trust me, it sounds a lot smarter than it is.

"We arn't gonna be quized on this later, are we?" I threw out there, sarcasm dripping on every word.

"Go ahead," she lifted her chin and looked at Jak, who never changed his lost appearance. I think a few actual minutes passed us by before he took that step forward, reached out a tentative hand and grabbed the door handle.

"This door represents your worst fears," she reminded him. "You don't have to go inside." I dunno, it could just be me. I think it's just kinda strange to hear something like that coming from the snake lady.

"I think I'll be alright," Jak almost mused to himself. Almost as if thinking 'yeah, I've been through worse. I LIVE a nightmare so this should be nothing.' I gulped as Jak disappeared behind the door. Not only was I afraid for Jak's safety, but Jak had to go and leave me here in a room with Novanya. She was freaky enough as it is just standing, so imagine how tense I grew when she started to initiate a conversation... with ME!

"Aren't you going to go into one?" She looked at me like I wouldn't have it any other way. I shivered from her narrow eyes and avoided eye contact when I spoke.

"Why are you showing this to us?" My eyes were pinned on that horrible door in front of me, and I refused to take them off until Jak came back, safe and sound.

"I figure you two earned it after all you've done for me so far," she shrugged her shoulders, arms still crossed and body leaning against the wall in a satisfied morale. "And besides, I don't see any harm in it."

Somehow, my whole perspective on Snake was starting to change. I mean, she still scared the shit outta me, and I wasn't bringing myself to trust her on a whim or anything like that, but the way she was talking was showing a whole 'nother side to her. Don't get me wrong, I still feel the same way about her, but I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong, and she's not the 100 percent evil woman I had first pictured her to be. She did have a soft side, just like Jak still has that innocence left in him from Sandover. But you have to think of it like this: She has a personal life other than calling on us to do her dirty work for her. Ya know, like Jak. Everyone sees him as a monster that only lives and breathes to destroy things and end lives. I won't lie to you, he does that on one of his... more depressing days, but he does have a life other than that. The life that's with me and doing missions and doing things that friends do together. Only... everyone else doesn't know about that. So I guess...

Put it on the list of 'lessons learned in life' or something educational like that. Put down that I learned not to judge people right away.

But that brings me to my next point. There's judging, and then there's intuition. You got judging, which is what I did, where you think something of somebody based on things like appearance, the way they talk, what they say and do, how that do it, stuff like that. Base on that information you make a conclusion in your head and sooner or later, you start to believe that conclusion because you don't know anything else. Then we got ourselves lovely little intuition. Instinct. That ugly little feeling you get in the pit of your stomach. It's not intentional, mind you, but sometimes you just get that bad feeling when your around someone or something. I'll admit, I had that for a while with Snake, which is why I'm not gonna completely let my guard down on that one, but my judgment had slightly altered. So I'm a little bit in the middle, meaning I just have to watch my back, and Jak's for a little while. Just until I figure out more. Which.. which was Jak's plan in the first place.

What was it..? Something like, 'just go along with it until we figure out what's going on?' Just lay low until we figure out motives and goals. Then we can finally break this phony chain of loyalty.

It had been five minutes or so and Jak still hadn't come back out. I licked my lips and opened my mouth, slowly breathing in the air I needed for my next inquiry.

"Does it hurt?"

Glanced down at me, amused and giving me the face that a mother would give her child just after he had made a silly comment.

"It's almost like a dream. It can't hurt you, no matter how real it may seem," she insisted.

I nodded my head. And just as the silence seemed to be enough to kill me, the door opened and out came Jak, his eyes like a zombies and his body stiffer than a board. Even freakier, that zombie-like stare jerked around a bit and finally landed itself on me.

I... don't ever want to see that face on Jak ever again.


A/N: Whoooo!!!!! WOW that chapter has to be... one of the stupidest things I have ever written!! Eveh!! But ever since I started this story I knew I would have to do it sooner or later. How embarrassing but at the same time interesting.

I think the reason I seems to negative towards this chapter is 'coz I'm a little worried or afraid that it might lead readers away from the story, and I don't want my story to be all by its lonesome. I don't think it can handle it!! I mean, I just wonder if 'doors that resemble your unconscious mind' fits into the story or atmosphere. But I guess only readers can tell. Try not to pelt me TOO bad with flames, heh..

1

The doors for your emotions and feelings and stuff...? I wish I could take credit for thinking all of that up, but I didn't do it on my own. It's actually a guided meditation people do for other people in order to help them realize their own fears, dreams and so on. It's cool that people really do this kinda thing, and I guess I wanted to bring it into the story some how.

If the whole door thing didn't quite catch yer fancy, I apologize. And also warn you of one more chapter involving doors " I just gotta make Daxter go inside of them and then I'll steer away from them. Till then, work with me.

Thanks loads!

XOXO

C.V.