A/N - Hello, and welcome to the middle of the film....ehr (coughs), I mean, of course, chapter three (stupid quote-habit, go away!)!!! 14 reviews, that's amazing!! Really!! What do you know, I'm still nervous for what you'll think of the way the story's going, but I don't seriously feel like changing it, so bear with me, okay??

Blaze0017 - Oooh (blush). Thanks, appreciate that. Hmmm, I wonder if they'll continue to stay totally in character all the way, but I will do my best and cross my fingers!! :S

love-chibis-kyuubi - Well, it is coming, slowly, just have to build up the story, okay?? Hope you'll continue reading this fic!!

Mechafrog - Well, yeah, lack of mush. I'll do my best, I promise, but I won't guarantee it will be totally lacking. You woldn't see neither Jak nor Torn in a gay relationship if they were nasty all the way through, now would you?? ;) Oh, well, stay with it, please?

Sabulana - (falls off her chair in paralysed shock) .......!! Just a moment, I need a minute to comprehend the fact that you, of all people, have given this fic a review (stares at the screen, not believing her eyes), AND that you like it!! WEEEEEE!!! :D:D:D Ehm, what I mean is...thank you so much, I'm so flattered!!

DarkMistress950 - Pweh, I'm glad that at least you don't mind it, because I'm not sure if some of the others will feel the same way. But you're right, you're absolutely right, so there, people (glances at the readers), now you have it!! ;) Hehe, sorry about the cliffhangers, but it's a good way of keeping people interested in the story!! I won't do it too often, though!

The Flaming Weasel of DOOM - Woops, yeah, I know what you mean (lowers her head in embarrasment). Tell me what you think of this bit then, and I'll do my best to follow the advice.

The Sacred Heart - Here you go, a whole new chapter!!:D

Disclaimer - Nay, don't own them. Only kidnapped them as muses (grins)!!

Warnings - (rolls her eyes) I won't even bother with that - go check the previous chapters if you haven't seen it yet!!

Anyway, I hope you'll like this next part as much as I did thinking it out and writing it. Oh, and please do read the author's note down at the bottom, it's relevant, really relevant, as a matter of fact!!

Chapter 3 - A Heart-to-Heart for the very in-experienced (or something)

"What's the big idea of sitting up here all night?" he asked once he was standing on the roof. "You've been here long enough to upset the rat, and that is quite an achievement."

Jak didn't bother look up at him. "Good morning, Torn. Dax sent you, didn't he? I knew he would – worries about me far too much for his own good." He sighed deeply and looked out over the rather depressing sight of Dead Town. "Just go back down, Torn. You don't care and I don't see the point in you pretending to, so just go back to the Underground, okay?" For some reason his voice had assumed an angry tone.

The change of tone had two effects on Torn. First it made him angry – who was the kid to tell him what to do? And secondly it made him curious and just the teeniest bit worried. What the heck was wrong with Jak that he had to hide it even from the rat, his supposed best friend?

"Hell no, I won't," Torn snorted and sat down beside Jak. Now, either you pull yourself together and go back to the hideout with me or you tell what the devil's wrong with you. You've managed to freak the rat out and now you've gotten me worried as well." As the words escaped his mouth Torn's eyes grew wide with the realisation of what he had said and, more profoundly, that he actually meant what he had said.

This time Jak did turn to look at him, and when dark blue eyes met icy blue ones the effect hit the ex-KG like a blow. Where anger normally lit the blue eyes of the hero there was nothing now. The eyes themselves seemed empty, devoid of feelings. Not that they were dead; they were just empty.

For the first time since he was a little child Torn felt sad for someone and wanted to help them. He bit his lip, angry with himself for caring. He wasn't supposed to care about anyone and he certainly didn't want the one he started caring even the slightest bit about to be Jak. But he couldn't have those eyes so empty – the eyes were the mirror of the soul, wasn't it? And if Jak's soul was empty, there would be no fighting spirit left in him and then he couldn't fight the Baron.

"You want to know what's 'wrong' with me?" Jak said, his voice bitter and endlessly sad at the same time. "I'll tell you what's wrong. I hate myself. I hate what I've become and I wish it would all end. That everything would just stop."

Torn's brow furrowed. Surely the kid couldn't mean what he implied with his words. He didn't actually want to commit suicide? Granted, when Torn was young, he had felt much the same way, but that was different. Torn had had nobody at that time – he still hadn't, but that was beside the point – nobody to turn to, no one who cared. Jak had friends, for the sake of Mar, real friends who would be there for him no matter what.

"But I know I can't do that. I have to continue to stay alive, if only for Daxter. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have been alive today, and if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't be that little ball of fur he is now. So it would be rather inconsiderate of me to just go and kill myself after all he went through to rescue me."

"How can you be responsible for him being the annoying rat he is?" Torn asked, puzzled despite himself.

A smile found its way onto Jak's lips; a thin ghost of a real smile, true, but a smile nonetheless. "I'm not. Not responsible for his behaviour that is, but if I hadn't insisted on going to Misty Island back then he would never have fallen into that great pool of dark eco and been spit out by it as the ottsel you all know. On the other hand, if that hadn't happened we would never had realised what Gol was up to and the world would have been a serious terrible mess."

"And who the hell is 'Gol'?" Torn inquired, crossing his arms over his chest. Now, the boy was clearly rambling, what else could he be? He had never heard of anyone named 'Gol' and a whole pool of dark eco? It had been decades since there had been enough dark eco around in the open to even fill a small pond.

Jak didn't seem to listen – in fact it seemed more and more like he was talking to himself or someone that Torn couldn't see. His normally angry attitude had faded for the moment, leaving that sad boy with the empty eyes that looked somewhat vulnerable. It struck Torn that this must have been what Jak had looked like when he was younger, before he became the Baron's lab-rat, so to speak.

"What I wouldn't give to be able to go back in time," the former mute muttered. "I mean, not just to go back in time to where this was still overlooking the sea, Misty Island and Geyser Rock, but back and stop Keira, Samos, Dax and I from ever moving that portal."

"Keep on talking in riddles like that and I'll soon end up thinking you as mad as old Vin," Torn tried hard to suppress the snicker that rose in his throat at the image of Jak dressed up and being as paranoid as Vin and he managed to do it. Barely.

"I'm NOT talking in riddles!" Jak exclaimed angrily. Then it seemed to realise who he was talking to and his anger faded away once more. "Okay, maybe I am. But it doesn't matter. I cannot make any of it undone and you wouldn't be able to comprehend anyway. Just go back to the Underground, I will be there shortly."

Torn was about to argue, then the futility of it hit him and he sighed. The kid was right; he understood absolutely nothing of what Jak was talking about, and he definitely wasn't very good at this confident-shit. Better to let Jak decide what he wanted to do and then he could let Torn know it when and if he was ready to say it.

"Alright, but you better be there soon. I'll send the rat up for you, okay?" Jak nodded slowly, having already turned his attention back to staring out unseeingly in front of him. He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair.

As Torn nimbly made his way down from the ruins of the hut he glanced up at Jak a couple of times. The eco experiment didn't move once and his appearance, though it almost crackled with the usual power and anger, seemed as sad and empty as it had been when Torn was up there.

Daxter looked up at him hopefully as he passed, but he just shook his head "He wouldn't talk. Not to me, anyway. You better go and get him back down from there before the Metal Heads surround the place." The ottsel seemed very miserable for a moment, but then he nodded resolutely and was off in an instant.

When Torn was back in the hideout he took off his clothes once more and climbed back into bed. Perhaps now I can finally get some sleep without being disturbed," he grumbled as he shot his eyes. Sleep claimed him shortly thereafter, but this time he didn't sleep very peacefully; for some reason strange visions kept haunting his dreams.

TBC...

A/N - So, how was that?? Very bad? Not what you expected? Could have been better? I know Jak's an angry character in the second game, but nobody has got that kind of one-sided personality to them, so I figured that must have some issues about what has happened to him and so. Hehe, I bet you thought they were going to kiss in this sequence, didn't ye? Well, so did I untill I neared the end of the chapter and realised that it would be better if it took some more time and so, so hang on and we'll get there!! Oh, btw, it's going to take a tiny while before the next chapter comes up, simply because I need to plot what's going to happen and then type it! AND school's starting on Monday, so I won't have that much time available anymore!! :(