Disclaimer: The series, Jak and Daxter, was created by Naughty Dog, not me.

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The Babysitter

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The Palace of Haven City, the largest tower built in the heart of the city that once served as home to the Royal House of Mar, in recent years, however, had become the full-time residence of the usurper who styled himself as Haven City's Grand Protector, Baron Praxis. Although the Baron was an unpopular ruler for multiple reasons, the opposing Underground movement to his reign was largely undermanned as Haven City had been at war with the vicious Metal Heads for hundreds of years and it was ultimately Praxis and his Krimzon Guard that were responsible for the city's defense.

All the same, it did not mean that there were not those in even the Guard's roster that wanted their home to become better than it was then, such as one Captain who was seemingly directing one of her own subordinates in armor to the Palace's monitoring room. A tall, slim, young woman with a robust figure, she had short, dark red hair in dreadlocks in addition to green eyes and pale skin, and decorated in grey facial tattoos that went along with her heavy-duty, yet revealing, attire marking her as a member of the Krimzon Guard. Her name was Ashelin Praxis, daughter of the Baron, and, despite her daughterly concern for her father, a secret spy for the Underground.

Doing what she and the apparent Guard behind her could do not to draw suspicion, the pair soon enough reached their destination, and once certain that they were alone, Ashelin and her shorter accomplice began to hack into the computers to find out what they could. Hearing the apparent Guard struggle with the armor covering his muscular and lean body, Ashelin exhaled before telling him, "You can take off the helmet if it's getting hot for you, Jak."

"Say no more," Jak replied with gratitude in his muffled voice before removing the helmet over his head to reveal his yellow-green hair, blue eyes, and helpful smile. From what Ashelin understood from the Underground's co-founder, Torn, who was also an old friend and colleague of hers, Jak had literally come crashing to the streets of Haven City several months ago and had incidentally aligned himself with the movement to find three friends of his that were separated from him when he arrived. While Ashelin did find Jak sympathetic, resourceful, and even attractive, she could not help but find him suspicious all the same.

"It's going to take some time to find anything useful," Ashelin began to say before gesturing to a nearby chair, "so you're welcome to have a seat until then."

"Um, thanks," Jak replied uncertainly before doing as suggested. After a moment of silence, he then decided to make conversation. "I know that this world is remarkably different to what I'm used to, Ashelin," he began to say before asking, "but are there any other cities outside of this one, or are things as bad as they look?"

Although Ashelin wondered how Jak could not have even known of the Metal Heads until recently, she nonetheless took up the offer for small talk. "Well, I do know of three other cities at least aside from Haven City, Jak," she began to say before listing them off, "Aeropa, which is far out there, has its own Dark Warrior Program to oppose the Metal Heads by giving dark eco powers to the local soldiers and is where my father and Erol got the idea for their own here. Kras City it not too far away and is obsessed with combat racing run to the point that they don't even mind that their top crime lord practically owns them just because he owns the best racers in the sport. And in the Wastelands, Spargus is home to warriors and survivors of all kinds under Damas," her sentence gave way to sad silence as she remembered the man her own father betrayed.

Seeing the look on her face as he himself understood who he she was talking about, Jak tried to take a cautious approach nonetheless, and said, "Well, it's good to know that the rightful King is still alive out there, and I'm sure he'll find a home here again someday."

Sighing in dismay, Ashelin replied, "I wish I could be sure of that, Jak, but even if the people want him back, there might not be a lot for him to miss here, and I don't blame for that." Seeing Jak look at her in concern, but no less curious, Ashelin finally decided to tell the story. "Growing up in this Palace as the daughter of a high-ranking military officer," she started to say, "I always hoped that Haven City could get better someday, even if the road to it was never easy. I lost my mother as a child, my father became scarred and embittered from his experiences on the battlefield, and I was even there when the Queen died giving birth to Mar."

"Mar," Jak wondered in confusion before saying, "As in the Mar who founded this city?"

"No, Damas just thought that his only child could one day match their ancestor in strength and character, so he named him after that Mar." Seeing Jak was about to ask another question, Ashelin raised a finger to interject and said with some amusement, "And no, Jak, Mar wasn't my betrothed or anything like that. I was only two years older than you are now when he was born." She then showed a softer smile as she said, "But he was a sweet baby boy. With his father at work leading an entire city, I was asked to look after him as a protector in more ways than one. My own father thought I was being insulted by being a babysitter, but Mar was a special kid, and I was happy to bond with him until, well, the coup."

Seeing Ashelin look downtrodden at her words, Jak treaded carefully to say, "I don't mean to touch anything sensitive, but you're making it sound like Mar's not with his dad."

Exhaling sadly, Ashelin answered, "I don't know where he is, Jak, but he wasn't with Damas when he was exiled, and when I confronted my father about what he could've done to him, I could tell that he was just as in the dark about Mar's whereabouts as everyone else."

"I'm sorry," Jak apologized earnestly, "I didn't know."

Soon enough, the hacking was done, and they were about to head out when Ashelin placed her hand on Jak's arm to console him, saying, "Whatever happens, Jak, I'm sure we'll find your friends. So don't lose hope."

Showing an appreciative smile of his own, Jak replied, "Same to you about Mar."

Ashelin, in gratitude, responded by kissing him on the left cheek.

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I was initially unsure how to pair up Jak and Ashelin better than what Jak 3 did, which is saying a lot, actually, but I was able to figure it out eventually. I know the series has more questions than answers about these sort of things, but I did the best I could.