A/N: Takes place after Jak 2. Daxter is human, not an ottsel.

No I will not take criticism for this 10 year old story about a 20 year old game.

The first time it happened was a bit frightening. More heart-stopping than scary, perhaps.

Daxter remembered complaining all the way to the oracle as he dragged his feet across the wooden boards. Why did they still have to do this? The Metalheads were all gone! There was no need for Dark anymore!

But Jak was persistent in trading the last of their collected skull gems, and finally completing the powers to his dark counterpart. In the end, if Jak couldn't be persuaded, then Dax would just be grateful that he would never have to travel back to the creepy ass statue again.

He had waited outside, leaning against the building's wall like always as he distantly heard the oracle blabber on about whatever, and the present crackling of dark eco. He constantly had to hold back a shudder at his part, refusing to peek inside the doorway and see Jak's body writhing in midair as the eco twisted and changed him.

A few moments later, Dark Jak strolled out of the hut and paused, flexing his clawed hands with a scowl. Daxter blinked and waited a millisecond before stepping forward, "So? What'd it give ya this time, huh?"

Jak barely twitched an ear in his direction before growling deeply, and whoa okay, Dax placed his palms up, backing away slightly. "What? What's wrong?"

The only response he received was a bright flash of purple light and the redhead barely had time to yelp, "Whoa! Shit!", before he was flailing backwards and landing hard on his ass as Jak grew in size, now towering over him at 12 meters in height. Daxter gasped and breathed deeply as he stared up in awe at his gigantic friend, hearing the screams of the city people in the distance.

However, the giant didn't do anything, merely shook his head with a huff of breath and just like that, it was over. He slowly shrank down again, transforming back along the way, and there knelt good 'ol normal Jak with his face plastered to his knee and gasping for air - and that was his cue to come in and begin his usual comforting.

Daxter pushed up right and crouched beside the other, rubbing his back soothingly. "Ya alright, buddy?"

Jak barely nodded but didn't move from his curled up position. "Hurts," He mumbled, and Dax nodded in agreement. He could understand more than anyone how it felt to have your body drastically be changed by the burning of dark eco.

"Okay. C'mon, c'mon, lets getcha back to the palace, up ya go..." The redhead continued to hush and mutter soft nothings as he slipped his arm through Jak's elbow in support, and left the water slums, trying to ignore what just happened.

4 months later, they were called into the main control room for an unpleasant surprise.

They both snarled in outrage as soon as Torn told them of a hoard of metalheads had been detected out at the pumping station.

"Don't play jokes on us!"

Torn lifted his head and glared at him with icy blue eyes, "You think this is a joke?"

"But the metalheads are all gone," Jak growled, and the brunette shook his head, switching his attention back to the computer's glowing screen.

"Apparently not. I sent Ashelin out to scope yesterday. She said it was a big, strong pack, and didn't even stay to take them on. That's where you two come in."

"Oh great!" Dax crossed his arms, the scowl on his face deepening.

"Your mission is simple, take them all out and come back here alive."

-/-

Half a year ago, their life was nothing but missions. It was what got them closer to taking down the baron, and actually made them feel useful most days.

But now...

Now Daxter's hands shook as he clenched them into fists, waiting for the city wall door to open. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Not anymore. They had put this life behind them as soon as Kor's head was decapitated. Just when they thought they could finally relax, this happens. And Dax couldn't stand it.

"Ready?" Jak asked, not even looking at him.

"Yeah.." Dax whispered as the door finally slid open and the electronic voice wished them luck.

That's when everything went downhill.

After 10 minutes of searching for this supposed hoard, they treaded on the beach near the moving metal plates. The redhead could even glance up and see the cliff where they first met Ashelin –Ah nostalgia-. Before the howls and hoots started and both men immediately pulled out their guns, staring around them warily.

The air suddenly went quiet and they had only a second to blink before the creatures were coming out their cover by the dozens. Daxter yelped as they backed up to the waterline and from there the sounds of gunshots and dying whimpers were only heard.

The redhead couldn't tell how much time had passed anymore as it was just reload, shoot, reload, shoot and the bodies were increasing around them. His trigger finger was numb and he was alarmingly running out of ammo fast. Oh Precursors.. no wonder Ashelin hadn't stayed to take these creatures on. They were strong, and fast, and just too many to count.

At one point he couldn't feel Jak by his side anymore and spared a quick glance to search for him, a few feet away. How had that happened? They weren't supposed to separate, it wasn't right. It wasn't safe.

Speaking of Jak, why wasn't the big guy going dark right about now? He knew they wordlessly promised each other he would never transform again, but a quick dark bomb would help them out immensely. True, Dax might get hit by the blast but he would deal with the pain of eco over shooting anymore metalheads.

And if Daxter had the chance, he would go back in time to make sure his best friend never got tortured, never had to deal with a dark counterpart. He would take away those powers and pain in an instant if he could. And maybe it was incredibly messed up, but Dark Jak was, well, cool. Cool and scary. They both hated to admit it, but he was useful.

So lost in thought he was, the redhead didn't notice the metalhead circling behind him until it was too late. He shouted in both pain and shock as the beast's weight crashed into him, bringing him down into the sand, and his gun went flying right out of his hands. Dax struggled and screamed as its claws dragged down his back, gouging the flesh. From there, it was a short fight as he kicked and flipped onto his back, trying to fight off the creature. However it was a lost cause. For every kick and punch he got in, its claws ripped into his entire body, and his thumb was nearly ripped off as its snapping jaws punctured his hand.

His struggles weakened, the pain was so incredible that everything had become numb, and he had lost so much blood already. His ears were ringing and his eyesight began to swim and darken at the edges. He knew without a doubt that he would be dead soon.

And then distantly he heard an enraged roar echoing in his ears and the creature went flying off of him by a flash of crackling light. Daxter closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, finally sinking down into the crusty sand, feeling his blood pool beneath him. Jak. It had to be Jak, his dizzy mind supplied for him.

A shadow slithered over him, blocking out the dim sun and covering his entire body. He immediately twitched as he felt a presence looming over him that was way too large to be Jak or any metalhead. Blinking one eye open, he gasped in surprise to see a giant Dark kneeling over him. Well, he certainly wasn't expecting Jak to use that power again.

The giant snarled loudly –Dax would've covered his ears if he had the strength- and stood to a chilling full height, glaring down at the metalheads scraping at his boot. He raised his leg in the air and brought his foot down on the rest of the creatures, killing them instantly, and oh gods – Daxter did not want to see squished metalhead, so he turned his head away, ignoring the squelching and crunching of the corpses.

Perhaps a few moments passed, maybe more, Dax couldn't keep track anymore with his pain induced brain. The shadow came back and a soft rumble vibrated his bones and the ground beneath. He didn't have the energy to flinch as a padded finger gently brushed his face, swiping up his damp hair. The redhead blinked his eyes open and smiled weakly at Jak's gigantic concerned face. "I'm okay, pal. Really." Okay well that was a big fat lie, but he hated worrying Jak and they both needed to be soothed right now.

"I just need some green eco and a month of rest and I'll be in tip top shape again," He coughed on a groan, feeling the cooper taste of blood in his mouth and Jak growled in reply.

Dax wanted to sit up and dig the eco from his pack but he couldn't even twitch a muscle, and Jak needed to transform and help him out so they could leave, but he wasn't for whatever reason, even with Dax's reassurances.

"C'mon, Jak, stop bein' weird."

He could die from blood loss if they didn't act quickly. In fact, he just wanted to pass out and let Jak do all the work for once, which would be nice.

But Jak's inky black eyes only blinked down at him before his head snapped up to glare at a shivering bush of leaves. Dax squinted over at it and raised an eyebrow as his friend began to growl lowly at it. "Oh, it's just the wind! Stop it and- whoa, hey!"

Daxter had to bite back a shout as Jak scooped him up into his palm, jostling his wounds. "What are you doin'?" he groaned deeply, eyesight swimming again as he was lifted high in the air.

The pale giant shook his head and continued to grumble, snapping his head around obviously searching for something.

"What?"

The growling cut off sharply and suddenly they were moving to the cliff side and before Dax could complain again, Jak leapt up, his claws snagging into the rocks. The hand he was resting in shifted and closed around him, and Dax couldn't hold back the scream that time as he slouched over Jak's fist. His stomach flipped and he closed his eyes against the nausea, pushing his face into Jak's skin.

They moved quickly as he climbed the wall with one hand, claws helping out greatly, finding ridges and grooves to hook into. "Ya big lug! Yer not fuckin' King Kong here, knock it off!"

Soon, they were to the top and Jak paced around, sniffing the air and investigating the area. Once he had apparently deemed it safe enough, he heavily sat down in a corner where the rock wall curved.

He curled his palms together and Dax slid down to lay between them. They stared grimly at each other before he gritted his teeth, "Finally happy now? Yer best friend could die any minute here but we're just sittin' around, actin' strange, yes please let's continue this!"

Dark Jak blinked back at him, Dax could see his own reflection in those eyes, and it was a bit unnerving. He couldn't stand this treatment anymore so he clenched his eyes and relaxed back down. "Please turn back, Jak? We don't have time for this. I'm literally dyin' here."

The other snarled sharply at that choice of words, but the redhead couldn't bring himself to care. A silent minute later, a long claw came up and cut the strap of his pack. Daxter blinked, "Wha-" Jak plucked up the ruined bag and threw it to the grass-scattered ground. Dax gasped in outrage and reached uselessly for it. "What the hell, man? That had all my stuff in it!"

There was no reply, only the shifting of Jak's hands as he carefully pinched the back of his shirt and lifted him up higher to dangle in the air. Daxter groaned; It physically hurt to not have support beneath him anymore.

"Jak? Please.." He blinked his attention back down and instantly yelped to see Jak's wide open maw an inch beneath him. "What the fuck? Ya look like yer about to eat me or somethin'!" He chuckled weakly, "Wouldn't that be funny, Jak? Uh Jak? JAK!"

It happened in a blur. Before he could even register what was happening, he was falling a short distance, and landing on a wet, slippery surface. He looked up in time to see the sharp teeth close together, and all light vanished from his world.

"JAK?! JAK! Lemme out! Stop!" Dax rolled painfully onto his side, and oh gods – Jak's spit was soaking into his clothes, and wounds. Yup, he was definitely getting an infection now. That was so nasty!

The massive tongue shifted beneath him, pushing him up gently into the roof of the mouth. He only groaned weakly, completely soaked from head to toe, shivering despite the warmth. Daxter curled up, ignoring the burning fire running through his body, true he was confused as all hell and very worried but at that moment, he only focused on the task of breathing.

From there, he could feel his world shifting as he assumed Jak began tipping his head back. To his absolute horror, he easily slid down the length of the wet tongue. Down wasn't good. Down was.. He gasped as his feet hit the opening to Jak's throat and he turned his head to barely see the gaping black hole.

"Jak! What're ya doin'?! Don't eat me! PLEASE!"

His hands scrambled uselessly at the slippery flesh, completely ignoring the flaming pain of his injuries.

A sudden sound echoed in his ears – the sound of a swallow, loud and scary. Daxter screamed loudly as he was sucked down into the wet flesh tunnel. He tried desperately to flail and pull himself out, but it was pointless as he was confined and enveloped in between warm, squishy walls. Despite the tightness, and his injuries, he continued to struggle as he was squeezed and sucked down the gullet. Dax began to shake and cry from sheer terror, his heart beating wildly in his chest as freedom didn't appear to him.

The flesh opened up around him and he let out a shout as he slid down a smooth slope and landed into a wet squishy surface. The redhead could only lie there on his back for a few moments, groaning in shock and pain. His eyes widened and he sat up, looking frantically around the small cavern. Though it was dark, he could squint and see the giant ripples of flesh.

The stomach. Jak's stomach.

Shuddering in terror, he lifted his hand up with a disgusted sound as he felt the layer of slime it was covered in. In fact, his entire body was covered in the very hot liquid, and it was futile to try and scrape it off.

Dax shook in disgust as he realized that he was sitting in a puddle of even more burning slime. Another second passed before he tried to weakly sit up and scrabble back until he hit a soft wall.

This was just too much to take in! He was dying, becoming weaker from his wounds, and his best friend suddenly decided to eat him. He just couldn't comprehend that he was sitting in Jak's stomach, that his lifelong friend had decided to eat him for a snack. Did he just decide that Dax was going to die anyway and that this was the best way to go?

Panic overtook his mind and while he wanted to scream, pound the walls, and beg Jak to let him out of his burning prison – he was just too tired and weak to do anything but lie there and groan.

The world around him was astounding now that he was still enough to observe it. He could hear the overbearingly loud beats of Jak's heart nearby, and the whooshing of his lungs every time he breathed. Honestly, if there weren't the controlling thoughts of betrayal and death from either digestion or his wounds, he would think this was pretty cool.

Daxter let out a surprised yelp as the wall behind him suddenly moved, pushing in from the outside– what the hell? Was Jak.. patting at him?

Oh hell no.

"You ASSHOLE!" He screamed loudly, not caring if Jak could hear him or not. "YER AN ABSOLUTE DICK! So what?! Ya gonna kill me? Then MOCK ME? Well FUCK YOU, BUDDY-BOY!" He punched the squishy flesh beneath his fist; the only damage he had the energy to do. "After all I've done for you and this is how you re-pay me! I thought we were best friends! WHY?"

The redhead was too angry to notice that the patting had stopped. Tears of frustration, pain, sadness and confusion filled his eyes, making him dizzy from the sheer force of emotions. He gritted his teeth and held them back though, his pride not allowing it.

Then suddenly, the area started to vibrate and low thrumming sound surrounded him. Even though the experience was completely different, he knew well that Jak had begun purring – something he could only do in his Dark form. Against his will, Dax started to slowly relax, sinking into the floor and closing his eyes.

The next half hour was a blur. The purring continued to soothe him as he blinked in and out of consciousness. In the back of his mind, he questioned why the acids weren't cooking him, but he was only thankful that he wasn't suffering from them.

And when another stretch of minutes passed, Daxter knew that he wasn't going to be harmed in here. From the reassurances of patting, purring and the harmless acid, he drew to the conclusion that he was safe.

A harsh laugh escaped him – he couldn't believe that he actually thought Jak would eat and kill him. After all they'd been through and how protective Jak had always been of him, it was basically ridiculous. But, that was how hysteria and stress affected assumption making.

He didn't want to question how, maybe it was the eco, but that didn't stop him from questioning why.
What exactly were Jak's motives for doing this. What did he hope to accomplish, and more importantly, when was he going to let his little redhead out.

Just because he knew he was safe, didn't mean he wanted to stay.

As soon as those thoughts passed his mind, he felt a deep surge inside him and gasped. The dark eco that still remained inside his veins from his ottsel transformation suddenly came alive with activity. It rarely happened, only when he came in close contact with large masses of concentrated eco, but Dax still hated the feeling.

He groaned as he felt the strange sensation of his skin itching and stretching, and raised his hand up, blinking a few times before it came into focus, and when he could see clearly, he could only stare in astonishment. The awful wounds on his hand were healing, the skin was moving and sealing up, just like that.

Dax couldn't believe what he was witnessing.

This was only something green eco caused, not dark. In fact, this was the opposite of dark.. but.. he glanced down at a long cut on his leg where the fabric of his pants had ripped and could clearly see the liquid there light up in a bright color of purple, and the flesh started coming together and healing perfectly, the skin unmarred.

This was the first time in his life that he felt honestly speechless and he could only stare in awe as his slime covered body began glowing a dim magenta, illuminating the surrounding flesh walls and creating an eerie atmosphere.
While this healing wasn't the same as the green eco, rather than a nice and warm feeling, it was more numb and itchy – but it still weirdly got the job done. He sighed in relief and relaxed into the squishy floor as all his wounds closed up and true he still didn't quite have his energy back, but at least he wasn't in pain anymore.

A low gurgle beneath him reminded him of where he was and he lazily opened his eyes to see the purple glow gone, shrouding him in darkness again, though he could care less.

Daxter grinned slightly and rubbed at the warm flesh, "Okay, this was pretty awesome. I mean, it's still really gross, I'm gonna have to take at least 5 showers when we get back, and these clothes are gettin' burned,"
He scowled momentarily but closed his eyes again and turned onto his healed up side, snuggling into the soft floor, ignoring the wetness. "But, thanks. I appreciate it, even though it was weird and yer totally getting a smack for scarin' me."

The low purring started up again, though the redhead still didn't know for sure if Jak could hear him. It didn't really matter, anyway.

Still firmly smiling, he finally passed out, knowing that he was safe inside the person he loved most.

"It was awful, Tessy-kins!" He whined loudly as he slumped over the bar, drink sloshing in his limp hand.

She blinked at him and continued to clean out a glass, "That does sound like quite an experience, Daxxie!"

"I just hope it never, ever, happens again!"

"Well, I wouldn't bet on that.."

The redhead blinked his eyes open and raised an eyebrow at her as she finished cleaning up. "Excusez-moi?"

Tess flung the rag over her shoulder and cocked her hip as she raised an eyebrow right back. "Well, think about it! He didn't eat you because-" She paused at that and subtly glanced over to Jak who was sitting in the nearest booth, sharing drinks with Keira and Sig. They were both certain he was too far out of range to hear their conversation, but she lowered her voice nonetheless. "Because he was hungry, obviously! He did it to protect you. Keep you safe!"

Daxter narrowed his eyes at her and sat up, "Oh please!"

She crossed her arms and gave him that stern, motherly look. That look that meant that she was gonna win this argument no matter what, so don't even try. "I think someone is in denial~" She sang, smiling at him playfully.

"Yeah? I think someone is lookin' too far into details." The redhead grumbled and turned his attention back to his drink. However, truth be told, of course he knew it was a protective instinct that compelled Jak to swallow him, heal him up and keep him safe. He wasn't that dumb - contrary to popular belief. And there was no way Tess was going to know any of that.

Just as he was taking a swig of his beer, realization suddenly hit him and he slammed the glass down, staring at her with wide eyes. "Wait a minute, Sweets! Are ya tellin' me that this is gonna happen every time I get hurt on a mission now?!"

A few feet away, neither of them saw the grin that stretched across Jak's face.