|Valentine's Home|

It was dark. For a moment, she didn't know who or what she was, she was only aware of a dark, glowing pain that pulsated in the rest of her being. Thoughts and feelings zoomed past her, but she was unable to grab them and inspect them. Then she felt a more real pain, the kind of pain that only a material could feel. It was located at the back of her head, a dull pounding feeling.
'I must have hit my head… but how?'
She recollected her thoughts about the past events, and remembered Jak holding her as she fainted. Once again she had held on to the Dark Eco for far too long, giving it the chance to ravage her body. She should have learned by now it was better to release it in small doses at a time. It would take her time to recover, precious time the Underground couldn't afford. She had not come to terms with the beast within her… even now it snarled at her, as she slowly regained her consciousness.
'… think she'll be okay?'

That was Daxter's voice. Valentine frowned, since the Otsell was once again talking in her ear with his vaguely annoying voice. She felt someone come closer, and warm hands touched her face. Her heart jumped up at the feeling, and her eyes fluttered open. She had to blink, since she was looking up into the light. Yet, Jak's blue eyes were something she couldn't keep her eyes away from as she forced herself to keep her eyes open.
'Valentine, are you okay?' he asked, kneeling down besides her. Judging from his position, he had placed her on the sofa in the living room. She shook her head, trying to organize the last few jumbling thoughts. 'I'm fine…' she lied, trying to get up. Jak halted her by pushing her down by her shoulder and noticed at once she wasn't in any condition to move.
'No you're not.' He noted, keeping her down. 'What did you do down there?' he asked her, looking her straight in the eyes. She tried to dodge his gaze, but it was in vain. She tried to ignore the warm feeling of his hands on her skin as she replied.

'It… doesn't have a name, really.' She started out, slowly, trying to sort out her thought on the matter. She had never had to explain anything about the Eco in her body, since Torn never breached the subject. It was there, and she had discovered most of it on her own. How it worked and what it did to her body where things she was still not fully clear on.
'I don't like going in my Dark form, so I tend to put it off for as long as I can. Moreover, I'm not a fighting type, so I have less opportunities to unleash the Eco as well. When it builds up… it becomes harder and harder to bear, and it threatens to hurt me even when I unleash it. What I did in the Sewers… you have to control the Eco, and be able to guide it to one part of your body. Once you've been able to do that… you have to force it to only leave from that particular point of your body.' She didn't mention that it hurt even worse when one did that. The Dark Eco ripped away at tender flesh, and in her worst moment she had lost flesh from the power of the fading force. Her knuckles had bled for days after, the remainder of the Eco making a fast recovery impossible.

'It looked pretty handy from what I saw.' Jak said, placing a hand to his chin as he thought it over. His blue eyes focused on her, frowning. 'But you should be more careful! If it really hurts that much to keep all of that Eco in, you should just let it out more. You're my partner, and therefore your health is something important to me.'
She blushed under his lecture as he pulled a blanket over her. 'Stay here and don't move. I'm going back to Krew to get our reward. And when I get back, we'll talk over how we can get you some more occasions to release the pressure.'
She nodded, before she frowned in turn. 'Say Jak…'
'Yeah, Valentine?'
'You might want to shower first… you smell like a sewer.' She mumbled, her eyes already falling closed. Jak chuckled, closing the door behind him as he went to take said shower. As she felt her thoughts sink back into darkness, she had one last thought. 'As a partner… I'm important to him…'

|A Few Days Later|

'So, Praxis is looking for stuff that Mar left behind?'
Valentine asked, stretching out to test out her muscles. She was still hurting a bit, but felt better than she had done after she had fainted.
'I wonder what he's up to…' she mumbled. If she hadn't been forced to blow that data bomb she could have looked it up, but now she was forced to write the new programming codes to re-establish a connection. She had been working on it while she was recovering, though progress was slow as she had to take in account her unknown opponent who was surely on the lookout for any tweaks in his system.
Jak looked at her, adjusting his gun. 'Well, that's what that woman Ashelin told me. I don't really care, as long as we put a stop to Praxis it doesn't matter what or who he's looking for.' Valentine frowned when Ashelin was put to mention. She didn't like the woman, although she didn't dislike her either. It wasn't her fault she was related to Praxis… but still, she was, and that was something Valentine couldn't ignore.

'I guess…' Valentine said, still looking vaguely worried. 'Did that mechanic have any useful info?' she asked, putting her wig on her head as she looked in the mirror. Torn wanted to see them, though he hadn't said why.
'Not really, although she said she could help us to get in the palace.'
'The palace… if we can attack Praxis there, we can put a stop to this war once and for all.' She said, a grim look on her face as she grabbed her pocket computer. 'But to get in the palace, we need to find some way in. The old elevator she mentioned doesn't have any power left, and I don't know anything about the energy routes in the city…'
She was forgetting something, she knew it. Or someone, but she couldn't put her finger on it…. 'Let's go, partner!' she said, giving Jak a pat on the shoulder. He nodded at her, almost seeming at ease. 'Partner.'

|Underground HQ|

'I need you three to go and check out the Prospection site. Vin's in trouble, and he's been a pretty good informant for us so we need to save his hide.' Torn said, pointing to a map of the city to show them the location of the Portal that would take them there.
'Uncle Vin is in trouble?' Valentine asked, her stance at once stiffening as she looked at Torn with a suspicious glare. Torn pretended not to notice as he answered her question. 'We haven't heard word from him in a while, and the Baron had him stationed in one of the most dangerous areas. It's safe to assume that he's been found out and placed on the black list with the rest of us. Instead of shooting him straight out, he's probably been sentenced to death by being eaten by Metal Heads.'
'That's just nasty.' Daxter commented as he imagined what that would be like. Valentine frowned, as she turned around and paced out of the Headquarters. 'Jak, let's go!'

|The prospection site|

Jak landed perfectly, having prepared himself for impact. Daxter clinged on to his scarf, nearly choking him with it in fear. He stepped to the sides so he wouldn't be in Valentine's way when she came out. She followed soon enough, arms outstretched as she landed on her stomach. She got up coughing, patting away the dust from her pants in an effort to appear more decent, if only a bit.
'I'll never get the hang of that…' she mumbled. Jak chuckled as she threw him a glare. Daxter couldn't help but laugh out loud, though it was soon interrupted by a growl coming from a while further. Valentine shuddered as she heard it.
'Metal Heads…' she thought, already knowing what it meant. The whole area was infested with them, and they were waiting for food to pass. She and Jak, their bodies filled with the Dark Eco were like a walking buffet to them. Still, she didn't wish for a gun like Jak used. She was after all a scientist, and not a fighter like she was supposed to be. She'd be fine if she used her knowledge, and Jak was always ready to help her. Always…
Her eyes went in his direction, but she averted them right away. She had started to fall for him, a complication she couldn't use at the moment. It added to the internal turmoil, making her stomach queasy as she thought about it. 'We should get moving…' she said, checking her pockets to make sure her hardware was still there. Jak nodded once, before setting off holding his gun in his two hands. Valentine ran up closer, until she was right behind him.

'Do you know where your uncle will be?' he asked, his eyes scanning the area. He could hear the Metal Heads, but he didn't know where the sounds were coming from. The scratching sounds seemed to be coming from close by, but there was nothing nearby where the creatures were hiding. Valentine pointed upwards, to a small observation post. 'Knowing Uncle Vin he'll be hiding there. It's close to the portal, even though Praxis had it shut off. We get there, I insert my pocket computer and reroute the energy routes and we get out.'
'Any idea how we're getting up there?' he asked, not seeing anything that would lead them there.
Valentine pointed towards some of the mining carts moving up on a conveyer belt. 'Well, those things should take us up. Shouldn't be too hard getting there, right?'

Metal Head scorpions jumped up from underneath the earth, hissing at the fresh food that had entered their newly-claimed territory. Valentine rolled her eyes for the briefest of seconds, only allowing herself that small moment of diversion before she focused. 'I should learn how to keep my mouth shut…' she mumbled, kicking one of the little critters that came too close for her liking. They were fast, and the only reason she and Jak managed to keep up was because of the Dark Eco. Still, there were too many to leisurely take out, and she heard sounds of other Metal Head species. It shouldn't be a surprise, there were plenty of Dark Eco pools here, containing the raw untamed energy they used to survive.
Jak blasted three of them out of the way, grabbing Valentine's arm as he walked back. A clicking sound came from their right, and she could see a flying Metal Head zooming towards them. 'Jak, right!' she yelled, grabbing Daxter from his shoulder and making a beeline for the moving mining carts.

Daxter screamed, but whether it was because Valentine nearly choked him while running or because he could see the horde of Metal Heads following them was rather unclear, and she couldn't care less at the moment. 'I really need to work on my condition!' Valentine thought, almost tripping over a small pebble lying in the way. Before she had gotten far, Jak gained up and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her along. He shot behind them, not even looking where he was aiming.
They reached the carts, jumping in them. Valentine stumbled, getting her foot caught behind the steel railing of the cart, making her fall in rather than jumping in as she had pictured it. The cart was empty, and not filled with Dark Eco as she had feared for a moment. That would have killed them without a doubt. Jak had already gotten up again, shooting at any Metal Head that was considering following them. Valentine allowed herself a small moment of rest, regaining her breath. She was feeling tired, her limbs heavy with the sudden strain on her muscles. She hadn't recovered as much as she had hoped, her current situation a testament to that.

Before she knew it, they had arrived at the top. Jak helped her out before the cart rode away on the track, ready to mine more of the precious eco.
'You're sure your uncle's here?' he asked, looking at the apparently deserted facility in front of them.
'Positive. Uncle Vin isn't the type to go wandering around in a dangerous place just so he might reach a safe destination. Let's get him and get out. Those Metals are giving me a headache…'
Jak shrugged, opening the door by pressing the button to the side. At once shots were coming from inside, though they were far off. Still, it wasn't because a shot was astray it couldn't kill you. The three of them jumped to the side, out of the shooter's range.
'Hey, you're Vin right?' Jak yelled, hoping the man would stop shooting.
'Damn Metal Heads won't get me!' Vin yelled, as he kept shooting at the door opening.
'Will you stop shooting at us? We're here to help you. If we wanted to kill you, you'd be dead right now!' Jak yelled again, in an attempt to get through to the man.

'Uncle Vin, stop shooting already. Getting away will be easier if you stop trying to kill your only niece.' Valentine added. At once the shooting stopped, and Vin's voice rang out from the inside. 'Valentine? Friendlies? Oh thank goodness! Wait… where's the army?' he asked, looking about as he expected to see more people standing about, coming to rescue him.
Daxter jumped out from behind the corner, pointing to himself and his two companions. 'Well, we're it.'
'Oh, just what do they think I'm worth?' Vin yelled, letting himself drop down on the shut off control panels, looking as depressed as was possible. Valentine shook her head, walking inside and putting a hand on her uncle's shoulder. 'Well, Torn did send me. And he sent Jak and Daxter. Jak's… special, just like me, uncle.' Her voice had lost a sharp edge, an edge Jak had not even noticed there before until it was gone. Even when she talked to the Kid, she didn't sound quite that gentle. Valentine continued to talk, pulling her uncle along by the shoulder.

'That Torn sent his top team mean that he only realizes your value all too well, uncle.' She continued in her soothing voice. She seemed to calm Vin down, at least until he reached the door. There he froze up, looking around in a suspicious manner. 'Even if the two of you are the best the Underground has got, how can I be sure I won't get eaten by Metal Heads even now?' he asked, biting his thumb nail as he scanned the area for any signs of Metal Heads. Valentine rolled her eyes, pointing towards the portal that was only a little while removed from them.
'I doubt you'll get eaten in the time it takes us to walk three meters and while you turn on the power. 'C'mon uncle, we get out of here and go back to my place. You can eat something that hasn't been preserved for over three months before it got to you.' She added, referring to the food rations all of the Baron's personnel received. Salted meats and vegetables without any flavors left to them, the food was scarcely better than the food the Baron's prisoners received. Vin nodded at the prospect of a decent meal, and hurried in front of his three saviors.

'Well, if you put it like that, I guess it's worth the risk. After what the Baron did to me, I guess you can say I'm now on the black list. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a bunch of soldiers waiting for us in my old work station, fingers on the trigger and the minute we get through they'll… maybe I'm better off staying here? I mean, what harm can a few –'
Valentine shut the man up, tapping her finger against his shoulder. 'Uncle Vin, it's perfectly safe. I'm here, and Jak's here too. When it comes to Metal Heads, he's the most reliable guy you can find.' She flashed a quick glance in Jak's direction. He looked back at her, looking her in the eyes as he smiled at her. Valentine looked away quickly, feeling her heart jump up in her chest. Uncle Vin didn't notice anything, but Daxter looked at Valentine from atop Jak's shoulder for the remainder of the time it took to fire up the portal.

Jak hadn't noticed it yet, and neither had Valentine. But at least it was dawning to her that something might be possible between the two of them. Daxter thought it would be his duty as a best friend to give them a little push in the right direction, at the best time.