Disclaimer: Naughty Dog owns Jak and Daxter

I am not Naughty Dog

Therefore I do not own Jak and Daxter

It was some time after I finished the fourth that I realized Jak hasn't had a real scene since the first. His body and darker half have. I know this is a Torn/Jak and I apologize if it seems a little slow. I'm having fun writing this and am grateful for your reviews. Lyrics are "Qoute" by Evans Blue.

would you all believe I forgot to post the next chapter? well I did! *shuffles away to hide from angry readers*

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Is this how you want to go down?

Right before my eyes

You are the saddest sight I know

You're quiet you never make a sound

But here inside my mind you are the loudest one I know

It was too quiet. After Samos had dragged a delirious Torn away all the rage that had pushed its way to the surface so violently had just drained away, leaving Daxter exhausted and if possible, even more depressed than before. He had slumped down against the door on the floor and just sat there. The only noise in the room was the dripping pipe in the corner and the gentle hum of blue-eco bulbs. "Well Jak ol' buddy, looks like it's just you an' me again…"

Jak didn't answer. But Daxter couldn't stand the quiet, so he had to talk even if there wasn't anybody to answer him back. He had done it in Sandover, but never really stopped. Just 'cause his buddy had found his voice in the two years they'd been apart didn't mean he took advantage of it often. But it was different now, Jak didn't answer because he couldn't. Daxter missed the time when Jak only wouldn't.

Eventually he curled up next to the cold body on the bed instead of the cold floor. Daxter kept up the small talk for over an hour, everything from the traffic in the bazaar to the annoying stones that get stuck between your toes . And all the while Jak just lied there white as a sheet and fading. Daxter could almost swear Jak was just soaking up his words, was being soothed by them. And Daxter just let himself think that, let himself be comforted by the thought that Jak was still in there somewhere and that he was bringing him some sort of comfort by not forgetting him. 'Cause he was still here even when everyone else had put him away and went on with their lives as if he'd never been.

So Daxter just kept talking. Because right now he wasn't the annoying, orange rat and Jak wasn't the tortured, revenge driven renegade. They were two best friends that found all sorts of mischief among the trees and rocks. And every second he was closer to loosing the most important thing in his life. So if speaking of mundane things that had nothing to do with dark eco, metal heads, or revenge delayed Jak's departure from his life even one nanosecond then the tearing sensation in the region of his heart that got worse with every word he spoke was well worth it, Because he wasn't ready to let go yet. And when Jak went he would be taking a large part of Daxter with him.

"Daxter?"

Tess standing at the door with a tray of bandages and antiseptics. Time to change Jak's bandages. Daxter tried his best to put on his patented ottsel grin but it came off brittle and unsure, "Hey there Tessy-kins". Tess smiled reassuringly as she came in and set the tray on the stand next to the bed. Daxter moved to the other side of the prone body on the bed to give Tess room to work on Jak without having to reach around him. "Has he moved at all?" Tess inquired, hoping that maybe despite what the shadow said Jak might pull through this. He wasn't a bad person and Tess was scared Daxter might decide to follow his best friend if he left. Daxter shook his head, not bothering to say anything. This process always seemed to drain whatever speech was left in the ottsel. Slipping on latex gloves Tess pulled back to the blankets to reveal the torso warped in bandages discolored by the infection seeping out of the injuries.

This was the only time he couldn't pretend Jak was just sleeping. As Tess unwound the bandages the grotesques flesh hidden beneath was revealed to their eyes. Both couldn't help but cringe a little inside every time this was done. The skin surrounding the wounds was red and inflamed, but it the wounds themselves that were so bad. Every time they did this it seemed more puss had gathered, the smell that permitted the room threatened to over power them both. Daxter couldn't help to cover his nose as Tess went through the nightly process of manually removing as much of the infection as she could and applying antiseptics to try and keep the injuries clean. It was a loosing battle, it seemed that no matter how often it was done or amount of disinfectant was applied nothing made a damn bit a difference.

Tess finished re-wrapping the wounds so that he looks like he was only sleeping. It would hold for a while, long enough for the sun to rise and Jak would have lasted a full week and a half. Then Tess would need to go and buy more bandages for both injured men.

Tess swallowed with some difficult, this never agreed with her but the shadow refused to do this anymore. Jak was dieing, with no way to stop it, why waste the eco when there are others who need it? And there were the circumstances of Jak and Torn's injuries. The blood on Jak's hands, the claw marks on Torn, and of course Torn's knife buried in Jak's chest. It wasn't hard to guess what happened. Suffice to say it had shaken the shadow's faith in Jak and Tess was sure it contributed a large part in his decision. Tess glance over towards Daxter, sitting on the other side of Jak holding one of his hands, he didn't know any of this. Daxter was street savvy and a tough survivor. But his biggest weakness came in the form of a certain blond renegade. Dax was hanging on by a thread; if this got back to him Tess was afraid he'd break completely. Tess couldn't let that happen to him. And besides, she had a promise to keep.

Tess smiled as bright as she could. "It'll be okay, Daxxie. Jak's strong." Daxter laughed brittlely, "Yeah, Jak's a tough bastard. He won't let some micro nasties get the better of him." Daxter scrubbed hastily at his eyes as they welled up with tears. "Dammit…" Tess smiled sympathetically and pulled the ottsel into her arms as Daxter lost his battle. "oh, Daxter…"

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It was so surreal at first, like dreaming while awake. A part of you kept thinking you'd wake up any moment while in the back of your mind you knew this was reality. Seeing Jak covered in blood and pale as the moon being carried through the door in the arms of some underground lackey had been like that. All his fears, worries, and general anxieties had come to life in that moment. Like someone had reached into his mind found his worst fear and was playing it out for Daxter to watch while they sat back and laughed.

Now it seemed to almost normal. Everyday was the same thing. Wake up. Change jak bandages. Watch as he grew weaker with each tick of the clock. Change bandages again. Go to sleep and repeat. It didn't make sense. Not since they were thrown through the portal, not since Jak had lost an essential part of himself to the beast eating him from the inside out.

sitting up Daxter glared at the unconscious form of his best friend. He could still absorb green eco. It was a struggle sometimes. But never before had he rejected it out right. Something was missing. Some vital piece of information the Daxter had forgotten or dismissed as the norm. He could use green eco, he could. Daxter started to pace the length of the bunk. So what was different now from the other times? think, dammit think. the claw marks on Torn, he'd seen enough to recognize Dark's handy work. Dark Jak had come out to play, Torn got caught in the middle. Daxter sent anouther baleful look at Jak. the eco incarnate was a pain in the ass, no matter how useful he could be, sometimes the con outweighed the pros.

Okay... Dark, dark eco, green eco. Dark eco... there was tons of the stuff on alot of missions. Either from the spilled blood of metal heads, wild stuff, of the shit stuffed in containers. Jak usually had a steady stream of the stuff comin' to him like he was a high powered ...

Frown, pause, resume pacing.

Dack eco and lots of it. Jak could bring the dark to the surface when there was enough or forcefully Dark manifested itself at critical overloads. overloads, jak had an overload with Torn nearby resulting in the present carnage. Now Jak was drained of the dark stuff. He'd been in coma or whatever it was since. Daxter froze as his eyes widened.

Jak had been exposed to dark eco for long periods of time causing his whole body's chemistry to mutate. Since getting out of prison he'd been absorbing whatever was available to replace what he'd used. Jak always had a large level of the dark stuff in his system, his body needed it to function normally. Jak had been critically injured of passed out before he could replace what had been expended. Without the the dark eco his body couldn't process the Green and rejected it! Holy precursors that was it!

With renewed hope Daxter turned to the figure on the bed. "Hold on just a little bit longer, buddy. You'll be better before you know it!" Daxter shot from the bed, out the door, pass Torn's room, through the main room, and out onto the back streets of Haven City's slums.

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Erol stood next the window overlooking the city. A hundred stories below him he was hiding somewhere. For months Erol had hunted him with the rabid determination that had made him KG Commander years ago. The only thing that topped his desire to crush the eco freak was his love of racing. Since the beginning of Jak's capture regular blood samples had been taken to keep an analysis on his DNA. The same went for all KG soldiers, except theirs were taken for identification on the field, dog tags weren't reliable enough because metal heads sometime destroyed them. So blood was the next best thing, since there was always plenty of it.

Now upon his desk sat the confirmation that Jak and Torn had been present in Dead Town when the metal heads were on the move. Both had been wounded, rather badly from the amount of blood present. But the tracks on the ground told a far more interesting tale. Erol chuckled at the thought of the fight between his old KG rival and the freak. While it would have been simpler and more than slightly amusing, finding them both dead wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying as killing them himself. It was only a matter of setting the chess board in his favor, position all the players so that they all ended up doing his bidding and opening the way to his victory.

Yes, both Jak and Torn were injured and weak. With the Underground's Second in Command and top fighter out of commission they would be confused and uncoordinated. The majority would be more focused on getting them better than running around and making a general nuisance of themselves. It gave him the advantage; he had the power to cut them off from the supplies they needed…well, most of the supplies. He didn't need them dying before he got the chance to end their existence himself. He would have to close most of the medical facilities and anyplace that sold medical supplies. Keeping only a few open and therefore limiting their options and increase his chance of catching them. Tighter surveillance would be set up to keep an eye on suspected Black market suppliers.

It was only a matter of time until they slipped up and led him straight to his prey.

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