F/R: This is the rewritten version of 'Semi-Automatic.' The original is still there for the others to read if they want. I was fifteen when I first started. Now that I'm older and the idea worked itself out. I'm still beta-less, but I will defiantly not be as bad as last time.

Well, I hope you enjoy this new version of Semi-Automatic.

Disclaimer: Jak 2 belongs to Naughty Dog and all characters from the Harry Potter series are property of J.K Rowling. Invisera, Ava, Neverous, Alec, and all original characters belong to me. (Only saying this once, people.)

Semi-Automatic

Part I: Misplaced

Chapter One: Solo

Invisera, Januria. 10. 3998

Isaac Neverous watched with morbid fascination as the young man writhed on the steel table. The child's hands were clenched so tightly his own nails cut crescents into his palms causing blood to trailing down his wrists and pool on either side of his body. A sordid smile tugged at the lips of the tall man, but it didn't reach his eyes. They remained emotionless to the boy's ordeal. Neverous was a man of results be damned the means to those favorable ends. The man stood with a hand resting on the top of his gun packed into black yakow leather holster. Opposed the man standing beside him, he wore no armor. Merely a dark blue leather jacket with his military rank displayed on his shoulders. The shirt he wore underneath a black turtle neck with two blue accents on the side. His black pants were tucked into metal-buckled combat wear.

"His readings are nominal and unchanged." Spoke one of the many machine coordinators in front of him. The woman, adjusting her square frame glasses, turned to face her superior. The streaming data that passed her screen was stalled on a thermal picture of the boy within the machines grasp.

"What did you expect?" He cocked a dark eyebrow towards her. The woman failed to answer as he reminded. "It has only been three days." Neverous was a patient man, tests like this needed time to show their potential. His ebony eyes moved from the coordinator to the soldier at his side.

Alec Vine, the young and recently promoted Commander of the Invisera Guard, stood beside him. The soldier had been top of his year and part of the highest ranking three-man group that had ever trained in Invisera. He was the most capable to be at this station, but it seemed that he wasn't completely without his faults. The man was finding anything but the lab before them of more interest. Unlike his superior and the scientists he hadn't learn to suspend his morals when it came to the test subjects. Neverous knew the young man very well and because of that he understood that he was likely torturing both the boy and his Commander.

He needed to learn if he was ever to replace him.

"We'll place him in the training program for this year." Neverous concluded at length. The Commander snapped his eyes to Neverous with a flash of surprise. Neverous clasped his hands behind his back while staring ahead. "Schedule the injections around the training program. I want a weapon capable of combat… Something that boy sorely lacks."

The coordinator glanced to the Commander but swiftly turned back to her monitor. "Yes Sir."

"General…" Alec spoke dragging his attention back. "That boy is no older than sixteen… If that." He motioned out to the boy still under the excruciating test. "He wouldn't make it past Hell Week."

Neverous smirked. "Now, that is Murdock's job to fix isn't it, Commander? I do expect you to keep an eye on our little subject also."

"Sir…" Alec conceded.

"Now," He instructed. "Take him back to his cell and get his details for the application."There was a hint of finality in his voice that left no room for argument. With a nod he turned on his heel to leave the viewing room into the hallway. The screaming had ceased as the needles pulled away from his arms. The machine came to a whirring stop, clicking back into its neutral stance. A frustrated sigh left his lips as soon as he was in the privacy of the corridor. Neverous evaluation of Alec's character had been right – He wasn't immune to the pleas that streamed out of the boy, nor the guilt that came with being a key player to his incarceration and eventual experimentation. He had, after all, been the one to stumble across the disorientated boy in the jungle. Even if he was a human, the first Alec had seen in his twenty-five year life, it did not warrant the fate he had now. Even if he survived past the week, he doubted that a child as malnourished as he was would make it in Invisera and if he did.

Neverous was asking too much.

The pleading finally stopped… The Commander thought bitterly dropping his hand to the green button at the side of the door. He practically punched the release as the door slid open for him. He stepped through the threshold and into the lab to find the scientists conversing with each other. They compared, checked, compiled, and excitedly discussed the latest data they had collected. They took far too much pride in what they were doing to a mere boy and, to Alec's sickening realization, joy.

It would make their careers in the scientific community once Neverous let this out. It wasn't often that one had a chance to see, no less experiment on, a human. Since humans were thought to be extinct since the early 1900's, it should have been impossible.

Oh, how different he was! Genetically he was a marvel. How he lacked the gene to be able to absorb and process Eco. He had more this, less of that, etcetera. Personally, the only difference the Commander saw was that his ears were short and curved not pointed. Other than that he looked like a perfectly normal teenager.

"Is that the reason for the pain?" He caught as he approached the two; the two guards at the door had also moved forward to follower their Commander.

The second scientist nodded his head. "Being what he is, rejecting the serum is a possibility. What we are trying to accomplish wouldn't be easy on an elfin body." The man shook his head slowly as he read off touch-screen chart held in his hand.

Alec cleared his throat pointedly to catch the attention of the two. They both looked up, but only the one holding the device raised an eyebrow to him. "You are here to take him?"

Why else? He had always wondered why the people of the Science Department always seemed to lack a certain degree of common sense. "Yes."

Snapping his leather clad fingers he pointed to the boy on the table. The guards moved past him to obtain the limp form. The thick leather straps, overkill in Alec's opinion, were the only things keeping him to the table. As the guards released his ankles and wrists, he fell lifelessly from the table. A low moan erupted from him, signaling that he was still conscious. This came as a surprise to both the guards and the scientists. Briefly the guards gave each other uneasy glance before reaching for the thin human laying at their feet.

It was a pathetic sight, really.

He had to give the human credit. This was the first time had he had remained conscious in the aftermath of the lengthy treatment. The scientists, in a display of their lack of compassion for a fellow sentient being, merely ignored the boy. To them, Alec shook his head with a sigh. He's nothing more than another sheet of data. A thing not a person.

His guards, however, handled the boy with a slight bit more mercy knowing he was awake. "Take him back to his cell." Alec relayed the order. "And collect him in an hour." Neverous had demanded that he have the application filled, but he could award the boy an hours grace… He found himself staring at the twin puddles of blood on either side of the steel table and snarled darkly at the scientists who knelt down to collect it. He gave the commander an alarmed look, confused to what he had done to invoke the man's anger.

He gave him a nervous grin. "No samples to small."

This didn't ease the soldiers anger as the scientist had hoped, it only made it worse and forced the man to slink back behind one of the consoles to prepare the sample and out of Alec's eyesight. Turning away with a shake of his head he unexpectedly met with the blood shot emerald. His entire body seem freeze as the boy's eyes bored into him with the same loathing he had shown the scientists.

Alec left. Swiftly.

~x~

On relfex his body curled into a protective ball as waves upon waves of inescapable pain rolled across his body. Both hands instinctively coiled around his stomach in an attempt to subside the fire that licked at his insides. Fresh blood from his hands stained the already filthy yellow shirt, the arms had been ripped away to gain access to his triceps and were also covered in blood. The torso and back were full of smaller tears; laden with dirt and blood.

Against the mind-reeling pain that ran rampant throughout him, against the nausea that flipped the contents of his stomach, he was able to gather his scattered thoughts into some semblance of order. His shoulders trembled violently as he tried to fathom a reason, a single, logical, sensible reason for the ordeal he had suddenly found himself in. Who these men were, what their aim was, why he had been chosen for this… or at the very least what the he had done in his life to deserve something like this.

He had endured three identical procedures like this, but he had never had the misfortune to be awake to feel the full effects of the aftermath. He had, however, learned the hard way that moving directly after was the worst idea he had. Ever. Cold air washed over his legs and crawled across his torso causing his body to tremble on pure instinct. He let out another pained moan; the action had lit his body on fire. For several agonizing minutes he waited for the pain to diminish. When it had subsided he was left breathless and groaning.

He didn't if he had been laying there deliriously for minutes or hours before the doors opened again. Out of fear his body tensed, the muscles painfully retracting inward, his breath quickened, and his heart raced desperatly. Two pairs of hands seized his arms, pulling them straight painfully. He groaned in protest, unable to make a more coherent sound, but it fell on deaf ears. His head lulled to his chest, eyes firmly shut, and bitting the inside of his cheek to silence further sounds escaping his abused throat. He didn't attempt to open his eyes knowing without his glasses it would be useless. He had lost them somewhere between the fight with those creatures with yellow gems in their heads or, at least, that was the last time the young human remembered having them. Nothing at this moment came without an unhealthy amount of uncertainty.

"Sit." Came a clear emotionless voice directly in front of him.

The human clumsily felt around in search of something to sit on. He only saw shapeless masses of grey, black, blue, and silver before him. His hands brushed over the aluminum silver blur and realized it was a chair. He practically fell into the seat his legs giving out on him at the prospect of no longer holding the boy's weight. His eyes traveled across the long grey blur to the blue and black. He blinked furiously trying to clear the haze, gave up quickly, and closed his eyes tiredly. He stifled another groan before resting his forehead on what he assumed to be a steel table.

"This isn't an interrogation," The voice explained. "I merely need a few personal details to fill in your enrollment application." The figure paused. "First off, what is your name?"

He took in a strangled breath. Alec…

Harry still clung to a fragmented order. "Why… Are you doing t-this… What are you d-doing to me?" His own voice made him wince. It was breathy, rasped, and the obvious result of screaming. In his mind the question wasn't complicated nor did it warrant what happened next.

Pain burst from the back of his head causing him to bite tongue sharply. He let out a yelp hand snapping the back of his head and the other to his mouth. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth instantly making him choke as he inhaled. He leaned forward coughing and spitting the warm substance onto the once silver table.

"I ask you again… What is your name?" Alec echoed.

"Harry…" Came the weak answer. Any trace of defiance had been washed away knowing that the man behind him had no qualms with striking him. He wrapped his fingers around the edges of the chair in an attempt to keep from falling off.

"Surname?" Alec coaxed.

"P… Potter." His eyes narrowed on the shapeless mass ahead of him. He vainly tried to throw off the drug-like haze that clung to every part of his abused body.

"Age?" Alec continued eyes cast down.

How old am I? Harry thought frantically. He couldn't remember if he was thirteen or fourteen. "Four…" He rasped, but winced as his punctured tongue gave a menacing throb causing him to close his mouth instantly. His shoulders tensed in anticipation of another hit.

"Fourteen?" There was surprise in Alec's voice.

Harry nodded tiredly.

The elf muttered while he scribbled the information down. "Younger than I thought…" There was a pause. "Are you by chance a wizard?"

Out of all the questions he thought the man would ask him this hadn't been one of them. The surprise knocked his quickly fading thoughts back in line. He raised a dark eyebrow towards the man trying to contemplate how to answer. He took in another breath; his throat felt as if he hadn't had water in years. "What… do you k-know about them?"

Once again the guard took it upon himself to straighten the disobedience out of the barely conscious child. This time, however, he hit him far harder than before. Harry's head jerked forward with such force his head rebounded off the table with a vicious crack. He let out another groan, this one weaker than the las, and kept his forehead pressed against the table while cradling the back of his head with his hands.

The Commander sent his chair skidding across the floor as he stood. His voice boomed with authority."I will have you replaced and demoted if you strike him one more time during this process!" He snarled at the man. "Don't confuse curiosity with defiance, you idiot! I need this done and he needs to be coherent for it." His eyes narrowed dangerously on the guard as he bowed his head and backed away.

"Sir."

Harry, however, had not understood the exchanged between the Commander and guard. Their words had stemmed quickly into nothing more than incoherent mumbles and far off whispers.

I want to go home…

Alec sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. He turned, retrieved his chair, and sat down. He placed the pen down to message both his temples trying to ease his voice back into a even tempermant. "We don't' know much." He told Harry. "Only that some humans were and some were not. They had the ability to create anomalies, anomalies that were beyond any scientific explanation." Alec paused before going on. "To answer your first question. Human's haven't existed for upwards of three thousand years." He motioned to the piece of paper in front of him. "This is your enrollment application to this year's program… A training facility."

Harry, against the pain, raised his head to look at the mass in front of him. "I… I am one…" He decided that there was no harm in telling him. What more could they do to him, right? A warm sensation ran down his top lip into his mouth. He placed a shaky hand to his upper lip and pulled it feeling the slick blood between his fingers. He took his ripped collar and wiped it away.

The silence in the room was deafing.

"Hmm… I see… Final question, when is your birthday?"

Another simple question.

"J-July… 31st 1981…"

Apparently another not-so-simple answer.

"What?" Even Harry could hear the disbelief in his voice. "… A… Time…" He trailed off speaking to himself. "What month is July?" He question looking down at the paper.

"… Seventh?" Harry responded unsure… Was it the eighth?

"Julico 31st 3984." He spoke, once again, to himself. He raised a hand with a dismissive wave. "Take him back to his cell. We have what we need."

Harry's felt a rush of relief. The thought of leaving this room and going back to somewhere quiet allowed him to forget that it was his cell he was elated to be going back to. He wanted to curl into a ball and sleep until his next treatment. He shuddered involuntarily at the very vivid memory.

Remember… Quiet cell, no more questions… You can curl up and pretend you are somewhere else.

Just as the guards hand fell on Harry's shaking shoulder the door opened and nother black mass came into the room. For a brief moment it brought the attention away from Harry. "Sir," The mass saluted. "Your presence is required in the hall. Baron Praxis has arrived."

Alec let out another sigh. "You're dismisses, Talis." He cast his eyes somberly towards the child leaning forward in his chair to get away from the hand. Harry had his head turned towards the guards, but curiously he was squinting desperately at them.

He can't see. Alec surmised.

"But.. Sir…" He started.

The Commander, already irate with the soldier, replied sharply. "I think I can handle a half drugged teenager. If you doubt my abilities," His voice held a dark tone. "I'll be more than happy to show them to you in the Arena."

Harry felt the guard's hand clench his shoulder tighten in anger. He didn't dare make a sound, afraid the soldier would deliver another savage blow to the back of his head. From what he remembered of Alec, the man was lean and muscled. His face was sharp, proud, and young. His hair was black and cut military style. He remembered thinking that man's eyes were the similar to Dumbledore's… Perhaps that's why he had trusted him so naively.

The teen stood, with effort, from the chair. He glanced nervously between the two blurry figures. Harry hadn't the faintest idea of what he was supposed to be doing… if Alec was needed somewhere else… Why was he taking the responsibility of watching him?

I want to go back to the cell... He thought desperately.

The soldier, Talis, left the room as soon as Harry had started to stand. The unpleasant pressure of his hand removed and Harry was allowed to breathe a slight sigh of relief. Alec, however, replaced that relief with trepidation. The Commander had unclipped two bronze circles, handcuffs, from his belt. He took Harry's hands at first, but the teenager – in a spur of defiance – yanked them away dispite the pain the action caused. He narrowed his eyes at the Commander and let out a soft grunt.

This is his fault…

The man was apparently thrown by this action, but reached forward with more force and pulled. Harry let out a yelp and fell to his knees as a wave of dizzying pain coursed through his sore forarms and his cut triceps. "For Mar's sake..." Muttered the man standing before him. He pulled the boy back to his feet and spun him around gripping his shoulder and pushed him forward. The grip wasn't as harsh as the guard before him, but strong enough to assert who was in charge. A dull stinging sensation erupted from where the metal touched his skin. The teenager glanced over his shoulder at the dark mass that was Alec and then to his hands… No, there was no point in complaining about it. He needed to focus on staying awake.

The teen closed his eyes as the walked forward. His only focus was placing one foot in front of the other. He could just make out the whirring of sound of a door, the hiss of a pressure lock, and then the bounce of the ground under him as they stepped onto an elevator. The only thing that kept the human from falling face first into the floor was the hand on his shoulder.

"Hold up…" Alec muttered behind him jerking his shoulder back.

Harry was turned to stand face to face with the soldier. He moved backward, flinching away from his hand. Alec, however, didn't let go. His hand was moving behind him, but for what Harry didn't know. He felt something shoved onto his nose and instantly his vision was clear. He blinked several times reaching up his hand to feel the round frames of his worn glasses. "My glasses…" He muttered.

The long-eared elf nodded his head curtly. He turned him around again and pushed him into the elevator. He joined him, but not before pressing one of the many buttons on the side. He stood left of him, eyes closed as the elevator started to move.

"You lied." Harry dared to say. The Commander opened his eyes at this and looked to him. For a brief moment their eyes met and for a second, he saw a flash of regret. He glared at the Commander, hands fisting in the cuffs. "You lied."

Without a word he pushed Harry out of the doors with the heel of his palm. Harry took in the room with slight awe. The elevator they had entered was at the far corner of the massive room. A finely polished oak table sat in the middle of the room. In the centre was a transparent blue half sphere. The walls were obsidian in color, blue wall hangings with the same insignia on Alec's sparse armor hung at intervals on three of the walls. The floors were a dark stained wood with a sharp gloss. The back wall, however, was made of glass. It looked over a seemingly endless canopy of jungle. In the background the cloudless sky was set on fire with the dying sun.

"Ah, Commander Vine." Spoke the deep baritone voice of Neverous. His very voice sent shivers down the youth's spine. Terror wasn't quite the word to describe Harry's feelings towards the man… Mortified was a better word.

Neverous was easily twice is size and his mere presence was akin to that of Voldemort. The wizard glanced to his left to see that two men in heavy armor were standing at the edges of the table tucked away near the back. Their faces were adorned with similar blue patterns; thick strips and smaller circles that extended down their necks to disappear under traces of black fabric that could be seen between the junction of their helmets and chest plates.

It was the person in the middle of them that surprised Harry the most. Between them, his hands cuffed in front of them, was a much shorter long-eared elf. The elf's eyes flashed to him, then to his cuffs, then to the floor seeming non-interested.

Harry had not seen a mirror in nearly four days, but he felt as bad as the elf reminded him of a miner who just completed a week worth of work in a coal mine complete with worn and ash covered clothing. His eyes, blue, were locked on the ground at his feet while he moved his hands within the confines of the large manacles bitterly. His hair was an odd combination of green roots and blonde ends. Large purple circles under the teenager's eyes suggested he hadn't had a decent rest in nearly a month. However, if Harry had to guess, the greenish bruising around his left eye wasn't from lack of sleep.

"To tell you truth, Isaac, I didn't believe your claim." Spoke a different voice. Snapping his eyes back to the table he noticed the two men right of Neverous. The one who had spoken was sitting in the chair. He was an older man; half of his face was covered – or made of – metal. His hair was dark with two grey accents only at his roots. He was a broad shouldered man and just as tall, if not taller, than Neverous himself. In short, the man was huge. What unnerved Harry, beside his stature, was the fact his eyes were deep shade of red and held all the same malice as Voldemort.

Neverous nodded his head with a deep chuckle. His dark eyes found Harry and considered him like one would a trophy. "Alec found him in the Ivory Jungle a mile from here. I, too, was surprised when my Commander brought him in… Bring the boy over here, Vine." He motioned Alec and Harry forward.

Alec hissed to Harry. "Don't do anything stupid."

The Commander handed the boy over to one of the blue armored guards as he took his position to the left of his superior. The guard ushered him forward with flat palms against his back. Harry then took notice of the second man while he was lead across the room like a show dog. He wore less armor than the other two guards. A jacket, similar to Alec's, and pants that were a combination of yellow and blue; a red chest plate and shoulder armor the only red the man wore. Across the plate were white runes that Harry couldn't decipher. He held him self with a certain arrogance that strongly reminded him of Lucius Malfoy. His orange hair was slicked back under a helmet and his amber eyes resting lazily on the metal-faced man as he continued their conversation.

"He looks rather young." The man observed. "You said earlier that you are performing… tests on him?"

Alec held a neutral expression, but the red head looked slightly intrigued. "Yes," Neverous nodded his head to him. "We are using an infusion of proteins, various enhancing drugs that have been mixed with diluted canine DNA…" He smirked lightly. "My scientists tell me that the canine DNA is required to help the process along. Apparently their tests have determined that the breed is able to handle the drugs." Neverous looked back to him. "I don't want to chance losing the first and probably last human we have by exposing him to Eco."

Harry furrowed his brow in confusion. Proteins, drugs, and canine blood? Why does all that hurt so much? What the hell type of drugs do they have?

The metal-faced man considered Harry with far more understanding than Harry had been able to obtain from the explanation. Neverous went on looking to his Commander for the answer. "As for age?"

"Fourteen." Alec answered automatically, almost lifelessly.

Both of the men, even the guards standing with the elf, looked to Harry with disbelief. They had all assumed he was young, but fourteen seemed to have pushed it. Harry decided that the floor held more interest as he wetted his chapped lips. Neverous, however, kept his emotions schooled. "What of the haggard looking boy over there?" He jerked his chin towards the emerald blonde.

The elf shifted on his bare feet for a moment, but kept his on the ground. "We have decided to place him, along with ten others, in our Dark Warrior Program. Daily injections of Dark Eco." He explained to him easily, completely uninterested in the blonde.

Surprise did work its way to Neverous's eyes this time. "Dark Eco?" He repeated. "And the boy is breathing?"

There was a smirk on the red head's face as he looked to the blonde. The blonde snarled at him, eyes narrowing dangerously. The red head raised an eyebrow and slid his hand down to the gun resting at his hip silently tempting him to say, move, or do anything that would give him an excuse to use the weapon. His look screamed. 'I dare you.'

Instantly the teenager looked away grinding the middle of the shackles together angrily.

"He's a channeler." Answered the metal-faced man unaware of the silent exchange between the prisoner and his second.

"Rare find," Neverous commented fingers interlocking in front of him. "Almost as rare a human now a days."

"Yes, but to the point." The man said with annoyance. "Invisera is highly regarded. A quarter of my soldiers have trained here before coming to my guard."

Neverous spoke glancing to Alec. "I believe I'm expecting another family member?"

The Commander nodded his head, clearly understanding what the man was getting to. The brunette didn't speak for several seconds before going on to say at length. "I am requesting that we put our surviving test subject into your program for a year. The rest will be dealt with at the Academy."

"Of coarse Baron Praxis." Neverous didn't miss a beat. "I'm having the human placed also. The first year is the training… As your Commander is fully aware of and the second is honing skills in the Ivory Jungle." He paused. "I believe you and I have business to talk about alone. Alec," He turned to look at his Commander. "Take him to the cell."

"Sir." Alec responded with a straight back. He walked back over to Harry who glared at the incoming Commander. He easily ignored the heated look while telling the guard to follow him and turning back to the elevator. Harry was grabbed by the chain connecting his cuffs and pulled ruthlessly forward. He stumbled, still light headed, at first. The guard paused for a moment for Harry to catch his balance, half expecting to drag the teen from the room. It seemed, however, that he didn't need anymore coaxing.

Harry and the blonde/green haired elf were placed shoulder to shoulder as they stood at the entrance to the elevator. Neverous and Baron's voices faded as the metal doors closed.

"You got promoted." Stated the red head more than asked.

The Invisrin nodded his head. "Yes, recently. You became the K.G Commander? I thought Torn had that before you." He looked to the man with a raised eyebrow and lopsided smirk.

"He did." The man said disdainfully, even his voice reminded him of Malfoy Senior. "He defaulted from the guard." They stepped off the elevator. Harry didn't catch, or care to hear, the rest of the conversation. His headache had started to pulse with a hideous intensity. He shared a fleeting glance with the blonde before him, but neither of them cared to look at each other much longer than a second. He took a keen interest in the wall beside them and Harry in his shoelaces.

Suddenly Alec had whipped him around, almost giving him whiplash, and removed the handcuffs. "Get in," he ordered tiredly motioning to the open cell. Harry frowned, but didn't hesitate while he moved into the cell. As the elf had his cuffs removed Alec went on. "We'll keep him here… What did Torn do exactly?"

Once the elf had been shoved into the room the door closed leaving the both of them in the small dark space. The blonde glared over his shoulder while rubbing his chaffed wrists. He let out a heavy sigh dropping his hands to his sides. "Who are you?" He asked hoarsely. Like the other elves he had run into his accent was American.

For a second Harry didn't answer. He turned his back to the elf and limped over to his metal cot. Slumping down on the thin mattress he pressed his hands to his face. "The name is Harry."

A creaking of the second cot let Harry assumed that the elf had sat down on it. He was still amazed that such a small space was meant for two people. "Jak." He told him. "My name is Jak." He rubbed the nape of his neck watching Harry. He seemed to be trying to tell if Harry was going to attack him in his sleep or not. He leaned one elbow on his knee. "Do you know what this place is?" Jak, as he had told Harry, glanced to the dark jungle just outside the barred window.

"No." He shook his head tiredly. "I have no sodding idea."

A frigid breeze slipped through the window causing both to shiver while their breath came out in bursts of smoke. Harry could just make out half of the elf in the light of the cell. He was rubbing the tops of his arms for warmth. His clothes barely clung to him and offered no warmth at all. Harry broke the awkward silence. "What… are they doing to you?"

It wasn't the best ice-breaker, but Harry wasn't too sure if Jak was going to attack him while he slept either. As far has Harry concerned, or Jak for that matter, he could have been a murderer or some other unsavory character that actually deserved to be here…

Or he could have been innocent.

Jak looked up for a moment. "Dark Eco experiments." He offered leaning fully on his thighs. "I've been in Haven City nearly a month." He raised a green eyebrow to him. "You?"

"I didn't know until a couple minutes ago." Harry admitted. "Protein, drugs… and canine DNA or something like that… Hurts like bloody hell."

"… You're bleeding." Jak tapped the space between his nose and upper lip.

"Thanks…" Harry muttered rubbing the back of his hand across his lip.

"Are there anymore humans like you?" The elf continued, his curiosity getting the better of him.

In truth Harry had no idea… But, if he told the real deal, he doubted that the elf would believe him. Harry barely believed it himself. "No," He decided. "I think I'm the last one."

His cellmate nodded his head slowly before turning his gaze to the window. "Worst thing…" He started quietly. "I'm not exactly sure how I got here." He raised his hands with a bemused smirk. "There was this light and bam." He punched his open hand with his fist. "I'm clubbed over the head and dragged into prison."

Harry removed his hands from him face to look at the elf. His exhausted smirk had faded into a frown while he stared at the floor. "How… so?" He ventured. The story sounded oddly familiar.

"A portal… well… A Rift Gate." He corrected himself. "I was separated from my friends when we came through…" The channeler told him earnestly. "And… here I am."

"Funny…" Harry muttered. A flash of anger crossed the elf's eyes, but Harry quickly said. "No… I don't mean it like that. I came here… a similar way. I'm not exactly from this place either."

A small smirk tugged at the corner of Jak's mouth. "A lot in common I guess…"

Silence lapsed between them as the night had completely fallen. A soft humming crept into the room causing him to open his eyes. In the dark he saw a small neon green light hovering in the middle of the room. It took him a moment to realize that the large light was an insect… a very large insect. Jak moved forward, his face illuminated by the muted green, and cupped the insect in his hands.

"Firefly…" Muttered Jak as he trapped the glowing creature between his fingers carefully. Harry watched silently as he squished it between his thumb and forefinger. Even dead the bio-luminescent light flared brightly against his fingers. He leaned forward to the space between their cots and pressed his palm against it. Once he removed his hand the room was filled with a soft light.

He spoke lightly. "Where I come from, Sandover, we used to paint our faces with firefly paint… It lasts for awhile."

"Ah…" Was all Harry could think of saying. He had to admit that with the substance on the wall the cell seemed less… oppressive. Jak returned to his cot and faced his back to Harry. "Hey… Jak?"

"Yeah?" Came the tired reply.

"… What's Dark Eco?"