Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not a damn thing. So no threats to sue, h'okay?

Chapter One

Tensions

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The streets had been effectively fixed up by the end of the year, much to the efforts of Jak. He had taken control of the restoration efforts, much to the surprise of almost everyone, and concentrated on nothing besides helping the city in the daylight hours. Nighttime was devoted to light rest and helping his childhood friend and steady girlfriend, Keira, restore old zoomers that were destroyed in the war. They then sold them cheaply, helping in their own way to better the economy.

Ashelin, however, was involved in none of this. She was forced to watch as toppled buildings were cleared away and then rebuilt from the base up from her renovated palace. The Council had advised her against going into the streets and working one-on-one with the people. Some were still upset about her father’s rein of terror and thought the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

"Ashelin," a rough voice murmured from behind her, "did you hear what I said?"

"Hmm?" she asked without turning from the window. Her hand was fiddling with one of the dreaded strands of her crimson hair, her emerald eyes distant. She flinched when a calloused hand laid itself on her bare arm, vying for her attention. "What is it?" she asked, finally turning away from where a construction was being overseen by the blond savior of Haven himself. Torn stood before her, concern flashing through his blue eyes.

"Ashelin, are you all right?" he asked, voice rasping. His hand slipped from her upper arm down to her elbow, resting there as if a reminder of all those caresses he had laid upon her in the past. "You haven’t heard a single word I’ve said, have you?"

"Sorry," she whispered, pulling out of his grip. "I’ve had a lot on my mind. Listening to the catalog of wartime spending is exhausting on a good day; right now it’s damn near impossible." She shimmied out from in front of him, trying to put some distance between them. Ever since their days in Crimson, it seemed like Torn had become rather attached to her. They had been bed partners then, or fuck-buddies as her father had so coarsely called them. Torn still seemed to think that there was something there.

There wasn’t.

Torn glanced out the window and to where Ashelin had been staring with such fascination. What he was were crewmen working on a rather large business establishment, being instructed by Jak who zoomed around them on his jet board. He glanced back at Ashelin, who was running a hand over her face and sauntering to the door.

"I need to go get a shower-" she was saying tiredly when Torn interrupted suddenly.

"Have you told him yet?"

Ashelin paused, one hand on the door, the other falling away from her face. Her voice was suspicious as she ventured, "Tell who?"

Torn laughed humorlessly. "Don’t play games, Ash. I know you a hell of a lot better than that. But, if you insist on me spelling it out for you, I mean Jak."

Ashelin stood ramrod still, not moving. "What would I possibly have to tell him?"

Torn rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "Really, Ashelin. It’s not like you’re trying to keep it a secret. You stare at him whenever he’s unaware and avoid his direct company when he’s in the room. It’s pretty damn obvious to those of us around you two."

"I do not avoid anyone," Ashelin argued, turning so that her dark eyes were glaring at him.

"Oh, not in the normal sense of the word, no. But you refuse to carry on conversations that last longer than the average song when you’re with him. That’s not like you, Ashelin."

"Are you trying to suggest that I have feelings for that damn boy whose best friend happens to be a rat?"

Torn grinned, resisting the urge to tell her just how hot she looked when she was pissed off. Her full bottom lip tended to pout much in the way little dogs did, and her whole stance radiated dominatrix. But because Torn was so attached to his life and didn’t want to lose it anytime soon, he decided not to say that. Instead he leaned back against the windowsill, murmuring, "I’m not suggesting anything. I’m stating quite plainly. Look, Ash," he added gently, or as gently as his gutted voice allowed, "if you ever need to take out any tension and lover boy still hasn’t figured it out, I’m always here for you."

Ashelin made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat, turning for the door and storming out. The slammed door made the glass window shake in its casing and Torn chuckled to himself.

He had known it would only be a matter of time before the tough-as-nails commander fell for the holier-than-thou renegade.

…

Jak wiped the sweat from his brow, hopping off of his jet board to go assist some idiot who hadn’t secured the link for the titanium bracers. Daxter was already there when Jak managed to weave his way between workers milling about.

"Of all the stupid, stupid things you could have done-"

"What happened?" Jak interrupted his orange friend, leaning down to help the man keep the titanium sides from caving in.

"I must not have secure the bolts correctly, sir," the halfwit mumbled, looking confused. "But I could have sworn they were on there tight!"

"Well I guess you were wrong," Daxter murmured with a snide lilt to his voice. Jak rolled his eyes before booting Daxter out of the way. Aside from an affronted sound from the ottsel, he went quiet.

"Maybe you should go get some water and take a break once we get the bolts secured," Jak intoned to the man, lowering himself into the pit and helping him brace the walls while tightening the bolts. "The last things we need are tired workers."

He was mentally berating himself for even taking on this task –he originally signed up for reparations for the reason of rebuilding, not overseeing. This was more along Daxter’s line of expertise; standing by and shouting orders.

As if reading his mind, the little ball of bright fuzz strolled up to him and murmured, "This is the life… getting paid for watching others build things. If only we had a pool girl in a skimpy bikini to carry around an umbrella to block out the sun," he grumbled, more to himself than to Jak. "You’ll have to suggest that to Ashelin for me when you give her the report."

Jak smiled at that before grimacing. The worst part of the job occurred when he was finally allowed to go inside the cool, sun-free palace: reporting to Ashelin. She had become much more snappish lately; she was short with him most of the time, cold at best. Jak had originally chalked it up to worries about their war debts, but the economy had begun to boom once jobs were created in rebuilding ventures.

It just made no sense as to why she’d become so damn temperamental!

Jak pushed it from his thoughts and went back to work.

…

The hot spray of the shower put Ashelin at ease as she slid into the step-down tub. She had never bothered with installing a screen to separate her from view; no one entered her bedroom besides the occasional high-ranking soldier and Torn. Neither of the two worried her too much; after all, it’s not as if the soldiers had never seen a naked woman before, and Torn had seen her nude many a time. Ashelin was proud of her figure and was not afraid or offended to have people stare at it.

Or so she had originally thought. However, when she turned her face to the room and found Jak waltzing through her door, scanning the room for her and calling out her name, cold panic gripped her. What the hell was he doing in her room! Did he not hear the roar of the shower and realize what was going on?

Obviously not, because when he came around the sloped wall and into the small side room, which served as her shower area, his face was as surprised as hers.

There was a long, shocked silence in which the two stared blankly at one another. "I-" Jak began, eyes most definitely not on her face.

"Get out!" Ashelin yelled, a trace of molten hatred in her tone. He stood there, as if unmovable. At least now his eyes were one hers. Ashelin, in an attempt to get him out of the room, reached for her gun holster –laying on the toilet just beside the tub- and pulled her blaster out in record speed, aiming it directly at him.

What her words did not accomplish, her gun did. He skirted out of the room quickly, leaving Ashelin alone once again and suddenly wishing she’d had that shower screen put in.

Ashelin tossed the gun onto the pile of her evening wear, which served as dinner attire for the formal meeting that was to be held later that night. She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling her heart beating in a frantic drum solo. "Fuck," she muttered, turning off the water and grabbing a towel. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she chanted softly as she toweled off her hair and then body. She quickly slid into her slinky little black dress that managed to cover everything from breasts down to her mid-thigh, but was tight enough that it left nothing to the imagination. It was once one of her favorite dresses to wear on seduction missions while she was still a Crimson. It had served her well as an undercover agent; although once her face was tattooed it became pretty hard not to notice she was with the Guard.

As usual, Ashelin didn’t bother with a bra but did slip on a pair of black panties that could hardly even be considered underwear. She thought seriously about taking her gun into the adjoining room with her; she knew Jak would be there and she was not in the mood to deal with him.

some snarky part of her brain commented, the other side of her muttered angrily as she grabbed her bag and slipped on her black pumps. She stalked angrily into the next room where Jak was waiting. He was looking at the door as if seriously thinking about bolting for it. "Report," she snapped, watching as he turned to her with a strange expression in his eyes.

The look, however, was masked quickly and he turned to her with his mouth drawn into a firm line. "Rebuilding in this sector is going smoother than expected. Everything has gone off without a hitch. Some men seem to have been ill-trained for their positions, however, and I was wondering if you would give me the ability to reroute certain members to other duties."

Ashelin was inwardly thankful for his quick assessment and his steady eyes. Not once did his gaze leave hers. "Are there others to fill their positions?"

"Yes. More qualified members, in fact."

Ashelin nodded. "Permission granted. Is that all?"

Jak was silent for a time, his gaze falling to the ground before an apologetic smile slid across his face. "Actually, Daxter has a small request."

"Oh Precursors," Ashelin rolled her eyes, hands going to her hips. "All right, what does his majesty Orange Lightening have to ask? A throne and an endless line of bare-breasted ladies serving him exotic delicacies?"

Jax tried to stifle his laughter but the mirth shone through in those large, beautiful eyes. Ashelin found herself smiling despite her attempt not to. "No, but I’m sure if he had thought of it he would agree it was his due reward… no, he wants a woman in a bikini to carry an umbrella for him to protect his fur from the sun."

Ashelin scoffed. "Tell him that Tess would kill him if I happened to slip that into one of our future conversations."

Jak smiled, nodding. "Well… goodnight, then, commander." He turned, going for the door. Ashelin, however, suddenly felt the need to stop him. It bothered her slightly that she had been so eager to see him go just seconds before, but now…

Now it felt like it had during the war. It felt like they were on the same wavelength, like they were working toward the same goal. They were joking together, smiling, the tension had slipped, if just for a moment. And furthermore, above all else in Ashelin’s mind, it felt like they were friends again.

Ashelin reached out, grabbing Jak by the arm and halting his progress. He stiffened, turning to her with an indeterminable expression on his chiseled features.

"Wait, Jak… I have to attend some stupid dinner party with the council members… I was supposed to bring a member of the restoration committee with me. Since you’re here," she began evenly, releasing his arm, "would you like to accompany me?"

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Author's Note:

I just despise first chapters. It always makes me so anxious to see how much people hated it. ;) Anywhoo, this would be my very first Jak fanfiction, and it IS NOT, I repeat, IS NOT FOR CHILDREN. I am one of those oddities - an adult (-snigger- yeah, I will officially be an adult in three months, woot.) who adores the Jak and Daxter series. So, as you could probably tell from the first chapter, things are going to get pretty hot and heavy, and eventually this will be bumped up to an M rating.

Please review! Please?

Love love,

Lie

Megan