All That's Left When Everything Else is Gone

Disclaimer: See previous chapter. Can’t think of anything sarcastic right now.


Whee! It’s the forth chapter! I’ve broken the habit of basically abandoning my fics before or at the third chapter. I’m afraid I loose interest in them, but now I’m occupying myself with other fics to give me a break from one. Yay! Lyrics are ‘Never Alone’ from Barlow Girl.
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I cried out with no reply
And I can't feel You by my side
So I'll hold tight to what I know
You're here and I’m never alone

Days were passing slowly as Torn drifted in and out of conciseness. Pain was a near constant companion when he was able to remain awake. Everyday the Shadow would heal his wrist a little bit more. The longest session was when he was still unconscious and the shadow had to put the splintered pieces of the bone back into their proper place. Even with the treatments the Shadow said he would have some pain the rest of his life. Now his wrist rested inside a cast. The rest of his wounds were healing slowly; unusually slow. The Shadow said it was from the minute traces of dark eco in the wounds. And bit by bit His body was slowly healing around it. As a result the new skin had the slightest purple twinge to it.

Everyone was avoiding the subject of Jak. Whenever he was aware enough to ask, everyone suddenly had something else to do. The Shadow would start rattling on about battle plans, Tess would start chatting about the weather. He was desperate enough that he would have asked the rat, but he was nowhere to be seen. Something he would have been grateful for except that ever since that damn dream he had to see if the dark renegade was really the boy he’d briefly known or if it was just a trick from the fever induced dream.

Once he’d even asked where the stupid rodent was, but all he got from Tess was a clipped “he’s with Jak.” This was pretty good since it had been the first time anybody had said his name. It was strange that he hadn’t come to yell at him yet. It left him to wonder if the rat had killed himself in a fit of grief or –the more logical one- was at Jak’s deathbed. Maybe it was guilt, but Torn was worried about the stupid rat. It was so attached to Jak that even Tess couldn’t get him to leave the room where Jak was. Well since nobody would tell him, he would just go find Jak himself.

Torn sat up carefully so not to agitate his wounds. Apparently, having dark eco infested wounds meant there would be more pain than normal. This made Torn wonder how much pain jak was in all the time since he was saturated in the stuff. That piece of information came as a shock to him. It cemented his theory further. He new the baron was evil, but to go to such lengths as to pump someone full of the most deadly substance on the planet… Torn shuddered-then winced when the movement made his chest and thighs scream- the Baron’s actions spoke of a level of insanity that Torn been previously unaware of. But it wasn’t for certain, for he knew Jak was born that way.

Standing was more difficult than he thought, not only did he have still being sick to contend with. But every step he made had sharp needles piercing through him. Damn eco wounds. Torn used his good arm to support himself on the wall; his legs weren’t strong enough to support him on their own, not with his temperature anyway. But he couldn’t wait any longer, the need was to strong. He made the first tentative steps towards his room’s door. Several times he had to stop to catch his breath. Sweat was running down his face, making his hair stick to his neck.

When Torn pushed the door open it was almost too heavy for him to move. His whole body quivered with the effort it took. Stepping into the hall Torn had to take a moment to catch his breath and think where they would have put the body. Then he remembered Jak had taken the farthest room to the back of the underground. Since it was so cold everyone else avoided it. It probably was the reason Jak took it. It was also the farthest room from him.

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Torn nearly collapsed against Jak’s door, it may have been his weight that helped push it open. The air in the hall was chilly, but when the door opened the blast of freezing air sent shivers down Torn’s fevered body. How did Jak and the rat sleep in here? ‘Not important’, he told himself. Torn sat on the ground just inside the door ‘cause he couldn’t stand anymore. Shivers racked his body, But what he’d come for was right across the room from him. Jak lay prone on the bed. His face turned away from him. Torn pushed him self to his knees, then to his feet and stumbled the last few feet of his journey and collapsed.

Torn hesitated, what if he was him? What if he wasn’t? Fear kept him from checking Jak’s arm. The boy from two years ago…Torn had found him hiding in an ally behind some boxes. He never would have known he was there if he hadn’t hid there himself. He hadn’t been too sure who was more startled by the presence of the other. He had been covered with cuts and bruises that faced the threat of infection from the layers of filth that covered him from head to two. All he wore were a pair of short shorts that may have been a decent pair of pants at one time and a tattered tunic. It was the Roman numeral tattoo on his arm that told Torn he was an escaped prisoner. A newbie if they hadn’t given him a uniform yet.

He couldn’t think that kid as a criminal. He was too young, too scared; too terrified of Torn. If there hadn’t been a huge alert Torn was sure he would have ran. He’d tried to calm him, assure him he meant no harm. It hadn’t worked as well as he liked but at least the kid wasn’t ready to bolt at a moments notice. That wasn’t quite true, He was still tense and flinched at the slightest sound, but Torn was no longer his biggest worry. They had sat there for hours their discomfort only increased by the pouring rain; the alert only grew as the minuets ticked by. The streets were crammed with Krimzon Guard and Torn feared they would have to risk making a break for it soon otherwise they would be discovered for sure.

So when there seemed a minimum of guards Torn had grabbed the kid and made a break for it. They had made it a few blocks before they were spotted. It was only a few guards so Torn disposed of them with little trouble. But the look on the kid’s face when he’d killed them. It was like the concept of death by a fellow elf was completely foreign to him. So he bolted. Torn had chased after him. The kid was fast. He’d lost him after a couple of blocks. Torn hadn’t known what happened to him until he’d seen a Krimzon Guard cell transport, like the one they totted lurkers around in, entering the fortress with the kid in the cage.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?”

Torn whipped around to face a very pissed off ottsel. Daxter stood there trembling with rage. Finger pointed at him in accusation, “GET THE FUCK OUT!” Torn stared at the ottsel without comprehension. “YOU – YOU MURDERER” Torn’s eyes widened slightly. Murderer? “JAK’S BEEN THROUGH HELL AND BACK. HE DESEVES SOME HAPPYNESS IN HIS LIFE, BUT HE AIN’T GUNNA GET THAT NOW!” Daxter leapt and landed in front of Torn’s face. “AND DO YOU KNOW WHY? HUH, DO YA?” Daxter didn’t wait for Torn to respond before barreling on. “CAUSE YOU SENTENCED HIM TO DIE A SLOW DEATH IN SOME FREEZEING ROOM TWELVE FEET BELOW THE SURFACE. SO WE DON’T EVEN HAFTA BURY HIM WHEN HIS BODY FINALLY GIVES OUT ‘CAUSE HE’S ALREADY TWICE AS DEEP THAN HE NEEDS TO BE!”

Torn blinked. Finally gives out? Slow death? Torn stopped listening to Daxter’s rant. Was Jak…still alive? Hope fluttered in his chest. “Jak’s…alive?” Daxter stopped mid rant. Sneering he leaned closer to Torn’s face so their noses were touching. “What’s a matter? Disappointed?” Daxter huffed. “Jak can’t fight the infection so you won’t have to wait long. Why don’t you go and murder some more best-friends or something since you are so good at it.” Torn just sat there. But how? Jak wasn’t breathing, he didn’t have a pulse. Just to make sure he pressed his fingers to his neck. Nothing. “DON’T TOUCH HIM!”

“What in heavens name – Torn! What are you doing here; your fever hasn’t broken yet! You should be in bed resting.” Samos helped the commander off the floor. Daxter followed them to the door just to make sure he was gone. “And don’t come back!” he shouted after them before slamming to the door.

Samos help Torn onto his bed one they were back in his room. “I don’t know how you managed to get so far Torn, but your body is far too weak to put it through such an exertion.” Torn resisted Samos’ attempts to make him lie down. “Daxter thinks Jak’s still alive. Why?” Samos sighed, “Because he is.” Torn stared at him incredulously, “That’s impossible, he doesn’t have a pulse!” Samos sat down, this would take some explaining.

“Jak’s not dead; he’s in a type of extreme hibernation. His body has slowed down so much that it is only moving about thousandth of its normal speed. That’s why you didn’t feel a pulse.”

“Hibernation… wait a minute! He has an infection, right? Why haven’t you healed him yet?” Torn demanded. This didn’t make any sense; the shadow should have been able to split the eco between them.

“I’m sorry Torn, but Jak’s body is rejecting the eco.”

“That can’t be right! I’ve seen Jak use it before!” Torn would not accept this. “What about his white blood cells? Why can’t he fight the infection?”

Samos nodded, “yes, his white blood cells did battle the infection for a time, but they’re dieing off and his body can’t produce any more unless he comes out of the state he’s in.”

“But he’ll die! His wounds…”

“So you see now? Either way Jak dies. There is nothing I can do.” Samos pushed Torn down. “Lie still now, I’m going to try and bring your fever down.”

Torn allowed himself to be subjected to the shadow’s treatment, his fever ravaged mind never realizing he never got to check Jak’s arm.

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The hall smelled like moldy erasers from whatever they used to clean the place. The perfectly white halls were quite except for the occasional Scientist or lab personnel on their way to whatever they were doing. An entire week he’d been here. Thank the precursors for the vending machines and bathrooms in the staff room where he’d been told to wait since Commander Erol wanted him to bring the results as soon as they were in.

Apparently he didn't want to risk the communication line being tapped or other wise Eelean was sure he would have had the results called in; whatever he was having processed had to be important. Eelean rolled his eyes. Of course it was important; you don’t usually send something to the lab over a metal head clean up. Actually, you don’t normally have a metal head clean up unless it was inside the city or something. But that had never happened. Eelean shook his head, he was thinking too much. Whatever was going on wasn’t his business. Asking questions would only get him killed. Following orders; that was his job.

The door opened and a pretty young lab assistant poked her head in. she had a nervous, twitchy air about her that reminded Eelean of a croca dog on crack. When she spotted him she visibly jumped and stuttered. “T-he me-en upstair-s s-said to g-gives th-this to a K-k-kG.” the girl held out a package. Eelean drew himself to his full height. He purposely tightened his grip on his rifle to draw her attention to it. His intimidation tactic worked because she squeaked and stuttered out something that was so broken up he couldn’t understand it. But she left the package by the door and fled. Eelean smirked beneath his mask and retrieved the package.

Eelean left the research labs quickly to deliver the package to Commander Erol. The trip from the labs to the fortress was uneventful. Although he saw several instances that he could have harassed a citizen the package was top priority. When Eelean reached Commander Erol’s office, before he had a chance to knock the door slid open. Erol sat at has desk watching him intently. The Commander’s intense stare made shivers run down his spine. So after saluting him Eelean placed the package in Commander Erol’s hands and left as quickly as he came.

After Erol opened the package and viewed the contents he turned to his window overlooking the city and smiled.


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Shit that took a long time. Never meant to wait this long but I hit writer’s block a paragraph away from finishing. Sorry if the last bit seemed a little rushed. Hope you enjoyed and review me to let me know what you think.