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Keira trudged along the cold dark sidewalk towards her zoomer, which was parked a few blocks down from the Naughty Ottsel. She hugged herself tightly as chill winds blew their icy breath against her. There were drunks everywhere, thanks to Daxter's little party. A group of them stumbled by, laughing obnoxiously and pushing each other around playfully; Keira's brow creased in slight irritation. She wished she had worn a thicker sweater, but it didn't really matter anymore as her body was becoming extremely numb. Her eyelids drooped as she dragged one foot after the other automatically. The thin, dull moon cast a feeble light upon the dark, choppy waters of the harbor. She paused in her walk to lean against the grimy bricks of one of the buildings flanking the street.

By now, the young mechanic had ventured far from the rowdy noise of the bar. She gazed out at the churning waters, shivering in the harsh cold. Scenes from the party flickered through her mind: Torn being a crabby, stubborn jerk, Jak…Jak…Jak kissing Ashelin…she gritted her teeth. She shook her head violently, her aqua-colored locks of hair flinging about. She willfully resisted the urge to cry. Hadn't she cried enough, already? Keira heaved a dismal sigh. What more was there to be upset about? It wasn't like Jak would ever come back to her. She cursed as those damn sly tears managed to leak out.

But…hadn't he asked her to dance with him? Even though Ashelin was there also?

'That doesn't mean anything!' she corrected herself sternly. She wouldn't allow herself to even be hopeful. How would she ever let go that way? Determined, she moved away from the wall and continued her walk.

She listened to the sounds of her shoes hitting the pavement against the backdrop of blustery wind and turbulent water. The air, though cold, was tainted with the stench of pollutants from the nearby factories. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. 'I'm going to get lung cancer in this city, I just know it,' she thought pessimistically. She rubbed her hands along her arms vigorously for warmth. She could make out the faint figure of her zoomer in the night gloom, about twenty feet away.

'I should really redo the paint job,' she thought. 'It's starting to become-' Suddenly, somebody grabbed her hair roughly from behind, yanking her backwards. She yelped in shock, struggling to turn around, but another muscular arm wound its way around her waist, effectively binding her. "LET ME GO!!!" Keira shrieked, furiously thrashing around. The hand gripping her hair let go and instead clapped itself over her mouth. She winced at the smell of aftershave and booze. "MMMMFFF!!!" was all she could get out.

"Shut up," a deep voice slurred behind her. Her attacker clumsily slammed her into the side of a building, attempting to turn her towards him. Keira was in shock, but she still managed to try and reach her for her wrench while he yanked her around. A large hand clamped itself around her wrist with an iron grip and pinned her against the cold wall. She tried to make out the face, but it was so dark that his features were masked. It didn't matter, anyhow. He was just another jerk.

Infuriated, Keira brought her knee up sharply towards the man's groin. He grunted in pain, relaxing his hold on her for a split second. She almostescaped, but a rock hard fist pounded into her left eye. She cried out as pain exploded throughout her head, slumping down only to be jerked up sharply again.

"Do that again, bitch, and I'll punch you again," he yelled angrily. Keira hoped at least somebody had heard her attacker's loud voice, but the street seemed empty except for the party-goers in the distance. She squirmed about, attempting to escape, but to no avail. Then, she heard footsteps pounding towards them. Her heart fluttered with hope.

"STOP!!! This is the Freedom League!! Release her right now!" a gravelly voice yelled. Keira's breath hitched with optimism. Never had she thought that she would actually be happy to hear that voice.

Her attacker dropped her like burning metal and took off, his uneven footfalls resounding throughout the deserted street.

Torn, rather than chasing him, knelt down beside Keira, who was slumped against the wall, feeling her injured flesh tenderly.

"Shit," she cursed bitterly. "Why does all this happen to me?" Unbidden tears welled up in her green eyes, but she forcefully held them back. With a slight uncertainty, Torn put his arms around her shoulders and helped her up.

"It happens to lots of women in this city…especially the ones who walk alone at night when there are drunks out," he said pointedly. Keira kept silent. She really didn't want to hear the, 'I told you so' lecture. "Can you walk alright?" he asked, trying not to sound tooconcerned. He wouldn't want the girl to get the wrong idea about him. Commander Torn served the community and faithfully fulfilled his duty, but he definitely wasn't the kind of guy who ran around all the time rescuing uppity females who refused to listen to considerate advice. Nope.

"Yeah, I can walk, thanks," she murmured, still in shock. She could feel a hot, thick liquid running down her face. At first Keira thought that it was escaped tears, but when she wiped some off her face and examined her hand, she recognized it as her blood.

Torn grunted. "He broke the skin," he observed. "We should take you back to the bar to clean you up; the sooner the better." Keira just stared at him in horror. Go back…in there?! With Jak and Ashelin all cozy in their booth? Her face probably looked absolutely pummeled, judging by the way it felt at the moment. She didn't think that she could take all the looks of pity and/or horror she would get. And Jak…

"No. Just…no," she stated stubbornly. "I can drive home and sterilize the cut there." As proof, she fished into her pocket for her house keys and came up with…nothing. "Oh nooo!!" she wailed. "I lost them!" she smushed her palm against her forehead. "Stupid, careless me," she muttered angrily.

Torn laughed mirthlessly. "Come on," he quipped impatiently. "We need to bandage your wound; your face is looking awful." He carefully placed a hand on the small of her back and began to move her along.

"Thanks…" Keira mumbled reluctantly.


Jak was slumped over in the leather seat next to Ashelin. The room had become unbearably hot, and his skin had begun to stick to his shirt. Somebody was smoking, and the noxious grey cloud had spread itself throughout the muggy air. He sighed in irritation and fidgeted in the confined space, his drink abandoned.

Ashelin placed her cool pale hand on his cheek. "Feeling alright?" she asked gently. Jak briefly closed his eyes. 'No, not really, because something's up with Keira, and Torn just left a few minutes after her and I want to know what's going on between them!!!' he wanted to lash out. But…smart old Jak knew better than to lose his temper with the fiery General.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he mumbled. There was quiet between them, but Jak could feel Ashelin's scrutinizing gaze on him through his peripheral vision. "Yes?" he snapped grouchily. Ashelin flinched slightly.

"I'm concerned about you, that's all," she said coolly. There was another awkward silence. Ashelin exhaled slowly, then leaned against him, laying her head on his shoulder. "Jak…don't shut me out," she whispered softly.

Said man turned his head towards hers regretfully. "I…Ashelin, I-"

Unfortunately, his sentence was cut short by the loud shriek of a woman.

"Oh, gross, I hate blood!!" the partygoer moaned shrilly. The mass of people lessened their noise as a pair pushed their way from the door. Muttering ensued.

"Yeah, yeah, alright, move out of the way; this woman's seriously injured and all you useless people are doing is standing there staring like morons," growled a scowling tattooed man. He dragged the poor woman over to the bar. "Hey rat, where do you keep your first aid kit?" Torn gruffly addressed Daxter.

Daxter gawked in horror. "KEIRA!!!" he exclaimed dramatically. "YOUR FACE!!! It looks like metal-head mush!!"

Jak, who had previously been rather uninterested with the voices, stood up like a spring, knocking his glass over.

Jak hurried out of the booth, pushing people aside roughly. He reached the bar and stared in shock; the left side of the mechanic's face was a blossoming thundercloud of bruised black and indigo. Congealed blood crusted beneath her lower eyelashes and in her green bangs that framed her face.

"Keira…" he said hoarsely. "…What happened?"

She just gazed at him, her emerald orbs clouded with hurt and embarrassment. Jak stepped towards her, but she retreated backwards. "Jak," she stated feebly. Thankfully, she was saved of having to think of what to say by the return of Torn and Daxter.

Torn, purposefully ignoring the other man, snapped open the plastic box and extracted hydrogen peroxide, cotton swabs, and some large bandages. "This'll sting, so hold still," he warned. Keira sat down on the stool and shut her eyes. Torn dabbed carefully at the open wound, ignoring her as she hissed in pain. He then proceeded to bandage the split skin.

An unnoticed blush spread over the aqua-haired mechanic's cheeks; Torn's face was quite close to hers, and she could feel the warm whisper of his breath tickling her jaw line. It wasn't because of Torn himself,but because it was an awkward situation to be in; yes, that's it, Keira told herself stoutly.

Jak stood uncomfortably nearby, unsure of what he should be doing. It somehow felt wrong to him that Torn should be the one bandaging Keira instead of him. After all, he (Jak) cared for her more than the grouchy Commander, right? He didn't want to say anything, though; it wasn't that big of a deal.

But why was it bothering him so much?

'Maybe becauseTorn was the one who followed her, making sure she was safe…and he saved her, too,'came a sinister whisper from the back of his mind. 'You can save the world, but you can't even take care of Keira…ha. How pathetic.'

'…Shut up.'

'You know it's true…'

'…It's not.'

'But it is! And besides, does it even matter? After all, Ashelin is your priority now. Keira is a thing of the past.'

'That's nottrue!! Not at all.' Jak winced. He didn't want to think about Keira being a "thing of the past". He still cared deeply for her…had he made the right decisions?

'Uh oh…here comes the self-doubt.'

Damn. Why did it have to be so mocking?

'Of course you made the right decision. Ashelin's got a bigger rack, or have you forgotten?'

…No. Was that reallywhat he had been thinking when he chose Ashelin over Keira?

Argh! Of course not! He wasn't like Daxter. That would just be awful.

'IT'S TRUE; you know it.'

"I said, 'SHUT UP!'" Damn. Was he going insane?

Jak took a deep breath.

Torn and Keira were staring at him oddly. "Are you alright?" Torn asked coldly. Jak blinked. Had he just said that…out loud?

"I'm fine," he grunted, the tips of his slender ears tinged pink with embarrassment. Torn turned away from him again, sealing the last bandage.

"There," he said. "It should be fine for now." Keira nodded gratefully.

"Thank you, Torn," she smiled gently at him. She really was surprised at how caring he actually was. Her first impression of him was that he was a grouchy jerk who couldn't be bothered by anybody else's problems. But first impressions were often wrong, right?

Okay, well, he was grouchy, but you couldn't really blame him. She herself had been acting uncharacteristically pissy ever since…the man standing before her…had…dropped her for a sexy woman he hardly knew. It hurt, but Torn was also on the receiving end of it.

"Yeah, sure," he replied. Keira yawned. The adrenaline had worn off, and her eyelids were drooping again. "Do you want to go back home now? I can escort you," he offered. Torn decided that after what had just happened, his duty required that he at least keep an eye on her departure.

Keira blushed again. "I…uh, I lost my house key, remember?" She felt like she was causing a lot of trouble for him. Maybe she would be relieved if he just left, like she expected him to.

Torn sighed. "Don't you have a spare?"

"It's at home," she mumbled.

'How helpful,'Torn thought sarcastically. "You could stay at the old Underground HQ; there's still some beds there," he suggested. "Then we could call the locksmith tomorrow."

Jak's eyes widened. Keira staying with Torn? No way. He finally spoke up. "She could always stay in one of the rooms at the Palace." He himself was staying there with Ashelin.

Torn sneered. "That would be the General's decision," he stated icily. The two men glared at each other angrily. Keira slumped on the bar stool and sighed in exhaustion.

Daxter, who had taken interest in the conversation again, proposed a third option. "There's a small room in the back," he announced loudly (as always). Relief flooded Keira.

"Oh, thanks a lot, Daxter. I think I'll stay there for the night," she said quickly. The tension was starting to get to her. "Thanks Torn, and…Jak."

Torn nodded. "Take care of yourself," he said curtly. He then walked off into the still-partying mass of people to the door. Keira smiled faintly, but it promptly slid off her face at the arrival of a certain redhead.

Ashelin's face showed a slight surprise at Keira's bandaged face, but soon after her expressions were quickly masked. "Hello, Keira. I see you've been injured. How unfortunate," she remarked in a coolly polite tone. Keira scowled, then flinched from the pain. "Jak and I should be going now; it's getting late. Bye." Ashelin grabbed Jak by the arm and dragged him off. Jak turned his head back to Keira, looking in to her brilliant green eyes with his enigmatic cerulean ones. They held an almost pleading expression.

Keira just smirked at him sardonically. 'I hope you're having fun being bossed around by your girlfriend,' she thought sourly. Daxter tapped her on her shoulder.

"You ready to see your room?" he asked merrily. Keira nodded, and the furry ottsel lead her off to a cramped, dimly lit space at the back of the bar. A saggy mattress lay in the corner beside a small wooden set of drawers. "It's not much, but it's only for the night," he admitted.

"Thanks so much, Daxter," she said. At least the mattress was clean!

"The bathroom's by the bar outside, and if you need anything, just shout, 'kay?" He then scampered off, closing the door behind her. The mechanic immediately flopped onto the mattress unceremoniously and fell asleep.


Later that night, Jak lay awake in his room at the Palace. He stared at the ceiling, unable to find sleep. A sliver of moonlight fell onto the sheets through a gap between the curtains. The air was unnervingly still quiet, as if it was encouraging paranoid thoughts.

Fears plagued Jak that Keira would find somebody else.

Seeing Torn so close to Keira had awakened the idea that the mechanic might just forget about him. He had been living an almost dream-like relationship with Ashelin; he got all the enjoyment and satisfaction of being with her, but until now, the consequences of "leaving" Keira hadn't existed.

He put "leaving" in quotes because in his mind, he hadn't really left her. He had never said anything to her. And…he still loved her, didn't he?

But if Jak still loved Keira but was with Ashelin, did he love Ashelin?

'Boobs!!!'came that damn obnoxious voice. But its crude mocking of him really opened his eyes.

"Shit," Jak cursed out loud. "That's not how it is, okay?!" He wished with all his might that the voice- what was it, anyway? Was it the dark eco voicing its opinion? Ha. He had to laugh. That was a ridiculous idea. But the darkness had integrated itself as a part of him…

Maybe he was justattracted to Ashelin. Maybe he loved Keira, but was merely attracted to Ashelin. Rrrgh. Why did it have to be so confusing?

'It's not confusing. Maybe it's just…inconvenient…'

Jak grimaced. The voice always sounded so…pleased, in a sadistic sort of way. But regardless of its tone, its words held truth, unfortunately.

"Okay, it's inconvenient, but it's not something that I can't undo," he whispered, trying to convince himself. "So I've made a mistake. But it's not too late for Keira and me to restart our relationship."

'But what about Torn…?' he thought worriedly. This mess wouldn't be half as big if Tattooed Wonder hadn't entered the picture…

Wait. Keira and Torn hadn't seemed that close. He was blowing things way out of proportion. If he could stop any possible budding relationship between the two, everything could be saved. This time, Jak would make the right decisions. He would patch everything up neatly, and it would be like this mistake never happened.

Unfortunately, "patching things up" required him to break up with Ashelin.

Jak cringed. He could feel the bruises already.


Keira sat up straight on her limp mattress. She took a deep breath and ran a hand through her tousled, glossy green hair. She had just awoken from a disconcerting dream. She couldn't quite remember what it was about, but she knew it was bad. She squinted through the darkness at the hands of the small dusty clock hanging on the wall.

3:19 A.M.; still too early for her. Even worse, she could still hear loud voices from the dance floor and the pulsating vibrations of music. Keira groaned. People were still partying? Did Daxter's barever close?

She let herself fall back onto the mattress. She stared up at the dark wooden ceiling and then closed her eyes. As tired as she was, she just couldn't fall asleep. She mused about Jak and what he must be doing right now…

'Wait,'she scolded herself angrily, catching herself thinking about him again. 'What ABOUT him? He's probably sleeping right now. It's 3:19 in the morning!'

She huffed and attempted to clear her thoughts. She felt a little empty inside, as if something vital had seeped out. She sat up, curled her knees up to her chest, and sighed miserably. It was so hard to be angry sometimes. 'I really do miss Jak,' she thought sadly.

Keira sighed and stuffed the lumpy pillow over her head. The fabric held a faintly musty scent. 'What's the point in missing him? He'snever going to come back to me. He has Ashelin after all, right? He's not interested in me. It's Ashelin now.'

The mechanic glowered into the darkness. "Ashelin is such a scantily-clad bitch," she voiced out loud, but winced at the hate-filled sound of her voice. What was she becoming?

"Why do I hold this grudge against Ashelin?" she pondered. "Because she 'stole' Jak from me? It was Jak's decision. He has a brain of his own." He could have stayed with Keira, but instead he chose Ashelin. What did that tell her?

Keira crossed her arms. Fine. So be it. She and Jak were definitely over. It was something she simply had to accept. And there would be no more clinging to petty jealousy of Ashelin! Keira had her own life to live, one in which Jak and Ashelin no longer mattered.

'Yep. That's right, Keira,' she spoke to herself. 'Jak NO LONGER matters!!!'

She took a minute to absorb that, then moaned loudly in defeat. "I can't!!" she whimpered. "He'll always matter to me, whatever happens."

Frustrated with herself for being such a wimp, she seized the pillow and hurled it across the room. It hit the wall and smacked the floor with a light thump. It didn't have quite the stress-relieving effect she had hoped for. "This is so stupid!" she cried out. "Why is this so HARD? It's not like HE cares!!!" Ashamed of herself, she dissolved into bitter tears.

'There must be something to keep me from feeling like this…living like this,' she thought. For some reason, she thought of Torn. He had been caring towards her, at least compared to everybody else. She had sensed kindness in him. Keira liked him.

'I don't like where this is going,' she thought warningly. 'The last thing you need is for another guy to come break your heart.'

But not all men were the same, right? Maybe…maybe…maybe she should start showing interest in Torn and see what happens. '…This is stupid. Torn was in love with Ashelin, remember? What would I be in comparison to her? Didn't what happened with Jak prove that enough?'

Keira wallowed in self-pity for a moment. She felt so degraded. "I need to go to sleep now," she muttered. She got up, walked the short distance across the room, picked up the stupid lumpy pillow, went back to the mattress, lay down, and closed her eyes.

…And a pair of stunning blue eyes were waiting for her on the inside of her eyelids. Her eyes snapped open and she gritted her teeth. Why? Why did her heart betray her like this?

"Jak isnothing to me!!" she hissed. "…Oh, that really wasn't very convincing."

But were they really Jak's eyes?


Thank you to those who showed their support by alerting or faving or reviewing. I won't abandon this story, even if it ever seems like I have. But if nobody's interested, then there's not much point in actually putting this fic up on the web, right? Hm…