"It's good to have you back daddy." Keira said as she walked with her father towards her garage.

"Yes." Samos agreed. "It's nice to be free again."

Keira glanced at the two men already occupying the garage, but neither were looking at her at this moment. She turned back to her father, but all her attention was on Jak and Errol.

"You know," Keira heard Errol say. "Keira loves a winner. Someday she'll be MY mechanic!" The possessiveness in his voice troubled Keira. While she had noticed his advances, she never thought of him like that. He was too much like this world she had been forcefully thrust into. No, not she; they. Jak and Daxter had been brought here as well.

"Stay away from her." Jak stated, causing Errol to laugh as he made his exit. However, he couldn't leave before approaching Keira and giving her a very chivalrous kiss on her left hand. Keira gave a weak, but genuine, smile. He bid her goodbye and left with a final sneer at Jak.

Keira sighed and crossed her arms, subtly wiping the hand Errol had kissed on her underarm. "Errol is one of the best racers I've ever seen."

"He's not what you think." Jak said, the hatred evident in his voice. Keira stared at him hard.

What exactly did he think she thought about Errol? All she had said was he was a great racer, and he made it seem like she was singing his praise. Okay, she had praised him, but Jak hadn't seen him on the track yet. Errol is fast, decisive, ruthless and above all else: A cheater. When getting into the sport Keira had learned very quickly that their was a hierarchy within the racing system as much as there was one in Haven City. And there was no doubt that Errol was at the top of the chopping block. With his connection to the Baron and KG forces, he could wipe out the competition literally. In fact, that was how he liked to handle it. Errol had never shown that side to her personally, she had seen extremely often on the track, and with KG who tried to mess with her. He had even been.. Kind... to her. Something she hadn't expected from anyone here.

Part of Keiras' brain was telling her to say this aloud to her childhood friend, hopefully not let their connection shatter beyond repair, but her mouth couldn't hold it. She had spent their entire childhood reading his body, face and eyes. Learning every single one of his tells, while she made the conversation. Keira was insulted that he thought he knew her opinion on someone he had bearly seen her interact with.

"And you're a good judge of character? HAH!" Keira asked herself what she was doing, but she couldn't stop. "People say you get angry and... Change!" She crossed her arms as Jak looked away from her for a moment. "Besides the Jak I knew wouldn't be working for a guy like Krew!"

His eyes became guarded. Keira had never seen that expression on him before. "I need Krews' connections to fight the Barron! Without my-" Keira could swear that his eyes flashed black for a moment, but before she could blink they were back to normal. "You know what? You do it your way, and I'll do it mine. Just don't come crying to me when the walls fall down!" Jak stormed past her just as they announced the racers for the class 2 race to head to the track. While a questionable idea, she decided to let Daxter drive for this race. She figured with riding on Jaks' shoulder the whole time, he had to have learned something.

"Daddy, I'm sure you have Underground stuff to do. Why don't you head to the base, I need to get to work anyway." Keira said, turning toward her workbench, her back now facing her father. She could tell he was hesitating, but after a moment said his goodbye and left. She sighed and moved behind the thick curtain hanging in front of her secret vehicle project. She brought her right hand to where her left arm connected to her shoulder. She extended her left arm and pressed some points, before disconnecting the arm. She slipped off the skin-like sleeve and set it on the table.

When she crash landed, she landed hard on her left shoulder, sliding over the steps leading to the stadium square. The initial impact had knocked her out, and she assumed that skidding down the steps had mauled her arm beyond repair. When she woke up, she was in what looked like a hospital/laboratory. Upon looking around, she saw Errol at her side, looking at her with a soft look. She attempted to sit up, but Errol gently stopped her. He explained that he had found her after the crash, and immediately brought her to the Palace hospital. She looked to her left side, and saw that her arm was missing. She gasped silently, words not coming to her or any emotion. The shock of her missing arm caused her to loose consciousness. She figured Errol kept her drugged after that, because every time she woke up, saw something mechanical growing on her arm, then passed out promptly. She woke up more clearly, and saw that the machine on her arm was an arm. She turned the other way and saw Errol. He informed her that she had been in and out for months. She kept her drug idea to herself.

She heard Tess calling out her name, along with Daxters obnoxious bragging about winning the race. She quickly slipped the sleeve on the artificial arm and reattached it, before going to greet her friends. She smiled/cringed at the pairs mild exchange, and saw Jak walking in.

Keira knew that they had both changed. Physically and emotionally, and they might never be able to share the bond they used to have. She wanted to hold onto the hope that they could still be friends rather then people who used to know each other. Keira wanted to feel secure enough with him to tell him what she had experienced these past two years and know what happened to him. She wanted to share the pain they were both carrying, hopefully making it a little lighter.

Daxter jumped onto Jaks shoulder, and Jak turns to Keira, looking like he wants to say something. Keira crosses her arms and turns away. She hears him walk way, and turns to watch his back. She had no idea why she had turned him away, maybe she just wasn't ready.

She wanted to be ready, so badly.