Lucy Chapter 2
When the dark eco had finally stopped coursing through his veins and he took his hands from his face, Jak looked around in dismay at the trail of destruction he'd left, or rather, there was nothing left. His dark bomb had vaporised the bodies. He quickly looked up to the bridge but the woman was not there. No, Jak thought, I didn't...?
He sprinted up the ramp to where she'd been standing, hoping he hadn't killed her when he'd lost control. He peered downwards and hope caught in his chest as he spotted a hint of the white shirt floating in the darkness below. Without stopping to think, look around him for more guards or even take off his boots, he dived from the bridge towards the body below. It was a long way down and he hit the water hard but perfectly, and he broke the surface easily despite the strong undercurrent in the waves. He heard a small cry and he swam towards the sounds, hardly daring believe she was still alive.
A wave blocked her from view for a minute but as he swam over it he saw her, utterly soaked, probably freezing to death and coughing up lungfuls of water, but still clinging to life. She'd managed to hold onto one of the bridge support beams to stop herself being swept away. Jak noticed her skin was tinged purple as he reached out a hand to her.
"Grab on!" He shouted. "I'll help you to shore!"
"I can't believe you came in after me!" She choked, gripping on tightly. "I thought I was going to die." She didn't mention that she'd been up on the bridge in the first place because that's what she'd been trying to achieve. She didn't even mention her purple-tinged skin or Jak's transformation, although she'd obviously noticed. He was the reason she'd half fallen, half jumped, and Jak wondered if the purple was his fault too, perhaps eco irradiation.
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She'd passed out again by the time he'd pulled her from the port and into a hover vehicle. Her eyelids fluttered as he flew them towards The Hip Hog, hoping that Krew wasn't going to be there. He would have taken the woman to the Underground's main hideout in the slums but it was too far and Jak wasn't sure the woman would survive out in the cold that long. It was the Hip Hog or nothing.
Luckily, it was Sig who greeted him as he kicked open the door. Some of the patrons looked up in alarm at Jak's bedraggled state and the limp woman in his arms, but Sig smoothed the situation over and ushered them into the back room, where Tess was drying drinks glasses.
OOO
Lucy awoke on a hard table with a blanket over her. She could see her skirt and bodice draped over a chair nearby, but she could still feel she was wearing her underwear wet from the water in the port. She sat up and wrinkled her nose. It smelled quite bad.
A blonde woman in shorts walked in and Lucy clutched her blanket to her chest until she smiled and spoke. "I'm Tess. You're safe now, though Jak tells me you took quite a tumble."
Lucy nodded. "Jak is his name? Is he here?"
"He's gone to attend to some other business, but he'll be back later. Can I get you anything... sorry, what's your name?"
"It's Lucy. Are my clothes dry?" Lucy asked. Tess shook her head.
"I've given them a wash for you but they aren't dry yet. I can lend you some other clothes, but you'll probably want a hot bath, am I right?"
"That sounds lovely."
"I'll see to it. Stay here." Tess left the room.
Lucy looked about her. She was obviously in some sort of drinking establishment, judging by the barrels and spare glasses surrounding her. Her eyes welled with tears. She'd selfishly gone out to the bridge to try and kill herself, and here she was being saved by people she barely knew. Tess returned soon, handed her some spare clothes and beckoned for her to follow to a bathroom where a hot bath was waiting.
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It wasn't long before Jak returned to the Hip Hog. He went straight into the back room to find the woman sitting waiting, wearing a set of spare clothes Tess must have provided.
"Good, you're awake. Tess tells me your name is Lucy, is that right?" She nodded. "Well Lucy, I'm Jak, and now I'm going to take you somewhere safer than here. The owner could be back any minute and I don't think he'd be happy to see you."
"Why are you helping me?" She asked, gathering up her clothes and leaving the blanket in a neat pile.
"I'm not going to let you wander back out into Haven City after what's happened tonight," he said incredulously. "I've got no idea what the hell you were doing on that bridge but you know too much about me now, and I don't yet trust you enough to be going away with that information."
"I'll just have to prove myself trustworthy then, won't I?" She replied smoothly. "Let's get going if you're so eager to get away."
OOO
Jak drove the hover vehicle far too fast for Lucy's liking, and she was quite relieved when they turned into a dead-end side street in the slums, somewhere near the city wall. She got out on shaky legs and trembled after Jak who was standing in front of a door with a symbol marked on it. Of all the things she thought she'd be doing when she set out for the bridge that afternoon, standing in an alley about to step into into goodness-knows-where with the green haired man hadn't figured on Lucy's possible outcomes.
The door Jak was waiting by slid sideways to reveal an unexpected passageway of stairs downwards, paved in sleek metal that looked quite out of place against the rough stone and rust most slum dwellings were built out of. She followed him down and heard the entry door slide closed behind her, trapping her between it and Jak ,who was moving through another industrial-looking door at the bottom of the stairs that had retracted into the ceiling to let them through.
The room beyond was unexpectedly warm and cosy. A few rows of bunks opened out into an area dominated by a round table, that was cluttered with books, bits of paper and ammunition. Posters and other items dotted the walls and most of the heat was provided by a fire barrel in one corner.
What drew Lucy's attention most though, was a furry orange creature sitting upright in the centre of the table. He scrutinised her carefully and not for the first time that day, Lucy wondered if she were going mad. "So you're the broad that Jak rescued!" The creature said, nearly giving her a heart attack. "Daxter's the name. Welcome to the Underground!"
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