A/N: Okay, first thing's first. Any of you guys seen that commercial with the Hispanic guy eating Skittles in an eagle's nest? It makes no sense whatsoever. Anyhow, summer's beginning to get on my nerves. There's far too much going on this year, and I've about had it. But I continue to write, as it is my only escape from reality. See how I'm avoiding an apology here? Clever, huh?

To my faithful readers, I appreciate the time you take to send me those little reviews that make all the difference. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And I think it's only fair to warn you, this chapter is Keira based. I was going to make it longer, but I decided to chop it in half to make two chapters instead. I'll shut up now and let you read. Enjoy!

"You!" Keira gasped, utterly repulsed at the thought that she had once smiled and laughed and held light conversation with this back stabber.

Bane ignored her remark, acting as though it were the most obvious thing in the world for him to be there, in alliance with bloodthirsty Metal Heads.

He kept his eyes on the wound as he approached, kneeling by her side when he was no more than a few inches from her. She instinctively withdrew from him, trying to put some distance between them. But Bane simply grabbed her wrist before she could get very far.

"Calm down," he grumbled, dipping the cloth into the basin with his other hand. "You're just going to make it worse if you fight."

Keira didn't have a reply for this. She was already racking her brain for ideas on how to get out of here so she could warn Jak.

Bane lifted the edge of her shirt to get a better look at the damage. Immediately, Keira wrenched herself away from him again, becoming defensive to his touch. She glared at him, hoping that he would sigh and give up. He returned her gaze with a steady, impatient stare and removed the cloth from the water, wringing it out slightly.

"Don't make me sedate you," he warned. She could have laughed out loud. Sedate? It was very unlikely that he was carrying any anesthetic or anything of that kind, and even more unlikely that he had it in stock somewhere in the nest. Even so, she couldn't pick up on any hint of a teasing tone in his voice, and that made her wonder.

"I'll do it," she snapped, reaching out for the dripping cloth. "That's not an offer."

Bane scrutinized her for a moment, looking like he was searching for a reason that she shouldn't be handed the bandage. Finally, he thrust it into her hand almost angrily.

"Just make sure you clean it thoroughly. I'm not responsible if you come down with an infection," he growled, sliding the basin of warm water towards Keira.

"A little late for that," she mumbled under her breath, gently wiping away the dried blood from the cut.

"What was that?"

"I didn't say a damn thing," she snarled through clenched teeth, more from biting back the pain of messing with the wound than out of anger.

"Right." He wasn't convinced, but he wasn't pursuing the topic.

She tried pressing the cloth over the gash, first with minimal pressure and then building on it until she couldn't stand it. It just hurt too much.

"Shit," she gasped, tears of pain pricking the back of her eyes. She slammed the cloth back into the basin, causing water to leap up and splash out onto the dirty ground.

Bane jumped back, attempting to avoid the water.

"Damn it, woman!"

"Sorry," she hissed sarcastically, eyes shut tight, holding her side uselessly. "Shit. Don't you have some sort of antibiotic that I can put on this?"

"Afraid not," he replied, brushing off a sleeve that had not escaped the splash. "There are going to be a few changes around here, namely the distribution of first aid kits." He smiled, a stab at lightening the tension in the air.

Keira caught his eye, and would have smiled back, if it weren't for the pain and the fact that this psycho was in league with a pack of rabid animals and planned to kill the only man she had ever loved. Instead, she simply glowered at him with what frustration she had the strength to direct at Bane.

He sighed and straightened up.

"I have nothing against you, Keira," he began in a weary tone. "And I'm sorry you had to get involved. I understand that it's not your fault that you know Jak. You couldn't help your feelings for him, but now it's gotten you into more trouble than you deserve. It's unfair. I hate to do it this way, but when I think of what that moron's done..."

He trailed off before his voice rose to an infuriated note, turning away from Keira so that he could control his temper. He pounded the wall with one fist, eyes closed tightly against the images of the boy's gun massacring thousands of his brethren without a moment's hesitation.

Keira eyed him carefully, watching for any sign of hostility towards herself. He leaned against the wall now, breathing through clenched teeth.

Whatever he's done, Jak has really pissed this guy off, she thought.

After a few moments, Bane seemed to regain his composure. He pushed himself away from the wall and ran a hand through his short maroon hair in a distracted sort of way. He sighed and refocused his attention on Keira, who was still watching him carefully.

"I just..." he searched for a way to describe his hatred for Jak without exploding into a rage, but came up with nothing. "It's better if I don't talk about it," he finished, shaking his head in exasperation.

Keira dismissed his odd behavior as idle babble and went back to plotting an escape plan. She searched the chamber with her gaze, trying to spot something, anything at all, that might inspire a way out. Maybe a rusty chain she could use to choke Bane and take his keys... But in the back of her mind she knew she couldn't bring herself to kill him, no matter how horrible a person he was. She didn't want blood on her hands. But maybe a piece of wood or something club-shaped that she could knock him unconscious with...

But there was nothing on the bare floor or walls of what she could see. The corners and far side of the alcove were in impenetrable darkness.

She finally glanced back at her "host." He was speaking again, something about how hard it was to get the Metal Heads to work together enough to form an army. She tried to block him out and center back on finding a way to break free, but there was something funny about the way he was looking at her that made her listen to what he was saying.

"... can understand why Jak feels for you the way he does. In fact, that's probably the only common ground we have. Infatuation. Try as I might to think of you as no more than a prisoner, a key weapon, I can't get around your gorgeous eyes."

He had moved away from the wall and was sauntering toward Keira, slowly but deliberately.

Infatuation... Bane's infatuated with me? Keira was caught off guard with this thought, although she should have noticed it earlier. Of course. He was flirting shamelessly with me at the bar... god, why can't I see through men? First Erol, and now this...

"Don't look so surprised, love," Bane chuckled, taking another casual step forward, bringing him within an arm's reach of her. "You're beautiful. You have a great body, your hair..."

He reached out and ran his fingers through a strand of turquoise hair gently, at which she took a sharp intake of breath.

"...is so soft. And as for your personality, I must say, you are far too trusting a soul. All in all, you're quite a catch. There's no reason why any man wouldn't want you."

Keira was at a loss for words. How do you respond to flattery, in the given situation?

She felt like Bane was dissecting her with his eyes. Feeling more than naked under his inspecting stare, she looked away, trying to think of some way to react.

Wait... An idea began to spark in a corner of her mind. She quickly stole a fleeting glance at his face, confirming what she hoped was present in his eyes. A greedy lust, more of a sexual interest rather than actual care.

Okay, so it might work, but it just feels so dirty. And it's Bane. Before I knew who he really was, it might not have seemed so revolting, but now it's just disgusting. I'm going to hate this, I know I am... And what would Jak think? Please forgive me Jak, but I have got to get out of here. For my sake and for yours.

Gathering the remainder of her courage, Keira brought her gaze up to meet Bane's. She forced herself to stay calm, so that she would be able to intimidate him enough to gain control when the time came.

Bane offered her an easy grin. Against her better judgment (which she had decided to shut off temporarily), she smiled back at him cattishly.

"You know," she began, making herself sound very nonchalant. She lowered her eyes to his feet and slowly brought them back up to his face, pretending to check him out while she was really searching for a concealed weapon. Just as she had prayed, he was armed, a small pistol-like gun holstered at his waist. "You're not too bad yourself." The words left a rotten, lying taste in her mouth, but she hid her guilt well.

Bane's smile disappeared. A mildly shocked expression replaced it.

"Really?" He said it as more of a disbelieving statement rather than a question, but Keira noted the hint of interest in his voice and knew that he wanted to be answered.

On the right track...she praised herself silently.

"Sure. I mean, have you seen yourself lately? All tall, dark and... er... attractive," she choked, noticing his frown deepen and frantically searching for a way to recover from that short stall. "And the way you walk, like you own every place you stroll into. It's so masculine."

She watched his face for signs of weakness, and almost smirked when his expression changed slightly and a hungry look came into his eyes.

As gracefully as she could manage without causing severe pain in her right side, she pushed herself off of the ground and stood as close to him as she dared. She could smell his musky sent, and it took all she had not to gag or back off. Another stab of pain shot through her wounded abdomen and she stumbled to the side. Bane leaned over and caught her before she fell, eyeing her with something between worry and confusion.

She forced herself to grin at him again in what she hoped seemed like a grateful gesture, but she was really more concerned with getting his hands off of her as soon as possible.

She steadied herself and continued with her false, esteem-boosting speech.

"And that bod," she persisted in a sultry tone, trailing her forefinger down his chest lazily. She felt him tremble slightly under her touch. This gave her more confidence in what she was doing. "You talk the talk, too, baby." The last word was added on without intention. She mentally flinched at this moral mistake, but wasn't about to stop. "You're just so damn dangerous, it's sexy."

That was it. Bane had lost all control now. She could see it in his eyes, in the way his hands shook as he wrapped them about her waist.

Okay, okay, just stay cool, don't screw up now, this is the last plunge, then I can start feeling guilty... Oh, this is so wrong. Hell, just stop thinking, take a deep breath and do it already!

She shut down all rational thought and took action. She leaned in and put her arms around his neck as relaxed as she could, finding the next part every bit as difficult as she thought it would be.

She kissed him, full on the lips, every moment imagining Jak to make it passionate instead of mechanical. Eyes closed, she released her embrace around his neck and put one hand behind his head to pull him in. He didn't fight it, and kissed her back voraciously. As this kept his mind preoccupied, she let her other hand slip down to his waist, where the holstered weapon lay. She wrapped her fingers around the handle and prepared to remove it quickly, but waited until the opportune moment.

Only seconds later did Bane begin to let his hands wander more than she had planned. He began to fiddle with the latch on her belt, completely unhooking it before she knew what was happening. Her eyes shot open in panic, and she drew the pistol swiftly as he commenced pulling the belt out of the loops. She took three steps backward, so quickly that she almost tripped over herself and pointed the gun at his chest. She turned her head to the left and spat, trying to get his taste out of her mouth.

"Back off," she snapped shakily, but dangerously.

Bane was paralyzed from shock. Everything had just happened so fast, and now he was in a situation he was not easily going to get out of. Slowly, as his senses came back to him, he raised both his hands in defeat, eyes wide with terror and disbelief.

Keira switched the gun to her other hand, still aiming directly at his heart. She put her belt back through its loops erratically, breathing unevenly from her brief scare. Re-latching the clasp, she glared back at Bane.

He seemed to have found his voice.

"But Keira, I thought..."

"Look, just shut up, alright?" she cut in venomously, her words shaking just as much as her hands. "I lied, okay? I lied because I had to. You weren't going to let me go, but now you don't have a choice. I just want to go home." She was beginning to cry, but she hoped that he couldn't see that. She was scared; if she had to pull that trigger, she would have killed someone. And she would have lost the only possible way that she had out of the nest.

"Okay, okay," he spoke in a half soothing, half frightened voice. "Just mellow out a little..."

"Don't you tell me what to do, goddammit!" she shouted. "I'm the one with the gun, I'll do the ordering around here. Now, you're going to get me the hell out of here, and you're going to do it now." Because I'm scared out of my mind, she added to herself, but wasn't planning on letting him know that.

"And how do you think you're going to get out of here with this place crawling with my troops?" he asked, almost conversationally. "As soon as you take one step outside this cell, they'll be all over you. And I think I'm past the point of being a good host. I'll let them do whatever they want to you, as long as you're still breathing when they're done."

Still trembling with fear and hate, Keira aimed up a little and fired just over his left shoulder. He hit the ground, diving out of the way.

"Shit!"

"Any more questions, you unbelievable prick? Or are we done? Because I'd really like to get home."

"Holy shit... You... you're insane!"

"I'm going to let the pistol do the talking from here on out..."

"Alright, already! Damn, you crazy bitch! I'll do whatever it takes."

"That's what I like to hear. Get off your ass." She walked over to where he lay, gun still following his chest. He scrambled to his feet, stumbling in the direction that she indicated. They reached the gate, where both sentry Metal Heads had fled upon hearing the gunshot. "Open it," she demanded, prodding his back with the barrel.

"Fine!" He removed his keys from his pocket and fumbled with them until he found the right one, reaching through the bars and sliding it into the outside lock. The gate swung open and they walked through. The hall split two ways. Keira replaced the pistol near Bane's head.

"How do we get out of the nest?" she asked. "And I want the truth, because if you don't lead me straight to the exit, I'll shoot you in a different appendage for every time we took a wrong turn, starting with your shortest."

The rest of the color drained from Bane's face. He cursed, glancing down one hall and then the other.

"This way," he said, deciding on one and leading the way a few steps ahead of Keira. They walked on in a tension-filled silence, until the hall began to curve downward and to the right. "How do you think you're going to get past all those Metal Heads?" Bane questioned tentatively.

"Don't worry about it," she spat, making her stride a little longer to keep up with him.

They rounded the corner to come out into the main hub of the nest, littered with those neon green eggs, most of them broken or smashed, but still glowing bright.

As Bane had warned, Metal Heads were numerous here as well. They stalked in every direction, growling a greeting to one another as they passed or taking a snap at another's tail when it waved a little too close to their face.

Keira poked Bane in the back with the pistol, urging him forward. They emerged into the hub with bated breath.

A few of the creatures stopped in their tracks to look curiously at the two, then turned completely around and bared their teeth threateningly. Soon, the others followed suit, realizing the immediate danger.

Bane didn't order them to stand down, so Keira came up behind him and grabbed him in a headlock. She cocked the gun to his head and looked around the room, hoping that the monsters couldn't sense her terror. They ceased snarling, in awe of this strange woman that had their master by the head and was ready to shoot.

"That's right," she called, her echo reverberating off of the cavernous walls. "Just cool it. Back off so we can get through."

The Metal Head closest to them took a spontaneous lunge towards them, a shrill scream piercing the air. Keira jumped a bit, but swung the gun in the direction of the offending creature. She fired, catching it in the eye. It screamed again, thrashing its head wildly about, and then retreated clumsily to a far corner of the hub.

"I'm serious, I'll blow his frigging brains out!" she yelled, bringing the barrel back to Bane's head. Her voice was strident, on the verge of breaking from horror.

Not a Metal Head moved. They were confused, angry and frightened. They waited for their master's command.

"Say it," Keira hissed into his ear. "Say it, or so help me I'll drive this next round so far into your skull..."

"Stand down!" he interrupted, calling out to his loyal minions. "For the love of Kor, stay out of her way! She's not screwing around, dammit!"

Keira glanced at the surrounding monsters, watched them make uncertain eye contact with one another, and then slowly begin to fall back to the far wall.

"Right, keep going," she demanded, pulling Bane along by the scruff of his shirt.

Almost out. Just a few more steps, and I'm home free.

The nest entrance loomed before them, no more than a few yards away. Keira turned around to face the army of beasts that were glaring at her from the rear wall. Warily, she backed out of the nest, Bane still locked in her grip.

As soon as they had emerged into the half-sunlight, Keira pushed Bane out in front of her, keeping him at gunpoint.

"Alright, move it," she ordered, glancing over her shoulder to make sure that they weren't being followed. "C'mon, let's go!" She broke into a limping jog, ignoring the pain as best she could. Bane was pushed ahead.

Keira slowed and stopped near the dense bramble to the right of the nest entrance. This was where they had landed the transport, behind the growth for camouflage. She bent down, allowing herself to catch her breath. Bane took a small step towards her, and she snapped back up, the pistol always at the ready.

Bane reversed his motion, putting his hands in the air.

"Look, I just wanna..."

"Save it. As soon as I'm out of here, I don't ever want to hear from you, see you, or even think of you again. Am I clear on that?" she cut in spitefully.

Bane dropped his hands and smirked at her.

"Where will you go? Or better yet, how are you going to get there?"

Keira glimpsed over her shoulder at the partially hidden transport.

"Give me the keys," she insisted in a hasty, low voice.

"What do you take me for, lady?"

"Bane," she warned, her voice rising to a tone just as dangerous as the weapon she kept trained on his chest. "Give me the god damn keys."

Bane shrugged his shoulders and gave her a tiny smile.

"I don't have them with me."

"I know you do, and I'm not going to ask for them again."

"Hey, you got yourself out of the nest. You're a smart girl. I'm sure you'll be able to find another way home."

"I'm warning you..." she threatened, cocking the pistol.

"It's really not that far. In fact, I'll give you a few hours head start on foot before I send my troops out after you. That sounds fair, doesn't it...?"

Keira aimed for his left leg and pulled the trigger.

Bane shrieked in agony, falling to the ground and flailing about, kicking up the dust in a panicked frenzy.

"The keys," Keira repeated, blocking out the shock that she had just shot a fellow human being. "If I have to shoot you again, you'll be childless for the rest of your life."

Bane continued to writhe in the dirt.

Keira approached his fallen form and kneeled down next to him. She reached inside his pocket and brought out the ring of keys. "You could have made it a lot easier on yourself," she commented, standing upright and turning back to the bramble-hidden air train. She squeezed through the dry twig-like growth (avoiding further damage to her wound) and opened the cab door.

Climbing in, she ran her eyes over the steering mechanisms and controls, fairly confident that she would have no trouble flying the transport back to Haven. She had, after all, spent the majority of her life around vehicles.

Inserting the suitable key into the ignition, she flipped the thruster and waited to gain altitude. As the air train rose, she looked back down on Bane, lying helplessly on the ground. Choking back any sympathy she harbored for him, she brought in the landing legs of the transport and accelerated forward, leaving the Metal Head nest behind.

It was only then that the guilt began to gnaw at her insides, the realization of all that she had done in the past forty minutes finally hitting home.

"Oh, Jak," she moaned, remembering the message that she had to deliver to her beloved. "What have you done?"

A/N: Ah, drama, drama, drama. Waves are never a bad thing when writing fiction. Though reality T.V. and (gag) reality could benefit from a little less of that particular ingredient, good ole' fashioned storytime drama keeps this author from flat-lining. Kick ass.

-Alternative Delirium