~ Thanks to all who have stuck with this little fic as I've written… especially thanks to those who have reviewed. It really means a lot to have feedback :) All characters, places, etc. belong to Naughty Dog, just writing for fun here!

Another party, mused Keira, sipping a drink and leaning back against the rocky wall. Daxter can even manage to throw something together all the way out here. She smiled and watched him careening around the room, accompanied by Tess, who was still trying to get used to her ottsel body.

"See, baby, it's all in the tail! You gotta use it for balance! You gotta – " was all that Daxter managed to get out before he went flying head over heels into one of the pools that lined the throne room.

Keira laughed and helped Tess fish Daxter out of the pool. He promptly grabbed Keira's half finished drink, gulped it down, and began singing in a garbled voice. She rolled her eyes and walked away, deciding to let Tess handle him. Keira slipped through the crowd over to the makeshift bar and grabbed a tall glass of something strong. She pushed past the people dancing and stopped next to a pillar where things were a little quieter. She sat down and dangled her feet over one of the room's many pools.

It was so hard to believe that everything was finally over. A month ago Keira thought she'd never see the outside of Freedom HQ again, much less the fabled city of Spargus. And yet here she was, celebrating with everyone else. It was strange to think that Jak had saved the world for a third time and she still hardly knew how he'd done it. The talking ottsels in their spacecraft had been confusing enough, but the muddled rumors of time travel really made her head hurt.

As usual, it was Daxter's high-pitched voice that cut into her thoughts. She watched him standing on top of the bar telling anyone who would listen about how he'd taken on the dark ship by himself and that Jak had shown up at the last minute to take all the credit.

"Some things never change," murmured Keira, shaking her head and smiling.

"They really don't," said someone behind her. Keira turned her head and there was Jak, leaning against a pillar. He walked over and sat down next to her with an easy smile that she hadn't seen since Sandover village.

"So you don't want to correct him then?" she asked with a smile of her own, setting her mostly finished drink aside and leaning back on her hands. It was impossible to feel unhappy or uncomfortable on such a night. And having Jak next to her didn't hurt.

"Nah. Let him have his moment, I guess." They watched Daxter in a comfortable silence, for once their awkwardness gone. There was still a lot between them, but Keira didn't feel like she had to bring it up. She felt more peaceful and free than she had in a long time. The Metal Heads were defeated and the Baron had been deposed, and the city was finally safe. Probably had something to do with the drinks she'd had, too.

The drinks might have also had something to do with what she said next. "I'm surprised that you're still here."

"What does that mean?"

"You could have left with those ottsels on that ship. You could be anywhere else but here." Keira registered from somewhere far away that she should probably stop talking, but she seemed to have lost control of her mouth. "That's always what you want, isn't it? No matter what you say about it, you always end up far away from me."

Jak just looked at her with a quiet expression on his face that she'd never seen him wear before. "I wish that wasn't what you thought about me."

"Jak, it was the worst thing when you got in that spaceship," she finally said, feeling tears well up in her eyes that she hadn't even known were brewing. "I thought I'd never see you again." Damn my voice wobbling like that. Angrily she swiped at her eyes and slugged back the rest of her drink.

Jak caught her wrist and firmly took the cup away from her. "Why do you think I came back?" He set the cup on the ground and took her hand in both of his. "It's not because I'd miss Haven City."

"Then tell me why you came back!" Keira snapped, trying to ignore the feeling of his hands over hers. "Tell me the real reason, if there is one!"

"What I told you… you know, before. None of that has changed for me." Jak spoke so quietly that she could hardly hear him over the music of the party, and he seemed unable to look at her, but she saw how his face reddened all the way to the tips of his ears.

Hope leapt up in Keira's chest but she squished it down firmly. "You could have fooled me, Jak," she said, trying to pull her hand away from him. "The way you've acted since then kind of says otherwise."

"What do you want me to say? Sorry I was being eaten alive by dark eco? Sorry I was getting kicked out of the city and trying to save the world again?" He shook his head in frustration. "I'm trying to make things right here, ok?" His eyes finally met hers, and he swallowed painfully before saying, "You're the reason I came back."

Keira felt happiness bubbling up inside of her, but before she could say any of the many things that she wanted to, the sound of breaking glass rippled through the room. Jak was on his feet almost too quickly for her to see him move, and he had immediately put his body between her and whatever had caused the noise. Keira stood up and put her hand on Jak's shoulder, peering around him to see what had caused it.

Of course it was Daxter again. He'd stacked an enormous pile of glasses into a pyramid and crashed them all to the floor with one of his wide gestures. Thankfully the partygoers were laughing rather than being angry with him. Keira rushed over to the ottsel, her conversation with Jak momentarily forgotten in her fear that someone would get cut on the glass. She grabbed some napkins off the bar and started picking up glass shards with them. Jak walked over and picked Daxter up off the floor and set him on the bar.

"You've definitely had enough tonight, Dax," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Are you kidding, buddy?" slurred Daxter, rocking slowly from side to side to the music. "The party's just getting started! And you know what?" he said, squinting his eyes to focus on Jak. "I never told the end of the story! I gotta tell the end… I gotta tell the end, people!" he yelled to the room at large. Most of the revelers ignored him, having gotten used to Daxter's drunken rambunctiousness, but some of them turned towards him with knowing glances at one another, as if to say, what's he going to make up now? Even Jak rolled his eyes good naturedly at Keira, and she shrugged her shoulders with a smile.

"So there we were," Daxter began, gesturing to the room at large. "We had just taken down the dark colossus, the dust was settling, and we came walking out in slow motion looking completely badass…." He paused and squinted at Jak. "Needless to say I looked MORE badass than this guy," he said in a loud stage whisper, hooking his thumb in Jak's direction. Jak just rolled his eyes again and turned around to order a drink. The noise of the party escalated suddenly, and he had to walk to the other side of the bar and shout into the bartender's ear to make himself heard.

Maybe if he'd been closer and paying more attention, he could have stopped Daxter from saying what he said next.

"So then Miss Captain Hot Stuff over there," he drawled, gesturing grandly across the room at Ashelin, "comes sashaying up to Jak and wouldn't you know it, she plants a big wet one on him! And let me tell you, people, it was hot. Just wish she could've shared the love a bit more, ya know?"

Very few people were paying attention to Daxter at that point, but his little speech had quite the effect on those who did hear him. Jak choked on his drink, spitting half of it onto the counter. Ashelin rolled her eyes but couldn't quite look at anyone in the face. Torn clenched his fists, glared at Daxter, and stalked out of the room, shoving people out of his way. After a moment, Ashelin followed him.

Keira felt all of the blood draining out of her face. Daxter babbled on, the music played, the party continued, but her ears felt like they were stuffed full of cotton – everything was on mute. Through the haze of one too many drinks, a part of her mind thought that she should have tried to act normal, and that she should not have dropped the glass-filled napkins on the floor, and she probably should not have walked out of the room without a backward glance. But she did, and she kept walking out of the palace and through the winding streets of Spargus until she got lost, and then she climbed some stairs that led to a roof, and then some more stairs, and found a small niche between two roof gardens where she could sit. It was quiet out here, and cold as only a night in the desert could be, but that didn't matter so much right now. When she tipped her head back to rest it on the wall, she saw how thickly the stars clustered way out here, so much more brightly than they ever did in Haven City. Any other time she would have been filled with delight and awe, but right now she didn't want to feel much of anything.

Keira felt as though something inside her had broken. Despite her resolutions to forget her feelings for Jak, despite her promises to herself that she would only see him as a friend, here she was, breaking down over the fact that someone else had kissed him. It wasn't as if she had any claim on him other than childhood friendship, at least in the world's eyes. Her eyes suddenly filled up with big, sloppy tears, and no matter how many times she angrily rubbed them away, they kept flowing down her cheeks.

She sat there in her little niche for quite a while, wishing that she were anywhere but here, wishing that she weren't drunk, then wishing she had another drink, and wishing above all that she wasn't in love with Jak. After an hour or so, the alcohol started to wear off a bit and Keira realized belatedly that desert nights were very cold. Before she could push herself to her feet, she heard someone calling her name. Instinctively she opened her mouth to answer, but then she recognized Jak's voice. Her lips clamped shut automatically, and she huddled down deeper into her corner. Let him look for her, and never mind how dejected his voice sounded.

Tess found her in the morning, just as the sun was peeking over the cliffs surrounding the city. Keira opened her tear-swollen eyes to see the little ottsel peering worriedly at her with her paws resting gently on her arm. "You okay?" she asked softly.

Keira shook her head and immediately wished she hadn't – the world seemed to tilt sideways, and her eyes felt like they were swishing around, unattached to her skull. She squeezed her eyes shut again and rested her head in her hands.

"Oh, you poor thing," said Tess. "You've got a hell of a hangover, don't you?"

"That on top of everything else," muttered Keira. Her mouth tasted like something had died in it, and the morning sunlight pierced through her eyelids and right into her brain.

"You scared us, you know, walking off like that," the ottsel remarked. "Everyone was worried about you. A bunch of us went looking for you. You picked one heck of a hiding place." Tess nudged Keira, who stood up slowly and braced her hand on the wall. Gradually they made their way down to the street level, which was starting to fill up with people going about their daily business.

"So Jak looked pretty bummed when he came back from looking for you," Tess said conversationally. Keira's mouth tightened a bit, but she didn't respond. "He sat there and wouldn't talk to anyone, and he finally yelled at Daxter and stormed out. Nobody's seen him since then."

"Jak is the last thing I want to talk about right now," Keira answered with an air of finality. She shaded her eyes against the painful sunlight and climbed the short flight of steps leading up to the palace. As she and Tess stepped into the wooden elevator, Tess tried one more time.

"I've seen the way Jak looks at you. He doesn't look at Ashelin that way, ever. You need to give him a chance to –"

"I've given him a hundred chances," snapped Keira. "I don't care how he looks at me, he's never kissed me or done anything to show me that he cares about me. I'm done." She rubbed her hands over her face and through her hair in frustration and stomped out of the elevator.

Tess stood there for a moment, watching Keira walk up to her father and ask loudly when they could leave. "We both know that's not true," she said quietly.

Coming back to Haven was strange after spending a few days in Spargus. The difference between the two cities was deeply evident the minute Keira stepped off the hovercar. She hadn't realized just how dirty the air was until she'd breathed the clean air of the desert. One thing she did have to appreciate was the cooler air and the shade that the tall buildings cast as they walked towards the old Freedom HQ. Keira's mood had not improved even after taking a few hangover cures, and she felt even more irritable when she remembered that her apartment and racing garage had been crushed under the rubble of the palace. It was almost unbearable to think that she was stuck at the HQ with her father even after things were returning to normal.

After about a day of hoping it wouldn't be so bad, Keira felt like she'd rather smash her own head against the wall than stay another hour. There was simply nothing for her to do. Now that the war was over and people were rebuilding, Keira was back to being a civilian. She thought they should have something for her to repair, but even her father would absentmindedly wave her aside when she asked for something to do. Worse still were the sympathetic looks she got when people thought she wasn't looking.

That night she decided that enough was enough. She would go down to the racing garages in the morning and see if there was anything to be salvaged. Her father and likely everyone else would forbid her if they knew she was going alone, but Keira didn't want to wait until some committee formed a city cleanup crew. Not only would going out give her something to do, but it would keep her mind off of Jak.

Isn't that what I always have to do? she thought to herself, throwing her clothes in a corner and crawling into bed. Keep him out of my mind, day in and day out. I wish he'd stay out of my mind, since I'm so obviously not on his. She ignored the hopeful little voice in her head that said she was being quite stubbornly wrong. "I'm moving on," she said out loud, clicking her bedside lamp off and pulling the covers over her head.

In the morning, Keira dressed quietly and slipped out of the building through a side entrance. She'd foregone her usual casual outfit and wore heavy boots and gloves and a fitted kevlar jacket. She packed a small backpack full of some essential tools, and around her waist clipped a thick utility belt. A short zoomer ride through the city brought her to her destination: the still smoking crater of the wrecked racing stadium. The sight still managed to make Keira's eyes well up a little bit. Her whole life had been in there, and all of her schematics, best tools, pet projects, and customized zoomers were buried beneath the wreckage.

"Maybe everything didn't get crushed," Keira said halfheartedly, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach as she looked at the giant pile of rubble before her. Coming out here was stupid, she thought as she started to climb a pile of concrete slabs. I don't know what I thought I was going to find. A few scratches on her hands later, she stood at the top of the pile, considering her next move. Climbing down was definitely out, since a large hole gaped just at the bottom of the concrete mound where she stood. It was so deep and dark that she couldn't see the bottom. She noticed though, that there was a small ledge down to the left, which disappeared between a few large, leaning beams – in the direction to where her garage used to be.

She turned around, hanging onto a rusty iron strut, and swung her legs down, expecting to land on the ledge. Unfortunately, the concrete had other ideas – the strut bent and snapped off in her hand, and the top slab slowly began to fall towards her. Keira dropped backwards as fast as she could, landing on her rear and scrambling desperately backwards on the ledge. When the first piece of concrete fell far enough, the rest of the pile began to follow. Each piece crashed down on the ledge, pulverizing the already fragile stone. Just as Keira thought she'd made it to solid ground, she found herself falling, and a scream tore out of her throat. Her hands scrabbled on the jagged walls of the hole, trying frantically to find something to hang on to. Just before sheer panic overwhelmed her, she landed on something solid, jarring her body so hard that it knocked the breath out of her lungs.

It was a long time before Keira could move again. She sat up painfully, trying to gauge her surroundings. Most of the concrete pile had fallen into the pit, but some of it still dangled at the edge where she'd fallen in. The place where she'd landed was a narrow ledge about a dozen feet down into the hole. Other than trying to climb the jagged walls, there was no way up. When Keira tried to stand, she gasped in pain and sat down again quickly. Her ankle had clearly been jarred in the fall – the bruises were visible even in the dim light filtering down from the top of the pit. How long was I out? she thought in bewilderment. It was morning when I left.

Her hand moved to her hip where her comm unit was attached, intending to check the time and then radio for help, but her fingers met broken, lifeless plastic. She wrenched the whole thing off of its clip and groaned in dismay – her comm had been completely crushed, and judging by the pain in her hip, she'd landed on it. Keira threw the useless device aside in disgust and looked around again, trying to see a way out of her predicament. She'd had a coil of rope in her backpack, but she realized in horror that she'd accidentally left it sitting on the back of her zoomer. She sank down against the wall.

Keira pushed her hands through her hair, resting her head on her knees and trying to fight against the panic rising up in her chest. Think, Keira. Someone will notice that I'm missing. They'll know something's wrong when I don't come back. She sat on her hands when she noticed them shaking. I didn't tell anyone I was leaving. For all they know I went back to Spargus. They'll never know to look here.

Just when Keira thought she would succumb to panic, a few small stones rattled down into the pit. She heard footsteps and some strange rustling at the lip of the pit. Hope bloomed in Keira for a brief second and she stood up as fast as her injuries would allow. Before she could call for help though, she heard a horribly familiar growl – a sound she usually associated with Metal Heads. Immediately she shrank down as close the wall as she could, clamping her hands over her mouth. Sure enough, she saw the silhouettes of two Stalkers appear at the top of the hole, emitting a faint, sickly glow from their skull gems. From the multiple growls and grunts she could hear, Keira assumed there were more assembling right above her.

Nowhere to hide, thought Keira, trying not to let herself dissolve into sheer panic. If I'm quiet maybe they'll go away.

Luck was not smiling on her that day.