A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for reviews, reads and what have yous. Please read and review. Thanks :) ~ Mika

It was cold in the hospital, which didn't surprise father and daughter remotely, given that it was late Autumn. Jakuelynn shivered as the ultrasound scanner rubbed cold, clear gel on her swollen stomach.

"Yaich...I haven't had to do this in years," Jak remarked, half to himself. His daughter broke her gaze from the screen long enough to query that remark.

"Haven't done what?"

"This." Jak gesticulated to the equipment on the other side of himself and his daughter. "I haven't attended an ultrasound since Keira was pregnant with Damas."

Jakuelynn briefly tilted her head to one side and returned her gaze to the screen, her heart riding in her throat. She had no idea why she was so nervous; she had done this before, four years previously, whilst pregnant with Rufas. Suddenly, an image appeared on the screen and the nurse smiled.

"Congratulations! You're expecting healthy twins. By their size...it looks like you're fourteen weeks pregnant."

"Fourteen weeks?" Jakuelynn yelped. "How have I not noticed this sooner?"

The nurse kept her opinions to herself as she removed the scanner, wiping the gel off the young woman's stomach. Jak helped her sit up and she rolled her shirt back over her stomach and hauled herself off the gurney whilst the nurse disappeared next door. The warrioress looked at her father.

"Nel...I have...nothing to say," Jak admitted, shrugging. His daughter was quiet, something which disturbed him deeply. The nurse soon reappeared with a white envelope which she presented to Jakuelynn.

"Your photos from the scan," she explained, upon seeing the look on the warrioress' face.

"Oh." Jakuelynn nodded. "Okay. Thanks."

"You alright? You seem a bit...dazed," Jak asked.

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I just..." – need to call Rhogan – "I just need to start looking for my son. Come on. Let's go hunt around Spargus."

Jak wasn't so sure. He hung back, folding his arms and giving his daughter a look.

She sighed, stopping. "What, Jak?"

"I think...you need to go back to Sandover," her father said. He said this quietly to attempt to minimise the severity of her reaction.

"Why?" she asked in a cold, quiet tone.

It failed.

"Whomever took Rufas could be dangerous. If he, she or they are as dangerous as I feel, you're risking not only your life, but the lives of your children." Jak watched his daughter's face as it ran the gauntlet of emotions. Eventually, she collected herself enough to form a reply.

"This is...my son and heir we're talking about. He...If I sit at home and do nothing for the next six and a half months, only to find Rufas' wasted body in the Wasteland, I'm never going to live with knowing I could have saved him." The determination and pain stemming from that realisation in her eyes was plain to see. "Jak, I'm going to hunt and kill the fuckers who stole my son from me, even if it does take my life and the lives of my children."

"So you're saying you don't care about the twins inside of you?" Jak shot back, eyes narrowing involuntarily.

"I'm not saying I don't care about them!" Jakuelynn clenched her fist to stop her anger manifesting itself in violence. "I...I just...you..." She growled in frustration and turned, collecting her armour and storming out the hospital to the car they'd arrived in.

Jak ran after her, catching up with her just as she was about to drive away. He climbed into the passenger side, feeling resistance come off his daughter in waves. She didn't look at or speak to him as they drove back to Spargus Palace.

~x~

"How much longer d'ya think they're gonna be – Oh, hello, padre! About time!"

"Not now, Dax," Jak said gruffly. The ottsel darted back onto his shoulder, wondering why there was suddenly so much tension between father and daughter. The daughter strapped her armour back on and collected the Morph, which was propped up behind Sig's throne. Sig himself was sat on the throne, staring at the warrioress and attempting to figure out what to say. She slung the gun over her shoulder and gave a little bow before the Spargan King, her vocabulary switching to the formal.

"With all due respect, Sire, I must leave now. I've got a little boy to find," she said, her tone even and colourless. "Namely, my son."

"Firecracker, you really shouldn't – "

"I realise that, Sire, but if my son dies, the guilt is forever on my shoulders," Jakuelynn said curtly as she reloaded, filling all empty spaces in the magazine. The men (and ottsel) in the room knew that there was no point in stopping her. She closed the magazine and looked them all in the eyes. I'm not going to stop.

Only Jak was able to hold her gaze. I know. You're just like me.

She stretched and left the palace without a word, her Morph slung across her body again. Daxter looked at Jak, who shrugged.

Sig whistled. "That stubbornness is gonna get her into trouble someday."

Jak turned on his heel and ran after his daughter, snatching up his Morph as he went.

"Jak! JAK! What are you doing?" Daxter screamed.

"What does it look like, Dax?" Jak said. "Can't let her go alone."

"Hey! Can you at least leave me here? I don't want to get shot at by Spargans again! Oohhh..." Daxter slapped a hand to his face dramatically. "Sometimes I swear I'm way too old for this sh – "

"Nel!" Jak yelled, cutting him off. "Wait!"

"What do you want, Jak?" she snapped, her eyes swirling with black.

"To help you find Rufas," he replied, using a softer tone.

The black in her eyes disappeared. "Oh. Okay. Well, get in then, and hold on." A smirk formed on her face, and Daxter gulped. She flipped open her communicator and pressed a button. "Damas?" she said, nodding as a voice responded. "Right. We're coming your way."