A/N: HELLO everybody and thanks for reviews (speaking of which, Fire-Eco-Sage, dove stai? Torni!) Another one hot off the press...but edited this time. I promise. Read, review, give FES a kick up the butt for me, Chapter 12 tomorrow. Thanks. :D ~ Mika
The sunlight was the first thing to wake Keira, attacking her eyelids and forcing her to wake up fully. The weight around her waist sent a shot of adrenaline through her and she shot up like a startled crocadog before realising that the arm belonged to Jak.
Huh? Jak? Am I dreaming?
Suddenly, the day before flooded into her brain.
Leaving Erol. The garage. Seeing Jak. The fight between him and Torn. The Underground. Being reunited with her father for the first time in two years. Jak's story...
She blinked a few times as everything fell into place, her mind clouding over as she realised how connected Erol and Jak were, aside from through her. Turning herself over onto her other side, she saw a peacefully sleeping Jak, face flickering as he saw things she didn't – of which, she had the feeling, she only knew the surface.
Reluctantly sliding herself from under the welcome familiarity of his arm, Keira stretched, stood up and quietly padded over to her son – or at least, the splurge of blonde cut off by the blanket. The rest of him was completely concealed by the thin, blue-grey blanket.
"Danny..." she cooed, squatting down next to him and gently peeling the aforementioned blanket back. Daniel groaned almost like his father as he stood up, blue eyes blinking sleepily. His mother suppressed a chuckle as she noticed his hair was sticking straight up.
"Morning, little one," she whispered, looking at the time. Eight in the morning – a full twelve-hour sleep, which was something he never got when they were back there with Erol. Keira shook her head, not willing to let herself be clouded over with dark thoughts; dark memories. They were free now, and that was the way they would all stay.
As she smoothed down her toddler's wild hair, she also noticed with a lift of her heart how her little family were all together for the first time – although Jak still didn't know Danny was his, despite the striking physical similarities.
Calm it, Keira, he only met him yesterday, and even then I'm sure he didn't fully look at him. Keira sighed quietly, meeting her son's blue eyes. At least I can look at him free of heartache now.
Jak groaned in his sleep, rolling onto his back, his hand slapping comically onto his blue-clad chest. The mechanic allowed herself a little chuckle as she carried the toddler to the breakfast room. As they passed, Danny reached out to the caved walls, his hand running lightly along the bumpy rock.
"What's that, Danny?" his mother cooed, a little hope in her heart. He had never spoken in his life – presumably due to circumstances, presumably due to genetics – so she hoped that he would at least attempt to start speaking.
Just then, something collided with her knees, almost making her stumble over.
She looked down, a grin filling her face when she saw who it was.
"Hey, other little one," she said, noting with interest how Danny's arms stretched towards the green-haired child upon spotting him. "Have you had brekky yet?"
The child shook his head.
"Are you going to get some?"
A nod.
"Danny, do you want to go with him to get some brekky?"
A ferverent nod from the blonde in her arms. He looked at her, large blue eyes filled with worry.
"It's okay, I'll be right behind you."
A small "phew" from her son.
"Go on then," she chuckled lightly. Setting the blonde boy down, the green-haired child instantly took off, closely followed by the younger boy. A shiver of familiarity ran down Keira's spine as she watched the older boy. There was something about him that she recognised; something which she had seen before. She couldn't put her finger on it, and this perplexed her.
"Hey," came a gruff voice from behind her.
She spun around. "Hey, Jak," she said, not really knowing what to say.
The young man stretched, yawning. "Getting food?"
She nodded, vocal cords paralysed. Whether this was with fear or uncertainty as to what to say, she wasn't sure.
"Me too." He shook himself back to normal, his blue-eyed gaze resting on her, sending another shiver up her spine. There was a stilted air between them, as if what had been done or said between them last night was something to be awkward about.
"So!" she almost shouted, breaking the solidifying silence. "Let's eat." Quickly, she turned back and walked off in the direction she'd seen her son and his new best friend disappear to.
"What was that about?" Jak's own best friend chimed from behind him, leaping athletically onto his shoulder.
The blonde raised his eyebrows and scratched his head, as clueless as Daxter was.
"Ah well. I'm hungry! And I wonder if Tess stayed last night..."
"You mean you two haven't done it yet?"
"And you two have for the first time in two years?"
Jak narrowed his eyes. "Not the point, buddy. Keir and I have been apart for two years. We got a lot to catch up on,"
Daxter raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, you DO. Extending to bedroom stuff, if ya know what I mean, and I KNOW you do,"
The blonde rolled his eyes and continued onwards.
~x~
Mar Memorial Stadium, 6:00 a.m.
Erol had to say, smashing stuff up before doing laps around the stadium until dawn broke was the best stress-reliever he'd ever experienced. He made a note to recommend it to anyone who would actually and willingly listen to him, the number of which he could count on no fingers whatsoever.
He braked the Zoomer to a screeching halt and ventured lazily back into his ex-girlfriend's garage, surveying the destruction within with great pleasure. Tools were ripped off their hooks, desks and worktops were smashed, drawers were ripped out and empty. Most pleasingly, the curtain that separated her two-year old project and the rest of the garage was destroyed, along with the aforementioned project.
"A three-seater Zoomer," he snorted to himself disgustedly. "What kind of mad idea...?"
Silence greeted his rhetorical question and he shook his head, leaving the garage with as much disgust in his actions as in his tone of voice.
Keep talking to yourself, Erol, and you'll end up in an asylum.
He snorted again disdainfully, swinging a leg over a waiting Zoomer and headed towards the Palace without another glance back.
~x~
Much later
"So, how did you end up with your new man?" the fighter said, a touch of venom in his voice. Actually, the venom extended to his body language too.
"Jak, you've just gotten back from yet another dangerous mission, are you sure you want to know who and what – "
"Hey." The blonde paced around the cave-room, arms folded. "I told you how I ended up where I was. You owe me some repayment,"
Keira bit back the words she really wanted to say and sighed, processing Jak's. "Oh, alright."
Jak looked at her expectantly.
She took a deep breath and began.
