Bed of Roses
Chapter 17
By shadows/of/flame
Ang$T!
Keira tentatively sat beside Torn's bedside as he slept, brushing some hair out of his eyes.
"Hey, Torn, I..."
She sighed.
"My feelings are mixed right now... Jak came back, he's my childhood friend, I hadn't seen him in two years! I guess... I guess I'm just confused right now."
Keira stopped to pull herself together, taking deep and slow breaths.
She didn't notice Torn had woken up.
"My heart's telling me I'm supposed to be with you! Maybe... just maybe... I've fallen for you tough guy... I'd better go, Shadow wants me for an important mission."
She let go of his hand, giving him a sad smile as she left the room.
0o0o0
Jak was waiting at the Hip Hog Saloon for her, and he pressed a kiss to her lips as soon as she was in range of his.
"Hey Keira! Ready to go?" he smiled, pressing a gun into her waiting hands.
"Sure. Lets go and bag us some invisible metal heads."
The pair walked together through the thriving city, trying not to draw attention to themselves.
Daxter had tagged along too, and he was perched on Jak's shoulder that wasn't connected to the arm around Keira's waist.
To any nosy passers by, they were just like any other couple.
Jak and Keira reached the airlock, and the blond renegade took the hoverboard from its rack.
"You ready to rock?" he smirked, and she cocked her gun, grinning.
"Daxter, watch Keira's six. You know I can hold my own." he grinned. She glared.
"What's THAT supposed to mean?"
He just chuckled.
As they reached the forest, both found it extremely difficult to sense or hear the metal heads, and only by Daxter's watchful eye did the two not get beheaded a few times.
But as their minds wandered to other things, and Jak's hands wandered to Keira's waist, none of the trio saw the invisible metal head sneaking up behind Jak.
0o0o0
Torn sat up on the Underground roof, his eyes closed.
Dusk was falling - shouldn't the two be back from their mission?
What should he care?
...WHY did he care?
Was it Keira? Was it
because of her words?
"Maybe... just maybe... I've fallen
for you tough guy."
He didn't know. She was Jak's now. His mind was clouded, he was always tired, thinking...
What if...
What
if...
Torn hoped he would find the answer soon, but it came to him in a way no one would have ever expected.
0o0o0
The metal head screeched loudly, burying its claws deep into the earth, causing a huge crack to start splitting it.
"JAK! WATCH OUT!"
Jak was standing right on that split, unaware of what was happening.
The metal head started plunging into the hole it had created, and Keira's eyes widened as the metal head fell to its death...
...taking Jak with it.
When the renegade had finally registered what was happening, it was too late. He had started to fall.
Keira ran forward, desperately trying to save her lover from death, but his hand slowly slipped from her grasp.
"...JAAAAAAK!"
Down...
down...
...down...
...down...
Tears slipped down Keira's cheeks, and Daxter clumsily clambered into her lap, shaking.
Jak... was dead?
Daxter's best friend... gone?
He would never believe it.
"No-! He- he can't be
gone! P-please..."
The mechanic's cries petered out, and
Daxter couldn't help but feel sorrow.
...Jak... dead?
"...come on Keira, we'd better get back to the city..."
Keira saw Jak's scarf caught on the side of a low hanging branch, and she started to sob, clinging to it as the reality hit her like a ton of bricks.
Jak was gone.
They would never share another kiss, never share another anything.
.:.I.love.you.:.
0o0o0
The ex commander's eyes closed drowsily; he was deep in a dream, one he never wanted to leave the safety of.
But, unfortunately, sleep and dreams never last forever.
"Well, how did the mission go?"
"All of the metal heads have been taken care of..."
"Wh-wheres Jak?"
Torn froze - something had happened to Jak?
"He-he-" he could hear Keira, her voice cracking, "He fell down, a crevasse, a metal head..."
The brunette heard her fleeting footsteps and her sobs of anguish as she fled to her room.
Guilt and slight anger welled up inside him - Jak may have been gone, but now Keira would be overcome with grief for him, and forget what she had said to him.
He clambered off the roof, slid down the ladder, and went quickly into his room.
His chest ached - green eco could remove headwounds and cuts, but it couldn't remove the intense bruising Erol had left.
He prepared tiredly for bed, sliding under the warm blankets of his bed with no more than a pair of boxers, a singlet and his scarf on - why couldn't he get Jaks death off his mind?
A few hours later... "Torn?"
Her.
Why was she there?
She immediately fell into his arms, clinging to him. He was surprised, to say the least as tears soaked his singlet.
"I... I'm sorry." she sobbed. "Jak's gone, and I just needed someone to... look after me."
Look after her? He wasn't a baby-sitter.
But he knew a piece of her heart belonged to Jak - it always would.
But he could at least help her rebuild.
Just a little bit.
0o0o0
Light streamed into the crevass, and a pair of blue eyes opened, immediately wincing.
The metal head lay dead beside him, but its body wasn't in as bad as shape as his.
At least IT had had a quick and painless death.
The look of horror in Keira's eyes as he had fallen hurt him more than his injuries.
He HAD to get back to her, no matter what.