Author's Note: , This is set several weeks after the last chapter finished

Sareen and Sol(stice) are © me, all other characters etc. are © Naughtydog.

New Allies

Sol wandered down the palace corridors, guards purposely avoided him, afraid to stir his wrath. He had been in a foul mood for the past few weeks, intending to force the guard away from him so he could do his job. Reaching the throne room, he began typing in key codes on the access computers, using the master key card so that his could not be traced.

"Access granted, all entrances are now unlocked"

He left the area thinking he was undetected, silently hoping that he had done all that was needed. He was unaware of another presence in the room.

Sareen woke with a start, she'd had that same dream again. Leaning forwards she sat with her head in her hand for a moment, there had been something different about it, when she had fallen, the usual feeling of loss had swept over her, but this time, she also got the feeling that it had been her that had caused it, had called Erol to attack him, for it had been Erol that had struck him.

With a sigh she swung her legs round and put her boots on, glancing round as she thrust her dagger through her belt and changed her night shirt for her short sleeveless top, her flared trousers she kept on as she shared a dorm with men, she noticed that she was the only one up.

She wandered to one of the offices.

"Morning Sue" she greeted, accepting a mug of black coffee "Any new jobs?" she asked, shuffling some papers that were passed her.

"None yet, Erol needs someone to supervise a delivery of Eco to the power station this afternoon, but other than that you're a free agent till this afternoon, you're patrol has been changed to this evening as the officer usually on patrol then is injured."

"Another raid?"

"Yeah"

"They're really coming in fast, where is it I'm patrolling"

"In the slums near the East wall"

"Right, If I'm needed you'll have to get me on my communicator, I'm gonna be out for a bit"

"Good luck getting leave, Erol's in a foul mood this morning"

Chuckling she handed back the cup before heading into the business section of the fortress, here were the offices used by those with high status to store and research old records and plans, or for the guard to check their duties for the day and patrol rosters.

Stopping outside an office with 'commander' on the door she hesitated before knocking.

"Come in"

She frowned at the weary tone, but did as ordered.

Erol looked up from his desk, a pile of papers were scattered across it, files lay either scattered across the floor or piled beside the desk. The commander himself was in no better shape, his usually tidy hair was sticking in different directions from continuously running his fingers through it, and a light stubble was growing on his face.

"What do you want?"

"Sir? I have no duties till this afternoon, so I was wondering if I could have leave till then" She answered, standing to attention. Erol glanced up and studied her for a second before returning to his papers.

"Don't you have patrol now?"

"My patrol was changed to this evening"

"Of course, the explosion"

"Sir?"

"you usually patrol the warehouse in the port in the morning don't you?" he waited for her to nod a reply "Last night there was a raid, they blew up the warehouse, the man you will be replacing tonight was in that blast"

She nodded, waiting a moment "Sir, you still haven't answered me"

"What? Oh, yes, I suppose you can have the morning off"

She headed out to the bazaar, planning to see Onin. On the way she had to pass the throne room, she was about to enter the area outside it when she was aware of someone else there, peering around a pillar she saw a familiar dark head, she frowned when she saw he was using one of the access computers, when he left she stole forward and took a look at the screen. Grabbing her communicator she relayed orders to the officer on the other end, placing her communicator back on her belt she frowned, why would Sol be using the access codes? And with a master key? Sol, that reminded her of where she had been heading.

Once in the bazaar she left her cruiser at the pedestrian entrance.

"Arrrrrrrrk, if you're here for our rent we've already paid it"

"Can it pecker, I'm not here on business, I need Onin's help"

"Onin says she has been expecting you, sit down in front of her and she will see what she can do"

Sareen sat cross legged as asked, Onin reached out and placed a hand on Sareen's forehead, who closed her eyes as white light circled the hand.

"Onin says your dreams are of significant importance, but their meaning can only be discovered by you"

"How can I do that?"

"Onin says by keeping close to Sol, you're answers will become clear"

Sareen nodded and left.

That afternoon Sareen was pacing the delivery yard, the transmission had come in confirming that the tanker was on its way, but something didn't feel right, and with all the sneak attacks that had happened recently, she wasn't taking risks. Erol had agreed to send out extra troops as this was an important load, desperately needed to pay off the city's debts.

There was a beeping of a siren as the tanker arrived, she frowned, it wasn't due to arrive for another ten minutes. Sighing she stepped forwards to make the usual necessary checks, when she noticed something that shouldn't be there.

"Back off, guns at the ready" she shouted

The soldiers did as commanded as Metal heads started pouring out of the tanker.

"Argh, where are those men?" she growled out as a metal head lunged at her.

The barrels had all rolled free and the trailer they had been on was now lying on it's side a couple of feet from the driver's cab, it was against this that she was being pushed, she shot at the metal head, but it ricocheted it's armour, finally she took a swipe with her dagger and was able to catch it across the throat, taking a step back to get clear of it's flailing claws, she felt something roll past her feet which were then knocked from under her, sending her into the trailer, it started to sway slightly, but before it could become steady again, something hit it from the other side and caused it to tilt. Sareen tried to roll away, but found the ropes which had once held the barrels in place, were now tangled round her legs, she looked up and barely managed to control a scream as her arms instinctively covered her head, preparing for the crushing blow.

Shadows could be seen moving through the glass above the throne in the throne room, empty now, its usual occupant pacing the floor at its base, occasionally glancing up at an unexpected noise, before shaking it off as a figment of his imagination brought on by his tired brain. The shadows moved and soon, none of them could be seen, but, just below the glass, a slight bulge could be seen that hadn't been there before, a red light occasionally flashing, waiting for a signal.

The trailer was falling and Sareen was slightly aware of a shadow of movement near her, followed by a harsh grating. When the blow never came, she slowly lowered her arms and looking up, was met with a pair of dark eyes, their gentleness contrasting with the tension on his face as he pushed against the trailer, his muscles contracting as they strained against the weight. He glanced down at her and dark hair framed his face. His eyes softened as he smiled reassuringly at her, but the smile disappeared and he glanced back up as his feet started to slide on the concrete.

"H-hurry, pl-ease" he gasped as his muscles screamed in protest.

Obliging she quickly lunged for her ankles and managed to kick them free of the rope.

As she rolled free of the trailer Sol jumped back and it finally collapsed with a resounding crash, crushing a couple of metalheads as it did so.

Sol glanced up and noticed a familiar blonde head, the metal head numbers wore down considerably as the new arrival joined the fight, and some attempted to escape, but were soon finished off by the guard.

"Hey, are you all right?" the blonde asked as he approached the pair, around them officers were gathering up the fallen barrels of eco, a few reached for their weapons as the youth approached Sareen, but Sol indicated that they should continue with their work.

"Hey you, the delivery yard is off limits to Civilians." Sareen shouted as he approached "Wait, you seem familiar, have we met before?" Sareen asked, her eyes running over his figure suspiciously.

The youth looked confused and opened his mouth to reply when he caught Sol's look and shake of head, understanding he quickly changed his reply.

"Maybe in passing, but I don't think so in person"

Sareen looked thoughtful, Sol caught the youth's eye and looked at the exit, getting the message he turned to leave.

"Hang on, now I remember, you're the renegade. Guards, seize this man" the guards grabbed him and managed to handcuff him.

"Wait, I'll take him from here" Sol stepped forward.

"Sure?"

"Yeah, it's my department anyway"

Sol grabbed Jak's arm which was cuffed behind his back and lead him off.

"Attack me" he murmured, leaning forwards slightly

"What?"

"Attack me"

"Ok"

Jak immediately wrenched his arms free and swung a leg under his feet so that Sol landed on his back.

"Sorry mate" he whispered as he crouched down and grabbed the keys in his teeth, tossing them to Daxter he stood up and started jogging while Dax clung on and attempted to free his wrists, when they were free he grabbed his jet board and sped off through the city.

"Sol!" He pushed himself onto his elbows as Sareen and a couple of guards ran over to him, behind them he could see Ashelin also making her way over, he couldn't miss the suspicion in her gaze as it flickered from him to the retreating form of the renegade, then back to him.

"I'm all right" he grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, Sareen placed a hand on his arm, the gratitude in her eyes unmistakeable, for a moment he saw the old Sareen, his sister, giving him that same look, when they were still young, after he had stood up for her against the local bullies, she had scolded him for making her seem like she couldn't defend herself, but because of their bond, they both knew that no matter how much either of them tried to save face by shunning help, they were grateful for being able to rely on each other. A smile crept over his face and for a moment he was tempted to throw am arm round her shoulders and pull her into a hug, but then the spell was broken when she looked away, and as reality flooded back, he felt an overwhelming sense of loss, a look that didn't go unnoticed by Ashelin.

Later Sol was pacing the underground, not due to start his patrol for another hour, knowing his men, he had at leas three quarters of that before any would show up.

"Would you sit down? Keep that up and you'll of dug yourself a grave"

He looked up at the rough voice but did not halt his movements. "What if I've missed something?" he said quietly, more to himself than anyone else, "Someone could of seen me, or I've used the wrong codes"

"pacing a hole in the floor won't change anything, don't worry, they know what to do if there's a hitch"

"You don't get it do you?" Sol said, slamming his hands on the table, his voice suddenly angry. "If I get this wrong, I'm not the only one who's screwed here"

Torn said nothing, merely returned to his work, knowing better than to get Sol's back up, especially before he was due on patrol.

At that moment Jak entered the hideout, Dax leapt onto a bunk and immediately fell asleep, Jak however continued to the table and watched Sol across it.

"Sol?" he asked, Sol, who had resumed his pacing, glanced up and met his gaze, his eyebrow shot up in question "What's happening with Sareen" he asked, his voice was quiet, but there was a threat behind it if he didn't answer.

"That's none of your damn business" Sol growled out

"Would it have anything to do with why your face is plastered with KG tattoos?" Jak asked. Up until now Jak had only seen Sol with his tattoos covered, so he had no idea what had happened to them, as Sol had never explained why Sareen was never with him.

At this his gaze hardened, it found its way to a poster of Erol, and if looks could kill, that poster could well have been a voodoo doll.

"Jak, leave it" Torn growled, "Sol, you'd better get out on patrol before the guard shows up, Ashelin said she'd meet you out there. Jak, you'd better keep under cover for a while, since that incident with the tanker, security's tightened round here."

They both nodded and Jak went and settled besides Daxter while Sol went outside, with a sigh, Torn returned to his work.

As Sol crept out the door, he noticed a figure standing at the entrance to the alley, there back was turned to him as the door slid shut silently behind him, keeping to the shadows of the wall opposite the door, he crept silently forwards until he was within speaking distance, there he waited for a while and watched the person in front on him. They were definitely female, that he was sure of, but the building's shadow fell across them. They stepped to one side and he caught a quick glimpse of red, he relaxed.

"Ashe" He whispered

The woman spun round and he saw relief on her face as he stepped from the shadows

"Sol, I thought you weren't coming"

"You should of called me on my communicator"

"I didn't know where you were"

"Torn said you wanted to speak to me" Sol said, getting to the point, he was aware that the rest were due to show up in any minute.

"Yeah, but first, what's your connection with Sareen, I saw the way you looked at her"

Sol groaned, he really didn't need this right now

"I'll tell you later, what was it you wanted?"

"It's sorted"

"She's safe"

"She's on her way down to take over from that soldier who was in the raid last night"

Sol nodded, at least he knew she was safe.

Ashelin went on to explain the basics of what had been planned, Sol wasn't listening though, he'd already been briefed on what was going to happen, instead his gaze was wandering over the few who had already started wandering the area, making a mental note of those who had shown up, he knew who to expect, and they knew that as long as they showed up within quarter of an hour from when they were due to arrive, they would be fine.

As expected Sareen was one of the first to arrive, he saw her looking around and knew what she was looking for.

Catching sight of him she walked over. "Hi Sol, who do I have to report to?"

"You're looking at him"

She looked surprised, but nodded and got on with her work.

Sol waited until he had seen everyone who he was expecting, then he reached for a small communicator clipped to the back of his trouser belt, giving it two short pushes, he joined the others on patrol, and waited.

So there you have it, chapter four.

Sorry for how short these chapters are, and the long wait, but I've had a major writers block with most of my fics.

Anyway, chapter 5 is on its way, but I won't be posting it until I get at least 1! Review, come on people, I need to know what you think!