Disclaimer: Oh this is just getting annoying…
In Love and War
Chapter 3
Keira returned to her machine shop the next morning with a smile. It didn't even matter that Jinx was standing right there, as he did every morning with a new piece of junk for her to 'fix', while he stood behind her and stared every time she bent over. His putrid cigars were bad enough, but did he have to come every friggin' day! She hoped he'd learned his lesson last time when he'd palmed her ass. She'd whopped him over the head with a wrench. Now, he was just standing there, smoking while she went about her business. It seemed that a cloud of smoke was always around his head, and every time he spoke, it was like he had a fire in his stomach. "Hey, Hot Hands, what's that thing? Looks like a trashed Dust Demon." Keira looked over, horrified. Jinx had gone behind the curtain, looking at the remnants of Mat's vehicle. She'd had it towed out of the harbor, and was trying to fix it for him, but now Jinx had found it, there was no way it would be a secret anymore. Jinx had a large smile plastered on his face as he said "Wasn't that daredevil driver Mat driving a Dust Demon when he came in a few days ago? I could've sworn that's his-" he didn't finish because Keira walked up to up and snarled in his face "If you tell anyone about that, I'll throw every tool I've got at you!" Jinx took a step or two back as Keira whirled back around. Then she froze. Once again, Jinx's hand was on her ass. What's more, he was squeezing it! The perv! She was about to whirl around and knock him out when there came an ominous click behind Jinx and he let go of her. She turned around, slowly. Jinx had his hands up, a look of pure terror on his face. His cigar was on the ground, in a puddle of oil, and pointed at the back of his head was a gun. Holding the gun was a figure only slightly taller than her, wearing a trench coat and…a sailor's hat. The figure lifted its head, and the light shone down on Mat's face. He was smoking a cigarette and acting as casual as if he was talking to a friend. "Hey, Jinx," he said, letting out a puff of smoke from between his lips. "Remember me? The guy you bore a hole through?" Jinx was panicking now, sweating in fright. The guy was probably crapping in his pants right about now. "Y-yeah," stammered the nervous elf. "I r-remember y-you. You slashed open my g-gut with your knife." "And now I come back to Haven and I find you doing naughty things," said Mat, as if he were talking to a five year old. "Now, the question is, what shall I do with you?" Keira vaguely wondered if Mat would pull the trigger. At least she wouldn't have to put up with Jinx's bullshit anymore. 'No! Don't think that! It's not right!' But another part of her was begging for Mat to pull the trigger, just to see if he had the guts to do it. Jinx was now bathed in sweat as he stood there, scared. Mat calmly took another puff of his cigarette, threw it down, and stamped it out. Then he pulled his gun back, putting the pistol back into a holster under his right shoulder. It was only then that she realized he was a lefty. That was kinda strange. Most gunmen were trained to shoot with their right hand. Suddenly, Mat spun Jinx around and punched him, right across the jaw. Jinx would've fallen back if Mat hadn't grabbed him by the scarf and backhanded him. Then he threw Jinx out and yelled after him "And don't come back!" Mat's limbs were worn out even from this small exertion. He'd only just tried to get out of bed and move other places, and he was worn out. Turning back inside, he hid his exhaustion when he saw that Keira was laughing-yes laughing- and he was a little puzzled by it. "Uh…was something I did?" he asked. Truth be told, Keira wasn't laughing at how Jinx was thrown out for long. Actually, she was laughing at how oddly adorable Mat looked when he was doing something for her…especially when he got angry! However, she wasn't about to tell him that, so instead, she calmed down and said, still giggling "No! Well-yes, actually. It was the look on Jinx's face when he got thrown out! Oh, man! It's about time someone taught that perv a lesson!" Mat relaxed slightly. Only slightly. One did not become one of the deadliest men in the world by relaxing. In fact, he was kind of nervous with his back to the open door. What if someone was aiming a sniper rifle at him? He would be a hard target to miss. No, he relaxed because he'd made Keira laugh. That was good. Laughter meant she wasn't freaked out at what he'd done. Casually leaning into the shop to cover his back, he said "Well, I guess I'm glad I was the teacher." Man, did Keira crack up at that one. She was laughing so hard, she had to lean against a battered Zoomer to keep herself up. Once she got a hold of herself, Mat smiled and said "They finally let me out of the hospital. I got a grilling from Torn already. He thinks I should lie low and do some work." Taking off his trench coat, he put it unceremoniously on a coat rack, then bowed low, saying "Your wish is my command, milady." Keira giggled a little bit more at this. Mat was trying desperately hard not to let her see the beads of sweat forming on his brow. All this physical stuff was hard after what he'd been through. He was worn out and yet he still wanted to do things for this girl. One would almost think he…no. Not him. Not Sergeant Roder. He wouldn't fall for a girl he just met. Would he? Nonetheless, Keira was able to put him to work, having him lift heavy things and play bouncer to unnerve some of the tougher guys who came in. It's very hard to threaten a mechanic girl when a boy with a military buzz is standing only a few meters away from you, looking over a loaded machine gun. One of them even went into the same panic Jinx had.
At the end of the day, Mat and Keira were working on a Hellcat that refused to even go forward, much less fly. Mat was holding up the front end, since the thing was so big it went over the sides of the support stands. He could've sworn that right there and then that he would have to be dead three days to feel better after this. Keira was underneath, the innards of the military Zoomer spread out above her. Mat was able to get a good opportunity to get a better look at Keira this way, even if his arms felt as if they were about to fall out of their sockets. Her hair was glistening with sweat from the muggy day, and her skin shone a soft, golden sheen from the light of the sunset. Once again, it took Mat's breath away. And if he didn't start breathing again, the strain combined with the lack of oxygen would've taken his life away. Keira also used this moment to get a good view of Mat. She could see his muscles, bulging out from his efforts since his T-shirt was soaking with sweat and sticking to his chest. Every one of those small, but well defined muscles stood out. But what she concentrated on most was his face. That single-minded determination to accomplish his goal, which apparently was to not have a heart attack. She actually found that kind of attractive. But the thing she concentrated on most was his face. Specifically, his eyes. The storm was rolling again, which was her way of saying that she could tell he was thinking hard about something. She couldn't tell what it was. She never could tell what Mat was thinking. Suddenly, there came the roar of an engine, and Mat looked over his shoulder as there came a screech of brakes, and voices. Then, a shadow appeared in the door, followed by figures.
As Jak, Ashelin, Daxter, and Torn pulled up in front of Keira's garage, they knew what kind of night it was going to be. Plenty of drinking and dancing at the Naughty Ottsel. Once, every week, they all got together for a party at Daxter and Tess's joint. It'd originally been Krew's bar, before Jak had shot the gang lord down. Now, however, Daxter and Tess owned the place and did quite well for two ottsels. As they all walked up to the door, Torn seemed a little more moody than usual. Was it because Jak had his arm around Ashelin's shoulders or what? As they all stepped through the door, they expected Keira to be working on some wrecked vehicle, humming to herself to break the silence. However, what they found put surprised looks on all their faces. Well, Torn recovered pretty quickly. A young man stood there, holding a Hellcat to stop it from crashing off the support stands, with Keira working on the underbelly of the vehicle. The way Torn recovered was this; he stepped forward and shouted "TEN-HUT!" In response, the young man said "Look, Commander Torn, I don't care if you're pissed with me right now. You told me to lay low and that's-" It was at that moment that the young man looked up, saw Jak and Ashelin, and paled. He was supposed to salute to the bounty hunter and Governess, but if he let go, Keira would be squashed. "Uh, Keira? We have company." Mat said, not too loud, but loud enough for her to hear. In response, Keira crawled out from underneath to see who it was, and as soon as she was safe, Mat dropped the Hellcat, which fell on its nose with a crash. With a guilty look that almost instantly disappeared, Mat saluted to the people in front of him. "At ease," said Ashelin, instantly curious. Matt let his hand fall, and knelt down to pick the Hellcat back up, when Torn yelled "BACK TO ATTENTION, SERGEANT RODER!" Man, what the hell was it with this guy? Mat snapped up straight again. Torn strode forward and said "And just what do you think you're doing here, Sergeant?" "Following your orders, SIR!" Mat replied. "My-my orders!" Torn stammered. Everyone could see he was getting angry. "Yes, sir. You told me to lie low and go get a job until my leave, sir," replied Mat, showing not one hint of fear. "You're not clinically stable, Sergeant! I oughta bust you back down to buck Private! You were SUPPOSED to be in bed all of today," Torn snapped, obviously getting irritable. "Instead you go and work your ass off in a machine shop! You don't know squat about machines! You'd only get in the way, or open your injuries again! Or-" "I don't have to stand here and listen to this, sir," Mat declared, picking up a rag, wiping his hands and face off, and heading towards his guns and trench coat. "What!" Torn exclaimed, storming over to him. "I don't like you, Sergeant. You better get a better attitude towards those who rank higher than you, or you're going down!" "STOP!" yelled Ashelin, Jak, and Keira at the same time. "OK, what the hell is going on here?" asked Ashelin. "Keira, Torn, who IS this guy?" asked Jak. "And WHY do you guys have to be so loud!" whimpered Daxter, removing his paws from his ears. Torn turned to Ashelin and Jak and said "This is Sergeant Mat Roder. He's a Pinkerton Agent. And he's also the maverick that tore through our blast gate!" Keira stood up and exclaimed "He's not a maverick! He just lost control of his vehicle! What would you do if you were shot and being chased by a killer?" The argument went on for some time, maybe five minutes, before Ashelin said "Ok, STOP!" Torn and Keira stopped, both red in the face from yelling. Mat, surprisingly, had just stood there quietly, not giving a single word to help himself. Ashelin admired that, so she stepped forward and extended her hand, saying "Welcome to Haven City, Sergeant." Mat shook her hand, saying "You can call me Mat. Everyone does." Keira wiped off her face and said "Why are you guys here, anyways?" Jak looked surprised. He blinked twice and said "Tonight's the party, Keira. Don't you remember?" Keira remembered then, alright. "Oh! Hang on, I'll go get cleaned up!" She then hurried away, up the stairs to her apartment. Torn glared at the boy, who stood there and took it, then walked outside. That left Mat, Jak, Ashelin, and Daxter. And of course, Daxter opened his fat mouth. Again. "So, you're a detective, huh? How many cases have you solved?" Mat looked down and said "Well, I don't actually solve mysteries. I actually follow and catch or kill the crook." In the blink of an eye, he'd drawn his pistol and was pointing it at Daxter's face. It took the ottsel a few seconds to realize what had happened, but when he did, the result was as expected. "AAAUUUUGGGHHH!" he yelled, scampering up Jak's leg and onto his shoulder, trembling. Mat chuckled a little and, reholstering his gun, said "A party, huh? Am I invited?" Torn heard this last part and was about to say 'no' when Ashelin immediately replied "Of course. It's not really an invite thing. The bar's just on the other side of the port." Mat blushed a bit. He should've known. A bar was always public, including before and after working hours, when the eager drinkers got in with a bribe, or when the drunks couldn't be thrown out. They heard a voice and turned to see Keira, slightly cleaner, coming back down the stairs. She hadn't changed her clothes, but she'd definantly washed her hands and face and…was that a touch of eyeliner? And was that a thin layer of lipstick? He didn't know how he knew, but Mat could tell Keira didn't put on makeup very often. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but say "Wow," under his breath. Jak heard this, however, and elbowed Mat in the side and said "Watch her for me, would you?" He then winked. Mat frowned slightly. Huh? A second alter, he whispered something in Ashelin's ear, then turned to Keira and said "Well, Keira, I'm going with Ashelin, Torn says he doesn't want to go with anyone. Who are you going with?" Mat suddenly understood. He then turned away and started acting sullen and slightly moody, playing along. Keira pretended to think about it, knowing the game that Jak was playing. "Hmm, how about…Daxter!" Mat did something he'd never thought he'd do. His back snapped up straight, his eyes went wide, and a look of shock went onto his face. Suddenly, there was a flash…and Mat saw Ashelin holding a camera, laughing. So were Jak, Daxter, and Keira. Even Torn had walked in to see what was taking them so long and gave himself a chuckle. Mat realized what they were doing; and smiled as well. Walking over to Ashelin, he took her camera and scrolled through the memory, found the photo of his face…and burst out laughing. Keira smiled. She hadn't heard Mat laugh, but it sounded so…sexy, for lack of better words. He had a deep, throaty laugh that seemed to come from all the way down in his toes and echo up into his mouth. Yet it sounded rough, unused…Keira shook it off and walked down to Mat, who had gotten control of himself, but was still smiling. Slipping her hand onto his shoulder, she said, playfully, "On second thought, I think I'll go with our guest of honor." Torn didn't like Mat being called their 'guest of honor,' but he held his tongue. Instead he slipped back outside. Mat looked down at Keira, a small hint of surprise showing in his eyes before the storm covered it up. Smiling even broader, he said "Of course I'll go with you Keira. Everyone needs a bodyguard." Keira didn't know whether to blush or hit his arm. So she did both. "Ow, hey! Now is that anyway to treat your bodyguard?" Giggling, Keira led him over towards her vehicle. Combat Racing was becoming a very popular sport in the region, so naturally, everyone had a vehicle. It just so happened that Keira was the only one who still used a Zoomer. It was an old, green two seater, but Keira loved the thing all the same. She'd poured a lot of blood sweat and tears into this thing to give up on it now. Keira slid into one seat, while Mat climbed into the other. His movements were so fluid and graceful; he barely rocked the vehicle at all. "Let's get this party STARTED!" yelled Daxter from Jak and Ashelin's Sand Shark.