DISCLAIMER:I do not own Jak and Daxter.
Nowhere Girl: And I got Keira/Kiera's name wrong in the beginning, sorry!
Keira: You DID! Grabs Morph Gun
Nowhere Girl: I swear I didn't mean it!
Keira: You still die! Pulls trigger
"Okay. I'll ride with you over to Keira's, then you can drop me off back at my place."
Had she really heard that? Keira wasn't sure. Who said that? Was it Torn? Maybe it was Jinx. Was he still at thier booth? Were they still even at the Naughty Ottsel? What was happening to her? She'd been drinking that Purple Lurker. She'd been talking to Torn and Jinx. Then it was like she just fell asleep. But was she really asleep? It was weird. It was like she'd been...naw, that couldn't be.
She felt someone carrying her; felt the harsh chill of the night air outside. She felt the warm damp of drool across her chin and moved to wipe it away, but her arm wasn't responding. She tried kicking. Her legs weren't moving. She panicked. She screamed, but her voice wouldn't come out. Her mind raced; her eyes rolled in their sockets, she tried, tried, TRIED to get herself to move, but only managed a few feeble convulsions. Whoever had her paused to shift her weight.
"She alright?" Who asked that? It sounded like Torn.
"Yeah, I think she's dreaming or something." That was Jinx. He didn't sound too sure.
'No, no, no, no, no,'Keira screamed in her mind,'I'm not! Something's wrong with me!' But she knew they couldn't hear her. She felt herself bieng lifted into a zoomer, felt warm hands supporting her back.
"Here. I've got her if you can drive." Hands held her in a seat, pressed up against a warm body that smelled of gunpowder and whiskey. The zoomer roared to life.
They were moving now, the cold wind whipping past her face and making her ears flap against someone's shoulder. She heard the dull whine of traffic fly by, and wondered just how fast they were going. She tried to grasp something, if only to make herself feel a little more secure. Her arms jerked. Why couldn't she move? An arm snaked around her shoulders and held her tighter.
'Help me,'she tried again,'There's something wrong...' It didn't come out.
"How much farther?" Torn's voice growled over the breeze. Keira felt his breath on her face.
"It's not far now." Jinx was somewhere over her shoulder. The zoomer tilted violently to one side as they made a turn. Torn held onto her as they rounded the corner.
Keira felt herself dozing off. Torn's warmth was intoxicating, lulling her into a deep sleep. She tried to stay awake, tried to cling to the zoomer and her strange half conciousness, but something was overriding her attempts to panic. It was slow and numbing, making her already useless limbs feel like lead. Her already shut eyes were heavy with exhaustion. And no matter how she willed herself, this comforting, alien drowsiness succumbed her into it's silent slumber.
Keira awoke to the stench of oil and grease. She immediatly knew that she was back home. Her clock was chiming, once, twice, three times. It was three o'clock in the morning. She knew she wasn't doing any work tomarrow. She felt the slick softness of her bed beneath her, slowly registered the awkward way she was laying. She tried to roll over, but found that she still couldn't, that the body-numbing stupor was still there. Then she realized that she wasn't alone.
The bed squeaked and sagged to one side as a heavy body settled next to her. A hand reached out to trace the fine lines of her collarbone; following the seams of her meager shirt. A man was breathing heavily over her, his shallow, husky gasps catching in his throat. What was he getting at? What did he want? Surely...surely not that. Keira wanted to scream, to call for help, to fight or struggle. Her lips parted and a soft moan escaped her throat.
"Looks like the drugs are wearing off,"he said. His voice was harsh, almost indistinguishable between the hollow breaths,"I've wanted to be alone with you for so long..."
Suddenly he jerked and fell quiet, obviously listening to someone. Keira couldn't tell who. It sounded like they were yelling from far away.
"I can't stay,"the man said,"but I promise we'll do this again some other time."
And with that, was gone almost as swiftly as he had come.
"Keira, Keira, wake up,"tiny hands were shaking her arm. Had she fallen asleep? Keira couldn't remember. She groaned and rolled over.
"Daxter, baby, are you sure she's okay? Maybe we should call Samos,"a female voice crooned. It sounded like Tess. Keira opened her eyes and sat up.
"She lives,"Daxter bellowed,"hard night, sugar?"
Keira stared at her hands,"I'm not sure. I feel like I should be remembering something..."
"Oh, believe me, I've had THOSE days,"Daxter laughed.
"What are you doing here, anyway,"Keira asked.
"We wanted to make sure you were okay,"Tess said,"we saw you leave last night with Torn and Jinx-"
"-CARRIED out, actually,"Daxter cut in.
"So we called you this morning to make sure everything was okay,"Tess said.
"And when you didn't answer, we came over,"Daxter finished.
Keira stared at the ottsels in surprise. She never expected them to care this much. In a way, it was kind of touching.
"So what is it that you think you're forgetting,"Daxter asked.
Keira shook her head,"I don't know, I mean, I was at the bar, and I had a couple of Purple Lurkers, and then it was just like I fell asleep. But I wasn't really asleep. I could hear Torn and Jinx, and I could feel the zoomer, and...,"Keira trailed off.
"And what,"Tess asked.
Keira didn't answer. The memory was filtering back slowly, moving through her slight hangover until it bashed brutally and painfully clear in the forefront of her mind. There'd been someone in her house... Keira cringed, sliding towards the headboard to grasp a pillow. She ignored the confused concern on Tess's and Daxter's faces. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream out of frustration. Instead, she slowly replaced the pillow, fighting the urge to break down and prove just how much of a weakling she felt.
"What's going on?" Tess took Keira's hand.
Keira tossed the pillow back. She moved to answer Tess, and noticed something in her bed that didn't belong there. She picked it up, feeling the rough texture of the red fabric. It was a KG scarf.
"Hey, that's Tattooed Wonder's,"Daxter said,"oooohhh...should we even be asking what happened last night?" He smiled slyly.
"No,"Keira said. She was infuriated. How dare he come into her home like that! She crushed the fabric in her hands,"this is something I need to ask Torn about myself. Care to give me a lift?"
Daxter careened through the city streets at a pace that would make even Jak piss his pants. Tess clung to her lover with a mixed expression of exhiliration and mortal fear plastered on her face. Keira just tried to hold on, hoping to the gods that Daxter didn't kill them all.
"Slow down! You're not on the damn race track!" Keira screamed over the roar of the zoomer.
"And miss out on a chance to practice?" Daxter laughed,"No way, sister! I'm beating Jak this time!"
Blue Freedom League hellcat cruisers were hot on thier tail. Below them, footsoldiers joined in the chase with scattered orders:
"Slow down!"
"Pull over!"
And finally,
"OPEN FIRE!"
Keira screamed. If Daxter didn't kill them, she was sure the Freedom League would. Missaimed shots flew past thier zoomer. 'Oh, gods,'she thought,'we're all going to jail...' They blew through the slums; the dilapidated buildings a smear of brown and gray across Keira's vision. She knew they were getting close to Torn's, and the closer they got, the angrier she became. Daxter made a wild turn into the old dead-end alley. Hellcat cruisers veered into each other, crashing and burning in the narrow corner.
"I'll drop you off here,"Daxter yelled,"I'll be back as soon as I shake the rest of these goons!"
Keira leapt off of the speeding zoomer in front of the Underground's front door. Daxter u-turned in the alley, switching hover zones, and made a mad dash back towards the industrial area. The hellcats followed him, leaving Keira quite suddenly all alone. She turned towards the door, for a second wondering if what she was doing was a good idea. She walked through the door, amazed to find it unlocked.
The Underground was dark and humid. It reeked of musty old papers and mildew. There was a slight touch of liquor in the air. Keira stumbled forward in the dim light, feeling her way to the old war table, and clicked on the hanging light.
The place was a filthy mess. There were unmade bunks and clothing strewn everywhere. Crumbling city maps and empty bottles littered the floor. A broken down zoomer still hung in the corner accompanied by its family of moths. It looked as though Torn spent very little time there. A hammock hanging next to a few moldy boxes drew Keira's attention when it's occupant gave a loud snore and rolled over. Keira advanced on him, outrage overcoming fear as she raised her hand.
SLAP!
Torn was flipped out of his bed and landed with a dull thud on the floor. Keira held her burning hand as Torn stumbled to his feet cursing and holding his stinging cheek.
"What in the hell are you doing, dammit!" Torn's eyes shot pure hate at Keira,"and what in Mar's name are you doing in my house!"
"I should've been asking you the same question last night!" Keira screeched back,"Oh, wait, no, I couldn't because you DRUGGED ME, YOU PERV!"
"What in the gods names are you talking about!" Torn bellowed,"I wasn't even in your house last night!"
"Oh, yeah,"Keira laughed viciously,"then why was THIS in my bed!" She pulled the red scarf out of her pocket and threw it at Torn.
He caught it,"I wrapped this around you on our way to your place,"he said,"you were shivering. I TOLD Jinx to bring it back to me when he carried you inside."
"Wait,"Kiera held up a hand,"JINX carried me in?"
"Yeah, he was in there for a while. I yelled at him to hurry it up. He didn't try anything funny, did he?"
'Oh my gods,'Keira thought,'the man in my room was yelled at, too.'
"Keira?" Torn snapped her back to the present.
"I have to sit..,"she said, stumbling to the war table.
There was too much to think about. Why would someone go so far for just one person? Last night he seemed harmless. All he did was ask her out. Keira shuddered at the thought. But drugging her?
"Hey,"Torn was shaking her shoulder,"what did you mean when you said you were drugged?"
Keira buried her face in her hands,"I mean exactly that. Somebody slipped something to me last night at the bar. I passed out, but for some weird reason I could still hear you. I tried to tell you that something was wrong, but my words wouldn't come out of my mouth. The next thing I knew, I was at home and some WEIRDO was hanging over me in my bed. He only left because someone, I guess you, yelled at him,"Keira tensed,"he promised we'd do this again some other time."
She didn't understand why she felt compelled to tell Torn what she hadn't told Tess or Daxter. She didn't even know him all that well. The only thing that she could see that they had in common was Jak and Ashelin, and those two weren't worth thier salt in her mind. The one thing that she knew for sure about him was that he could be trusted. Ashelin herself had once even said that Torn never tells a lie. But then again she wondered if Ashelin was telling her the truth on that subject.
"Patelbera," Torn said,"it must have been patelbera. I should have known when you passed out so quickly."
"What in the gods-,"Keira said. Torn cut her off.
"Patelbera is an odorless, colorless drug found in certain roots. Your father would know all about it. It produces a sleeplike state in its victims while leaving thier minds open to hear, feel, taste, smell, even sometimes see what's going on around them. Praxis used to use it to subdue his prisoners,"he said,"Jinx must have slipped it to you when he brought you that other drink from the bar."
"You don't seem too surprised,"Keira mumbled.
"No,"Torn said, shooting her a strange look,"I guess I'm not. We've all known that Jinx held a strange crush on you. What surprises me more is how he got his hands on some patelbera. It's not exactly easy to come by. But all that's beside the point. I should have known better than to let Jinx carry you in alone. I should have known better than to have let Jinx come at all. I should have just driven us both. And I'm...I'm...,"Torn seemed to have trouble saying it.
"And you're what?" Keira couldn't help but smile.
"Well, dammit, this is hard! I never have to do this,"Torn protested.
"I know you're sorry,"Keira grinned,"I'm not going to make you say it. But what are we going to do about Jinx?"
"Don't worry about him,"Torn grunted,"I'll take care of it."