Darker by the Day

By JakandTornSweetheart

Disclaimer: … All print rights including book, novella, pamphlet, tickertape, neon sign, bathroom graffiti… and fanfiction. :P Just kidding, again.


Chapter 8

Reunited

Keira had fallen asleep propped in an old chair in the corner of her newly-blanketed area of the garage. She had been reading one of dozens of old books about very ancient Precursor artifacts. The book was now tented across her face as she napped.

She dreamed of home. The air was pure, the sand was white, the village was peaceful, and there wasn't a care in the world. Her father was there. Her friends were there. Everything was perfect.

Life was good.

Suddenly, a putrid smell invaded her senses and roused her from sleep. She peeled the book from her face and sniffed her shirt. The awful smell was there, but it wasn't her.

"What is that wretched smell!" she asked herself as she sat upright in her chair and moved her stiff legs from where they were propped against the Rift Rider.

"That would be us," came a deep voice from behind the curtain.

She nearly jumped, but managed to sound unsurprised. "Who's we? What do you want?" Nonchalantly, she went back to flipping through the pages of her book. Through the curtain, she could only see one figure. She supposed the other was either too short or the curtain was too thick to tell.

"Krew sent us. He said you were looking for a race driver?"

So he was the rookie? Tess could certainly add "deep sexy voice" to that long list she had. But her thoughts veered in another direction as her nose twitched in disgust. "That doesn't explain why you reek of shit."

"Krew sent us down into the sewers this morning on an errand," he said irritably. "You can thank him for the smell."

So he really was Krew's new muscle. She hadn't meant shit literally, but she could see – or rather smell – that she had hit the nail on the head. She didn't pity him at all.

"I'll be sure to do that," she replied and flipped a page. "You got here fast, but I'm far too busy to deal with you right now." Technically, she wasn't really lying.

"Is there anything we can do?" the voice replied. It was even deeper now, and she could tell he was trying to be smooth.

Before he could offer again, she snapped, "It's none of your damn business!"

"Okay, sorry!" he answered as if her tone actually smacked him on the hand or something.

Keira decided this guy was more of a pain in the ass in person that he was in theory. Tess could add that egotistical pain in the ass part to her list too.

"Look, if you really think you've got the guts to race in this town, you can try out my JET-Board prototype on the stadium course. Beat the challenge and maybe I'll consider you for my team. You're no good to me if you can't at least do that."

As he left, she went back to studying the page. The artifact was nothing like what she needed. Forlorn, she gazed at the two pictures she had tacked to her wall.

The Index of Precursor Artifacts had drawings of every artifact known to man. She had hung the pictures from the book on the wall, but there hadn't been one iota of information on either of the ones she needed. All she knew was that her whole operation depended on something called the Heart of Mar gem and a Time Map. She had no proof either existed except for her own memory. Even if they had existed at one point, there was no guarantee that they could still be found.

Sighing, she placed the book back over her face, propped her feet up, and waited for the smell to wake her again.


Jak walked along the Stadium wall to the entrance at a slower pace than usual. One would think that he would have run there from the over-excitement about the JET-Board. Yet he could hardly think of that at all.

There had been something very familiar about the woman who sat behind the curtain. He couldn't remember ever hearing her voice, but he felt that he knew it somehow.

It was strange. It made him feel strange.

Maybe he had just stayed in the Sewers too long.

"Man, she was hot. Wasn't she, Jak?" Daxter said from his usual perch.

"You couldn't even see her, Dax." His thoughts drifted back to her voice. Despite its harsh edge, her voice had been low; sensual even. Her tone had been completely confident. This was a woman he wouldn't mind spending time with.

He suppressed a grin.

"Yeah, but you couldn't miss those curves, right? Hot!"

About that, Daxter was right. Her hair was long, and her curves were indeed enticing. Her legs were shapely and long. Her waist was tiny and slender. And her breasts… well, there weren't really any words he knew that could describe them. Her posture, like her voice, had been nonchalant and confident. She acted completely sure of herself.

Torn was right. She wasn't any ordinary woman.

She wasn't like any woman he had ever met. Of that, he was sure.

"Well, Dax, we'll just have to shatter the Stadium record so we can impress the pants off her!"

"Yeah!"


This time, Keira heard him coming.

"We beat the stadium challenge," he proclaimed rather smugly as he set foot in the garage.

Apparently, he now reeked of something other than shit.

"Well whoopity-damn-doo," she answered, her tone dripping with loathing.

So much for impressing her… "You don't like us, do you?"

"I don't have to like you. I don't have to like anyone."

"I gathered that," he answered sarcastically. Then, as he looked at shelves full of trophies, an idea struck him. "Isn't it true that the city champion gets to tour the Palace?"

The sudden change of subject made Keira suspicious. "Yeah… why?"

"Can you get me into the Palace?"

Ah… now she understood. She smirked. "A friendly visit I gather?"

"Yeah… I'm a real fan of the Baron."

She considered the best way to get to the Palace without walking through the front door. "Step closer to the curtain."

"What?" Now she was really confusing him.

"I said step closer! And keep it down!" she snapped. "I know Krew sent you, but you really work for the Underground, right?"

"How did you…"

"Torn told you the garage mechanic would be your new contact, didn't he?"

"You are our new boss!"

Keira was getting tired of this "our" and "we" business. She was beginning to think he had a split personality. "Look, do you want to get to the Palace or not?"

He sighed in a rather exasperated way. "Fine. Go on."

"Because I'm grateful to you for saving Vin's life, and because I'm due to pay a visit to the Baron myself, I'll help you out. There's an old maintenance elevator in one of the Palace's support towers. I need you to go ask Vin if he can somehow get it up and running. Contact me if it works. And don't tell Torn about any of this."

Jak really didn't like taking orders from a girl, especially a girl as unpleasant as this one. And he really didn't like having her tag along. But if it got him to the Palace, what choice did he have?

"We got it. We'll call you."

As he turned to leave, she spoke again. "Oh, new boy."

"Yeah?"

She lowered her tone to a menacing level. "If I find out you went without me, I'll shoot you myself."


As Jak drove toward the Slums for the last two cannons, Jak mumbled, "She's infuriating!"

"Makes her even hotter doesn't it?" Daxter yelled in his ear. He yelped as Jak changed back and forth between the two zoomer zones to avoid traffic and pedestrians. "Would ya stop with that! I'm the one gettin' thrown around up here!"

Jak just growled. "Well than you better hang on for this!" he answered and rolled off the zoomer for it to crash into the cannon. As soon as he stepped on the activation pad, he quickly hijacked another vehicle before the surrounding KG could catch up.

"It doesn't make her hotter," Jak said in response to Daxter's earlier comment. "It only makes her more troublesome. I don't see how anyone can stand her!"

Jak stayed in the lower zone to round the tight corner. It was the one place in Haven that could make or break a fast getaway. Who the hell built the road around that building anyway? Probably that idiot genius, Mar.

"I saw ya lookin' at her. You like her."

"I couldn't even see her. She's probably old or ugly or has too many muscles or something. Besides that, she's a pain in my ass."

"She's probably not as hot as Tess, but I bet she's a close second. I'd bet my tail on it."

Jak smirked. "Alright. I'm sure Torn wouldn't mind me borrowing his knife if it's to cut off your scrawny tail."

Daxter gulped even though he knew his friend was only kidding. Wasn't he?

"Hang on, Dax!" The last cannon was in sight. To run the zoomer into it, Jak stood and did a backward somersault to the ground. He could see the KG pouring in from all sides now, so he quickly pressed the last activator and hopped into another abandoned zoomer. He always wondered who in their right mind would leave their zoomer unmanned in the middle of the Slums.

Oh well… their loss and his gain.

Vin came over his communicator confirming that the B-zone power grid was back up and the elevator was operational. He even wished them good luck in getting themselves killed.

That guy was seriously paranoid.

He pressed the comm. link in his ear to contact his new, seriously curvy, pain in his ass, female boss to report. "We got the elevator working again."

For some reason, he realized that he didn't even know her name.

"Good work. The elevator is just inward of Main Town. I'm sending your GPS the location now. How long will it take you to get there?"

Jak looked at the GPS map. "If I haul ass, I can be there in 10, easy."

She could get there in half the time since she was already in Main Town and could make it most of the way through the waterways. "I can be there in 5. Get there faster."

That woman was never happy. "How will I know it's you?"

"You'll know it's me. Trust me."

Jak could hear a commotion in the background. "At least tell me your name," he said. Then, a continuous crash of metal on metal nearly burst his eardrum.

"Damn it! Don't bother me with stupid shit! You may have destroyed the Ammo Dump and saved Vin's ass, but you're still a short spit from the bottom rung on this ladder. Don't get too proud of yourself, rookie, or I'll be the one to knock your ass back in place!" And with that, Keira cut off the communicator.

Mad as hell, she looked down at the sickening pile or wrenches and ratchets on the floor. Picking them up and putting them where they belonged would take precious time.

Screw it. She could pick them up in the morning.

Without a second thought, she shut the automatic garage doors and headed for a conveniently empty zoomer. She grinned. People in Main Town were far too trusting.


Jak stopped and turned off his zoomer just around the corner from the elevator. "Either stay here or stay low. I want you to get out of here if this is some sort of trick. Got it?"

Not waiting on Daxter to answer, he stood and rounded the corner. Even with the low sun in his eyes, he could see the figure standing on the ramp was female. The woman definitely had the right kind of curves for it to be her. Her hair was long and had a deep blue hue to it. From this angle, she was rather attractive.

The silence made her especially attractive.

The figure stood with one hand on her hip and the other shielding her face from the sun. She looked toward the sky as if looking for something in particular. He made special care that she didn't hear his approach, but somehow she sensed him anyway.

"What took you so long?" she said, still looking toward the skies. "We've already got a bad start. A star fell from the sky. My father always used to say that a falling star at sunset was a bad omen."

Jak stopped mid-step. For a second, he stopped breathing. Even his heart stopped. Her words has shot through him like a bullet.

Then, suddenly everything made sense.

She sat in between his legs, her back against his chest, and he had a blanket wrapped around the both of them. Their eyes were fixed on the night sky above.

"Jak, did you see it?" He heard the smile in her voice, and he hummed an affirmative in response. He hugged her closer with the increasing chill of the night. "Every time I see a shooting star, it reminds me of something my father told me long ago. 'There's a superstition,' he said, 'that when a star falls something very important is going to happen, and that you wish upon the star in hopes that the event will end in good fortune. But you should always beware when a star falls at sunset. Something terrible always happens if a star falls at sunset.'"

He would never forget it. There was no way he could have. That night had been the best night of his life. He had never heard of that superstition before, and he hadn't heard of it since. It could only come from one person.

You should always beware when a star falls at sunset. Something terrible always happens if a star falls at sunset.

From one person. He almost couldn't believe it. Didn't really believe it.

This curvy, gorgeous, quick-witted, pain-in-the ass woman was none other than the love of his life. This woman was Keira Hagai.

Maybe that loud crash in his ear had not only caused hearing damage, but made him delirious.

She turned so that the she blocked the sun, and his breath hitched. Seeing her face confirmed it. She looked nothing the same, but this was his Keira alright.

Keira turned and set eyes on him for the first time. Tess' description fit him to a 'T'. His long, blonde hair had a green hue at the roots. His body was tall, strong, and plenty muscled. His jaw was strong as well and his face was angular. Tess had failed to mention his adorable goatee. But it was his eyes and those goggles that had her looking twice.

His goggles were different, yet looked the same. She had seen Jak with that look for as long as she could remember. She had said it the night before. No one had Jak's eyes. Yet his eyes looked so much like Jak's. The deepest blue she had ever seen.

Her breath caught. Her heart stopped. It couldn't possibly really be him… could it?

"Keira?"

Being off-guard at his exclamation, Keira immediately switched into soldier mode. In a flash, she unholstered her laser pistol and steadied it right between his eyes. "How do you know my name?"

At Jak's mention of Keira's name, Daxter came around the corner in a hurry. He couldn't see anything past Jak's solid form.

Keira advanced all the way to the edge of the ramp, showing a rare case of apprehension. "Who are you?"

Just as fast as he had taken the corner, Daxter crawled up to his perch on Jak's shoulder.

The sudden movement had almost caused Keira to pull the trigger. Her barrel shifted in Daxter's direction. The quick advance had almost cost him his head.

But what he saw was even more shocking. She really was Keira. They had found Keira!

"Daxter?"

"Keira?"

He leapt off one best friend's shoulder and toward another. His face landed conveniently in the middle of her chest, but she didn't seem to mind. She hugged the little ottsel to her anyway.

She had finally found her friends. And to think, they had been under her nose the whole time.

"Oh, Daxter! I never ever thought I'd be so glad to see your furry little mug!"

After a long, cozy moment, he regrettably tore his face away from her bosom and she set him down.

Her eyes settled on Jak, and she jumped down from the ramp. He seemed taller. He seemed a lot more than taller. He was much different.

For someone so in tune with her emotions, Keira had no idea what she was feeling or how she was supposed to feel.

"Jak," she said in a strange tone of voice. Her hand rose to his face and hovered over his cheek. She didn't, wouldn't dare touch him.

His hand seemed to mimic hers and rose to her left cheek, tracing in the air a scar that hadn't been there before.

A split-second later, their hands were at their respective sides, and each was avoiding the other's gaze. Keira surveyed their surroundings in the hopes that they hadn't made a scene. "We need to get going. Getting power to the elevator was the easy part.

"Getting to the Palace is going to be hell."

To be continued…


And that's how Jak and Keira re-met. :D So how was it? Horrible? Not what you thought? A nice surprise? Liked the game version better? Let me know!

Congratulate me again! I'm updating after only four more days, and this chapter was easily two Word pages longer. This is a nice little habit I'm making. But don't get used to it! I know it's nice now, but I can't promise this all the time. You've caught me on a hot streak. I get those about once every four or five years, I guess. Ha ha!

I think the whole huggy/kissy reunion is cheesy, but I promise some nice J/K action next chapter. There'll probably even be a little R&R time to catch up on stuff. :D Wonder how Torn's gonna feel about his two best members of the Underground getting together… if he cares at all? Hmmm…

I've got the next chapter all mapped out in my head, so maybe I can post this one soon too!

- JATS


Thanks again to all my reviewers! You guys are the best!

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