Jak's POV

Zoe was quiet, which was unusual for her. She used to talk my ear off, but now she was silent as she killed the incoming metal heads easily. "Something on your mind, dear?" Daxter asked, breaking the awkward silence. I rolled my eyes. Way to go Dax. "No." She responded, crouching behind a few crates, ready to aim at another group. I noticed a chain dangling from her neck, A bronze and amethyst pendant hanging onto it. It looked familiar. "Hey, you found your necklace." I pointed it out, she looking down at it and played with it for a minute with her free hand. "Yeah I found it in the bazzar oddly enough." She said, "But let's focus. There's a few more groups of these freaks before we even reach the admin station." I'd forgotten that Zoe was with the underground before I was. I knew she was probably worried for me, wanting to break me out. I knew she'd blamed herself for my imprisonment, but I didn't. It was the Baron's fault. She needed to see that. "Ready boys?" she asked, cocking her gun and I doing the same. We jumped out from our hiding spot, taking care of the groups of Metal heads in our way and finally reaching where I assumed Vin was. Zoe stood on one side of the door, I doing the same. "What're you-" but she quickly hit the button, a man crying out and beginning to shoot. "Stay back!" he yelled, continuing to shoot. "do something Jak! This guy's crazy!" Daxter called out. "Vin, you idoit it's me, Zoe! Here to save your pathetic arse!" she yelled over the sounds of bullets. "Stay back." He warned. Zoe looked at me for help. "if we were here to kill you, you wouldn't be talking right now!" I yelled, she giving me a look. I shrugged. He stopped shooting. "Friendlies?" he questioned. Zoe poked her head in. "Oh thank goodness. So. Where's the army?" He asked. "Uh. We're it." Daxter answered, Zoe nodding in agreement. What? Just you three? Oh. Hi zoe. When did you get here?" he asked, she facepalming. "What do they think I'm worth?" he asked, leaning against his stockpile of crates. "im beginning to wonder that myself. If you want you can stay here and be metal meat. But we're leaving before those monsters get back." I said, rubbing my chin. Zoe looked at me appalled, but focused on Vin who shot out of the room and knocking over Zoe, who I caught. I could feel her skin warm up. Was she… blushing? I ignored it for now, but that was a discussion I needed to have with dax. I stood her up and she fixed her hair. Then we all jumped through the nearby warp gate, Vin setting up in there. Zoe was talking to him, I having a moment to talk to Daxter without being overheard. "Hey Daxter. You uh, notice anything weird about Zoe?" I asked him, leaving the station. "you mean besides the fact that she's acting strange and awkward?" he tilted his head. "Yeah." I sighed, getting on a nearby zoomer. "I don't know man, but besides me, she's the closest thing you got in this messed up town. And if you guys don't clear the awkwardness I'm going to lock you two in a closet until it's fixed." He warned, we now racing towards the saloon. Zoe probably had stuff to do with Vin, and I needed a head start on this Racing thing. Apparently the winner of the competition got a tour of the palace, and that's when I could get to the baron. "It'll be okay, Jak. Zoe will pull through. She always does." Daxter reassured, patting my shoulder. ***************** Zoe's POV

"Hey." I greeted as I entered the race garage, seeing the silhouette of the mechanic behind the curtain. "oh, Zoe! Didn't hear you come in. What can I do for you?" "I wanna join your racing team." "Whatya mean?" "I heard you were looking for a driver. I can drive and put a little kick in an engine. Believe it or not, I know a lot about these babies." "hmm. Krew told me that he was already considering a different driver, he should be on his way now. I told krew if he found a driver who could get here from the saloon in under three minutes, they'd get the spot." "Oh. Well what about a second mechanic?" I inquired. "I really don't work well with others, sorry." "Sheesh you're really starting to remind me of another mechanic I know. Always particular about her work." I sighed, being Reminded of Keira. We'd only begun to become close after Jak, Daxter and I started our journey to save the sages from Gol and Maia. "So if you already have a mechanic then you don't need me." She says. Okay, the way she said that really sounded like Keira. Maybe… no, it couldn't be. She got lost in the portal. "Well, unfortunately in an… accident she was lost. Well as in I don't know where she is. Or her Father." I said, jumping onto a work table. Now noticing the blueprints right next to me. Wanting to change the subject, I mentioned them."These are neat, but the exhaust system is too big, it'll slow down the body and cause the anti gravity boosters to work too hard." I said. "Not if I counterbalanced the boosters to make up for it already." She responded. She really knows her stuff. I thought. "Again, if you downsized the exhaust the pipes, or replaced it with a much cleaner power source it'll go faster and be easier for your racer to turn tight curves without flipping. The weight even without the driver is too much to be aerodynamic." "So you do know your stuff. I'm impressed. Any ideas on a better power supply?" :Well I used to use power cells, but those seem to be in short supply around here.. no eco vents either." "Power cells? Eco vents? Who exactly are. you?" "Just a country girl forced into a war she didn't want to fight." I said, crossing my arms. "sounds tough, but-" "Uh, hello?" A voice called as they entered, rounding the corner to reveal Jak. "I knew it." I sighed, his eyebrows raised when he spotted me. I just placed a finger on my lips as to tell him to be quiet about us knowing each other. In case the girl behind the curtain wasn't who I was thinking of. "Krew said you were looking for a race driver?" jak asked still looking at me. "I'm a bit busy right now. You must be Krew's new errand boy. Look. I don't mean to be rude, but you did get here fast but im not interested in any new drivers right now. And I got work to do." "is there anything we can do?" jak asked, leaning against a table. Oh I wanted to smack him. "you only got here fast because I left one of my fast zoomers at Krew's." I pouted, not wanting to give jak all the credit.

"No! I'm.. um working on a new secret vehicle project." She says hastily. Okay, that was suspicious.

"Okay, sorry." Jak said.

"it's not so secret if you leave your blueprints out In the open, girl." I said, setting down the stack of papers. "Also, you could have told me you weren't looking for drivers, instead of giving me the runaround with the mechanic crap." "that's just a side project. But listen, if you think you got the guts to race in this town, try taking my prototype jet board out on the stadium course. Beat the stadium challenge and maybe I'll consider you for my team." She says. "Alright." He says, walking back out to the city, I tagging along. "So, Jak. Are you serious about this? I mean, you know who's the top racer, right?" I asked. He not stopping. "Of course I'm serious, Z. But we need to do this so we can get to the Baron." "I mean we could always punch a few guards. Beat some of his stuff up. You know his favorite sentry guns and blam! front row tickets to his castle." I shrugged. "Why are you so worried? Weren't you just in there to try to race too? Where's the concern then?" he asked. "Because I don't care what happens to me." I said, we now in the staduim. He stopped now. Turning to face me. "Well I care what happens to you. Those.. two years of torture, I only thought about you." "Jak.." I looked down, feeling a little dumb for the way I was treating Jak these past few days. It was all a rush and I was so hellbent on revenge I'd forgotten Jak's feelings. I saw his hand reach for my wrist, I looking up to see his face. Those soft eyes… reassuring my doubts. "It's going to be okay, Zoe. I'm tough and we've both been through a lot, so… if we stick together Nothing is gonna stop us."

"but…" he pulled me to him, pressing his forehead against mine gently.

"You trust me, right?" He asked. "With every fiber in my being." I answered. "Then let's kick ass. Together."