A/N:

As always, I do not own the Jak and Daxter franchise.

Another short chapter, but I promise it's leading somewhere.

The sand felt warm against Lillie's cheek as her eyes slowly opened to the blinding Sandover sun. She rolled over to her left. Jak was resting silently with his hands folded behind his head; Daxter nestled on his chest. She smiled. Days like this were most treasured amongst the trio. Sure adventure was always on the brain, but it was high time the crew took a break.

Lillie's wounded arm and Daxter's singed fur were begging for it anyway.

She was caught in her daydreams, oblivious to the fact that Jak was waking up from his afternoon nap. Deep blue eyes met green as Jak reached over to give Lillie's forehead a poke.

"HEY!" She jumped and gave a pout.

Jak chuckled; the movement of his chest stirring Daxter from his slumber.

"Whazzah…Who is moving the earth?" Daxter rolled his head and wobbled onto his feet.

Jak tilted his head up and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you two daisies doing up?" Daxter blinked.

"I just got up. I think I'm going to head home for a bit," Lillie winced touching her arm, "I need to change my bandage."

"Alright well, remember to meet us by the usual spot at dusk Lilliebug," Daxter stretched and yawned, "We need to find my missing pair of goggles."

"I hate Misty Island," Lillie grimaced, "Can we find a new stomping ground?"

"But I neeeeeeeeeeeed them!" Daxter whined. "I feel down right naked without'em!"

Jak's shoulders bounced as he chuckled to himself watching the two have their discussion. He pointed at Lillie's arm, causing her to pause mid conversation. He frowned in concern.

"Oh right, I'm gonna go," Lillie brushed off the sand from her knees.

Jak stood up causing Daxter to flail to the ground,

"GIVE ME A WARNING BIG GUY!"

He scurried up Jak's leg, crossing his arms when he reached his shoulder.

Lillie laughed and leapt towards Jak giving him a big hug, and took a moment to pat Daxter on the head. She felt a chill as if someone was watching her, and turned towards her hut in the distance. Jak tilted his head as if to ask her what was wrong.

"Ah nothing, just felt something strange," Lillie shrugged, "I'll see you guys tonight!"

she smiled and waved goodbye.

Lillie jogged into her hut and glanced around looking for new bandages for her arm. It wasn't cut that badly, but just enough for it to sting in the breeze when open. She dug her head into a miscellaneous chest, sifting around for an extra roll of gauze.

"Getting a little chum with Jak are we?"

Lillie paused and glanced over her shoulder to find her sister with a scowl on her face and hands on hips.

"You serious right now Keira?" Lillie groaned. She thought for a moment about the strange feeling she felt when she hugged Jak.

"You were spying you creep" Lillie inwardly smirked.

"N-no! Just you seemed extra smiley just now!" Keira stuttered.

Lillie chuckled. Her sister was as insecure as they come. Keira hated the fact that she got more time with Jak. What Keira didn't know, was that Lillie would trade some of that time for favor from their father. The old sage obviously appeared to care for Keira more than Lillie, and treated her like one of the boys.

Whatever Lillie created, Keira could do it better. Their father was no stranger to giving his opinions.

"Keira, I'm fine. You know a thousand times once again, nothing is there between myself and Jak. He is one of my best friends, and we've been running around causing havoc for years,"

Lillie found what she was looking for and got started on replacing her old bandage.

"Besides," she hissed as her wound hit the air, "Why did he attempt to kiss ya if he likes me?"

Keira blushed from embarrassment at the thought of them almost sharing a kiss the previous week. She sighed,

"Sorry sis," she slumped her shoulders, "I didn't mean to come off suspicious. I should know better…again."

She walked over to Lillie and took over her bandaging,

"You keep me sane sometimes."

"That's my job!" Lillie beamed.

Keira laughed, "What would I do without you little one."

"Don't call me that, you're not even that much older," the younger sister turned up her nose.

Keira finished wrapping her sister's arm and pulled her into a hug. Lillie nuzzled into her sister's shoulder and smiled. If her father didn't show how much he loved her, Keira sure did. Despite the differences and her jealousy streak.

'I don't want this to ever change,' Lillie thought to herself.

Lillie woke up to her headache absent. She took in her surroundings, and felt her heart beat faster in a panic.

"Oh you're awake sugar!" Tess beamed and bounced towards her.

"Where am I?" Lillie groaned attempting to prop herself up on her elbows.

"The Underground HQ," the blonde replied matter-of-factly, while feeling Lillie's head to see if she had a fever,

"You've been sleeping for a few days. Last night you had a nasty fever! I figured it was the rain."

"I need to go home," Lillie blurted.

"And how are you going to do that?" Tess mused.

Lillie paused, replaying the events that led up to her waking up in the Underground. She casted her eyes downward and felt a cry in her throat,

"I...I don't know yet."

Tess sighed, "Okay honey. For now, I've convinced Torn to keep you here, but you need to make yourself useful. What skills do you have?" she got up towards a large, dusty wardrobe and looked inside.

"Well back home my best buds and I were always getting into trouble," Lillie began, "Exploring, fighting off buggers, sailing, you name it, we did it."

Lillie smiled as she reminisced, "I can also work on machinery. Guess I can call myself a bit of a mechanic, not as good as my sister to give myself the full title though."

"Well you sound perfect and level-headed for where I was planning to place you, "Tess said as she held up some shorts.

"What do you mean?" Lillie eyed the shorts. They were certainly not her style at the moment since she was somewhere unfamiliar.

"You'll be on my little brother's team, those three always get into trouble and they need someone cute and logical," Tess pulled out some black pants.

Lillie crossed her arms, "Can I pick out my own clothes?"

Tess nodded and stepped out of the way of the wardrobe.

"Also, what do you mean by all of that? Little brother? Who keeps getting into trouble?" Lillie pulled out a light blue cropped tank and grabbed the black pants out of Tess's hands.

"Well he isn't my real little brother. They're a group of younger guys that are pretty well endowed racers. They also work for the Underground for quite a bit of our missions. However they keep making too much of a mess," Tess took out a first aid kit.

"I-I still don't know what you're talking about," Lillie slumped her shoulders, "What's that kit for?"

"Well we should probably clean up your feet before you put on some boots," Tess shrugged, "They don't wear shoes where you're from?"

"Something like that," Lillie popped herself back onto the bed.

Tess knelt down and undid Lillie's makeshift bandage shoes,

"I have some extra boots that you might be able to fit. After I'm done here, go ahead and freshen up and get changed. There's a shower stall through that door. Take your time, you look a bit…rough."

Lillie rolled her eyes and winced as Tess put some ointment on the scratches around her feet. After about fifteen minutes, Lillie felt her swollen feet become a bit numb. She figured the medicine was kicking in, which was a good thing. Tess nodded when she was done and told her to meet at the Hip Hog Saloon in about an hour to meet her new teammates, and mentioned something about seeing a garage sometime.

Left alone, Lillie stretched her arms over her head and headed towards the shower. She hissed as hot water hit her back, and she focused on washing away dirt and grime from her body and from her hair. Anything to keep her mind from wandering towards what was presently happening.

After about a half an hour, Lillie emerged clean and freshly dressed. The clothes fit a bit snug, but she was pretty used to playful clothing. Her goal was to blend in and not look, "ancient," as Tess had called her at one time. Slinging her goggles around her neck, Lillie headed towards the doorway. The scowling guy, Torn, was not anywhere in the common area. Matter of fact, it was pretty quiet, and she slowly realized she didn't know where she was going.

"Ah! A map! Thank you so much Tess for your help!" Lillie sarcastically groaned as she kicked a chair to the side. It tumbled into a nearby wall, causing Lillie's eyes to travel upward toward what looked like a map of the city.

"Oh…" she muttered, "Well I'll be darned."

Her finger traced the large circle indicating where she was at, and attempted to follow where the Hip Hog Saloon was located. Once she somewhat memorized ('I am pretty sure it's somewhere around here') where it was, she made sure her boots were tightened and headed up the stairway towards the entrance.

As soon as she emerged, a loud zooming sound approached her, causing her to hit the ground in surprise. A group of young men laughed as they flew overhead on hovering cycles.

Lillie's eyes widened and she screamed,

"Watch it you good for nothing Yakkos! You almost hit me here!"

A young man with short blond hair and goggles over his eyes reared his machine around to face her,

"Sorry cutie, would love to chat, but we gotta run!"

He flashed a dimpled smile and raced off to meet the other men as they race down the alleyway.

Lillie's cheeks flared red as she kicked the dirt. It wasn't a nice way to start off the day in her opinion. She also wondered what kind of machinery they were flying. Lillie was pretty sure she saw something of the sort in Keira's workshop before, but as something her sister deemed a failed prototype after wrecking it during the trio's previous adventure.

'Alright, back to the bar,'

Lillie sighed as she headed down the same alleyway, now filled with kicked up dust from the racers.

'Can't be coincidence that their zoomers looked just like Keira's, could it?'