"You know what they say about hope. It breeds eternal misery." Spencer Hastings, Pretty Little Liars, 1:1, 2010

The ABC's of Perfect Mistakes

Chapter Eight: H is for Hope

Amberly paced impatiently in the apartment she shared with Parker, Lena, Tess and Shay. She knew Tess was working and Lena was on her way back, Shay was asleep in the loft upstairs but what made her worry was the fact she hadn't seen Parker since last night. Lena told her that Parker was safe with Jak and Daxter, maybe safer than anyone in the city but Amberly couldn't shake the feeling that they were dangerous –after all she didn't know anything about them expect the fact they were in the Dark Warrior Project.

Amberly ran back to the door when she heard it unlock but she was sad when she saw it was Lena, she dropped her soaked umbrella on the mat and went into the kitchen. Amberly hurried after her, she started bouncing on the balls of her feet waiting for Lena to knowledge her.

"Piss off Am," Lena snapped.

"Have you seen her?"

"Yes," Lena said dropping a brown package on the counter. "Krew asked her to drop this off."

Amberly stared at the package; she'd only seen it twice in her life. Once when Rhiannon gave it to her mother for safe keeping, and the second time was when her mother sent it, with other packages, to Kras City. Each time the package looked huge, so big as if it was filled with all the mysteries of the world and the answers to every question ever asked. Now it looked so small, so tiny and so worthless as if it was a piece of garbage. She leaned on the counter and stared at it. The sides were weathered and the white twine was now a dirty brownish gray. "Can you believe something so small will save all our lives?"

"Rhiannon said it was a temporary thing," Lena said wringing her hair out in the sink. "It may give us a week, maybe two before we all die. That is if we can't find that damn Tomb, which I think is a lost cause."

"What do you suggest we do then?"

Lena shrugged. "Find a way for everyone to get to Kras."

"Even the Baron?"

She smirked. "Okay maybe not everyone."

When they first got back to the Hip Hog, Parker wondered what Krew was so quiet about. He waited until everyone was out of the Baron before speaking. "Years ago, when I was an art 'collector', I hit the local museum to…" He paused and chuckled. "Borrow a famous statue of Mar, the founder of Haven City. In his hands, he held the Ruby Key to the city an artifact of surpassing beauty and of course priceless worth, eh."

"Oh I just love art!" Daxter commented.

Krew floated past Parker and touched a lock of her hair, she shuddered and moved away from him. "While smuggling the statue through the Sewers, ey, a grueling rainstorm flooded the place. The statue and five of my best men were swept away."

"That's terrible." Jak mumbled.

"I know," Krew whimpered. "I've missed that statue ever since." He growled and floated past the boys almost taking Jak's head off. "The Sewers have been so full of water and Metal Heads that I can't get anyone to go down there a retrieve the artifact." He floated back down and touched Jak's face. "But you're special Jak, you can do it."

"Hey what am I, chopped liver?" Daxter piped up.

"Oh don't I wish!" Krew whined, he floated away from them and flew around Parker. "Now go down there, drain the sewers and find the statue at the bottom. Bring back the Ruby Key artifact and it will open doors to our wildest dreams, ey!"

"Great more mucking around in the mud." Jak grumbled.

"I hate to burst your bathtub bubble baby, but that's not just mud down there." Daxter snapped back.

"I suggest you refrain from taking Squeaker with you," Krew chuckled as the boys moved to leave, Parker hugged herself and looked away from their curious looks. "You wouldn't want her falling in and getting another fever." He chuckled. "Although Erol did enjoy taking care of his sick Lieutenant, eh?" She turned and stomped out of the bar, ignoring the calls from the boys. She hated herself for being so weak in the Sewers, for being so helpless that she considered giving up on everything. She hated herself for getting kidnapped and taken to Kras, falling into the hands of Mizo and letting all those women die.

"Parker!" Daxter shouted jumping onto her shoulder, Parker looked away from his concerned gaze. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

"I'm fine." She whispered.

"No you're not." Jak snapped. "What was Krew talking about?"

"Nothing," She turned and moved to walk away but Jak caught her by the wrist.

"Nothing my ass. What happened in the Sewers years ago?"

She shrugged. "You weren't around at that time." Jak just stared at her before he started to drag her down the street. "Where are we going?"

"The Sewers."

She dug her heels into the pavement. "Hell no, go play in the mud by yourselves. There's no way I'm going back down there."

Jak turned on her. "We don't have time for this, let's get this damn key and finish up for today."

"I'm not going anywhere near that place," She crossed her arms and turned. "Take someone who wants to die down there."

Jak groaned. "Whatever, come on Dax."

Parker wandered back into the Underground only to get her leg attacked. She looked down at the Kid, he smiled widely at her as if she was a lost friend. The Shadow, also known as Samos, ran up the aisle to them. He braced himself on his knees and huffed. "Thanks for catching him, he's got it in his mind that I'm still a young man."

Parker chuckled and picked him up. "That's okay," He tugged on her necklace and giggled. "I can watch him for a while."

"He's going back to Kor as soon as Jak gets here," Samos huffed. "I'm too old to babysit." He glared down at the crocadog that ran through his legs. "Take the crocadog too, and don't let them get too rowdy."

Parker rolled her eyes. "He's a child, of course he's gonna be rowdy." She put him down and moved to leave but she paused at the door, what if the KG were looking for him still? He could be arrested again, she couldn't risk that for his sake and the movement's. So she took him back into the Hideout, she climbed into the bed and padded the space next to her. He hesitated for a second before climbing up beside her. She held out her communicator and showed him the faces of everyone in her contact list. He clapped insanely when he saw the picture of Lena and pointed to his left eyes.

"Do you know what colour that is?" He nodded and climbed off the bed, he grabbed something off Torn's desk and brought it back. A yellow pen. "That's right, Lena's left eye is yellow. Good job." She flipped to another picture, he stared for a second before pointing at the face. "That's Tess, she works at a bar. Can you say Tess?" He shook his head, she rolled her eyes and went to another picture. "How about this one? Do you know him?" He nodded quickly and pointed to her shoulder. "Good try but Daxter rides on Jak's shoulder, not mine."

She heard Torn groan behind her. "What's up Torn?" She called out switching to another picture, this one of Jak glaring at the camera.

"Everything." He snarled. "Five of our men were killed today and three more were captured. Also there's word that the guard is cracking down on those sports the red scarves." She looked at her wrist.

"Doesn't everyone wear them nowadays?"

"Yes." He mumbled.

"Parker," Samos said from the doorway. "The boys are on their way."

She nodded and got off the bed, she turned to watch the Kid follow her suit and run ahead of her, chasing the crocadog. Once outside and stood with Samos waiting for the boys; she never stood so close to the Shadow before. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

Samos huffed. "The past is in the past."

"But-"

He held up a hand when Jak and Daxter jumped off their zoomer, Jak avoided looking at her as he walked up to the Shadow. "I need you boys to escort the Kid to Kor at the Power Station. He promised to look out for the boy and I'm too busy to baby-sit right now."

"What's this kid's story?"

Samos glanced to Parker. "I found him just wandering the streets but that amulet around his neck may mean he's the lost heir to the city. Take the Kid and the mutt to the Power Station. Watch out for guard patrols and protect the Kid at all costs!" The Kid ran up to Jak and took his hand, he jumped back startled by his sudden touch of affection. "Oh and if you happen to lose the crocadog…"

"Hey Kid!" Parker shouted running from the boys.

"Hey Kid!" Jak shouted running after her. "Wait up!"

"We have to protect the Kid!" Daxter shouted.

Parker didn't have to hear that twice, she scooped the Kid up and kicked a guard in the chest. He fell backwards but grabbed her ankle, she gave a silent scream when she landed on her back. She didn't have time to mourn the air that left her lungs and threw a knife into his helmet breaking the glass. He dropped like a stone beside her. The Kid scrambled out of her arms and chased after the crocadog. She rolled on to her stomach and chased after him, she ducked a bullet and threw another knife. This one bounced off the wall behind the guard, she pressed the return button on her belt as she pulled out her pistols. She shot a guard down with four bullets, she turned as Jak crossed the bridge beside her. He was firing at the guards on their KG zoomers. She tackled a guard to the ground and struggled with him, he pinned her to the ground and pointed his gun at her head. She turned her head and bit his arm, she tasted the sharp tang of blood fill her mouth as he jumped back howling in pain. She kicked him off of her with a sharp push with both her feet, he rolled away from her and she got up running after the Kid. She scooped him up and jumped into the zoomer-car beside Jak.

"What the Hell happened to you?"

"It's not my blood," She snapped. "Now drive!"

Jak nodded and threw the car into drive causing Parker to jerk back but held onto the Kid as they took the corners in sharp curves. She held onto the dashboard and hissed to herself, she was going to kill Kor for making them do this. It was a short drive to the Power Station since Jak used a short cut instead of the regular route. She glanced to him as the Kid got out, Parker ran after him. She stumbled as a bullet grazed her shoulder, she hissed but kept running, not glancing back as they ran up the ramp. "Parker down!" Jak shouted and she felt hit her, she hit the ground hard and felt her teeth rattle as Daxter fell off Jak's shoulder. She felt Jak's weight move off her and she got up too, running hard and scooping up the Kid. The doors to the Power Station opened and they slid in, Jak fired once more before the doors slid close. She breathed heavily as the Kid scrambled out of her arms and ran after the crocadog.

"Samos told us to bring the Kid to you!" Daxter shouted as the Kid ran up and took the old man's hand.

"Thank you, I'll be sure to keep him close." The crocadog growled at Kor, baring its teeth before Jak touched it's head. It stopped the growling and gave a whimper of happiness. "Interesting, that insufferable mutt never liked anyone but the Boy before."

Jak smirked and looked to Daxter. "I guess I'm just good with animals."

"I hope we have enough Eco to keep the Metal Heads at bay. During my travels in the Wasteland I saw some of the bigger ones, awesome creatures."

"We saw a big one coming through a rift once and he was UGLY!"

Kor huffed. "I have some valuable information for you," Kor turned back to the group. "The Baron's conducting an excavation at the Dig, he's still looking for that ridiculous Tomb. Frankly, I don't think it exist." He glared down at the crocadog peeing on his staff. "But you might as well go out there and disrupt his operations just in case. Knock down all the scaffoldings at the site. That should set him back." He waved to the Kid. "Here's an Air Train pass to get you out there."

Parker sighed and rubbed her temples.

"What's wrong?" Jak asked as they left the Power Station.

"The Air Train is closed for the night, you'll have to go tomorrow morning."

"But-"

"We'll have to go back to the Hideout and sleep there, we'll get up early and handle all these stupid missions."

"How many do we have?"

"I have two, one from Lena and another mechanic, the second one is from Amberly." She sighed. "She most likely wants my help sorting something out or found a new document about that stupid Tomb."

"You don't think it exists."

"No I do not, it's a myth parents tell their kids to- Hey," She paused looking at his shoulder. "You're bleeding." She took his arm but he shrugged her away.

"It's nothing."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you still mad I didn't come into the Sewers with you?"

"No."

She sighed. "It'll get infected if we don't clean it, come on Amberly's got a kit back at the Hideout." This time she drove back to the Hideout since Jak couldn't lift his arm too high, even though he pretended it didn't hurt and that he couldn't feel anything; Parker knew better. She spent too much time with her Wolves, they always faked they were okay but they always said it through clenched teeth. She forced Jak to sit on one of the empty bunks, she went in the back and found a medical kit that she and Amberly made during the time she was bedridden. She sat across from Jak and took out saline water. "This shouldn't sting."

"What is it?"

"Sterile water," She said dampening a cloth. "It'll help clean out everything, you might have to take off your shirt."

"No." Jak snapped.

"And if the cuts worse than it appears…?"

"Then I'll lose an arm."

She chuckled and took his arm, his shirt was obviously ruined from the blood stain and the dirt. She tore the shirt a bit and wiped away the blood, dirt and something that looked like oil. Jak tensed as she worked, picking out pieces of blue fabric.

"You're lucky." She said. "It could've been worse," She reached for the kit and took out a veil of Green Eco. "Could've hit the bone or an artery."

"What about you?"

"Hmm?"

"What about you," He said pointing to her shoulder. "Didn't you get grazed as well?"

She nodded and put the Green Eco in her hand, it tingled when it came in contact with her. It grew brighter and she could smell the sharp scent of the Eco as she pressed it against his shoulder. She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes. She could see the Eco in his body. The Green Eco like a little healing mold, spreading across his skin and breaking under the surface of his skin. It moved quickly patching up broken cells and anything that was still bleeding, suddenly, something broke through, shocking her and burned her hand. She jumped back with a yelp, she looked down at her hand. An angry purple welt was forming and it stung, she clenched her fist and held it against her chest giving a small whimper. She's never been burned by Eco before and she never thought her own Eco would attack her so violently.

Jak reached out and took her hand, she opened it slowly. "Is it bad?" She whispered.

"Parker…" Jak said looking to her, Parker looked at her hand. Green Eco bloomed like weeds in her hand, bursting over each over before falling back on her skin. The burn was almost gone, fading into a small white line in her hand. She looked to Jak, he stared at her with wonder and curiosity.

He couldn't sleep. He tossed and rolled over again. In the bed next to his was Parker, she slept with a knife in her hand and Daxter snoring on her back. He sighed; Daxter must've gotten tired of his tossing and turning and finally moved to Parker's bed. He stared at her. She couldn't be the same girl that tortured him for the last two years. He remembered that girl. A cold-hearted girl with raven hair, eyes like ice and a heart to match. She hardly spoke to him unless she needed something, she forced boiling needles under his skin for six months until he was forced into the chair. She accepted kisses from Erol freely, laughed and giggled when they thought no one was looking. She commanded the Wolves, those heartless giant like men. He'd seen them before, drenched in blood when they visited the prostitute a couple of cells down from him.

Parker gave a sigh and snuggled closer to her pillow, she whispered something and started snoring softly. He rolled his eyes and rolled onto his back. What was with the Green Eco? It felt like the time Samos, wherever he was, used Eco to heal his wounds from the Lurkers back in Sandover. He felt the warm effect of the Eco sliding into his veins, touching and healing everything that was broken. He held up his hand, looking at the blisters and scars. When did he become so broken? So weathered? He knew she felt the burn of his darker side. His darker side, he creatively named Dark, still burned with hatred, still wanted her blood and wanted to bathe in it. Jak on the other hand couldn't help but feel something. Not like the love he felt for Keira but something else, something he couldn't name but he thought it could be the start of a trust… maybe a friendship?

TBC…