Author's Note

Thanks everyone for waiting patiently for these updates. Between work and being sick, I have zero time to write these things (but I still do because I love them so much). Anywho, Happy Birthday to EcoSeeker! And thank you to anyone who's been reading this story, dealing with the crazy update times and haven't come to Canada to kill me.

The ABC's of Perfect Mistakes

Chapter Twenty-Two: V is for Valour

Jak felt the crack of her nose against the butt of his gun, he winced and drew it back. Parker's head rolled to the side showing that her hearing aid was cracked and her head was bleeding. The Dark Eco crept up her arm like an ink stain; the Dark Eco Crystal still sparked in her hand. Jak nudged it away with the toe of his boot, jumping back when it sparked at him. The stone sparked and rose from the ground, Jak watched it before it shot into the sky and exploded in a blaze of purple light. He shielded his eyes before bending down to Parker. Blood bubbles came from her nose, he ran his hand through his hair smearing blood along his face; at least she was breathing.

He felt the bullet before he heard it. It hissed against his arm, he covered it and dropped to his knees beside Parker's body. She gave a groan and grabbed at the ground, he placed a hand on her stomach. "Don't move." He whispered as Amberly aimed the gun at him and fired again. The bullet pinged against the ground and hit the wall.

"Amberly!" Lena shouted. "Stop! Are you insane!?"

"He killed Parker!" She screamed. "I knew he'd kill her!"

"She's not dead!" Jak shouted.

"Stop touching her!" She screamed again firing another bullet. Jak ducked covering Parker's head.

"I'm warning you!" Lena shouted running towards the girl, Torn, Ashelin, Olivia and Daxter on Keira's shoulder ran with her, stopping just shy of Amberly. "He's killed the Metal Head Leader! Don't you get it, it's all over!"

"No, no, no," She sobbed shaking her head. "It's never over..." She lifted the gun with a shaky hand and pointed it at Jak. "He's killed her... it's never going to be the same... ever again." She fired again but this time the bullet imploded in the air, showering Yellow Eco to the ground. Jak looked to Lena as she stepped forward again, her yellow eye a blaze.

"Last time, Amberly put the gun down!"

"No!" She screamed firing once more. This time Jak saw where the Yellow Eco came from. Lena's eye shot out another blast, this one shooting Amberly's gun right out of her hand. She ran at Jak before Torn tackled her to the ground, two other guards ran up to him as he pinned her good arm behind her back. Jak glanced to Lena as she walked over and bent down beside Jak. She looked at his chest and chuckled.

"She got you good."

"I don't know what's funny about this." He snapped at her.

"Relax." Lena said waving away his anger. "It's not deep."

"It's in all the way to the hilt!" He shouted.

"Oh, bitch, bitch, bitch." Lena grumbled and waved to Daxter as he ran over. "Welcome back Dax!"

"Enough of this cheery bullshit." Daxter shouted. "Teach me how to do that thing you did with your eye!"

"You mean the Eco thing?"

"Yes the Eco thing!? How'd you do that?"

Lena shrugged. "After my accident I've been able to use Yellow Eco, I don't use it often though."

"Why not!?" Daxter shouted. "That was awesome! You can blow things up with your mind!"

"Please," Parker squeaked. "Make him be quiet."

"You're alive!?" Daxter gasped.

Parker groaned and sat up holding her head. "Barely... I have a massive headache," She glared at Jak.

"Damn girl," Daxter cheered as she tried to get herself up. "You're like a cockroach!"

Parker glared at him. "Screw you Daxter, and the horse you rode in on."

Keira pulled the last of the wire out of Jak's skin and tied it in a knot, she gave him a sympathetic look before cutting the thread close to his skin. "You've saved the world again."

He gave a quick nod but kept his eyes on bed next to his, a doctor came in and escorted the body out of the room. The solider had died from massive internal bleeding, he was also missing half his face and Jak was sure he would've lost his leg if he survived. Keira volunteered to fix Jak's arm while he waited for the x-ray on how deep the knife was. He took the pain pills the doctor offered and ignored the glares he got from the other patients -he heard everyone was

starting to blame him for the fall of the city. Even though he wasn't even in the city, he was busy killing Metal Kor for the city.

"Does it hurt?" Keira asked motioning to the knife.

What hurt the most was his pride. He'd let Parker get the best of him again, stabbing him like a hunk of meat and he let Amberly shot him, not once, but twice. He glanced to the bed on his right, Parker was laying there before they moved her for an x-ray of her ribs, Lena said she might have broken a couple since she a bomb blew her across the court-yard like a ragdoll.

Jak brought his knee up under his chin and watched Keira wander around the room. Ever since he knew her, she always busied herself when she was nervous. When Daxter broke his leg trying to jump off the roof of Samos' hut into the ocean, Dax didn't count of the low tide. Keira ran around outside collecting stones and sorting them by colour, size and weight. At the time, he found it amusing and humoured the girl but now watching her pick apart the six bed room was killing him. He needed alone time, he needed quiet. He ran his hand through his hair again, listening to the crunch of blood and sand from the Metal Head Nest.

No what he needed was a shower.

"Hey Jak," A doctor said walking in, Lena briefly introduced him as Slim, a good friend of hers and Parker. He waved an envelope at the blond. "Saw your x-rays, you're looking good. The knife cut your lung but with some Green Eco it'll be fine and with a couple of days for recovery, you'll be ready take on anything." He laid the envelope on the bed side table. "Of course, I'm worried about infection but we'll be watching for that. I called ahead to the surgeon and he's just finishing up ano-"

"Can we just take the knife out now?"

Slim blinked. "Huh?"

"Take the knife out. Here. Now." Jak demanded.

"If we take you the operating room we'll be able to give you pain medication."

"You already gave me something." He snapped. "Just take it out now."

Slim paused at the edge of his bed. "Okay... if you're sure."

"I'm sure." Jak nodded lying back on the bed.

Parker jumped awake, covering both her ears. Everything was too loud as if someone hit the volume button all at once. There was a distant buzzing in her right ear and gave her a shiver as she curled into a fetal position. She jumped away someone's hand, cold yet familiar. The bed dipped as the person brought her hands away from her ears.

"You're okay. Here hold on," He said pushing her hair back, the buzz stopped completely but she could hear some sounds, a beeping of a machine and coughing from down the hall. She looked up to Jak, he gave her a small smirk. "Better?"

She nodded.

"I thought you were dying, I've never heard you scream like that."

"I was screaming?"

He nodded. "Loudly."

She pushed her hair out of her face and looked at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Do you remember stabbing me in the chest? Oh, and of course, we can't forget Amberly using me for target practice. Also, you were able-"

"No!" Parker shouted. "I mean what are you doing here in this time? You were supposed to go back to your own time! You were supposed to go home! We're not supposed to be having this conversation, I'm not supposed to be alive!" She climbed off the bed ripping the IV lines from her arm. "The crystal was supposed to kill me!"

He stood and stepped around the bed. "I am home. I started here, in Haven, that little boy, he was me."

"You're the heir to the throne?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

"That's why you were able to get into the tomb..." She whispered to herself turning away, she covered her mouth and felt the tears starting to blur her vision. That little boy she took care of all those months, it was really Jak, the prisoner she tortured for two years.

"I came back to help reshape the city... my city."

"But... we said goodbye."

He chuckled. "You said goodbye, I didn't say anything."

TBC...