"You better not be dead, cherry…" Sig murmured to himself. He'd commandeered Kleiver's Gila Stomper and was heading towards the plume of smoke. Even all the way up in the palace, Sig had recognized the Sand Shark amongst all the Marauder vehicles. When that explosion went off, he wasted no time. He'd left the palace, been in and out of Kleiver's hut, chosen a vehicle, hopped in and taken off all within six minutes.

And, unbeknownst to Sig, within five minutes, Veger had heard about what happened, snuck out of the infirmary, hidden himself in the garage, and stowed away on Sig's buggy. Now, he was hiding behind the Stomper's gun, ignoring the reopened wound in his chest. Veger had to be sure Daxter was alive. He was the only person who'd ever shown him any real compassion since… since he'd lost his family.

As they came closer to the source of the smoke, they saw it: the charred, twisted metal of the vehicle. Fire consumed most of the vehicle. Sig got closer and leaped out of the vehicle.

"Jak! Daxter!"

Nothing. There was no sign of life. The flames ripped through the seats, the body… wait, body? As in, only one? Sig got as close to the inferno as he could before it hit him. This was a Marauder's vehicle! Sig hurried back to the Gila Stomper, relieved. Jak was still alive! Suddenly, the fire had reached the gas tank and the vehicle exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. Sig ducked and most of it embedded itself in the car.

"Aah!"

Sig's head shot up. That sounded like… Veger! Sig climbed out of the Stomper and hurried to the back, where the yell had come from. The ottsel was on the ground, rubbing his head.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sig demanded.

"No, really, I'm fine, but thanks for your concern," Veger replied bitterly. He got to his feet and wiped the sand from his fur. A shard of hot metal hit the roof of the Gila Stomper, barely missing his foot. Of course, it had startled him. He'd jumped and, unable to regain his balance, tumbled to the ground.

"Answer the question, rat."

"I have my reasons," Veger said.

"Well, get in and shut up, unless you'd like to stay out here," Sig instructed. Veger hmph'd, but obeyed. As the engine came to life, Veger hefted a sigh of relief. So, Jak and Daxter had escaped death once again. He'd have to ask Daxter what happened; he'd surely be more than willing to tell the tale.

When Veger returned to his room at the monks' infirmary (after getting quite a scolding from Seem), he was surprised to see Daxter sitting by his bed, waiting for him. The ottsel grinned upon seeing him enter.

"What are you doing here?" Veger asked as he approached his bed.

"Waiting for you," Daxter replied.

After watching Veger try (and fail) to get onto the bed on his own, Daxter offered him a hand, which he took gratefully. The older ottsel sat down on the soft mattress and placed a hand over his wound. It was still very sore, but it seemed the bleeding had stopped again.

"Actually…" Daxter said as he reached into his pocket. "I'm making a special delivery." Veger gasped. In Daxter's hand was his locket. He took the trinket from Daxter and held it gently in his hands, hardly believing that it was there. "I don't know if you'll be able to open it. The hinge is still broken, and it looks like the Marauder glued the cover back on."

"I can't believe… you actually got this back for me…" Veger looked up at the younger ottsel with wet eyes. "I don't think I can ever repay you for this. Thank you."

"Don't worry about it," Daxter said.

Veger placed the locket on the table next to his bed, on top of his neatly folded clothes. After staring at it for a moment, he looked at Daxter again and spoke. "I'm curious, though… How did you escape the Marauders?" Daxter gave him an inquiring look. "I heard about the explosion… We… Sig thought you guys had been killed."

Daxter grinned. "I'll tell ya, it's actually kind of funny. You see, one of the Marauders threw a grenade at us and it landed right in Jak's lap. He was freaking out about it, of course." Veger rolled his eyes here. "So anyway, I calmly explained to him that I'd handle it, and he just had to focus on driving. Once he did, I picked the grenade up, pulled out the pin, and threw it back."

The two ottsels laughed softly while Jak watched them from the doorway. He never thought he'd see Veger tear up… or laugh. And he certainly never thought Daxter would grow on him. Maybe he's not the monster I thought he was after all…

Kat: That pulling-out-the-pin-and-throwing-it-back thing was based on a joke someone told during class last year. Some of you might know the one I'm talking about. It just fits so well, doesn't it?