A/N: Heey, thanks for the bilingual reviews! JKA: don't worry about not understanding Italian. Marn doesn't either; he uses Google Translate. Anyway! Chapter Five. Read, review, tell me if they're OOC...although it's AU, they're slightly meant to be. ~ Mika

The familiar smell hit him like a punch from the past as he walked into the garage. He would often spend long hours here with Keira as she worked around him, helping her occasionally and always bringing her hot drinks when her energy flagged (which happened more often than you wouldhave thought).

As his fingertips brushed the familiar textures, he wondered if this new man of hers did that too. His heart fell with the weight of bitterness, with only a hint of anger. Since being sprung from prison, he hadn't had time to stop and wonder why she didn't wait. She was usually so...steadfast, waiting patiently. Precursors knew that she'd waited to kiss him long enough.

What's changed you? He silently asked. What could have happened...

"These don't look like they've been used in years," his best friend commented, ever the first to break the silence and his train of thought. With a shock back to reality, Jak rubbed his fingers, seeing that they were covered with an ashen sheen. Dust.

"At least two," he agreed out loud.

"I guess this new man o' hers wouldn't let her use her tools?" Daxter ventured, suggesting more than he knew. "Though, honestly, I can't imagine any man bein' able to handle her, though I'm sure I would be able to..."

Missing – or perhaps, ignoring – the reference to Keira's "new man", Jak stopped, sending a particular look to his best friend. "Ya mind not hitting on my girlfriend?"

"No offence buddy, but in case it's escaped your attention, she ain't been your girlfriend for the best part of two years,"

The escapee let out a sigh that sounded like an extended 'beh'. He walked over to an inconspicuous tarpaulin-covered shape in the middle of the room and tentatively lifted a corner. Something glimmered in the dim light, further peaking Jak's curiosity. With an uncharacteristically flamboyant flourish, he lifted the cover completely off the odd, lumpy shape.

What he saw made his heart buckle as memories suddenly flooded his brain.

~x~

Two years earlier

"Show me!"

"No, it's not finished!"

A bout of laughter.

"Please, Keir. You've been keeping this secret for ages."

The mechanic folded her arms. "No."

"Plllleeeeeeaaassseee!" the blonde whined like a child.

She raised her eyebrows in response. "Not if you're gonna whine at me like that."

"Can I at least have a hint?"

"Oh, okay," she huffed melodramatically. "But you can't tell anyone else!"

Jak drew a finger over his chest in a cross.

"Vehicle."

" 'Kay, so it's a Zoomer. Like every other vehicle in this place."

She looked hurt. "Jak, I said I'd give you a hint and I did. A hint isn't normally very long! 'Sides, this one's special."

"Special how?"

She leaned in close, tapping his nose. "That's for me to know, dear. Now go! Don't you have some Metal Heads to fight or somethin'?"

The warrior folded his arms stubbornly. "Not until you tell me why this Zoomer's special."

She sighed again, rolling her eyes. "This one's got three seats instead of the usual two, and it's got some protection in the back seat instead of being completely open. You can't tell anyone else about this!"

"Not even Daxter?" her boyfriend teased, smirking.

"ESPECIALLY not Daxter!" Despite herself, Keira chuckled.

"Question."

"Yes?"

"Why make a Zoomer with three seats?"

She opened and shut her mouth like a fish, wondering whether to tell him or not. Before her brain decided, however, her mouth spat out a lie. "A...There's a gap in the market. F-for families, you know, with a little one." Or a little one on the way.

The blonde man nodded, swallowing the lie smoothly. "Ah, right. Gap in the market. I see."

Like us, Jak. A little one on the way...like us. At least she thought so. She was only going on a feeling and missed periods. She had yet to take a test, or go to the doctor's for a scan, just for certainty.

She shook the thoughts from her head and laughed at her boyfriend. "Yes. Now go! And for the love of Mar, please do not break the Hoverboard again."

"Or...?" One green eyebrow raised.

Keira ran a finger suggestively down his chest. "Or I won't give your parts a going over later, if you know what I mean...and I think you do."

An "Ah" escaped the young man's mouth. "Got it," he nodded, cheeks colouring. "Do not crash Hoverboard or – "

"YES," Keira said loudly to cut him off. "Now go and beat up some KG or something. Just...don't break anything. And keep safe." She kissed him once, a brief, fiery kiss, and then pushed him out the garage door, shutting it with a giggle.

He scratched his head and walked off, chuckling to himself.

~x~

Present

Keira snapped back to reality just as Torn pulled up outside the Memorial Stadium, lowering it enough to allow Keira to reassure her son that she'd be back and hop down from the vehicle. Facing her garage for the first time in months, she sighed, shaking her head. No Erol to stop you now, Keir, she reminded herself, a small surge of encouragement and liberation rippling through her. Carefully pacing into the room, she inhaled the faded scent of oil and sweat, catching a hint of what she swore was Jak, which made her heart ache. Although she'd pretended to give him up for dead just to make Erol back off from asking the "Daniel's father" question, she'd never stopped hoping he'd suddenly turn up one day, irritatingly cocky grin on his face.

Snapping herself out of her reverie, she grabbed her slightly-dusty tool bag, snatching tools off the wall one at a time, being careful not to hit herself. Her heart raced in her chest, her breathing quickened and she felt lightheaded, almost euphoric, almost unable to believe she was free. It had finally hit her with all the full force of (and call this an ironic comparison if you may) one of his punches.

She allowed herself a joyous little laugh.

"I've missed that laugh..."

Her laugh freezing in her throat with her body, she turned slowly, hands feeling for the wall. She recognised that voice. She knew it all too well.

"Jak?" she whispered. "That you?"

She couldn't see him. However, she noticed that the still-unfinished three-seat Zoomer in the centre of the room was uncovered.

"What's that doing...?" she began to ask herself, frowning as she approached it, pulling the tarpaulin back over it. Suddenly, a scraping sound tugged her head up. Smoothing the tarpaulin, she cautiously padded round the front of it, craning her neck, peering into the shadows cast by the large machine.

"Yeah, honey, we're here," a dry voice spoke from the shadows, at which point Keira literally fell over in shock.

"Daxter?" she hissed.

"And...?" a deeper male voice sounded.

A flood of recognition overwhelmed her. She said nothing for a second, just got up and moved towards the shadows. She wanted to say it; her heart and mind knew it.

She half-wanted it to be true.

"Jak...?"

"Yeah, honey." His voice became softer as he emerged from the darkness. "It's me."