A/N: Hello! Sorry about lack of updates, I've been either too tired or out drinking to write a chapter. HERE IS CHAPTER TWELVE, complete with cheese. And sheep (hey, I AM Welsh). And lies. Sorta. Read, review, no Capitolo 13. ~ Mika

The day faded to night, and he still wasn't back by that time.

Keira's stomach once again threw up its contents and she had to rush to the toilet before it all came pouring out of her mouth. She knew she shouldn't have had that pie at lunch, despite it being one of her favourite foods. Gasping as she straightened up, she wiped her mouth, tears of shame pouring from her eyes. She knew there was nothing to be ashamed about, but hormones and being worried for her missing boyfriend got the better of her.

She then decided, for the first time in five years, to take the active route. Darting out the toilet, she grabbed her keys and her coat. Heart pounding, she pulled her coat on roughly, zipping it up and instinctively throwing her hood over her head. Locking the doors and windows, she ran outside, feeling the sudden downpour of rain assault her thin, waterproof hood like a Metal Head onslaught.

She swung her head left and right, not knowing where to start.

Perhaps with a Zoomer would be the best place to start, Keir?

"Course..." she muttered to herself, throwing up the metal door of her's and Jak's garage (also known between the couple as Zoomer Storage Space), looking around. Spotting the Zoomer that looked like it worked the best, she ran over, leaping on it and starting it up. Holding on tightly, she flew out the garage – slamming the door shut behind her as she went, clearly, her worry for Jak did not make her careless – and headed towards the first place she knew he'd go, apart from the Bunker.

Mar Memorial Stadium.

Racing against the rain, she managed to avoid Krimzon Guards and buildings as she drew closer and closer to the Stadium. Her heart was beating so fast she couldn't feel it, and she almost crashed into the Stadium walls, her brain was pulsing his name so many times. Braking, she leapt off the Zoomer and landed on the floor. Her ears pricked up and she listened for sounds beyond that of the driving rain and ominous rumbles of thunder.

She listened for the sound of an engine, the turn of a screw, the screech of metal. Anything that sounded like the other language Keira spoke; the language of cars and their sounds.

Nothing.

She fled into the corridor between the garages and the Stadium itself, peering in every garage space through the small windows on the doors. Her heart sank the further along she got without finding a blonde head or a furry, orange body in any garage.

"Jak?" she yelled, turning her attention to the stadium itself. Finding the large space in the wall that constituted as "the entrance", she walked through it, half-expecting to see him...well, doing something there.

Nothing again.

The Stadium was completely empty, save for the ring of silence that fell on her ears.

Pulling her sodden coat back over her shoulders, she trudged back to the Zoomer with a heavy heart – and a wet bottom when she sat on it, owing to leaving it out in the pouring rain, but she was too worried about trying to find Jak to care about her soaking back end – and tried to think where he'd be next.

The answer came to her quicker than an idea for a new invention.

The Underground!

~x~

Torn was, as ever, one of the few left in the Underground at this time of night as everybody else was slowly slipping off to...well, wherever they actually slipped off too at this time. He heard the rain hammering down on the front entrance as he pored over the map, eyebrows knitted in a perennial frown.

He was so focused on it, then, that he was startled when the door a few metres in front of him slid open, making the rain louder.

"Torn?" the reason for the opening door said, stepping in and allowing the door to shut.

He looked up. "Keira! You alright?"

"Not really." The mechanic dramatically threw her hood back. "Have you seen Jak in the last twelve hours at all?"

"Jak?" The thin man frowned. "I sent him on a mission to deliver some packages to Krew this morn –" He stopped dead as he realised what he was saying. "And he hasn't returned?"

The mechanic shook her head, drips flying everywhere. "I was wondering if he'd be here with you!"

"If anything I thought he'd be at home." Torn frowned even more than he was previously, making him look like he had a single eyebrow. "Huh. This is weird..."

"No Daxter?"

"What, the orange rat? No, nobody's seen him either. He's probably with Jak, wherever he is."

Keira felt her temper rise, but she managed to control her tone through gritted teeth. "So you're not even worried about him?"

"Keira, you know Jak as well as I do." The former Commander set his pen down, folded his arms and looked at the young woman. "He'll turn up, I'm sure. He always does in the end. Give it til mornin' and..."

"And?" Keira said pointedly, after a long silence.

He sighed. "I don't know. Just keep an eye out for him. Let me know when he turns up,"

"Yes sir," Keira replied sarcastically, turning on her heel and storming out the headquarters, which was colloquially known as the Bunker. The door slid quietly shut behind her.

Women, Torn thought, scratching his head in confusion.

~x~

1:30 a.m.

Keira slowed her vehicle down under an overhang, folding her arms on the handlebars and letting her head flop into them. Three and a half hours of searching and asking questions had left her body exhausted, especially her voice, which was now reduced to a whisper.

Come on, Keir. He could be home already.

"Excuse me, this is a no-rest zone!" a young, male voice snapped irritably.

She lifted her head and looked sleepily at the man who had spoken to her. "Sorry, sir," she mumbled. "I was..." Looking for someone "...just on my way home."

The Guard in front of her – unmasked, although Keira didn't take the time to notice this – nodded once, stiffly. "Right. Move along!"

Just then, with almost coincidental timing, the Zoomer decided to break completely.

"Ah, shit," she groaned, tears springing to her eyes. This is all I need. The map on her Zoomer told her she was half an hour drive from home, which meant it would take an hour to walk.

Pregnant, sodden, tired, hungry, caught in a storm, an hour from home, interrogated by a Krimzon Guard. Just my luck.

The Guard, inexplicably, decided to take pity on her. "Uhm...Look." He cleared his throat. "I'm almost off duty and I don't live far from here. Do you..." He swallowed. "Do you...want to come back...to mine?"

The mechanic stared at him for a minute before realising he was serious. "Uh...yeah, s-sure. Should I wait...?"

He laughed, attempting genuine warmth. It made Keira uncomfortable. "No. Come with me. Bring the Zoomer too, I'm sure I can get it fixed – "

"I'm a mechanic," she blurted, not knowing or caring what she was saying anyway. "If...you have the right tools, I can get...this fixed quickly."

He nodded, eyes lighting with interest. "You're a mechanic? I've got tools back at my place." He beckoned. "Come on. You look as exhausted as that Zoomer in your hands."

Being too tired to care, Keira followed him, a question on her lips.

"What's your name?"

"Erol," the man in front of her said. "Yours?"

"Keira," she gasped. Her instinct warned her not to lie.

Over the coming two years, her instinct would save her many times.