A/N: Hello, everyone, thanks for reviews ad suchlike! Warning: this chapter contains rape...Hopefully it's not too explicit. I wasn't comfortable writing it, but me and taboo-breaking... You can't say I didn't warn you. It also contains heartbreak and shit. And more sex. A lot happens in this chapter, basically ^_^ read, review, or no Chapter 16. ~ Mika

"Tell me!"

She could only scream as his speed increased, tearing her apart inside.

"Stop that screaming, whore," he hissed, clawing her flesh, causing it to bleed in trails.

"Please, Erol...Just stop...Please stop..." she begged, feeling her body give up the fight. No, Keira, stay awake. Stay awake... "I'll...I'll tell you if...you stop..."

A wicked grin crossed his face. "You and I both know that's not true. Now...if you're good...if you tell me...I'll slow down. I can't promise to stop...but I'll go gently. Just how you like it."

She gritted her teeth as wave upon wave of pain surged through her, tears springing to her eyes as she made her deadly bargain. "T-tough luck...I...I'll only tell you if you stop."

"How dare you," he whispered, grabbing her hips. "How dare you bargain with me! You, bitch, do not bargain with me. At all. You hear me? At all!"

"No, please!" she screamed as he began assaulting her again. A crack from his fist stunned her into silence and non-feeling as he continued. By the time he'd finished with her, zipping up his jeans and walking away as if nothing had happened, she was numb all over, breathing heavily as blood pooled from various points on her body.

She looked at the time. 10:30pm. Half an hour today. Much longer than normal.

I must have been bad...I must have not done what he'd told me to do. Whatever that is.

Breath and body shaking, she hauled herself up, doing her clothes up with shaking hands. She wasn't sure where Erol had gone, but she didn't want to take the chance of staying downstairs.

It wasn't the first time he had raped her.

It wouldn't be the last either.

~x~

In the present day, Keira jerked awake screaming, causing Jak to jerk awake next to her.

"Keir, you okay?" he asked.

Not replying to his question, the mechanic then realised that she was not only naked, but he was naked too.

"We're both naked," she observed.

He raised his eyebrows, suppressing a smile. "Yes, we are,"

Flashbacks from last night flooded her brain, causing her body to shudder in delight. "We had hot, loud, raunchy sex last night, didn't we?"

"Yes we did," Jak simply replied, uttering a small chuckle, tracing circles on her stomach. She flinched away from him, drawing the sheet over herself.

"Sorry," she apologised, voice faltering at his confused look. "I...didn't have...a good dream last night." She lay back down and Jak propped himself up on his forearms, gazing at her with a certain degree of intensity. "What?"

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. He had guessed what she had dreamt about – or rather, remembered – given that her murmured "Please, Erol, stop..." woke him up. "Just..." He looked away and then looked back, smiling. "Morning."

She smiled, the flashback dissipating. "Morning to you too,"

"What were you planning to do today whilst I'm out...doing...whatever I've been commanded by Torn to do?"

Keira mulled it over in her mind. She had to go back to her garage at some point; she couldn't stay cooped up in the Bunker forever, scared to set foot outside the front door for fear that Erol would come and "reclaim" her, as he would put it.

"I'm..." She took a deep breath, trying to steady her voice, realising it was shaking again. "I'm going to go to m-my garage at the Stadium. If...that's okay with you?"

Precursors, Erol has got her scared, Jak thought sadly, stroking her cheek – which had a long faint scar running across it, he noticed. "Keir, it's fine. I'm not going to control you like he did. Just stay safe, okay? If he turns up, give me a buzz,"

"Even if you're in the middle of a deadly important mission?" she teased, a spark of the old Keira flaring up again.

"Especially if I'm in the middle of a deadly important mission," he replied, a wry smile crossing his face.

"Hey," she said. "You don't sound angry today,"

"I don't?" Awesome. "It could be 'cause I got laid for the first time in two years last night,"

"You cheeky man!" Keira laughed, the sound travelling down Jak's ears and towards his heart. "How much time do you have now?"

A twinkle sparked in Jak's eyes as he shifted himself over her again. "Enough..." he purred, kissing her again. "Why? What were you thinking?"

"I'm sure you can guess." Her green eyes twinkled, inviting him to bathe in them. "Only this time? I wanna be on top."

"Yes, ma'am," he purred, rolling over onto his back and smiling as she straddled him again.

"Oh. Where's Daniel?"

"With the Kid again. Those two are inseparable, I swear..."

"Hmm. Good."

He looked at her.

She looked at him.

~x~

Riding the Zoomer towards her garage later, Keira was in an irritatingly good mood. She knew it was irritating because even Daxter, the Underground's resident King of Irritation, had commented on the way she and Jak had been at breakfast, bringing to light what everyone was thinking as usual. She was even humming a little song to herself, and for once, the perennial smog over Haven had cleared, allowing some measure of pale sunlight to penetrate it.

There was no weight on her shoulders, no expectations, no dread. She had promised her son and her boyfriend that she'd be back by nightfall, and given that it was now ten o'clock, she had eight wonderful hours of building ahead of her.

That prospect felt liberating.

She parked her Zoomer outside her familiar place outside the Stadium, a shiver of familiarity running down her spine. Last time she was here, as she recalled as she strolled down the corridor to her garage, she was pregnant with Danny and looking for his father in the pouring rain.

Speaking of which, Keir, you have to tell him that Danny's his.

"I know..." she said aloud, going to unlock her garage before noticing it was already unlocked. Alarm bells ringing, she threw open the door and dived in, slamming it shut behind her and flipping the lights on.

She was not prepared for what she saw.

It was pure carnage in the garage space she used to call her second home. Her working tables were totally destroyed, shards and splinters scattered everywhere. Her tools, the ones she hadn't snatched up when she frantically left it just two days ago, were also scattered all over the floor, scratched and dusty. Heart pounding at hummingbird rate, she ran to the curtain, yanking it back, hoping against hope that her unfinished three-seat Zoomer hadn't been touched.

Her hope fell to pieces the second she yanked the curtain back.

"Oh no!" she sobbed, running towards it, hands outstretched, tears pouring down her face. Nuts, bolts and bits of metal from the machine lay scattered everywhere, the machines and every little part of it dented, twisted, broken or utterly destroyed.

Whoever had done this had been very meticulous.

Whoever had done this held a vengeance against her.

"No...please...please..." she sobbed as she gave it a thorough searching, seeing if there was anything that can be salvaged. Aside from a few pieces of metal that were unscathed, the rest was completely destroyed. She would have to start from scratch, should she have the desire to even begin rebuilding.

The worst part was that she knew exactly who did this, and she named him in a frustrated outpouring of emotion.

"Erol!" she yelled in frustration and anger, her heart breaking. Her main project, her pride and joy, her work for three years...Gone in one angry rage. "Erol, you bastard! You prick!"

"You called?" another voice responded.

She straightened up slowly, eyes wide, trembling all over.

"How did you get in?" she wanted to know quietly, not moving a millimetre.

"You tell me. You left the door open," his cold voice replied, chilling her to the bone. "Although, I must admit, I broke in the first time..."

"Why?" she wanted to know, tears running down her face. "Why did you do this?"

"Why did you leave me!" he roared, grabbing a handful of hair and twisting it, forcing her to turn around and look into his dull eyes, which were blazing with anger. "You and that brat of yours. You slinked off like a thief two days ago! Well, bitch, you're coming back with me, brat or no brat."

"No, Erol, please!" she yelled, kicking at him. Releasing her hair, he sent one heavy, steel-infused boot into her stomach, sending her crashing into her ruined machine and causing some ribs to crack.

"Hey! YOU! Yes, you with the red hair!" an angrier voice joined the party.

Erol whirled around, eyes widening in shock when he saw who it was, and what he was carrying in his hands.

"Get your fucking hands off my girlfriend!" Jak roared, charging up the Peacemaker.