A/N: Weeeeee! my first Jak and Daxter fanfic. Totally Jak/Kiera....I don't see why there aren't a multitude of those fics out there, I love J/K fics! but yeah, before anyone asks: my pen-name has NO relation what-so-ever to the Ashelin in Jak23. Okay.

Summary: Set after Jak and Daxter, taking the place of Jak 2 and Jak 3. Mostly following Keira's life, of course I'll write some check-ups on Jak, after arriving to Haven City until she meets up with Jak and Daxter two years later.

Pairings: Jak/Keira(hell yeah!), Torn/Ashelin, Daxter/Tess

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Darker Still

by Ashelin Rayne (Remember! No relation to Ashelin in the games!)

Prologue

Foreign City

Jak's head was throbbing with pain, the last thing he remembered was going through a 'tunnel' of blue light after hitting the gas on the rift-rider Keira had built and then getting hit with something. He was seperated from Samos and the girl, he sighed, at least he still had Daxter until he found the other two. Acknowledging that Daxter was already up, saying something as he stood, he grinned when he saw that his friend still had a death grip on the handle bar that had broken off from the rider. Jak's eyes widened as he took in his surroundings, they were definately not in Sandover Villiage anymore. The two boys were surrounded by huge building made of metal and there were vehicles flying around everywhere.

Daxter crawled up onto the elf's shoulder and said something but Jak wasn't listening, the elf was busy looking around the alien city. Something stirred deep in his memory, something he had forgotten long ago. Jak felt a sense of familiarity to this odd, metal jungle he was standing in but couldn't place where he knew the city from. He was broken from his thoughts when Dax alerted him to the men in bulky red armor that were coming towards them.

There were at least five of them, headed by a shorter, scrawnier man dressed in a white, black, and yellow, skin tight suit. His face was tattooed with blue markings and on top of his head was a sort of metal helmet. Despite his position, Jak let out a soft snort of amusement at the oddly dressed man who couldn't be more than five years older than himself, which was seventeen. The strange man ,just shot him a withering glare, which suddenly turned into a sadistic smirk.

"Forget the rat, the Baron wants him," he said before knocking him out.

Jak could faintly hear Daxter calling out to him before all went black.

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Keira groaned.

'Did anyone catch the herd of Yakkow that just trampled me?' She thought as her head began pounding loudly and painfully. 'What happened?' She gasped as her memories returned and began looking around frantically.

"Daddy? Daxter?" She called out, "....Jak?" Keira was slumped on the ground against a cold, metal building, she could see a bridge to the left of the deserted alley she was currently in. Careful of any possible injuries, Keira slowly stood, leaning on the building next to her for support. The mechanic in her was in complete and utter awe as Keira observed all the alien technology around her and she was itching to examine all the different kinds of zoomers flying around. After a few minutes of walking around the strange and foreign city, she decided that she was perfectly okay, besides being completely alone in a unknown city. Keira tried not to think negatively and headed off to find her father, Jak, and Daxter.

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Keira was near tears now.

The girl had been wandering all over the city for the whole day and it was beginning to get dark. What was worse was that she had ended up in what was probably the more shadier parts of the city. Keira had managed to get past the guards in bulky red armor she head the people around her call 'Krimzon Guards' at certain checkpoint gates. Now she didn't know what to do, she was shelterless and moneyless and the light of day was quickly fading, how she wished her father or Jak....or even Daxter was here with her. Keira had never been so frightened in her life, she was only fifteen! How could a teenage girl possibly survive on her own!?

Hot tears streaked down her cheeks, blurring Keira's vision. The girl watched as shady looking men cast their leering, lustful gazes at her. Keira wasn't blind, she knew she was attractive and she wasn't oblivious to the stares she had been getting from the males all day. And now that the sun was going down, she was paifully aware of one of the men that had begun to stalk her, keeping a few feet away from her.

More tears poured from her eyes. Keira had to find a safe place to hide away for the night, so she could rest -if only- for a while. But first things first, she had to lose the man following her. Rubbing the tears from her eyes, Keira took a deep breath and began to increase her pace, she took note of how the footsteps following hers began to speed up to match her own pace. After passing a large group of slightly drunk party goers, Keira broke into a run.

Her heart pounded loudly in her ears and she could barely make out the sounds of the man's footsteps thundering after her. Keira realized in utter horror that the further she ran, there seemed to be less and less people around. She screeched when a muscled arm grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a short, dead ended alley, slamming her up agianst the wall. Keira began to scream but was quickly silenced when her head whipped to the side, a painful throbbing from where the man had backhanded her.

"Shut the fuck up, wench!" He snarled, his cold brown eyes filled with lust and breath reeking of alcohol. The man pressed up against her forcefully and began to nip at her neck, licking at the spots where he had nipped too hard and began to bleed. Tears were streaming down Keira's face as her mind went blank. She couldn't believe this was happening to her and she was terrified beyond belief. The man was now squeezing her breasts painfully as he struggled to undo the buckle of her belt.

'Jak....' she thought sadly, 'somebody...help me!' For a moment, Keira felt like giving up, felt like dying right there and then, but something in the back of her mind broke free of the terrified state she was in and began to think. 'I can't give up! I have to fight! For Daddy!....For Jak....Jak...What would Jak do?' The had that was at her side brushed against a metal object hanging from her belt. Her brain registered what it was in a second. Her wrench. Without a second thought, Keira grabbed the tool and smashed it upon the side of the man's head, just as he began to tug at her pants. He recoiled in shock and she took his moment of distraction to unleash her blinding rage upon him. She smashed the wrench down on his head several times before kicking him as he fell to the ground. Keira sobbed everytime she kicked, she hadn't stopped until several minutes later when she noticed -to her horror- that the man had stopped moving. Stopped breathing.

Backing away from the motionless body, Keira hit the wall and slumped to the ground, her eyes wide with shock and fixated on the figure on the ground. That was how she stayed for most of the night, in shock and sitting a couple feet away from a cold and lifeless body.

'I did what I had to do. I did what I had to do. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't my fault.' The two phrases were repeating over and over in Keira's head. She suddenly shot up and ran, she didn't know where she was going but she ran. The girl stopped when she reached a ramp going down into a large, man-made lake in the center of this city section. She walked down to the edge of the water and looked at her reflection illuminated by the light coming from a large statue of a hog in front of a bar called Hip Hog Heaven. Keira noticed she still had the wrench in hand, one end covered in blood and she screamed as she threw it into the water. Immediately, she began splashing water upon her self and rubbing furiously, trying to rid herself of the dirty feeling. She sobbed loudly and slumped back onto the ramp, wishing she was back in Sandover Village, getting into trouble with Jak and Daxter or with her father.

Keira stayed on the ramp until the sun began to rise in the sky, thoughts racing through her mind. She had to be strong. She had to survive so she could find the others. She couldn't think about what happened last night, not now. Keira slowly willed herself to stand, she needed to find a place to stay and to get a place to saty, she needed a job.

The statue of the hog loomed over her and with a deep breath, Keira entered the shady looking bar. As soon as she stepped foot into the building, a horrendously fat man floating on what seemed to be a flying doughnut zoomed up to her. She had to hold back a gag as she looked at the mounds of fat piled upon the ugly thing, she noted in disgust that his tiny legs were dangling below the flying doughnut, the circulation probably cut off by the huge amounts of fat crushing the blood vessels flowing to the limp limbs. Keira could feel the bile rising up as he came in close to her face, unfortunately smelling his stench, and began to speak.

"Who the hell are you!?" He snarled. Keira flinched but held her head high.

"I'm looking for a job," her voice was suprisingly calm as she faced the mountain of blubber.

"A job, aye? You're too young," he snapped, "get out!" The girl didn't budge, she was desperate but still kept her calm face.

"Please! I need a job!" Keira would've picked a better place to look for a job but knew that any other place wouldn't take her because she was only fifteen, and out of all the shady places that would probably omit her age, the Hip Hog Heaven was the least shady looking.

"Didn't you hear me the first time?!" He raised an eyebrow, "I said you're too young!"

"I'm not leaving until I get a job!"

The fat blob of an elf arched his eyebrow even higher.

"Ahh...a fiesty one, I see," he rubbed one of his many chins, "you're very persistent, I like that in a woman..." The man chuckled but Keira forced herself to keep still and keep calm, even if she wanted to throw up. "What experiences do you have?"

"I can do anything you ask me to do, just please, give me a job," she begged quietly. The flying fat man looked thoughtful for a while.

"Alright, I'll start you off simple," he smirked, "you will clean, serve as a waitress, and provide entertainment for my customers."

"Entertainment?" Keira gulped nervously, her calm facade faltering for a moment.

"Yes, dancing or whatever else my customer wants. Take it or leave it."

"I'll take it." Keira sighed, hoping to find the others soon.

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Jak groggily opened up a sapphire blue eye, he gasped when he found himself strapped to a cold metal table.

"Ahh....I see you are awake," a voice sounded from his left. Jak turned to face a big man dressed in red armor, he noted that the left half of his head was mechanical as was most of the left side of his body. The large man had a bushy mustache and cold eyes.

"Baron Praxis," a second voice rang out, this one more familiar to the boy on the table. It was the man who had knocked him out. "We are ready to begin the expirement."

"Good, Erol," the large man nodded, "proceed." Jak yelped as he was injected with a substance he was all too familiar with. Dark eco. The pain began to increase as they injected more and he screamed as the dark eco invaded his very being, a feeling worse than any beating he could be given by a thousand Lurkers. He felt it seep into his mind and dark thoughts clouded his head. Jak could feel himself beginning to fade into darkness and he whispered a name, using his voice for the first time, before he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Keira...."

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A/N: Yay! I'm done! I hoped you liked it and please don't flame me just because you don't like Keira... TT .....Please review because those are always nice.

-Ash