Chapter Text
Vi is free.
That might be the most important thing of all. Finally out of Stillwater (with a chaperone), and that means the first thing on her list is finding someone. More than one person, but Vi knows Powder is alive. Caitlyn’s research says so. Finding out if someone else is alive is far more important to her, because Silco’s takeover of the Undercity means that Vi could’ve lost more contacts than she needs.
And finding you is a priority.
Traversing the Undercity is muscle memory— she leaps across rooftops and clambers down walls faster than she ever remembers. Being in jail for several years with nothing to do except pushups, pullups, and kickboxing gave her more strength than she could’ve ever dreamed of as a kid.
It helps her in particular when she knocks two men out cold to steal their clothes. Old habits die hard.
After making the enforcer change into less conspicuous clothes (wearing gold trim in Zaun is the opposite of laying low), Vi walks through the streets, hands tucked in her jacket. Jericho’s food is a must, and though Caitlyn complains, Vi does end up getting information; an address. Perfect.
“Wait out here,” Vi says to Caitlyn after they’ve arrived at the address given to them by the fishmonger.
“And do what? Let you do who knows what in there? No. Not happening,” Caitlyn replies in that haughty tone of hers. Vi grunts, waving her hand dismissively as she pushes open the door to a solitary shop tucked away in a decrepit back alley street. Vi jiggles the lock, before shrugging and kicking the door in. She enters.
Despite the location, the shop looks pretty nice. Although, Vi notes, it’s dark. The lights are turned off. The sign on the door did say it was closed, but this is important. Vi needs to know, she needs to find—
From the rafters, a woman drops down. Vi feels the nozzle of a pistol pressed to her head, the warm breathing on the shell of her ear.
“I don’t appreciate intruders,” you say, your words a clear threat.
“Relax, cutie,” Vi says, visibly easing at the sound of your voice. “It’s just me.”
Out of shock, you drop your gun, the weapon clattering to the ground. Vi, out of instinct, kicks it away as she turns around to face you. Vi nearly starts crying at the sight of your face.
~~~~~
The last time you saw this woman standing before you was years ago, when you were children, when you and Powder and Mylo and Claggor would spend your days in the hideout. Vi would be punching the machine, breaking her record every other try, and you would be competing with Mylo and Powder to get the highest score on the shooting range. Mylo couldn’t shoot for shit— it was always between you and Powder.
“Vi?” You exhale out of disbelief. She smiles, eyes watering up. You surge forward, wrapping your arms around her neck and leaning fully into her touch. Her hands, as rough as they are, hold you so tightly that you feel as though you can’t breathe, but hell, it’s so worth it.
Vi is here. Vi is alive.
“I thought I lost you,” you say, tears making your eyes blurry. You run your fingers through her hair, pressing your face into the crook of your neck to inhale her smell. “Fuck, Vi, I thought you were gone.”
You pull away, putting your hands on her face. You trace your thumb over the small tattoo under her eye and laugh; of course she tattooed her own fucking name on her face. It looks so damn good on her. Gently, you wipe the tears from her eyes.
“How— where? What?” You say. Vi opens her mouth to say something, but glances over her shoulder. You look past to see another woman there, standing with her arms crossed over her chest awkwardly and pretending not to pay attention to a damn thing.
“Would you mind?” Vi asks, her voice rough with emotions. The unknown woman looks as though she’s about to protest, but snaps her mouth shut and steps outside. Once she’s through the door, you pull away from Vi and walk behind the counter— you push aside a book and pull a switch.
On a wall, a bookshelf slides to the side and a door hisses and withdraws, revealing a secret entrance. You jerk your head, and Vi goes without question. You watch her walk; she’s changed so much. She barely looks the way she used to when we were kids, you think. Shaking your head, you go down the secret entrance and seal the wall behind you with another switch. Your shop is merely a front— you sell trinkets and repair various items for customers, but the people who need firepower and weapons… you take them down here.
Vi looks astounded by the amount of guns hanging on the wall of your secret store. You stay quiet, allowing her to take it all in. When she’s done, she turns to you with awe in her eyes. She whispers, “You did this?”
“I had to do something,” you reply. “Silco took over, flooded the Lanes with Shimmer. Everywhere you look, there’s somebody addicted to it. People need to keep themselves safe somehow.”
Vi’s hands curl up into fists. You know this about her, you know she does that when she starts thinking too much. You cross the space to her, grabbing her wrists to push your fingers into her palms, forcing her fingers to spread.
You smile at her. “I’ve never been so fucking glad to see your stupid face.”
Vi cracks, and she hugs you again. This time, it’s more tender than the rushed hug upstairs. This is soft, Vi holding you like a piece of glass that she’s terrified of breaking.
“I missed you,” Vi admits. “Every time I went to sleep, I thought of you. I had peace knowing that Mylo, Claggor, Vander…” she trails off, unable to finish, but she doesn’t need to. You already know. She presses on. “But you were always there. And… and Powder. I had no idea what happened to either of you. I’ve been a fucking wreck.”
You hug her with your arms around her wide back. She smells the same as she always has. Cheap, dirty, but with another smell you can’t quite place, but it has the feeling of home.
You were one of Vander’s kids. Another orphan taken in because he had so much damn space in that big heart of his. Consequently, you grew up with Vi and the others, a member of their coterie. You and Vi were the same age, always toe to toe with each other. She had the punching power, but nothing could compare to your speed. With anything. Knives, guns, running… Vi could never catch up.
You wonder if that’s changed now that she’s here in your arms again.
“I’m here, Vi,” you tell her. When you withdraw to look at her slate-grey eyes that have appeared in your dreams far too often, she holds you softly by the jaw. “I never gave up hope. Deep down, I knew you were still alive. I knew I had to wait until then, because waiting for you was the only thing keeping me sane down here.”
Vi blinks, but it does nothing to get rid of the tears that slide down her cheeks. “I fucking missed you so goddamn much.”
You pull away (not because you want to) but because you hop over the counter and go to a locked drawer at the bottom. You jam a key in, trigger the lock, then pull it out.
On the wooden countertop, you lay down a photo you’ve kept safe for years. A picture of you and the others, but in the middle, Vi with her arms around your neck, squeezing her cheeks with the most manic look on her face. You look up from the Vi in the photo to the Vi in real life.
Vi, who’s grown up. You, who’s grown up.
She steps forward, putting cloth-wrapped hands on the table and staring at it. She reaches to touch it, but the path of her hand diverts to yours. She holds it tightly. She looks up at you, saying, “Suck it all up, don’t get stuck in the mud, thinkin’ of things that you should have done. You would say that to me. When it felt like I couldn’t breathe in Stillwater, when it felt like I was fucking rotting, I thought of that.”
You lean down to meet her eyes at her level. “You look like you’ve gone through hell.”
“I have,” Vi says. Her thumbs brush over your knuckles. “But it’s only gotten started.”
“Yeah?”
“I need to find Powder,” Vi says. “I need your help.”
You frown, and she takes notice immediately.
“Is she—”
“No, she’s not dead, Vi, she’s…” You’re at a loss of how to explain this. You grab the photo with your free hand, looking at Powder’s innocence. You exhale. “She’s not Powder anymore. She’s Jinx. And she works for Silco.”
“…What?” Vi’s eyes widen. “That— it’s not possible, she wouldn’t—”
“I know,” you reply, walking around the counter with the photo in your hand. You press it to her chest, tilting your head back to meet her eyes. “But things have changed. You’ve changed, I’ve changed, Powder’s changed. I run a bookstore and repair shop as a front for illegal arms, and Powder became Jinx because of Silco.”
“So all of those explosions,” Vi shakes her head in disbelief. “Those were her?”
“She always did love her explosives,” you say with a tinge of sadness. You fold the photo and tuck it underneath her shirt, into the band of her bra. You back up and with expertise, grab a rifle from the rack and sling it over your back. A mechanical chain on your hip, two leather cuffs loaded with electrical pods that can shoot out and electrocute anyone it touches. Some knives into various places. You turn around and look at Vi.
She’s looking at you with a variety of emotions in her eyes. You put your hand on your face.
“I know you’re going to go after her. I won’t pretend to know what happened because I wasn’t there for it, but.” You brush one of her fiery magenta bangs out of the way, tracing the line of her jaw. “I’m helping you.”
“It’ll be dangerous,” Vi says. You snort.
“When has that ever scared me away?” You take out the pistol from your thigh and spin it in your hands. “My aim has only gotten better. Your enforcer friend will have some competition.”
“How’d you know she was an—”
“Vi, she was wearing leather boots. Spotless. In the Undercity. That just screams Topside, not to mention the golden buckles,” you reply with a smug smile. “Now c’mon. I know someone who will have information.”
Vi catches onto your line of thought. “The brothel?”
You nod. “The brothel.”
One last look, and you hug Vi again, just because you can. Just because she’s here with you again.
You’ve both changed.
But that will never affect your unwavering faith in her.
You squeeze her hand as you leave the underground shop, and she smiles at you. Reassurance floods your veins. With Vi, you’ve always felt like you’ve been able to do anything. You feel that coming back full force, and you walk the Lanes, confident because you’ve got her at your side again.
Vi will make things right. You know she will.