Chapter Text
Jinx pulled at the levers on the control panels of Stillwater, opening all the cells before stepping into the hall, watching as confused Zaunites slowly stepped out of the cells, as if expecting a trap.
She saw no sign of Isha.
As they turned to her, she saw the hesitation, uncertain of whether or not it was really her.
Might as well clear the air.
“Here I am!” She exclaimed as she took off her mask and threw it back, “Your big, fat, hero.”
She expected disdain after a moment of confusion. Technically speaking it was her fault they were even in this situation to begin with.
If she hadn’t chosen to honor Silco by blowing up the Council, the Enforcers wouldn’t be cracking down on all of Zaun, dragging everyone and anyone who showed any kind of resistance down here.
Or maybe rage, there were a few Firelights she saw. And she’d killed some of them after all, why wouldn’t they take this chance to let her know how that made them feel?
Disdain, rage, fear, hatred, unsettled. Those were the emotions she expected when people saw her, when they realized it really was her.
Instead one of the girls who’d dyed her hair blue, a Jinxer, as Sevika had called them, approached her slowly, Jinx half drew back when the girl reached out, unsure of what was about to happen.
The girl placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and gave her a small, grateful smile.
Jinx sucked in a breath, floored by the warmth.
And so it went, every single person she’d just released passing by her slowly, acknowledging her, most of them squeezing her shoulders or her hands, some others like Ekko’s second in command, Scar if she wasn’t mistaken, simply gave her a serene nod as they went to leave.
Once everyone had passed her, Jinx stood frozen for a moment, trying to process what had just happened.
She had jokingly called herself their hero… but she wasn’t, she’d never been a hero, she knew her place in this world. She was the villain, the monster, the curse, the jinx.
And yet the way these people had looked at her…
“I told you.” Sevika spoke quietly behind her, “You mean something to people.”
Jinx harshly shook her head.
It didn’t matter.
She had to find Isha.
Jinx quickly went to inspect the cells, stopping when she heard something, small groans.
She saw her little hands, trying to get a cell door to slide open.
Jinx ran, reaching the cell and sliding the door open, trying to ignore the sheer panic that’d been brewing under her skin until her eyes were on Isha and she knew the girl was unharmed, “Well,” she started with a smirk, “you’re late for Stink Maw’s great commupance.”
Isha gasped, taking a half step back, eyes wide as she seemed to register that it really was her before her eyes filled with tears and she launched forwards, wrapping her arms around Jinx’s waist.
Jinx carefully cupped the child’s head before kneeling, cupping her face, checking for injuries before Isha threw herself into her chest, sobbing, Jinx allowed herself a moment to close her eyes and hide her face against Isha’s neck, assuring herself that for once she hadn’t fucked up, Isha was safe and in her arms and Jinx would make sure that she got out without a scratch on her.
She placed her hands under Isha’s arms, picking her up, letting her wrap her little legs around her, holding her on one of her hips.
Sevika, who was just over her shoulder, subtly inspecting Isha for injuries sighed, taking a moment to reach out to adjust Isha’s metal helmet before speaking, “Let’s get out of here.”
***
Ekko felt nauseous for a moment, the shift between realities not as jarring and bizarre as it’d been the first time around but still unsettling.
He shook his head, trying to get his thoughts in order as he glanced around, finding himself still in the air shaft but… it was different.
Did Jinx also use this place as a workshop? Maybe a hideout?
There was graffiti on each of the blades, but no railings, at the center there were also wooden slabs that served as a desk, papers and tools and metal bits and bobs strewn messily about.
On the opposite blade there was an area with much better lighting, with some kind of tent that contained drawings and, if he was making it out correctly a nest of blankets and pillows and-
“I already told you kid, it’s not happening.” Ekko’s stomach dropped to the floor as he heard the voice.
A voice he recognized.
Not Powder, no, the voice was raspier, Jinx.
Ekko caught movement to the side, Jinx approaching, about to step on one of the blades along with- was that a kid?
Ekko hid mostly out of instinct since they hadn’t noticed him yet, sitting flat against the center of the airshaft, below the wooden slabs, catching glimpses of a broken mirror and a bowl with blue dye.
“Come on, don’t be upset!” Jinx continued, steps echoing in the void below, “Do I look like some kind of leader to you?”
He risked a peak as Jinx and the kid moved to another blade, the one with the tent, seeing a small kid with a metal helmet and a clearly upset expression, pouting as she crossed her arms.
Jinx sighed heavily, grabbing a rag and dipping it into a small bowl of water, going to gently clean the kid’s face.
Ekko was stunned.
This was Jinx, his Jinx, he could tell.
And yet… he didn’t think he’d seen her act anything other than deranged or maniacal in the past five years… but here she was, handling a child with a softness Ekko had thought lost a long time ago.
He felt something like hope starting to stir in his chest.
Jinx ran a hand through the kid’s hair, Ekko risking another clear peak and discovering the kid had dyed blue hair and mimicked Jinx’s tattoos with markers. She clearly looked up to Jinx.
How long had he been gone? How long had this kid been in Jinx’s life?
“Listen Isha, I know you believe Sevika when she says I’ve become a ‘symbol of hope’ or whatever but believe me… I’d only make things worse. It’s best to just stay put for now. So no more heroics. Okay?”
The girl, Isha, didn’t reply, huffing and turning away, arms still crossed.
He took a deep breath, adjusting the Z-Drive to be hidden within his coat and going to stand up, “Jinx-”
Jinx whipped around faster than should’ve been possible, gun suddenly in hand as she pointed it straight at him, her other arm going to pull Isha behind her in a clearly protective manner.
Ekko quickly raised his hands, “I’m not here to fight. I just wanna talk.”
Jinx watched him for a long moment, as though she was trying to figure something out before gently tapping the girl’s helmet, “You see him too?”
The girl quickly nodded, eyes wide as she curiously looked at Ekko but remained behind Jinx’s legs.
Jinx clenched her jaw, “I thought you’d gotten blown to bits.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
She chuckled ever so slightly, “How did you get in here?”
“…it’s a long story. Listen, I just want to talk.”
Jinx went to say something but was interrupted by the echo of steps.
“Jinx, you gotta get out there, the people-” Sevika cut herself off when she saw Ekko standing on the airshaft, starting to raise her metal arm.
“He’s fine Sevika.” Jinx told her, slowly lowering her gun and tilting her head, inspecting him, Ekko met her unrelenting gaze, seeing her eyes were now a pink tone… something to do with shimmer and her surviving the explosion no doubt. He’d heard the rumors that Singed had done something to her, “…stay with Isha?”
Sevika scowled, but nodded along.
Jinx gestured for Ekko to follow her, he complied, letting her guide him out of the airshaft and into the familiar streets of Zaun, quickly climbing up to the rooftops to not be seen.
He noticed that the city as a whole seemed even more disheveled than usual, managing to gather from the graffiti, posters and murals around him that Piltover had cracked down on the undercity, overstepping and that- if what he’d overheard from Jinx and the murals were any indication, the people of the undercity had taken Jinx as a symbol of rebellion and resistance.
Well that was an unexpected twist.
Ekko found himself heading for the spot Powder had showed him, Jinx following after hesitating for a moment, her steps starting to slow as she realized where they were.
“…how did you find this place?”
Ekko took a moment to look at her. Powder had acted like the place was special to her, he hadn’t been sure if it was also special to Jinx, but it seemed like it was.
He took a deep breath, “You showed it to me.”
It was different of course. No rooftop garden and only a broken down chain fence at the edge, giving into the view of the undercity and, in the distance, Piltover.
But it seemed it still carried some kind of emotional weight for Jinx.
“No I didn’t.” Jinx jerked her head, glancing behind like she’d heard something before meeting his eyes again, “I’m not in the mood for games.”
Ekko sighed, “I really need you to hear me out. You did show me this place… or at least… a version of you did.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Ekko explained what had happened to him. How he’d gone to Piltover in search of answers after his tree had started dying, how he’d gone to the Arcane core and had somehow been dragged into an alternate timeline by an anomaly.
How HexTech had never been created in that timeline and how, nearly everyone they’d lost had been alive. How Zaun and Piltover were united and Vi had died in the explosion in Piltover and how Jinx had stayed Powder and they’d spent their time preparing for an Inventor’s Competition instead of nearly killing each other on a bridge.
How they’d actually gotten to be kids in that world. In that life.
Jinx listened in absolute silence, her gaze lost in the city below them, starting to pick at the skin around her nails at some point.
“I had to create a different anomaly to get back.” He told her, pulling back his coat to let her see the Z-Drive, Jinx’s eyes instantly being drawn to the small monkeys lining the edge of it on the inside.
“…why are you telling me this?”
“In part because… I don’t know… it brought me some… weird comfort to know that there was some version of me out there that got to have a soft life… even if I can’t really have that. I hoped that maybe you’d find comfort in it as well. That Powder… it was bittersweet… to know what could’ve been.”
His voice held a softness to it, reminiscing on all her lost potential no doubt. Everything she could have been. Everything she’d lost the chance to be a long time ago.
“So that’s the real reason then?” Jinx sneered, her eyes shifting back to the city line, “You know… I thought I’d finally gotten it through that thick skull of yours that there is no saving me. That I don’t want to be saved.”
“Jinx-”
“What comfort could there possibly be in knowing that there is some version of me that didn’t kill her family?! That did everything right?! What comfort is there in knowing that that wasn’t me and it was never going to be me no matter what happened?!”
“Jinx please-”
“You’re just like Vi-” she turned away, running her hands through her hair and pulling at it, hard, the whispers coming back softly like waves, Mylo’s shadow on the edge of the roof, “Wanting Powder back so fucking desperately as if I could ever-” she whipped right back around, shoving Ekko, who’d been trying to place a hand on her shoulder, “I’m not Powder! Do you think even if I could somehow go back- I’d know how to be that person again?! That I can just forget everything and shove it under a fucking carpet and just be?! I’m not her!”
“I know that!” Ekko snapped, eyes sharp, “I’m not asking you to be her!” He starred her down for a moment before tension seemed to drain away from his posture and he sighed heavily, voice softening, “I don’t want you to be Powder.”
Jinx froze. That was new.
“…why not?”
He sighed again, looking down for a long moment before shrugging helplessly, “Because I’m not that Ekko either. I’m not… that version of me was gentle, and could apparently just spend weeks locked up working on inventions without anyone needing him and no one finding it odd… that’s not who I am. I couldn’t stay. Despite everything… I knew I didn’t belong there. That my people needed me here. That I could try and pretend like that was my life, that all this had been a nightmare I could forget… but that was never gonna happen. Because I don’t think I know how to be that person either.”
Ekko paused for a moment, something like grief passing behind his eyes, grief for what could have been perhaps, “Those versions of ourselves… we never got the chance to be them. They’re long gone. But that doesn’t mean that- that theseversions of ourselves aren’t worth fighting for.”
Jinx was floored, speechless as Ekko stepped closer, “You said that you thought you’d finally convinced me that there was no saving you… the truth is… you did. I… I gave up on you. And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have.”
Jinx inspected him, finding no signs of deception. After all, Ekko was a lot of things, but he’d never been a liar.
“You weren’t wrong. I…” she shut her eyes, digging her nails into her palms, “I’m a jinx. Always have been, always will be.”
“That’s not true.” Ekko exhaled slowly before stepping closer, “You made a mistake. One that had devastating consequences yeah but that was all it was. And you’ve made bad choices, but it’s not exactly like you were in the best of environments. Powder? That other version of you? She’s proof that you’re not what you think you are. How do you explain her existence if you’re supposedly a jinx?”
“Oh come on Ekko! Everyone that gets close to me dies!”
He shook his head, “Why didn’t you take the shot?”
“What?”
“That night on the bridge, you had an opening right before I reached you. You could’ve shot me. Why didn’t you?”
Jinx scoffed, “Why didn’t you deliver the final blow when you had the chance?” She retorted right back, “Doesn’t mean anything when I tried to blow us up just like I blew up my family!”
“You were just a kid.” Ekko insisted, ignoring her question, “You’re just someone who’s had bad luck and has made a few mistakes and bad choices. That doesn’t make you a jinx.”
Jinx took a shaky breath, tears starting to well up in her eyes as Ekko stepped even closer, hesitating before taking off his coat and placing it around her. She hadn’t even noticed she was starting to tremble.
Could it be that he was right? That this other Powder was proof that maybe just maybe she wasn’t a jinx…
That maybe just maybe it’d been choices that had led her to where she was today and not some curse engrained deep in her very being?
She shook her head again, it was too much, too dangerous to think in such a way.
Ekko adjusted his coat on her, she hadn’t really noticed him getting close enough to do so, “I fought so long to make the undercity a better place, or to at least create a safe place in it, but I got so wrapped up in all the ways that we’ve been screwed over, failed, in all the ways that it wasn’t even half of what I’d dreamed of no matter how hard I tried that I was starting to lose hope. But seeing that world… it helped me realize that… no matter what happened in the past, it’s never too late to build something new.”
Jinx forced herself to met his eyes, unsure of what to do under the weight of his soft eyes and the careful way he’d somehow gotten his hands in hers, stopping her from digging her nails into her palms.
“…someone worth building it for.”
Jinx felt something in her starting to crack, “I don’t know if I know how to build anything.”
“That’s alright,” he quickly assured her, his own eyes glittering with tears, “we can learn. This right here Jinx… this is our chance. I saw the murals, the posters, what you said back in the airshaft- if Piltover is targeting us… then maybe- just maybe, this could be our chance to bring all of the undercity together. To stand against Piltover, make them finally see us. I’m not saying we burn them to the ground but- we can fight back, fight for respect, for a seat at the table.”
Jinx took a step back, shaking her head, “I can’t- I’m not like you- I’m not a leader or- or some inspirational figure. They’re just desperate for anything to believe in. I’m not- I don’t deserve their faith.”
“But you’re the first to take a real stand in a long time. Sure it was an… explosive stand but a stand regardless. Directly against the Council, the people who have passed all the laws to try and make us less than them in the past. Who have had no trouble ignoring our struggles and claiming blissful ignorance when they screw us over. You have the chance to help bring people together. If we can stop killing each other over Piltover’s scraps and for territory… we can stand our ground. This could be the start of a rebellion. A revolution.”
“…I’ll screw it up. I always do.”
“You won’t… and if it does go wrong… it won’t be on you. We can do this Jinx, together.”
Jinx looked back out to the city line.
It’d been Silco’s dream.
To be recognized by Piltover.
He hadn’t been able to bring Zaun together, sure, but everything he’d done had forced Zaun into progress… even if it wasn’t always in the best of ways. His biggest dream had always been of Zaun being it’s own nation.
It was the dream that’d been within his grasp, close enough to touch but that he had meant to reject in the end.
For her.
She’d bombed the Council as a way to honor him.
To finally show them all.
Everything had gone to shit the moment he was gone.
But now… now all of Zaun had a common enemy.
There had been no singular group in Stillwater. Instead a coglamoration of Jinxers and Firelights and members from every gang Jinx knew of.
That meant that there had been no division at Sevika’s rally.
That for once, every part of Zaun had been open to the possibility of fighting for the same cause and had been promptly punished for it.
Jinx slowly turned back to Ekko.
Building something knew… he’d said Powder used her abilities to create instead of destroying… could she do the same?
Someone worth building it for… she thought of the hopeful look in Ekko’s eyes. Of the way the people of Zaun had, for a moment, embraced her, wrapping her in gratitude and misplaced but real hope as they passed by her. And of course, she thought of Isha, who deserved so much more than… this.
“I’m not saying I’ll be good at it… but I suppose I could give it a shot.”
Ekko reached out quickly, Jinx barely having time to flinch before he was tugging at her and-
Pulling her into a hug, all but crushing her against him, arms wrapped tightly around her.
She exhaled, falling against him, hiding her face against his chest.
They stayed like that for what was possibly an embarrassingly long time.
When she eventually managed to pull back, she turned away to wipe away her tears.
“So… how exactly does one start a revolution?”
Notes:
I hope you like how I write Jinx and Ekko, I’m super excited for this story and all I’ve got planned.
Please let me know what you think!
Chapter 2: Revolution Starter Kit; a Crowd, a Metal Box, a Flag, a Torch and a Blue-Haired Force of Nature
Summary:
We get a peek into Sevika’s mindset.
Jinx and Ekko give a speech and rally the people of Zaun.
Jinx accepts the role of being a symbol of the Revolution.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“The Enforcers will be more pissed than ever that we staged a breakout right under their noses.” Sevika told them as they walked down an alleyway, Ekko at her side listening intently, behind them a cloaked Jinx, Isha holding on to her hand. The kid had been even clingier since Stillwater, but honestly Jinx was grateful for it, “They’ll probably get their Noxian bitches to help them crack down on us to try and wrestle control back.”
“Did they see Jinx there?” Ekko questioned.
“Probably. But even if they didn’t they’ll still blame it on her in order to have some excuse to start busting doors down looking for her again.”
“How long do you think we have?”
“Hours if we’re lucky.”
“Do you know who’s in charge?”
“Vi’s enforcer girlfriend.” Jinx popped in.
“Wait- is Vi with them?” Ekko asked, anger and indignation rising up in his chest at the idea of it.
“Not anymore.” Sevika told him, “Last I heard she was part of some fighting ring.”
“And passing out at the bottom of a mug.” Jinx added.
Isha made a noise to grab Ekko’s attention, going to make a mean face and throw fake punches before throwing a fist up in mock victory.
Ekko chuckled lowly at that, “You said the people you broke out of Stillwater wanted to see Jinx?”
“And a lot more people after hearing of the breakout, I called for another rally, this time by the fissures, that’s our territory, even if the Enforcers try to come for us again they don’t know the space like we do.”
“Good.” Ekko felt determination setting in deeper and deeper with every new piece of information.
Sevika raised an eyebrow at him, “Do you have a plan or something kid? Cause I know Jinx doesn’t.”
“Hey! I could totally have a plan!”
“That doesn’t just involve throwing bombs at Piltover.”
“…you’re boring.”
Ekko ignored the bickering, “I have the makings of one. I’ll tell you more if the rally goes well.”
“Do the Firelights know that you’re back?” Sevika asked.
“Not yet. I’ll try to find Scar before the rally.”
They reached the last row of buildings before the streets let up into the fissures, they still had half an hour until the rally.
Ekko turned to Jinx, “I need to find Scar.”
Jinx nodded along, not meeting his eyes, going to redo Isha’s pigtails.
“Don’t be nervous.” He told her, “You’ll do great.”
“I’m not nervous.” Jinx tried to argue.
Isha seemed unimpressed, gently patting her forearm.
Ekko snorted before going to leave, removing his hoverboard from his back and taking off.
Jinx sighed, looking down at Isha, who was gently bouncing on the balls of her feet, clearly excited, “Well- guess you’re getting what you wanted.” She told her as she adjusted her metal helmet, the girl giggling.
She leaned back against the wall, fidgeting with the metal torch Isha had brought along, running a thumb over the wick at the bottom that would activate it if she pulled on it. The fabric she’d grabbed from the airshaft weighing at her back.
“We’ve never been able to take a stand against Piltover.” Sevika told her after a along moment of silence, eyes lost amongst the bricks as she clearly remembered what she’d seen, “No matter who tried to lead or what wild dreams some of us followed… none of it lead anywhere. The closest we ever got was when Vander got most of the fighters together… and I don’t think I need to remind you how that ended.”
Jinx looked down, picking at the skin by her nails, she didn’t recall much, Vi had told her to keep her eyes shut for most of it after all. But she did remember the smoke, how suffocating it’d been in certain parts. The sounds of Enforcer fists falling over and over and over again. The smell of ash and blood.
“During that time, and a long while after, I followed Vander because I thought he was the best option to help Zaun. He had a good heart. But after he took you kids in, he became too afraid of what might happen if we stepped out of line according to Piltover standards. Of how that might impact you, he’d rather we stay in a small comfort zone than risk more deaths. I sided with Silco because I could see just how deeply his hatred of Piltover ran, and how he let that push him to fight for Zaun, I thought he was just crazy enough to pull it off too. And he did in a way. Zaun has grown in the past seven years in a way it never had before. And he kept things from falling apart. And now… here we are.”
Jinx said nothing, still tracing the hollows in the torch.
Sevika snorted, “Somehow, you’re a symbol now. Not in the way that Silco was- not even in the way that Vander was. The way these people speak of you, see you. They don’t see you as a leader. They see you as one of them. They see you as what they could be if they took a stand. They see you as everything Piltover hates about us, what they want to destroy. That’s why you give them hope. Hope that maybe this time we can get Piltover off our backs once and for all. Hope that we can finally turn things around. Do you understand the power in that?”
Jinx slowly met Sevika’s eyes, “I didn’t bomb the Council to give people hope. I didn’t do it out of some selfless desire to give the people of Zaun a cause to fight for or some shit like that. I did it because I was pissed and I wanted to hurt Piltover. I did it to- to honor Silco. To- to make them pay for all the pain they caused my- my- my dad.”
She whipped at her eyes furiously, trying to take deep breaths, to not let her hands shake, ignoring the shadows starting to play at the corner of her eyes.
“It doesn’t matter why you did it.” Sevika said decisively, “What matters is what you chose to do now.”
“I already told you I’ll talk to them.”
“Talking to them isn’t enough.” Sevika pushed herself away from the wall, going to stand in front of her, “I don’t know what you and the little Firelight spoke about so before I follow you I need to know. Are you or are you not in this fight?”
Jinx met her unforgiving gaze, slowly tilting her head.
She knew Sevika was loyal- well, most of the time. But she’d never really struck her as someone who was so willing to fight for a cause.
How strange, to know someone for so long and yet not know them at all.
It made her think of Ekko, and how it was even stranger that even after years apart, years of being enemies, he was the one who’d convinced her of this, who’d given her some vague semblance of hope.
She stepped closer, nearly bumping into Sevika, “I am.” She said decisevely.
Sevika inspected her, searching for doubt or uncertainty.
Once she found none, she nodded along, “Alright then.”
***
Luckily, it didn’t take Ekko long to find Scar, just as he’d thought, his second in command, along with most other Firelights were waiting at one of the entrances into the fissures, clearly wanting to be early and check if there wasn’t a trap or Enforcers nearby.
Scar tensed up when he saw him approaching, starting to raise a weapon before Ekko stepped out of the shadows and his second recognized him.
“Ekko!” His deep voice resonated in the fissure, sounding relieved, yet unsure, “Where have you been? We thought you’d been captured or killed.”
“It’s a very long story, but I’m here now. And with pretty great timing too it seems.”
“What about the Professor?” Another one of his Firelights, Nivu questioned.
Ekko sighed heavily, quietly shaking his head.
Scar cursed under his breath before turning back to Ekko, “Are you here for the rally?”
“Yes.”
“Wait- are we really doing this?” Nivu asked, “Now that you’re back- are we still considering following Jinx of all people? After all she’s done?”
That gave him pause.
He had to remind himself that, despite his experience in the other timeline and Jinx seeming to be ready for change… this was still the girl that’d terrorized his Firelights for years. That’d he’d thought was too far gone mere weeks prior.
There was a thin line to thread here.
Right now, making sure they even had enough people for the Revolution was the priority, as long as he saw no signs of Jinx going off the rails, he would take the risk of trusting her… mostly.
Ekko sighed before turning to Nivu, “I know there’s a lot of history, not just with Jinx but with a lot of the undercity. But right now we can’t afford to be divided. I already spoke to her, and I know that I’ll be standing right with her as the leader of the Firelights and also just as Ekko. Most of you know of my… history with her… but I’m willing to work with her, alongside her.” He took a moment to meet the eyes of every single Firelight standing before him, “I understand if that doesn’t sit right with you. But these are complicated times, where we must put everything aside if we want even a chance at going up against Piltover. So I hope you’ll still trust that I’m doing what I think is best for us. For our future.”
Nivu inspected him for a long moment before slowly nodding.
He met the gaze of every single one of them again.
It seemed like the Firelights would all be hearing Jinx out.
Good.
***
Jinx was watching, still hidden and cloaked, Isha at her side. Jinx fidgeted with the long fabric she’d stopped by the airshaft for, still not sure if the idea she’d had was a good one.
But she’d always had a flair for the dramatic and after being unsure of how to convey what Ekko had said, Sevika’s words had served as a flash of inspiration and the spray cans Isha had carried along had provided opportunity.
More and more people were slowly gathering, she could see a bunch of Fireflies closer to the fissures, the obvious hair of Jinxers and a mix of chembarons and members from different gangs as well as regular workers and scrappy kids who’d clearly just been trying to get by amidst the chaos.
There were murmurs and whispers amongst the crowd until a large thud sounded out, Sevika knocking down a metal box and harshly placing a foot on top of it.
“I don’t think you need me to tell you that today proved that we’re running out of time. Apparently, Piltover thinks us just gathering to talk is cause enough to throw us in a cell with no trial. We have to do something, it is only a matter of time before they get more violent, before they twist our every move into a reason to crack down on all of us.”
“This is the time to stand together!” Ekko’s voice came as he stepped out from the crowd, wearing his firelight mask, going to take it off as he went to stand next to Sevika, “To leave aside the labels and separation and to work together, it’s the only way we’ll survive what’s coming next. Piltover wants us divided. They have always benefited from us killing each other, being at each other’s throats, fighting for territory and for their scraps. Not anymore! We need to stand together! To show them that we will not backdown! That they can’t invade our streets, our homes and expect us to just lay down and take it! That-”
“Where is Jinx?!” Demanded a voice, thought she couldn’t tell exactly where it came from.
Ekko sighed, casting a glance her way, waiting.
Jinx took a deep breath.
“Right here!” She called out as she went to take off her cloak, the people around her quickly going to clear a path as she sauntered on forwards, stopping next to Ekko for a moment before going to stand on the metal box Sevika had left on the floor, “You wanted to see me? Well here I am!”
Most of the crowd gathered around her, after a moment of stunned silence, started applauding, whilst some other looked like they wanted nothing more than to shake her and ask her what exactly her plan was.
Jinx glanced to Ekko, who gave her a quiet encouraging nod.
Welp, she didn’t really have anything to lose.
“Now… I don’t know much about leading, or about being some- revolutionary… but I do know about fighting. And I know about Piltover’s crimes.”
She recalled all of Silco’s sermones and every story and complaint he ever told her about all Piltover had and constantly took for granted.
This had never been her dream. But it had been her dad’s. And maybe it had started becoming her own the moment Isha had dropped into her life.
“I know that Enforcers have killed hundreds of us, a lot of times, for no good reason other than to show us that we are lesser than them, for us daring to stand up for ourselves, for doing what we gotta do to survive. That they have thrown dozens of us in cells without a trial just because they can. But the second we lay our hands on a single one of their precious Council members they suddenly have the right to invade our streets? To cry for justice to be delivered? It’s bullshit!”
A lot of them started nodding along, she could see the anger rising up in them. They might all have their differences, but she didn’t think a single person there that hadn’t in some way or another been wronged by an Enforcer. Especially as of late.
“Piltover has always thought we were lesser than them. They’ve done everything in their power to keep us down. And every single fucking time we’ve managed to not just stay alive, but to use nothing but our wits and our smarts to match them in progress!”
A few of them started cheering, Ekko stepped forwards, taking over, “They want to punish all of us for a single one of us daring to harm them. And that’s not all, but they don’t care how many of us they hurt as long as they get what they want! There’s something you don’t know. HexTech is becoming unstable, starting to affect the very ground we stand on because of it’s overuse. Piltover has pissed off the Arcane… and we may very well be the ones that pay the price. I’ve seen the Arcane core that powers their HexTech, and you know what I saw? They built it far underground, right next to the systems that deliver us our clean water and purified air. I was told it was built that way to protect the citizens of Piltover, but, like always, they didn’t bother to stop and think on how it would affect us.”
Jinx felt pure rage shimmering at the bottom of her stomach, the crowd exchanging worried whispers and furious looks.
Isha glanced around, starting to frown in worry.
Jinx took a shaky breath, the kid shouldn’t have to worry about not being able to breath over Piltover’s willful ignorance and selfishness.
“Before being driven apart… before having a fight they couldn’t come back from…” Jinx hesitated for a moment, glancing down, Isha going to stand on the box with her to hug her leg in comfort, “it was Vander and Silco’s dream to have an independent Zaun. To bring all of us together, to fight not just for the bare minimum but for what we deserve!”
The crowd cheered, starting to be truly instigated.
Ekko continued, “Today we ask you to join us. To honor those who came before us, to help us fullfill a dream! I created the Firelights because I believed there was something worth fighting for here in the undercity. Because I believed that we deserved better than to have to fight every single day just to survive. That we deserved to live! To have a better future!”
The cheers grew, the Firelights raising their fists.
Jinx reached down to pick up the fabric she’d prepared, Isha having found a stick before to attach it to, “Let us show Piltover what we’re made of! Why they should know better than to mess with us!” The cheers seemed to grow with every sentence out of her mouth, invigorating her, power and excitment and hope rushing through her veins, “We ask you to fight. For the nobodies! For the Jinxers! For the Firelights! For Silco! For Vander!”
Finally, amongst the cheers and the pumped fists, she raised the stick and the fabric- the flag, over her head, “For Zaun!”
It took Ekko a moment to register what he was looking at as Jinx wove a flag.
The fabric was a blue tone, Jinx’s blue. And painted on it with spray paint-
Vander’s gauntlet, and in front of it the mask of the Firelights- his mask, one socket empty, the other holding Silco’s scarred eye.
The crowd errupted, screams of empowerement echoing throughout the fissures.
Jinx sunk the flag into the ground.
She looked ready for war, braids flying as she gestured, a wicked look in her eyes as Isha handed her a torch, Ekko couldn’t help but think she looked beautiful.
“Let Piltover know the day we had enough! The place where the fucking revoltion started!” She yelled before activating the torch, bright blue smoke rising up as she cackled, giving the crowd a moment to cheer before sinking the torch into the ground as well.
Ekko couldn’t help but smirk. Jinx turning to him after a moment and returning the smirk.
Ekko threw his fist up, glancing back to his Firelights, “For Zaun!”
It didn’t take long for the entire crowd to join in on the chant.
So this was how it started.
Notes:
I really wanted to have my hand at writing Sevika’s world view since I feel like she’s such an interesting character, I really hope you like what I’m doing with her.
Had a lot of fun writing all the speech, especially Jinx’s parts, I really wanted to strike the balance between clearly being inspired by Silco but still having some chaotic Jinx flare in it.
Is the flag prob a bit cheesy? Probably but hey, I feel like it’s smth Jinx would do and pull off in a cool way. Let me know what you thought of it!
Chapter 3: Peaceful Places and Not-So-Peaceful Decisions
Summary:
Jinx and Isha see the Firelight hideout for the first time.
A serious decision with moral complications must be made.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The Enforcers arrived mere minutes after the rally had finished, following the blue smoke.
They found a flag, a torch and a bomb that sent a very clear message.
That a revolution had just begun.
***
Ekko and Jinx ran side by side, Jinx carrying Isha, Ekko prying open some kind of pipe, promising it was clean, Jinx rolled her eyes before holding Isha to her chest and sliding down.
It was indeed clean, surprising her as she moved to the side, Ekko emerging behind her.
She shifted Isha in her arms, Ekko quietly offering to take her, Jinx shaking her head. Ekko didn’t insist, guiding her further into the pipe system before they reached an opening and-
Oh.
So this was the Firelight’s hideout.
It was beautiful, a huge space with a gigantic tree deep in it, rising far above her head. Railings and platforms surrounding them and far, far down, she could just make out a small pond and on the wall above it…
A mural.
Vander and Mylo and Claggor.
What had once been her and Vi.
Ekko himself further up along with other faces she didn’t recognize.
“They are… those we’ve lost. Or we thought we lost.” Ekko quietly explained.
Jinx took a deep breath before gently placing Isha on the railing, keeping a hand on the back of her vest, “Look at that kid. You like it?”
Isha’s eyes widened in a way that would’ve been comical if it weren’t heartbreaking. This was probably the first proper tree she’d ever seen.
Jinx set her down on the floor and the girl started jumping from foot to foot, clearly thrilled.
Ekko chuckled as he went to crouch down, “You see that platform to the right?” He asked as he pointed, Isha following before nodding, “That’s where the kids we have here play. We even managed to get our hands on some Piltover toys if you wanna go check it out. Jinx and I will be by the base of the tree if you need us.”
Isha hesitated, going to grab Jinx’s leg.
The girl had gotten a lot more confident since Jinx had first met her but it was obvious she had some anxiety about being apart, especially with the Stillwater scare still so fresh in both their minds.
Jinx went to crouch as well, gently running her thumb over Isha’s eyebrow before playfully pinching her cheek, Isha trying to act annoyed and push her away but smiling, “You should go kiddo. See if they got any good stuff. I’ll be right down there, I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Isha inspected her for a long moment before nodding along, adjusting her metal helmet as though it were armor before starting to make her way towards the platform.
“She seems like a good kid.” Ekko said.
“She is. She’s the best.”
“You did great out there.” He continued as he started making his way down the steps, “Better than I’d thought honestly.”
“How dare you? Of course I did great!” Jinx countered as she followed, “It was daring, spontaneous, bold! Those are like my specialties.”
Ekko shook his head, amused, but didn’t contradict her, following the path before stopping before the small pond, lily pads floating in it, the mural above them.
“You made this?” Jinx asked after a long moment.
“Most of it.”
“…you painted me.”
Ekko hesitated at that.
She’d said ‘me’, not ‘Powder’. He didn’t know if that had any significance.
“It felt like I’d lost you.”
“Mmm.”
“You know you could…” he hesitated. He might’ve hated the man but he had raised Jinx after all, “You could put Silco up there, if you’d like.”
Jinx jerked around to look at him, starring at him for a moment before shaking her head, “Nah… he’s already where he probably wanted to be… the river-” she broke off, shaking her head again.
Ekko didn’t press her, going to sit down just next to the pond, Jinx hesitating for a moment before joining him.
“How’d you find Isha?” He asked all of a sudden.
Jinx snorted, “She fell outta the sky and into my lap… literally. After that she started following me around.” She gritted her teeth as she recalled- “Vi’s enforcer girlfriend nearly shot her after she had the brilliant idea of trying to protect me.”
“What?!”
“Yep.”
Ekko huffed, shaking his head and going to cover his face with his hands, “She seemed… I don’t know. She seemed like she might just be on our side…”
“Yeah well, that was before I killed her mom. And apparently having a dead parent is a big deal in Piltover so all bets are off now.”
“She’ll probably see this as a personal attack. Especially after we strike back.”
“And how exactly do you want to strike back, boy savior?”
Ekko rolled his eyes at the nickname but continued, “We have to kick out the Enforcer squads still patrolling around. They’ll be making the rounds these next few days, attacking pretty much anyone they can get their hands on.”
After properly invigorating the people and setting up a communication system, Ekko had told everyone to go into hiding and spread the word, to stay underground, especially the younger kids, the elders and those who simply couldn’t fight.
Sevika, Scar and a few others would be following the different Enforcer squads at a distance, to try and determine if there was a specific route or schedule they followed.
They needed all the information they could get before tracking them down and getting them back to Piltover.
Sevika had proposed simply bombing them but Ekko felt it’d be easier on them if they didn’t straight up start their Revolution with bloodshed. Jinx had begrudingly agreed with him after some arguing.
Jinx kicked at his feet, “What’s on your mind? You practically have smoke coming out of your ears.”
Ekko sighed heavily, allowing his eyes to drift to the lily pads as Jinx pushed them around, causing them to bump against one another, “I’m worried about HexTech, I don’t think we can take on Piltover without major casualties if they keep developing weapons.”
Jinx frowned before tilting her head, thinking, “I mean- it’s weird they haven’t done anything else with that since Vi’s little strike dream team. Either they’re really taking their time or… there’s some other reason they haven’t unveiled their newest way to one-up us.”
Ekko straightened up as it hit him, “Jayce.”
“Who?”
He quickly turned to her as the pieces came together in his head, “Jayce he- he’s one of the creators of HexTech, you know, the man of progress. He’s the one who took me and the professor down to the Arcane core, the anomaly got him too but he didn’t reach the alternate universe like the professor and I did. The professor just said it affected him differently.”
“So… Piltover’s golden boy is gone?”
“Seems like it… and he’d mentioned something about his partner being missing.” He paused, looking down at his hands, “Both the creators of HexTech… of the weapons are gone.”
Jinx grinned, “So it’s not that Piltover hasn’t made more weapons, it’s that they can’t.” She cackled, throwing her head back for a moment, splashing the pond slightly, “Well ain’t that something… and, the cherry on top…” she reached into her pocket, taking out three HexTech spheres.
Ekko sucked in a breath, reaching out, Jinx pulling back for a moment, hesitating before handing the stones over.
He inspected them slowly, raising them up to view them against the light.
“I bet we could figure something out, you said you worked with fragments of these to make your anomaly thingamabob right?” Jinx questioned, “And, I’ve still got Fishbones.”
“Fishbones?”
“The weapon I used to bomb the Council.”
“Mmm…” Ekko returned the spheres, “We should be careful. Remember what I said, the Arcane is already pissed off because of the overuse of HexTech, so if we’re going to use it… we need to be smart about it.”
“You’re boring.”
“I’m cautious.”
“Tomato, tomato.”
Ekko snorted, gently kicking at her feet.
Jinx didn’t return the kick, caught off guard by how… easy it was to talk to Ekko.
Like no time had passed.
That could easily become dangerous.
She looked over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of Isha meddling with some kind of puzzle, another girl next to her, seemingly explaining how the puzzle toy worked.
She tilted her head back, taking in the thick branches and falling leaves, catching one before it hit the pond, seeing it had strange white lines running across it.
The corruption Ekko had told her about.
Ekko’s entire posture deflated when he caught her looking.
“If overuse of HexTech is causing decay… do you think natural magic could fix it?”
“Natural magic? Like- the Arcane? Jinx, that’s not exactly easy to come across.”
“I know that!” She told him, annoyed, “I’m just saying… HexTech is basically man-made magic… that’s what’s pissing the Arcane off right? So maybe to restore balance or whatever, natural magic is what’s needed.”
Ekko’s eyebrows slowly raised as he considered it, “It’s not a bad theory.”
But there was not much they could do with it.
Not when the Arcane was so rare.
Jinx tossed the leaf to the side, frustrated by it all. Ekko had built something beautiful, something that might come crashing down because of Piltover and them never having enough.
Isha broke the heavy silence, running over to show Jinx the puzzle she was working on.
As night started to fall, Ekko guided her higher up and to a platform that gave way to a room, lanterns bathing it in a warm golden light. There was a thin mattress on the floor along with blankets and pillows.
Shelves attatched to the wall let her know this would usually be a storage room.
“You and Isha can sleep here.” Ekko told her, “No one will bother you, I’ll come get you in the morning.”
“I’d rather get back to my hideout.”
“You can’t risk being seen now. Especially with the kid.”
Damn him, it hadn’t even been a whole day and he already knew to use Isha against her.
Jinx groaned, but agreed.
Ekko had asked Nivu to put a matress and other necessities in there, knowing Jinx probably wouldn’t be able to sleep around other people and that his Firelights wouldn’t be comfortable sleeping around her even with their new truce.
This whole thing was too new, too fragile.
He went to leave to help place the other refugees and a few Jinxers, he also needed to figure out where to hide the Z-Drive before he could head for his own room, which was only a personal space because Scar had insisted the leader of the Firelights deserved his own space.
He paused at the doorframe, seeing the way Jinx was already going to tuck Isha in with a gentleness that somehow reminded him of the way Vi had always treated her in their younger years.
He went to shut the door before he could get too wrapped up in memories of the past.
***
The following morning was a frantic shamble of shoving breakfast down his throat in between avoiding a fist to the face after waking Jinx up and figuring out who exactly needed to be in what Sevika quickly designated ‘the war room’ despite it only really being a room with a few buckets to use as seats and an old map of the undercity.
A few of his Firelights and some Jinxers hurried to scramble together a circular table and actual chairs for the room, one of the goons for the chembarons providing an updated map and a bunch of figurines for reference.
Ekko glanced around at their tentative… council? Leaders? Advisors? Fuck if he knew.
Him and Jinx of course, then on either side of them, Sevika and Scar. Aside from them, Gert; the closest thing the Jinxers had to a leader, and an older sharpshooter, Arol, who, along with Sevika was one of the only people the goons would respect in the absence of the chembarons.
Sevika, Arol and Scar explained what they’d noticed when trailing the different Enforcer squads that tended to patrol their streets, showing them the routes using the map on the table, a few figurines and some of Jinx’s paint.
Ekko had a feeling they’d be going through a lot of maps.
“They’ll only give us so much room to breath before they crack down on us.” Sevika said.
“They’ll probably think we’re not serious about the rebellion.” Arol’s raspy voice sounded out, “They’ll only patrol for two… maybe three more days before they decide to fully invade again.”
“Then we’ll plan for kicking them out in two days.” Ekko said with finality.
“That’s good and all,” Sevika said as she went to stand up, “but if we’re going to do this, we need shimmer.”
Ekko’s stomach fell to the floor, Scar jerking back in disgust as he himself shot up to his feet, “Absolutely not! The last thing we need is for our fighters to be dependent on that stuff!”
Sevika rolled her eyes, “I don’t mean the drug kid. I mean the medicine version of shimmer. Do you see many experienced doctors or healers around? Unless we want our numbers to hit negative in a week, we need medicine. And it wouldn’t hurt to get some shimmer that could give us brawlers a boost.”
Ekko shook his head.
“That stuff plunged nearly half of the undercity into addiction and death.”
“It’s also saved plenty of lives. Including Jinx’s.”
Jinx’s head jerked at that, she stared at the map with a certain level of aggression, everyone in the room taking a moment to inspect her now-pink eyes.
“Why even argue about this?” Gert questioned, “The Enforcers destroyed all the shimmer supplies. Even if we decided to risk using it just as medicine, it’s gone.”
Jinx, who’d been slumped into her chair, leaned forwards, “Not necessarily, we could probably make more. Where is Singed?”
“He was at the rally, got dragged into Stillwater.” Scar said, “But no one’s seen him since.”
“There. No shimmer.” Ekko stated.
Jinx shrugged, “I could figure something out if we go to his lab. I already know the basics on how he made it.”
“You do?”
“Singed gave me a chemistry course a few years ago, shimmer was a part of it.”
“Singed gave you a chemistry course?” Ekko couldn’t help the astounded tone.
“Silco made him.” Jinx waved him off, as if that made it any less weird, “Point is, if we go to his lab, I could replicate shimmer.”
Ekko sighed heavily, going to lean against the table, fists hitting the old wood.
“We can understand why you don’t want us using it kid.” Arol told him, “But it’s inevitable that people get hurt. The question is, how many deaths could be avoidable?”
Ekko pressed his lips together, morals and logic and beliefs battling it out in his chest.
“Just for medical purposes. We can argue on using it as a booster later but for now- if we can recreate it- only medical reasons. Agreed?”
Sevika and Arol both seemed annoyed but relented.
He slowly turned to Jinx, who was already going to reload her gun, kicking her chair back as she went to stand up, “Well then, I’m off to Singed’s lab.”
Ekko considered protesting, reminding her that she couldn’t risk being seen.
But now that they had a vague idea of the routes the Enforcers tended to take, he knew that, if they really were going to use shimmer as medicine, getting it had to be a priority.
So instead, Ekko went to pick up his metal mace from where he’d left it leaning against his own chair, “I’ll go with you.”
Notes:
Fun fact: The puzzle toy Isha picks up is the same one Mel gifted to one of the Council members way back when.
Setting up… conflicting morals! Cause whilst I love Timebomb, there’s no way they wouldn’t bump heads in this situation from time to time due to contrasting beliefs and morals and I’m still kinda figuring out their dynamic.
As for the shimmer thing, I found it interesting that, while destroying it, Cait and Vi only looked at it from the perspective of it being a drug which, valid, but like, it was also very clearly the most powerful medicine the undercity possessed? So… thought I’d try and explore it from that pov
Next chapter we cross paths with a certain dictator…
Chapter 4: Conflicting Morals and Conflicted Dictators
Summary:
While going to Singed’s lab to get what they need to recreate shimmer, Ekko and Jinx have a run in with a certain familiar face
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ekko and Jinx made sure to stay in the shadows and out of sight as they traversed the deserted streets of the undercity.
Behind Jinx, Isha stayed close to the older girl.
Ekko had tried to dissuade Jinx from letting the kid go with them, but it seemed Isha refused to be apart from Jinx for more than the half hour the meeting had taken.
If this had been a more dangerous mission he would’ve insisted.
“I still can’t believe Singed gave you a chemistry course.” Ekko muttered under his breath as they walked.
The man had given him the creeps from the very first time he’d seen him.
Jinx shrugged, “Well- it wasn’t so much a ‘chemistry course’ as just letting me watch him work and answering my questions when he felt like it.”
“Still.”
She rolled her eyes, waiting for a moment for him to catch up before they ran across a slightly more open street, staying as close to the ground as they could.
He was suddenly hit with the thought that maybe bringing Isha along was a good thing, he wasn’t sure if Jinx would’ve been as careful if the kid hadn’t been there.
They descended further into the undercity, leaving the main buildings behind at some point and heading for an old warehouse.
Jinx seemed to be mulling something over before looking over her shoulder at him, “Hey… you do know that shimmer is the thing that gave Silco the edge he needed to take over Zaun right? That it was like- the thing we traded with Piltover the most? Even if it was under the table.”
Ekko shook his head, “It destroyed too many lives.”
“I’m not saying it didn’t, I’m just saying, it’s powerful stuff. Silco and Singed didn’t even mean for it to be a drug, it was just supposed to make Silco’s goons strong enough to take over Zaun. The addictive stuff came… later on.”
“But he didn’t shut it down.” Ekko said through clenched teeth, “Would’ve meant taking a hit to his pockets right?”
Jinx sneered at that, “Buisness is buisness.”
“Not when you’re ruining people’s lives.”
“It’s not like anyone was ever forced to take shimmer!”
“But access to it was facilitated wasn’t it?”
She scoffed and turned away, “It was still a choice whether or not to take it.”
Ekko said nothing, gritting his teeth and going to follow her.
They couldn’t afford to be fighting.
Once they reached the warehouse, Jinx crossed into a hole in one of the metal walls, surrounded by burned edges and what seemed to be pulsing vines injected with shimmer.
He followed, descending into an open space, at the far end of the large room, was a gigantic window that gave way to some kind of water tank, bathing the room in blue and green light, monstrous fishes swimming within.
Scattered around the entire place were metal tables holding vials and beakers and notebooks and pens and loose papers and chemicals. Glass tubes holding distorted, mutated creatures within in some kind of sick display.
Jinx was unfazed as she went to one of the tables, starting to move around papers and notes.
Ekko followed her after a moment, quietly asking Isha to gather pens and blank pages to give the kid something to do that wouldn’t involve looking at the monstrous displays for too long.
He went to join Jinx, going to read some of the notes, a lot of it disorganized, bits and pieces of a scattered mind, too much inspiration and too many ideas to ever be able to be written down in a clear manner.
Sighing, he placed the bags he’d brought on the table, starting to store as many vials and beakers and chemicals as he could fit.
Jinx did the same with her own bag, also selecting notes and pages in a way that told him this wasn’t her first time trying to decipher Singed’s twisted, disorganized mind.
The only sounds as they worked were the clinking of glass, the shifting of pages and Isha’s steps in the distance.
Then- Jinx stopped.
Ekko slowly looked up, expecting her to be ready to say more, only to find her looking at something, eyes wide and… fearful.
He followed her gaze to a small corner. The only thing there an empty metal table with straps, empty and broken syringes on it. Small pools of old shimmer on the floor next to it, streaks of blood tainting it.
Oh… oh…
He looked back at her, her eyes were glued to the table, her breathing starting to become heavier and unstable, the hand that’d stopped halfway to putting away a vial starting to shake.
Ekko reached out slowly, but Jinx was still startled when his hand brushed against hers, dropping the vial and jerking back.
“Jinx… Jinx it’s alright.” He spoke as softly as he could.
She shook her head violently, going to hit her temple with her fist, like she was trying to focus.
“Jinx- stop it.” He got closer, but she wasn’t responding to her. Whatever she was seeing too overwhelming.
He felt despair at the sheer panic in Jinx’s eyes, unsure of what to do.
As she went to hit her temples again, he grabbed her wrists to stop her, which only seemed to make her panic even more.
“Jinx! Jinx, it’s me.”
“No! Vi! Stop it! ”
Unnable to think of anything else to do, he pulled her against his chest, crushing her against him, her breathing still unstable as she tried to wiggle out of the hold.
A small gasp later, Isha’s figure crashed into Jinx’s legs, Isha holding on tightly to Jinx’s waist.
If Isha seemed to approve of his tactic then it had to have something to it.
It took a long time before Jinx stopped wiggling, freezing before mumbling something unintelligible.
A while longer, she slowly sank against him, Ekko carefully holding her up.
“Jinx?” He asked quietly.
“Tighter.”
Ekko did as she asked, squeezing her tighter, Isha also compling. It seemed to help ground Jinx, who, after a minute, sighed against his shoulder and started pulling back, Ekko letting her, staying alert in case she fell.
Jinx shook her head again as if to expel whatever remnants of what she’d seen away before looking up at him. Her eyes held a profound sadness and despair he didn’t think he could even comprehend.
For a moment he wanted nothing more than to comfort her in anyway that he could, their arguing from earlier momentarily forgotten.
He started to reach for her, “Jinx-”
They both jumped at the sound of metal clinking and steps coming from the entrance.
They exchanged a nervous glance, Jinx pulling Isha against her hip, the girl still having her arms wrapped around her waist.
“You’ll have to excuse the mess.” Jinx’s eyes widened as she mouthed ‘Singed’, “I’m afraid order is not a priority of mine.”
Ekko quickly flung the bags over his shoulders, waiting for a moment before-
“It’s no trouble. As long as we’re not coming all this way for nothing.”
His stomach fell to the floor.
Caitlyn.
Jinx tensed up, starting to reach for her gun, Isha barring her teeth before Ekko quickly stopped them, jerking his head to the right.
Jinx seemed to want to argue but relented, turning and guiding him further into the workshop, pointing up at-
Ceiling beams. Precocious metal beams that were the only place to hide in because somehow even amongst the mess it was possible to see every corner from the entrance.
Ekko shoved their bags in the bottom shelf of a shelving unit before following Jinx as she went to climb the slippery metal, Isha hanging from her neck and shoulders.
A third voice reached them as they scrambled up, a deep, commanding voice that let Ekko know he’d made the right call in choosing to hide.
It wasn’t until they reached the top that Ekko realized the problem.
The beam he’d climbed reached behind a part of the ceiling that had partially collapsed, providing coverage in the case that anyone were to look up from where Singed was starting to walk in.
The beam Jinx had climbed didn’t, if anyone looked up, they’d see her.
Behind Singed came Caitlyn, wearing a cape with a high red collar like depicted in the posters all over the undercity and a woman dressed in blood red.
He had no doubt in his mind that this, was the Noxian General that’d been lending her forces to step on the undercity’s neck.
They definetely couldn’t risk being spotted.
As they started talking about something, Ekko quickly gestured to Jinx, getting the message across.
Jinx carefully grabbed Isha’s arm and went to hang the girl over the open space, swinging her across the space between them, once, twice before Ekko could reach the girl’s other wrist, dragging her up and against his chest, the kid quickly wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his chest.
Ekko gently took off her metal helmet, placing it on the beam as carefully as he could before reaching across the space.
Jinx waited until Ekko signaled that the three were turned away before slipping down, grabbing the beam with the tips of her fingers, hanging precociously for a moment before going to launch herself, Ekko barely containing a grunt and somehow managing to not slip as he caught her hand, holding her in a dead weight before managing to pull her up, Jinx’s feet scrambling for a hold on the beam before she managed to pull herself on it.
Their eyes met, half scared, half excited by the stunt.
As Jinx went to shift on the beam, Ekko tuned into what Caitlyn was saying, holding Isha to his chest, not trusting the kids balancing abilities on the small beam.
“You’re a monster.” She said, heavy emotion behind her voice, “Why? Why do all this?”
Jinx made a mocking face and turned to look at him incredolously, as if to say ‘who’s she to ask that?’
He ignored her, trying to hear Singed’s response.
“Why does anyone commit acts others deem unspeakable?” Jinx started taking her gun out, freezing at Singed’s next words, “For love.”
They heard the sound of a metal door sliding, the voices becoming slightly muffled.
Jinx hissed in a whisper, “Bomb?”
He rolled his eyes, “Is that your answer to everything?”
“Tends to be effective.”
“No.” He told her, “Can’t risk it. Who knows what’s in this lab.”
She raised the gun, mimicking taking a shot.
Ekko shook his head again, “No clear shot. Can’t risk it.”
Jinx looked like she wanted to protest but settled for giving him a metal middle finger.
They waited in silence, hearing the metal door slide back and Singed started to rummage around, pausing at some point.
Ekko tensed up.
Had he noticed things were missing? That notes had been taken?
Would he say anything about it?
He kept rummaging.
“This Beast of yours.” The General’s voice came, “How long will it take you to track it?”
“I cannot be sure. It has never… disappeared before. It will take some time.”
“Hm. It would’ve been effective in dealing with this little ‘rebellion’.”
Ekko’s blood boiled at the way she said rebellion.
“Wouldn’t that be too harsh?” Caitlyn questioned, “You saw what it did in Stillwater.”
“These kinds of things must be nipped in the bud immediately. It doesn’t take long for a tiny rebellion to become a threat. Zaun has already proven their ruthlessness and their ingenuity. Do you really want to wait and see what they come up with now that they are starting to feel cornered? It seems they’ve chosen Jinx as their symbol, their leader. It is very clear where they stand.”
Caitlyn said nothing.
After a while longer, they went to leave but-
“I need a moment, I’ll look around, see if there’s anything useful.” Caitlyn said.
“…do not take long.”
Jinx sneered and rolled her eyes.
He could hear Caitlyn’s quiet steps as she perhaps inspected the space around.
After a few minutes, Ekko shifted slightly, starting to grow uncomfortable.
That was when it happened.
Isha was still hanging from his neck, a pen slipping out of one of her vest pockets, Isha’s panicked scramble to try and catch it causing her to slip from her grip on him, falling off the beam, Ekko barely managing to catch the back of her vest, the pen hitting the floor.
“Who is there?!” Caitlyn instantly demanded.
Ekko looked at Jinx, he had to act.
“Don’t move.” He hissed at her, the vest on Isha starting to come apart, Ekko let himself drop, pulling Isha against his chest and bending his knees to lessen the impact on them, hitting the ground rolling, holding Isha as close as he could.
He stayed crouched as he slowly put Isha down and met Caitlyn’s eyes, a gun pointed at him. A HexTech gun.
Ekko slowly rose to his feet, pulling Isha behind him before holding his hands up, praying Jinx would listen to him and stay put.
“It’s you.” Caitlyn looked surprised, hesitating and half-lowering the gun, “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
Her eyes narrowed as she inspected him, “Are you with the rebellion? Are you-” she froze when her eyes landed on Isha, who Ekko quickly pulled further behind him, “That kid- that kid was with Jinx.”
“Listen-”
She fully raised her gun again, “Do you know where she is?!”
“Put that down-”
“Are you with her?!”
“I don’t have to answer to you. Especially after what you’ve done.” Ekko hissed.
Caitlyn hesitated at that, “I’m just trying to get justice.”
“Justice? Don’t kid yourself. You stopped seeking justice the second you weaponized The Grey. You want revenge, and you don’t care who you hurt as long as you get it.”
“I only used The Grey to get Silco’s supporters and to destroy shimmer.”
“Do you really think that not a single innocent was caught up in The Grey? And what gives you the right to come for Silco’s supporters? You had no problem ignoring him for ten years, what gives you the right to storm our streets?”
Caitlyn fully lowered the gun, “I’m trying to restore order! To capture a criminal that you would put on a pedestal!”
“That’s what you call finally standing up for ourselves?”
“She killed members of the Council!”
“And you’ve killed dozens of us!”
Caitlyn drew back, “I have not.”
“Stop to think for just one fucking minute. Most of the older residents have bad lungs thanks to working in the mines for your precious Piltover’s benefit. Did you not take that into consideration? No let me guess, you didn’t even think to. How many people do you think died when you went blasting The Grey wherever you felt like? And do you not think that your Enforcers haven’t killed us for not letting them into our homes? For asking for basic human respect?”
She looked away for a moment, shutting her eyes tightly before meeting his gaze, “She killed my mom.” She said in a pained whisper.
“She did.” He agreed easily, “And I bet you got to bury her in a real nice coffin and you have a beautiful place where you can mourn her… we don’t even get that. Jinx buried the man that raised her in the river. Vi had to leave her dad in a burning dirty alleyway. I don’t even know where my parents died. But you losing your mom gives you the right to become a fucking dictator?”
Caitlyn half-winced at that, “Ekko, I’m sorry about-”
“Don’t bother with empty pity.” He snapped before looking down, sighing heavily, “You know for a second- for a second there I really thought you might just be on our side. That you might be different… I see I was wrong.”
She watched him for a long moment. He tensed, ready to pick Isha up and run.
Caitlyn didn’t raise her gun though, instead slinging it over her shoulder, “This isn’t the answer. This rebellion? It will only lead to more pain.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s the truth. Look just- just hand Jinx over.”
“Why would I trust that if we hand her over it will end all of our problems? You really expect me to believe that Piltover will forgive us for daring to resist just by handing Jinx over?”
“You have my word!”
“Your word means nothing to me! And even if it did… we don’t hand over our own.”
“What good does that do you?”
“The only thing we have is each other!” Ekko raised his voice, “You don’t care about us, you never have! You threw dozens in cells just for gathering to talk-”
“They were plotting!”
“Did you know for sure?! And even if they did, that gave you the right to just throw them in a cell without a trial?” He gestured at Isha, who was peeking out from behind his legs, looking at Caitlyn with rage in her wide eyes, “To throw her, a fucking eight year old in Stillwater?!”
Caitlyn blinked at that, drawing back again.
Ekko chuckled without humor, “Oh, so you didn’t know? You don’t even care enough to know who your minions are throwing in cells? I told you- you were so fucking insulted when I told you you people hunted us like animals and yet here you are, proving me right.”
Caitlyn’s eyes became lost for a moment, “Ambessa said…” she trailed off, clenching her jaw before meeting his gaze, slowly grabbing her gun and raising it again, “Tell me where Jinx is.”
“No.”
“You’re not leaving this place until you tell me, I won’t allow you.”
Ekko scoffed, “Allow me? Oh I’m sorry… did I ask for your permission?”
Luckily, Jinx took that as the cue that it was, a smoke bomb suddenly falling by Caitlyn’s feet and exploding before she could react.
Ekko threw a grenade of his own, getting the girl in the chest and knocking her down, orange crystals growing around her to immobilize her as he went to pick Isha up and run.
Caitlyn screamed, enraged.
Jinx dropped from the ceiling, Ekko handing Isha over, nearly throwing the kid as he went to sling the bags they’d hid over his shoulders, “Come on!”
As they ran across the room, he could easily tell the exact moment Caitlyn caught a glimpse of Jinx.
“NO! JINX! NO NO NO!” She howled and screamed, desperately trying to get herself free, carelessly pulling the trigger of her gun, destroying part of the crystals holding her down.
Jinx threw another smoke bomb as they reached a side entrance, Ekko kicking the door open, the two taking off running, not daring to look behind, Caitlyn’s pained, desperate keens seeming to follow them.
Something about the screams sent chills down his spine, he went to grab Jinx’s hand as they continued to run.
Once they’d made it back to the alleys they were familiar with and were sure they were relatively safe, they let go of each other as they fell against one of the walls side by side, trying to catch their breath, Jinx holding Isha tightly, letting her head fall back and hit the bricks before turning to him.
“You know… I think… I think you should be the one writing the speeches.”
Despite himself, Ekko laughed, Jinx joining in after a moment.
***
Desperation clawed at Caitlyn’s chest, threatening to tear her apart from the inside out.
Helplessness crawled up her throat, released as screams as she kept slamming the end of her gun on the crystals keeping her stuck to the floor.
Once she finally managed to free herself she went to stand up only for her legs to fail her and to come crashing right back down.
She couldn’t find the strength to push herself back up, to gather the shattered pieces of herself she’d been holding together with nothing but anger and spite and a laser-focus on capturing Jinx.
She knew they were long gone.
Caitlyn stayed on the floor, heaving sobs shaking her entire body, making her lungs burn, screaming until she thought her vocal chords would snap apart.
She slowly allowed herself to fully collapse on the floor, leaning her forehead against the ground for a long moment.
She remembered what Singed- what Reveck had said about unspeakable acts and love.
It’d given her pause.
After all, hadn’t she been doing all of this for her mom?
And after listening to Ekko…
Heavy footsteps pulled her from her thoughts, Ambessa’s gold-tipped boots stopping in front of her before the General slowly crouched, imposing and looming over her.
“Do you still think Singed’s Beast would be too ‘harsh’ for them?”
Caitlyn didn’t answer, Ambessa rising back up after a long moment.
Ambessa spoke of the horrors she’d commited. That she’d done it to protect her family.
Out of love.
Caitlyn had thought she could play with a double-edged sword.
Take in Ambessa’s wisdom and experience and teachings but remain just out of reach of her constant whispers and attempts to escalate the conflict between Zaun and Piltover.
How had it come to this? How had she come to this?
Maybe it was because she’d allowed her grief to fester under her ribs, growing and barely allowing her to breath, the only respite from it to throw herself into her work, to think of nothing else but getting justice.
Maybe it was because she was alone.
Completely and utterly alone.
She’d pushed Vi away, practically shoved her out of her life.
Jayce, her best friend was missing.
Her dad was lost in his own grief and pain.
Maddie was nothing but a distraction, anyone else around her a subordinate that was either intimidated or awed by her.
Even Mel, a tentative friend whose judgement she’d always trusted, had also gone missing.
She had no one.
She’d chosen this path.
Now she was drowning in it.
Vi had tried to tell her. Had tried to ask her not to change. Had been on her side until she’d- until she’d pointed a gun at a child.
She’d respected Ekko after the initial misunderstanding that was their first meeting. Had perhaps even admired the safe haven he’d built, unable to believe something like it could even exist in the undercity.
He’d been willing to stay behind and risk his life fighting Jinx to give Caitlyn time to get away with Vi merely months prior.
Now he was willing to hide Jinx, to protect her even.
What was she meant to do with that? To think of that?
Caitlyn slowly looked down at her hands, thinking about all Ekko had said. All she herself had done. The way that, when she’d caught a glimpse of Jinx in the smoke she’d been holding that kid, hunched over her as if to protect her in case Caitlyn somehow managed to get a shot.
What was this path?
What was she doing?
What was she going to do?
She slowly pushed herself to her feet, Ambessa giving her some space, speaking after a moment, “Let’s get back to Piltover. Give the Doctor what he needs to track down our Beast.”
Caitlyn said nothing, numbness washing over her.
Notes:
Really wanted to explore how Jinx and Ekko’s conflicting morals will impact their relationship from time to time, but when push comes to shove they’ll have each others backs and how that strange dynamic affects them both
Also- I had so much fun picturing Isha just getting tossed around like hot potato the second they’re in danger
I had a lot of fun writing the Ekko and Caitlyn interaction, I really wanted to see Ekko confronting her in the show during/after her dictator era but oh well, that’s what fanfiction’s for
I really wanted to try my hand at writing Caitlyn’s pov and all her messy inner thoughts, I wanted them to dive a bit deeper into how being completely isolated impacted her and made her even more vulnerable and easier for her to drown in her sorrows and yeah- I just wanted to try my hand at it cause she is absolutely in the wrong here but I still can’t help but feel for her and just want her to see the light
Now, finally, I’m still not 100% sure what I’m actually going to do with The Beast so- I have a few possible ideas but uh- yeah- still trying to figure that whole thing out, for now, I’m picturing him wandering the fissures and the mines, lost and confused (he picked up Vi’s scent in Stillwater since Vi spent so many years there but has no idea what he’s doing) I’m basically going to keep him there till I figure out what to do with him…
Chapter 5: Meeting at the Halfway Point (Blue Lines and Bombs)
Summary:
Ekko and Jinx get to work recreating shimmer
They set their plan to get the Enforcers out of Zaun in motion
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Jinx sighed as she stopped for a moment, going to lean back on the chair.
She and Ekko had worked all day and through the night, she wasn’t exactly sure what time it was.
They were in what was Ekko’s room and office.
There was a large desk with two chairs, a comfy one Ekko had let her use and another one they’d dragged in for him.
The desk held a set of beakers and vials they’d been using to try and make shimmer.
Behind her was a small bed that held a curled up Isha who’d fallen asleep hours ago and a wooden chest.
Most of the wall to her left was taken up by a blackboard that Ekko was writing on, reworking a few equations.
After closing her eyes for a minute, she took a moment to look at Ekko, something about the way he wrote assuredly and the way his eyes wrinkled as he tried to figure something out was… oddly comforting.
It might’ve been the exhaustion getting to her that caused her to continue starring even when she should’ve probably turned away.
“Jinx?”
She blinked slowly, realizing she’d been caught, Ekko looking at her with soft, if concerned, eyes.
She made a show of stretching and yawning, “Figure it out?”
Ekko was still watching her when she finished stretching, she raised an eyebrow and he quickly turned away, going to grab some of their notes, “I think it’s the third component and the vines, we need to dilute the chemical, if we keep it so concentrated-”
“It will turn into the drug version.” Jinx finished, “Ugh why didn’t I realize that before?”
Ekko glanced at the notes she’d been going over, “You know where we went wrong with the vines?”
“I think we’ve been using the wrong part. We don’t need the vine itself but the salve, look at the notes, the way he talks about it is confusing but most of his notes tend to be.”
“Alright, let’s try this again.” He said with a small clap as if to hype himself up.
She gently shushed him, gesturing to Isha.
Ekko lowered his voice, “Let’s try it.”
They worked together, cutting up the vines and going over the entire process again, observing as the result was a liquid a familiar vibrant purple.
Jinx took the small vial of possible shimmer, holding it to the light before handing it to Ekko, who quickly went to put it under the microscope.
The microscope and some other equipment was newer, clearly Piltovian technology, when asked, Ekko had quietly explained that Profesor Heimerdinger had gifted him some of his own equipment at some point.
As he inspected the shimmer, she went to hop up on the desk, trying to think on how to word what she wanted to say, “You know… I get why you don’t want the drug version of shimmer around… but completely shutting down the idea of using the booster version… it’s dumb.”
Ekko stayed silent for a long moment, fidgeting with the microscope, “The line between those two is too fine for comfort. Even the medicine version… you and I both know that any version of shimmer can be abused and- corrupt. Including the booster.”
“Maybe. But that’s why it’d only be for those who wanted it. Most fighters know how to use it without suffering the… corrupting side effects. I’m not saying we go taking shots of shimmer all around, but it could help a lot. If we’re gonna have a chance at doing this, we’re gonna have to play a little dirty.”
Ekko hung his head, rubbing his forehead, partially defeated, “I know that. But… I’ve seen how shimmer destroys people. The whole- the whole purpose of the Firelights, one of our greatest missions was destroying shimmer and now look at me!” He went to stand up harshly, “Producing the fucking stuff.”
Jinx gave a glance at Isha, who was thankfully still asleep.
A part of her wanted to snap at him, to tell him to grow up. That he couldn’t stay altruistic forever. That he was the one that was pushing so hard to fight, for change, had he not thought that some of this wouldn’t go against his holy moral compass?
Before she could say anything, a small knock came at the door, Scar opening the door, peeking in, eyebrows raising lightly when he saw Isha on the bed.
“What is it?” Jinx questioned, annoyed.
“The sun is coming up.” Scar said dryly, stepping in and revealing he was carrying two breakfasts plates, handing them to Ekko, who quickly thanked him, “Sevika wanted to know if you managed it?”
Ekko sighed heavily, setting the plates down and grabbing one the five small vials of shimmer, “We still need to test it but… I’m pretty sure we managed to produce the medicine version.”
Scar grimmaced slightly before going to grab the vial, Jinx rolling her eyes at their exaggerated reactions to the small vial.
“Sevika wants to strike at sundown.”
“Makes sense. The dark will give us cover for what we need to do. The sooner the better.” Ekko agreed easily.
Scar took a moment to inspect them both, eyes slowly narrowing, “Did you stay up all night?”
Ekko shrugged it off.
Scar sighed, “I’ll test this out. You two get some sleep or you’ll do us no good later.”
He didn’t wait for a response before going to leave.
The reminder of sleep caused Jinx to yawn before turning back to the beakers and vials that Ekko was nearly starring holes into.
She remembered the way he’d held her after her meltdown in Singed’s lab, the way he’d risked trusting her and had made sure Isha was safe.
Maybe there was a more… delicate way of phrasing this.
“…you have too much honor you know?”
Ekko sighed, “Jinx, I don’t need you telling me I’m weak right now.”
“I didn’t say that! I just-” she rolled her eyes, “I’m just saying. Honor can blind you sometimes from what needs to be done.”
“You learn that from Silco?” He questioned, turning to meet her gaze.
Jinx paused for a moment, caught off guard by the aggresiveness in his voice, “Think what you will about Silco… but he was rarely wrong. Especially about this kinda stuff… boy savior.” She spit out the nickname, aggravated.
He sighed, “Honor can blind you… but it can also stop you from going too far. From crossing the line.”
“The line? What line?!”
“The line! The moral line!”
Jinx scoffed, “Are you serious?”
“Yes! It’s important. It’s- freeing the undercity isn’t the only thing that matters. How we go about it is important too. How far we chose to go will set how we start off once we- if we succeed.”
Jinx considered that for a long moment, watching him, eventually she shrugged as she went to toss up one of their failed shimmer attempts from hand to hand, “I don’t think I know where the line is-”
“Clearly.”
She ignored that, “So, given that I’m the symbol and you’re the planner. How about, I tell you when you’re being a wimp and need to boot the sentimentality, and you tell me when the morality or whatever just can’t be ignored. Sounds good?”
Ekko inspected her, slowly tilting her head, “You do realize we have very different perceptions on where the line is right?”
“Obviously.”
“But if we are going to do this…” Ekko spoke mostly to himself, sighing before muttering under his breath, “This is a bad idea… fine.”
They shook on it.
***
They managed to get a couple hours of sleep before getting right back up and producing more shimmer, Jinx managing to make some booster shimmer but Ekko putting his foot down on making too much of it, since it was a lot easier to abuse than the medicine version, in the end they had twelve vials of medicine and five vials of booster.
They only had enough components to make either sixteen more booster vials or seven medicine vials, given different concentrations and components needed. But they didn’t have the time to make them currently.
Ekko made a list of what they’d be running out of soon, ready to send out a small group of Jinxers and Firelights to get them as soon as the Enforcers had been dealt with.
An hour before sundown, a group of them gathered at the base of the tree, Ekko and Jinx standing on the ledge of the pond.
Around them, stood goons and Firelights, Ekko could see quite a few shifting uncomfortably, no doubt recalling the awkward history between the two groups.
He hoped that seeing him and Jinx working together would help with the aminosity and awkwardness of it all.
He cleared his throat, tapping his knuckles against the table they’d set up with an even bigger map of the undercity, marbles and buttons used to represent Enforcer squads and the groups they themselves would be sending out.
“Alright people! Here’s the situation, we know of twelve Enforcer squads that are currently patrolling our streets and trying to find us. Each squad has five people and, as far as we can tell, almost every single squad has at least one sharpshooter or gunslinger, two brawlers and one Noxian soldier. Our own squads we’ll be sending out will have between four to six people, now remember, we want to knock em’ out and kick them out. Kill them if you have to but remember it’s a last resort. Unfortunately as we already know, Piltover values their citizens lives ten times more than ours, so each death will invite more violence in whatever way they want to retaliate. And remember, we take out the Noxian first, we can’t underestimate them.”
Jinx placed a wooden box on the table, opening it to reveal the vials of shimmer, “Now, thanks to our spectacular efforts, we were able to make precisely twelve vials of shimmer medicine, so each group will be given one. Unfortunately we only had time to make five booster vials.” She tossed one of them to Sevika, who caught it with a satisfied grin.
“Sevika, Arol, I think you’d be better at deciding who should get the boosters.” Ekko reluctantly said, seeing the way the goons were eyeing the vials.
Arol nodded, but didn’t go to grab a vial for himself, saying he himself was a sharpshooter and that the booster would be wasted on him.
Once the boosters had been handed out, Ekko placed yet another two boxes on the table, these ones metal, “Air filters, they should be enough to protect ourselves if any of the Enforcers are carrying The Grey.” He hesitated for a split moment between opening the second box, “I believe some of you will be familiar with these… these are some of our crystal bombs, can inmobilize enemies for-”
“Five minutes.” Sevika grumbled, “I remember.”
Ekko gave her a helpless, half-apologetic shrug, “I thought you might all want to take one or two to help deal with the Noxian soldiers, especially the smaller squads we’ll be sending out. I’ll also be building new hoverboards as soon as I have time.”
Jinx placed yet another box on the table, everyone tensing ever so slightly when they saw this one was clearly hers, painted over with blue monkeys and pink graffiti.
“Smoke bombs with a slight timer, and these,” she picked up a small bulletcasing, that seemed normal, which only served to make the crowd more nervous, “I’ve been tinkering with these for a while, you load em up and they’ll explode paint or glitter. Non-lethal, boring I know, but they should be pretty handy, you just shot them near the face and they’ll be blinded.”
After some clear hesitation, Arol placed a box of his own on the table, “These are some of my best rifles,” he gestured at the Firelights, “If any of you are a good aim… just be careful with em. If you don’t know how to take care of a gun, I’ll show ya when we get back.”
Vara, one of his older Firelights, offered some of her magnetic traps, which she’d used in the past to snatch guns right out of the goons hands.
He had some resemblance of pride and hope at the fact that they were even willing to share their technology and weapons so early on.
He wasn’t sure if Arol and Vara would’ve taken that leap of faith if he himself and Jinx hadn’t shared first.
After going over who would go after which squad and making sure everyone knew their way to what would be their rendezvous point by heart, they got ready to take off.
Sevika would be leading her own squad, but took a moment to turn to Jinx before leaving, “The kid?”
Jinx snorted, “Had her running around all day, she’s knocked out, Ekko insisted.”
“I told you to not bring her along, not have her climbing up and down the walls to tire herself out.” Ekko protested.
“You try telling that kid no.”
He rolled his eyes but didn’t reply. They made their way out of the Firelight base and quickly split up.
Jinx and Ekko, accompanied by Nivu and one of the younger goons called Zaren, headed closer towards the gates and security border that’d been set up by Piltover.
Once they reached the roof where they’d wait for the Enforcer squad to pass by, Zaren carefully set down the heavy bag Jinx had packed.
They had… double duty.
Knock out the Enforcer squad and after that, make sure they wouldn’t be able to come back once they made their declaration and promptly kicked them out.
Ekko looked over the ledge, tense, one hand holding his mace, the other ready on the crystal bomb he’d hooked to his belt.
“Get into position.”
He and Nivu jumped to the opposite roof, crouching by the ledge, Jinx preparing her gun, Zaren descending to hide just around the corner.
After a long tense minute, in which Ekko started going over all the ways in which this could go wrong in his head and wondering if perhaps their half-mapped routes and schedules were just plain wrong… steps began ringing out in the silence of the night.
Ekko held his breath, tensing as he unhooked the crystal bomb, waiting.
The Enforcer squad came around the corner, five members.
A woman and a man both with guns in hand. Another two men with masks and metal gloves, and finally a Noxian soldier with a metal mask and spear.
Jinx took the shot, one of her paint bullets imploding against the Noxian’s mask and completely covering the fine slit in it, blinding them, the Enforcers not having time to react before Zaren was slamming into the soldier from the shadows, going to slam the soldier against the wall as Ekko and Nivu dropped.
Ekko threw the crystal bomb at gunslingers that were about to target Zaren, the crystals imploding and growing around their feet, Ekko slamming his mace against the man’s head, knocking him out. Nivu dropping on the woman and quickly wrapping a garrote around her throat.
Startled screams and a cackle behind him let Ekko know Jinx had blinded the other two Enforcers, quickly turning and activating his hoverboard, flying in between the two men, knocking them off balance in the small alleyway, he slammed the end of his mace against the back of one of their knees, the man screaming as his leg failed him, Ekko quickly kicking at his other knee and slamming his head against the wall twice, Zaren jumping the other man when he managed to get his stained mask off and went to attack Ekko.
It only took a few more moments before the fight was over, Ekko’s heart threatening to beat out of his chest as he glanced around to make sure there were five unconscious around them.
Right as the Noxian soldier tried to stand, Jinx dropped from above, right on top of him, making the soldier wheeze before kicking at his head, stepping down like she hadn’t just landed on top of a person, holding a dark blue rope.
Ekko felt alarm when Zaren suddenly hissed, going to hold his side and-
“You’re hurt.” Ekko quickly went to help him sit down, the older boy trying to wave him off.
“I’ll be fine. The Noxian managed to nick me with that dammed spear, I’ll survive.”
“…that looks like a lot of blood.”
“I just need some bandages and I’ll be as good as new.”
Ekko took out gauze and bandages from the bag Jinx had lowered, helping Zaren while Jinx and Nivu tied the Enforcers and the Noxian soldier up.
He hesitated once they were done.
Zaren waved him off, “We got it from here boss, don’t worry.”
Ekko winced, “You don’t have to call me boss you know?”
Zaren shrugged, jerking his chin at him and Jinx, “Aren’t you the bosses?” He laughed.
“Well technically yeah but- you don’t have to call me that.”
Zaren shrugged again, “Old habit.”
Ekko sighed but didn’t protest again, him and Jinx going to head for the next stage of their plan.
This part would be a bit riskier, requiring a certain ‘finesse’ as Jinx had put it.
Ekko stared for a long moment at the metal circlet in his hands, “You’re sure you got the charge right?”
Jinx rolled her eyes, “I’m insulted that you’d ask that you know?”
She’d prepared landmines.
If Piltover wanted a border so badly all of a sudden, they’d give them one in blue lines and bombs.
They went carefully to the edge of the alleyways that were a mere square away from the gates. At night, there were only one or two Enforcers patrolling, the main threat being the Enforcers that stayed up on a guard tower. But given that they had no interest in crossing into Piltover, they should be safe from the bright light.
They marked the line with blue spray paint, both to give a clear cut-off but also as a warning to the citizens of the undercity, they’d already sent out word that, once the sun came up, the alleyways with blue lines would be armed.
They worked quickly together, constantly on the lookout for the patrolling Enforcers, making sure to place the landmines at least two feet in front of the buildings, doing their best to keep the line as even as possible.
There would be some spots that would remain un-armed, but they would have to make up for it with their own guards, at least until they could make more landmines.
Jinx worked the bombs like they were nothing, every move to arm them completely confident and almost casual.
It was strange, seeing her dressed in all black and with the cloak’s hood pulled over her head, doing everything possible to blend into the night, shinning eyes and glimpses of ghostly pale fingers the only things he made out at times as they worked.
Once they’d armed the last one, they slowly made their way back out the alleyway before hurrying to get to the rendezvous point, Jinx quietly chuckling, clearly proud of herself as they ran, letting her hood fall back.
Their rendezvous spot was a group of run down buildings that would usually hold open food stands, the back rooms specifically, that joined the buildings were where they’d chosen to meet up.
Ekko hadn’t anticipated the sheer relief he felt when he found their people in there and, seemingly, safe. Though he did spot a few injuries.
“Status?” He asked Scar.
“There were three Enforcers that didn’t make it, but they brought the bodies to give back. There were a few bad injuries but…” Scar gritted his teeth, like it physically pained him to admit it, “the shimmer kept us from having casualties.”
Jinx grinned wickedly at that.
Sevika approached, “We’re keeping the Enforcers in two of the back rooms, they’re bound and gagged, I’ll be right back to guard them with a few others. The Jinxers are working on the mirror thing and Gert left this for you.” Sevika handed Jinx a purple bag, clearly unamused, “You have an hour before we need to get moving.”
“That will be more than enough time.” Jinx grinned, swinging the bag over her shoulder and going to turn on her heels.
“Time for what?” Ekko questioned, quickly going to follow her as she made her way to a small room that clearly served as a bedroom, matresses on the floor and a dressing screen next to the wall.
He had no idea what was in the bag, this was not part of the plan.
“Time for what?!”
Notes:
Trying to establish the in-between space Jinx and Ekko are in when it comes to their contrasting views, they’re willing to hear each other out but aren’t about to start actually changing the other’s mind anytime soon but somehow they don’t really let it impact their relationship. Don’t know if I explained that well.
Might seem a bit too easy to have no casualties on the Zaun side, but considering they had the element of surprise + immobilizing agents, I think it’s somewhat believable
Chapter 6: Compromises, Theatrics and the Horror of Vulnerability
Summary:
Jinx and Ekko give Piltover a warning
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Jinx placed the bag on the small bed, not a worry in the world, “To get ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“For the declaration! You didn’t think I’d do it dressed like this right?”
Ekko sighed heavily, going to pinch the bridge of his nose as Jinx rummaged through the bag, “Are you really going to do an… outfit change… right now?”
“Hey, presentation is important for a Revolution. And don’t worry, I didn’t forget you. Here, put this on.”
She tossed a few things at him, including a shirt, which, when held up-
“Jinx… this is a croptop.”
“Yep.”
“This is a croptop.”
“You got something against them?” She questioned as she gestured for him to turn around before reaching for the end of her shirt and-
Ekko whipped around, feeling his cheeks burning, managing to find the flimsy dressing screen with his hand without turning around and pulling it between them.
“…are you serious about this?”
“Hey, I agreed to your low-key, ‘let’s not call attention to ourselves’ strategy when dealing with the Enforcers. Let me have this. It’s called compromise you know.”
“It’s really… not.”
She all but growled, “Ekko-”
“Fine!”
He knew that, technically speaking, she was right and presentation was indeed important, but he was nervous on what exactly she had in mind for him.
It was a black, sleeveless croptop with a ribcage painted on it, along with a strange hoodie consisting of only one muted green sleeve and the hood, that’d been cut to resemble teeth around his throat, he begrudingly put it on but placed his red scarf over the cut hood.
Gray pants and several belts, one with a metal owl head painted gold and heavy boots with metal soles. One of his usual gloves and another one that resembled a gauntlet more than a glove, with metal pieces around his fist.
Where had she even found all this? When had she had the time?
Jinx moved the screen to the side, wearing bandages as a top, leather straps across her collarbone and leather chords as necklaces. Black pants with several belts hanging from her hips, one fingerless glove dark blue and purple, reaching her upper arm and the other glove covering up to her wrist.
Pink and blue fabric tied to her pants as knee pads, black leather boots. And a black, unbuttoned vest with red and gold lapels and pockets… Silco’s colors, and sewn at the back of it, a hood dipped in dark blue paint, white fabric meant to resemble shark teeth sewn into it with purple thread.
He said nothing, watching her as she placed her hands on her hips, inspecting him.
She took out his mask from her bag, tossing it to him along with a leather chord, “Tie it to your belt, or use it like a knee pad.”
“Seriously?”
“Humor me boy savior.”
He went along with it.
“How much time do we have?”
Ekko checked his pocket watch, “A little over half an hour.”
Jinx went back to her bag, taking out paint brushes and a few small tubes of paint, “Come here.”
Ekko sighed as he went to stand before her, “Why include me in this? You’re the symbol not me, remember?”
Jinx gave him a one-shouldered shrug as she dipped a brush in purple-pinkish paint, “You’re leading. Might as well help make you a symbol too… you deserve for people to look to you for hope way more than me. You may be altruistic to the point of giving headaches… but you’re also inspirational… you know… on a good day.”
He couldn’t help a small smile. They fell into silence as she worked. She made large strokes over his chest, a pink X.
Her symbol pretty much.
Similar blue Xs over the gauntlet, nonsensical lines and splotches in purples and blues and yellows at the boots and pants. His own symbol, an hourglass drawn on the side of his left shoulder in green.
As she worked, Ekko found himself studying her in the still silence, trying to figure out just what she was thinking.
He should’ve been alert, this was Jinx reaching for him after all, he’d taught himself to be cautious of her every movement years ago and they’d only been allied for a few days. And yet he couldn’t find it in him to be anything other than intrigued.
…maybe even wanting.
Which was not only nonsensical and impulsive and stupid, but also dangerous. Especially with how unpredictable Jinx tended to be.
What was she thinking he wondered as she finished, retouching the X across his chest.
***
It felt right, Jinx thought. To give him her symbol in a sense. They were working together and, even butting heads she was starting to believe he really did have her back.
And she’d noticed that some people, especially some of the older goons seemed a bit reluctant to follow him, she hoped this might help with that.
Because she might’ve been the one to ‘take a stand’ directly against the Council, and those goons saw her as Silco’s daughter, as continuing a legacy perhaps, but Ekko had done way more for the undercity than she ever had.
And this way, when she eventually fucked up… if she eventually fucked up, she tried to think positively, the people of the undercity would still have someone to look to for leadership, for hope.
She took a step back, inspecting him.
A strange warmth grew underneath her ribcage as she tilted her head, eyes running over Ekko as he waited, also watching in turn.
She took her time before meeting his eyes, Ekko stepping closer, going to take the paint brush from her, “Your turn.” He told her quietly, taking her wrist and going to paint a dark blue half star on her glove and skin.
Jinx didn’t fight him, finding herself speechless as he continued to paint on her, touching her with a gentleness she didn’t quite know what to do with, didn’t quite know what to make of.
He painted a matching pink X across her chest, as well as lines and figures in yellows and blues and purples.
He had that look in his eyes. The look he’d given her sometimes while they fought over the years. The look he’d given her on the bridge and when he’d convinced her to be part of the Revolution and when she’d had a panic attack in Singed’s lab and when he’d caught her playing with Isha.
A mix of softness and sadness and something else she couldn’t quite place.
He stepped even closer, hesitating for a moment after dipping one of the brushes in green paint, glancing up at her before he gave her his symbol, his hourglass over her left hip, her breath catching for a moment at the unexpected intimacy of it.
Their eyes met, but neither dared to move or say anything for a long while until-
“Why the hourglass?” She asked in a whisper.
“What?”
“Why the hourglass? It’s not really the Firelight’s symbol it’s… it’s yours.” She raised a hand slowly, thumbing the edge of the ever-present face paint on his cheek, Ekko closing his eyes at the touch, “Why?”
Ekko sighed, grimacing for a moment before meeting her gaze again, “Benzo… the first thing he taught me how to fix were clocks… easier to draw an hourglass though.”
“Mmm…” Jinx inspected his face, “Did you get to see him? In the sunshine-y world?”
He gave her a weak smile, “Yeah. I got to uh… talk to him, thank him.”
Jinx hesitated before going to take his hand, gently squeezing it, “I’m glad you got to see the old goat. He’d be proud of you… little man.”
He snorted at the old nickname rolling his eyes, giving her a grateful look before hesitating, “I uh… I saw Silco as well,” her head snapped up at that, “he was… happy there.”
Jinx stayed completely still, heart pouncing in agony before she swallowed down her pain, “Oh… so it really was all rainbows and sunshine huh?” She tried to joke.
Ekko didn’t laugh, hesitating before speaking slowly, “Jinx… what… what happened… to Silco?”
Jinx jerked, the whispers that’d been more quiet as of late suddenly trying to claw their way out of her ears, memories of the dinner flashing through her mind, the way Vi had looked at her in sheer terror, Silco’s gentle voice, the screaming whispers demanding attention, the visions attacking her, Mylo’s ghost taunting her, the blue blinding light of the HexTech weapon, tears burning as they made their way down her cheeks due to the too-fresh shimmer in her veins.
She took a shaky breath, letting go of him, “Oh well- I uh- I put together a dinner party and- I was trying to chose what- what- what I should do and-” she started gesturing with her hands, taking a few steps back, “Vi wouldn’t stop yelling at me and- and the-” she hit her temple with the heel of her palm, “the voices got louder- and dad- dad was gonna shoot Vi to get her to shut up and… and next thing I knew… he had a bunch of bullets in him.”
She didn’t meet his gaze, her eyes instead darting around the room as she tried to ignore the shadows starting to move in the corners, tugging at her pigtails, “And the worst of it? He said- he told me not to cry- that he wouldn’t have handed me over to Piltover for anything… that I was perfect… he forgave me for killing him… who does that?” She chuckled.
“Jinx-”
“And he was right about Vi!” Her frantic movements slowed as she remembered, “He told me… he said that no matter what Vi said or promised… that she’d turn her back on me the second she saw who I am now… and he was right… my beloved sister couldn’t run away from me quickly enough once she realized how much I changed…”
Ekko reached out, Jinx reacting on instinct, too caught up in the memory to react in any way that wasn’t smacking his hand away and slamming him against the wall, fistfuls of his shirt in her hands, eyes flashing bright for a split second, breathing heavy.
He didn’t move, giving her a moment to breath before slowly reaching for her again, hands going to grab her own, gently prying them from his shirt to hold them against his chest.
“I’m sorry Jinx… truly.”
She let herself dip forwards, leaning her forehead against his chest, Ekko slowly letting go of one of her hands to carefully place an arm around her, clearly unsure as to how she’d react.
She allowed herself a moment to soak in the comfort of him before quickly pulling back, adjusting her hair and clearing her throat, “Well, let’s get this party rolling! Not like they can really start without us right?” She questioned as she slung her bag over her shoulder.
Ekko observed her for a second before nodding along, “You’re right. Come on.”
***
Ekko did not miss the confused and amused looks shot his way as he stepped out of the room behind Jinx.
He tried to summon all the calm possible to keep himself from blushing. He had no reason to blush after all right? It wasn’t like they’d done anything to be blushing over, Jinx certainly didn’t seem to be bothered by or even notice the looks.
And he wasn’t going to blush over an outfit when he was in the middle of trying to lead a fucking Revolution, he had much bigger problems than worrying about his looks dammit.
Sevika raised an eyebrow but said nothing about it, instead simply telling them that they were ready to move.
They were now walking the blessfully Enforcer-free streets, heading for one of the taller buildings at the edge of the gates Piltover had set up.
Jinx joined Ekko on his hoverboard, holding on to his shoulders as they went to the top of the building, a half constructed wall giving them cover, glancing back, he saw the mirror contraption the Jinxers had rigged up after they’d taken out the Enforcers.
Ekko stood to make sure the half-wall covered them completely before crouching next to Jinx, using a small green light to signal Scar and Sevika, who were on a different roof.
A floodlight was turned on, casting light on the roof Sevika and Scar stood on, holding rifles along with several other goons, guarding the sixty Enforcers they’d captured, all of them still unconscious, a banner hung above them courtesy of Gert;
Bring us Kiramman
Ekko could tell the moment the patrolling Enforcers caught sight of it, gasps and yells coming from far below as they scrambled.
They leaned against the wall, Ekko was actually a bit surprised they didn’t have to wait too long before a floodlight from the other side turned on and a voice rang out.
“Let them go!” Caitlyn’s voice came booming through some kind of mic, “Now.”
Jinx grinned as she went to stand up, holding a mic of her own that was rigged and connected to several speakers.
“Or fucking what?” She questioned as the last floodlight turned on, illuminating her.
A bullet instantly hit Jinx’s right eye, cracking the mirror.
“Well that’s just rude.” Jinx reproached, clicking her teeth.
Gert and other Jinxers had gotten together dozens of mirrors, setting them up on the opposite building so Piltover could see Jinx as she made her stand but be unable to hurt her thanks to the cover of the wall, a small contraption that had been the Professor’s placed right in front of them to make their reflection’s appear bigger than they would’ve otherwise.
Ekko crossed his arms, leaning against the wall next to Jinx as she moved slightly to appear unshattered in her reflection.
“What do you want?” Caitlyn questioned, sounding slightly breathless through her obvious rage at Jinx’s presence.
“What we want is real simple, we want any and all remaining Zaun citizens you’re holding prisoner to be returned. Do that, and we’ll free your lackeys, you got two hours until we start executing your lapdogs.”
Ekko sent out his signal and the floodlights turned off, leaving it clear that they weren’t open to negotiations.
***
Caitlyn tightened her grip on the megaphone to keep herself from throwing it to the side, setting it down harshly, and turning to Ambessa and Steb, who’d been leading the efforts to keep the border secure, “How did this happen?”
“They must’ve attacked all the squadrons at once, none of them used their emergency flares.” Steb explained.
“You mustn’t panick just yet young Kiramman,” Ambessa tried to tell her, “I deployed a stealth team to eliminate the criminals holding your Enforcers hostage.”
“What?! Why would you give that order?!”
“I was already on site Kiramman, and the faster we get this over with-”
An explosion came from their right, pink smoke rising.
The stealth team no doubt.
Jinx’s voice came back, taunting and annoyed, “Oooohhh, bad choice! Did I forget to mention? We made our own border. Now, I’m not in the mood to humor your tricks- Sevika! Hit em!”
“NO!” Three gunshots sound out, Caitlyn just barely making out the figures of three Enforcer bodies collapsing through their own floodlight.
“Now you have only one hour, don’t try anything else, time’s a tickin!” Jinx went quiet, the sound of a ticking clock ringing through the place.
Caitlyn clenched her jaw for a long moment before turning, starting to make her way down the guard tower, “Get me those prisoners.”
“Kiramman-”
“No!” She whipped around to face Ambessa, “I have dozens of lives on that roof. I am not risking them.”
Ambessa snarled, stepping closer, “If you give in to them now… they won’t stop. I understand you want to get your Enforcers back, but it would be unwise to give them what they want.”
“Those people have families, people that need them. I am not leaving them for dead.”
“Those soldiers knew the risks of patrolling Zaun, they accepted them.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m letting them die.” She turned once more, starting to shout out orders, “Put up a perimeter, I don’t want anyone getting too close, and get me a list of those prisoners!”
She knew Ambessa would be furious, that she would see this as her giving in to weakness and to Zaun’s demands.
But she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to leave sixty people that she had sent out there to die.
***
After a few minutes, Ekko slowly drew his pocket watch away from the mic, silence falling over the night, he and Jinx slumped against the wall, waiting.
They’d hoped Piltover would try something. It’d given them an excuse to ‘execute’ the three Enforcers that hadn’t made it, placing their deaths on Piltover’s dirty moves rather than on them.
They knew that even with the breakout there were still Zaun citizens not only in lower levels of Stillwater, but also in the mini ‘jail’ that’d been set up along with the gates.
It was time they were set free.
Jinx sighed as she fidgeted with one of her braids, knee bouncing up and down.
He reached out, gently placing his hand on her knee to stop her.
They waited like that until his pocket watch approached the end of the hour and-
“Jinx!”
She and Ekko scrambled to stand up right before the floodlights came back on.
Caitlyn’s voice came back, “We have the prisoners, we are ready for a hostage exchange.”
“Well then, if you’d be so kind, to follow instructions-” Jinx handed him the mic before crossing her arms and tilting her head in the mirror.
He spoke into the mic, giving them clear instructions on which alleyway to approach as Sevika and Scar guided the Enforcers towards the same alleyway.
He also made it clear they had snipers in place and that, if they got too close, they’d be promptly blown up.
Ekko didn’t think he’d ever been as tense as he was as he waited for Scar’s signal that the hostage exchange had ended successfully.
They’d chosen this specific building so their reflections would be seen clearly from the guard towers, but it also meant they’d sacrificed being able to actually see the exchange go down.
Just as he was starting to feel like it’d been far too long, a flashing light caught his eye, Scar’s signal.
He exhaled slowly, trading a glance with Jinx, who cleared her throat and gestured for him to give back the mic.
“Well would you look at that, you can listen.” She half-taunted, “That’s good to know.”
“Jinx, I don’t know what exactly it is that you think you’re doing. But if you try to make some kind of stand against us, you won’t succeed. Turn yourself in before there are more casualties.”
“Yeah… nah. How about, instead of wasting breath with your vague little threats, you stay on your side. Stay out of our city!”
“It’s not your city! You are part of Piltover-”
“Since fucking when? You’ve certainly never acted like it. In fact, I’d love to see you treat your citizens the way you treat us. No. Don’t kid yourself, this, is our city, and we don’t want you in it!”
There was a moment of silence before Caitlyn’s voice came back, “Do you understand what you’re doing? What you’re starting? I will give you one last chance to stand down and turn yourselves in.”
Jinx cackled, “We know exactly what we’re starting. And we have a warning for you.”
She handed the mic to him, giving him a push with her shoulder to get him to take a step forwards as she gave her own signal to Gert to activate the speakers they’d set up in Piltover so the civilians would also hear this part.
“Stop any and all use of HexTech. The overuse of it has pissed off the Arcane and if you keep using it, it will affect us all. So put your selfishness to the side for once and listen to us. We will give you one month to destroy your HexTech technology.”
Jinx leaned her arm on his shoulder, going to speak into the mic, “And if you decide to ignore our warning… we’ll give you a little taste of all the bullshit you’ve put us through. And given how delicate you’ve proven yourselves to be I really don’t think you’d survive even a fraction of it.”
“You don’t intimidate us.”
“Oh but we should… you should be so very intimidated.” Jinx spoke her tone becoming more grandiose with every word, taking the mic, “You should be fucking terrified, because, for the first time ever…” she turned to him, meeting his gaze as she offered her hand, Ekko taking it after a split second, “Zaun stands as one!” She declared as she raised their joint hands.
Further into the city, the goons, Firelights, Jinxers and everyone errupted in cheers, chanting ‘For Zaun’.
Jinx chuckled as she took a step forwards, “And if little old me was able to kick up so much ruckus all on my lonesome… do you really want to see what we can do when we’re united? Just something to think on… cupcake.” She let the mic drop as she took a bow, the floodlights turning off.
After a long minute, they climbed down from the building, meeting up with Sevika and Scar, who were already giving orders, making sure they were setting up the necessary precautions.
Guards would remain along the alleyways that now made up their border, but this was far from over, they had to figure out more ways to make their home safer.
A few other bombs made by experienced goons were being set up as carefully as they could to not be spotted.
Most of them left for the lower levels of the undercity to treat their wounds and for the prisoners to find their families and their people.
The sun was about to start coming up by the time they’d dealt with all the immediate crisis.
They walked the streets with Sevika and Scar, Arol and Gert volunteering to stay behind and make sure nothing went wrong while they got the chance to rest.
However, as they walked down some of the main streets… people began clapping for them, clearing the roads for them.
Jinx’s eyes widened, clearly caught off guard by it before smirking slightly and extending her arms to welcome the cheers.
Before Ekko could even fully process what was happening, a few of the goons approached them, going to lift both of them up on their shoulders, the people screaming for a united Zaun and the freed prisoners.
Jinx cackled as she took in the hope and determination and encouragement in the people’s eyes.
A glance just behind her had her giggling at Ekko’s stunned expression as he was obviously trying to not lose his balance, having not expected to be included in whatever the fuck this was.
It was endearing, watching the realization growing in his eyes as he looked around him, at the streets free of Enforcers and the people who’d been hiding away finally getting to come out.
The hesitant smile on his face growing when he met her gaze, the same realization hitting her as well.
The realization that they really were making a change.
And it was only the beginning.
Notes:
This is my take on the painting scene we were robbed off but of course under much different context.
The dynamic between these two is an odd one to write due to the complexity but I really like how it’s turning out.
I actually looked up if there was any real reason for Ekko’s hourglass symbol but I didn’t find anything definitive so I made it be in honor of Benzo.
And finally, I’m kinda sure Jinx never heard Vi call Cait cupcake but for the sake of entertainment let’s just pretend that she did hear it at least once and decided to taunt Cait in every possible way.
Next chapter will feature; the baby being angry at being left behind.
Chapter 7: If Anything Happens to Isha, Ekko and Jinx will Kill Everyone in Piltover and then Themselves
Summary:
Isha bonds with Ekko and forgives Jinx
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ekko was in the Firelight hideout, heading for the room that was tentatively speaking Sevika’s office, slightly removed from everyone else.
Opening the door, he slowed down at the sound of sudden commotion, Sevika sitting at the desk, slowly raising her eyes, “Jinx with you?”
“Uh, no?”
Sevika knocked on the desk, “You’re good kid.”
From beneath the desk, Isha’s head popped up, narrowing her eyes at him before going to climb up on the desk, picking up her puzzle toy, which looked like she was trying to take it apart now that she’d solved it.
“…what’s going on?” He questioned as he went to hand Sevika the first round of ‘patrol reports’.
“Kid’s upset with Jinx for leaving her behind.”
Isha huffed, going to cross her arms, clearly offended.
“Oh,” Ekko sighed, grabbing the other chair in the room and going to sit in front the portion of the desk Isha had seemingly claimed as her own, “Isha, listen… I’m the one that told Jinx to not bring you along.”
Isha’s head jerked up, frowning as she threw one of the smaller pieces of the toy puzzle at him, Ekko easily catching it.
“I’m sorry but- this was a very dangerous mission. I didn’t want to risk you getting hurt.”
Isha crossed her arms and shook her head, as if that wasn’t a reasonable excuse.
Ekko tilted his head, “Listen kid, I hate to be the one to break it to you but… you’re little.” Isha scoffed, clearly very annoyed by that fact, “I know how frustrating it is to want to help, to want to protect the people around you and just- not being able to. But right now, the best thing you can do to help is to stay safe and learn so that you can help us when you’re… a little bit older.”
Isha rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she looked back down to her puzzle, she was reorganizing some of the pieces.
He turned to Sevika for help, who just shrugged, “What are you looking at me for? Was any explanation ever enough for you and Jinx when you were little? Even now you’re still barely out of diapers and look at you, leading the Revolution.”
Now it was Ekko’s turn to roll his eyes.
He watched Isha for a long moment, considering…
“Hey,” he leaned forward, waiting until Isha looked at him before continuing, “How about, I tell Arol to include you in target practice? You could start learning how to shot… with practice rounds.”
Isha’s expression brightened up, the girl straightening up before gesturing, pointing at him- no, not him- but towards...
“Oh… you want a hoverboard?”
Isha nodded enthusiastically.
Sevika snorted, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at his barely hidden panic at the prospect.
“…I’ll think about it.”
Sevika quietly shook her head, “And I thought Jinx had a weak spine when it came to Isha.” She leaned towards the kid, gently mussing up her hair, “Keep it up and you’ll have the entire undercity wrapped around your little finger in no time kiddo.”
Isha giggled.
Ekko sighed, “So… are you ready to forgive Jinx?”
The kid pursed her lips, as though she was thinking about it, looking down at her puzzle.
***
Jinx was looking around the entire Firelight base.
She’d spent two hours preparing more landmines before finally giving in to the nerves crawling up her skin and going to look for Isha, who she’d barely seen the previous day. She knew the kid was clearly upset at being left behind, but she hadn’t expected her to straight up avoid her.
As she walked down the halls, she caught Ekko leaving Sevika’s ‘office’ going to intercept her.
“Is Isha in there?”
Ekko grimmaced, “Hey… give her a bit of time, she’s still a bit upset.”
Jinx groaned, gently pushing him, “You’re the one who told me to leave her behind!”
“I know, I told her… she’s still upset you listened to me.”
She turned, going to stomp away, “This is the worst! Is this what I get for letting you talk me into being responsible?” She asked with anger and disgust.
Ekko followed behind her, “It’s better this way. How do you think you’d feel if she got hurt?”
Jinx just shook her head, “I wouldn’t let her get hurt.”
He just rolled his eyes, matching her step, “I’m going to tell Arol to include Isha in target practice with a toy gun, might somewhat appease her for now.”
“Hmm, never too early to start practicing your aim in this city.” Jinx agreed easily.
“How are the landmines coming along?”
“Just showed Gert how to place them without blowing her arm off, I’ll finish the last ones in my hideout. I think it should take about two days to completely secure the border with surprises.” Jinx said with the slightlest skip in her step, going to walk backwards to face him while talking, “Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?”
“There’s two things actually. I want to start working on potential air and water filters just in case Piltover tries to attack us on that front, you think you could help me with that?”
Jinx grimaced, looking down at her chipped nail polish, “Not exactly my area of expertise.”
“I could use your ideas.”
Jinx hesitated. It was one thing to build bombs to keep Piltover away and funky bullets for the goons, it was something entirely different to try and build things like filters to purify their air and water.
This wasn’t building something just for it to blow up. This was building something to make things better.
“…not sure if my ideas will be very useful.”
“Hey,” Ekko’s voice softened, going to catch her gaze, “humor me?”
Jinx scoffed, rolling her eyes.
Using her own words against her. That wasn’t fair.
“Fine. What’s the other thing?”
He hesitated for a moment, “Think you could check out the Last Drop? See if there’s anything we could use or anything Silco left behind?”
Jinx sighed heavily, pausing for a moment, “…I’ll check it out tomorrow, once I’m done with the landmines.”
Ekko gave her a single nod.
Jinx spun on her heel bidding him goodbye with a wave of her fingers, “Tell Isha I’ll be at the hideout.”
“Will do.”
***
The following day, Jinx knew the exact moment Isha started following her across the rooftops as she made her way towards The Last Drop.
The little rascal really thought she could sneak up on her. But Jinx would let her follow her in silence for as long as she wanted.
She chuckled to herself at the thought of Sevika having to relent to letting Isha stay with her the previous night. Isha was a cuddler, Sevika was very much not.
Yet she had the nerve to make fun of Jinx for giving in to Isha most of the time.
Jinx found herself needing to pause for a moment and take a deep breath before being able to push the door open.
It’d been strange, entering the building after Mylo, Claggor, Vander and Vi were gone. But now with Silco also gone… it felt wrong in a way.
Thanks to most of the people of Zaun helping them prepare for any possible retaliation from Piltover, the place was deserted, the dance floor empty and the neon lights replaced by the more homely tones of regular lighting.
Even Chuck was nowhere to be seen, Jinx tapping her fingers against the bar as she passed it.
She knew Isha would likely come in in a few minutes and take a look around, which meant she had around fifteen minutes to go into the office and search around before she had to be back down.
Pushing open the door to Silco’s office, she almost expected him to be there, for the chair to swing around and reveal him sitting there, holding his eye inyector, gently scolding her for starting a Revolution without him.
She was only greeted by dust and an empty chair.
Jinx sighed as she let herself lean against the door frame for a moment before forcing herself to step in.
She could see the nuts and bolts Sevika had left behind from her attempts at fixing her old arm.
The ends of cigars still remained on the ash tray she’d decorated with pink and blue paint when she’d been around thirteen, his detailed map of Zaun to which she’d added on with figures and notes still laying on the desk.
Jinx shook her head, trying to dismiss the strange whirls trying to tug at her stomach, heading for the cabinets at her right, searching through them as quickly as she could.
She didn’t find much- at least not much that would actually help them, most of it consisted of budgets, lists of trusted guards, specific instructions and plans on how to trade with Piltover in a beneficial way, what was obviously blackmail on different chembarons and Marcus and some of her old drawings.
She scrapped together a few papers that might turn out to be useful, shoved them in one of the neat folders and hurried to get out of there, sliding down the banister and heading back into the bar to see a tiny figure jumping to hide behind the bar.
Jinx snorted, tossing the folder on the bar and placing a hand on her hip, “Still mad at me?”
Isha slowly stepped away from the bar, watching her.
Jinx sighed, going to hop behind the bar, “I need a drink, want some juice?”
Isha stayed still for a moment before going to climb up on one of the barstools.
Jinx smiled to herself as she poured some juice on her old cup for Isha, taking a moment to sniff at one of the bourbon bottles, quickly gagging at the strong scent and opting for some juice for herself as well in one of Vander’s old glasses.
“Here you go.” Jinx said as she placed a tiny umbrella and a straw for Isha’s juice, sliding it over to her, the girl taking an experimental sip before drinking from it properly.
After a minute of silence, Isha set the juice to the side, starring the older girl down as she tapped at her temple, a gesture Jinx knew meant ‘why’.
Jinx sighed as she leaned to the side, “I’m sorry kid. I let Ekko talk me into leaving you behind.”
Isha tapped at her temple again.
“I… I knew this mission was going to be a bit more dangerous. And I didn’t want to risk you getting hurt.”
She hadn’t had a problem letting Isha tag along until she knew the consequences of it might be too great to bear. When the mission involved going up against people she knew wouldn’t hesitate to hurt a kid.
And wasn’t that just karma being a real bitch.
She finally understood why Vi had (at least initially) left her behind all those years ago.
Isha, just like Powder, didn’t seem to think that was an acceptable reason, shaking her head.
Jinx tilted her head, trying to get Isha to meet her gaze, “Isha I… I know loss… I know what it’s like to be left behind, to feel betrayed, for the people you hold close to your heart to just… die. Most of the time by your hand- after Silco I doubted it’d ever be able to get to me again, I was just… numb… but then I met you.”
Isha slowly met her eyes.
“Ever since you came into my life it’s like I- put on… glasses. And at first I couldn’t tell whether everything was clear or blurry but now I know… it’s clear. Crystal clear… in a way that it hasn’t been since… maybe ever.”
Because even when she’d been ‘one of Vander’s kids’ there’d been voices calling at her in her nightmares and in the shadows. She’d been able to ignore them, to pretend they weren’t there back then.
But a part of her brain had always been working against her.
“If something happened to you… and I had the chance to prevent it… I don’t know what I’d do.” Her voice half-broke and she quickly cleared her throat, going to take a sip of her drink, “Besides, you really want me dragging you all around the undercity with Ekko ‘the moral compass’ talking every two minutes about some supposed ‘line’ we’re not supposed to cross?”
Isha’s eyes darted around, clearly trying to figure out what to say.
Finally, she hesitated before going to point at Jinx, then forming an X with her hands and pointing at herself, then pointing at herself, forming the X and pointing at Jinx.
‘You protect me. I protect you.’
Jinx sighed heavily, it was almost painful, the unknowing way Isha caused her to be haunted by Powder even when she’d made her choice the night of her dinner party.
“Tell you what, I’ll let you come along on the moderately dangerous missions. And once you’re a bit older and you learn how to shot, you can come on all of them. How about that?”
Isha considered it for a long moment before relenting, raising her cup to clank it against Jinx’s glass.
Jinx chuckled, reaching out to mess up Isha’s hair before performing their handshake, relief popping like a bubble in her chest.
They stayed there for a while, Isha taking out her toy puzzle and showing Jinx she’d reorganized the pieces to make it more challenging.
At some point, the front door opened and Ekko popped his head in, stepping in fully once he saw them, “There you are I…”
He trailed off, eyes flying around the place as he slowed down.
“What?”
“Nothing I just… the last time I was here was… a very long time ago.” Ekko said half-wistfully.
There was a pang in her chest at that, she knew what he was thinking about, their shared childhood. A time in which this building had been one of his favorite places in the world, where they were safe.
Jinx went to pour him a glass of juice as well, winking at Isha as she snuck in some vodka, placing it on the bar and clearing her throat before sliding it his way.
Ekko sent her a grateful look, going to take a sip and instantly chocking, Isha and Jinx laughing as the latter went to pour him actual juice.
Ekko shook his head, barely able to contain a smile at Isha’s giggles, “Really? Seriously?”
Jinx just shrugged as she handed him another glass, “You need to lighten up.”
She meant it. He carried too much on his shoulders and it showed from time to time.
Their fingers brushed when he took the glass from her and something in Jinx tensed.
Not because of caution though.
She found herself thinking back to the night of their declaration. The feeling of a paintbrush against her waist echoing in her mind, taunting her.
She looked away, going to inspect Isha’s toy, “So, what are you doing here?”
“I talked with Arol,” Ekko grinned as he made a show of reaching into his coat, pulling out one of the old guns they’d once used for shooting games, handing it to Isha, who froze, “you start tomorrow.”
Isha’s eyes widened as she took the gun, nearly bouncing with excitement as she inspected it, Ekko gently tapping the bar in front of her to get her attention back.
“But you have to listen to him, alright?”
Isha nodded along easily, jumping from the barstool to hug him, Ekko nearly stumbling back, clearly surprised before returning to hug, gently squeezing the kid.
Jinx just smiled at the sight before catching herself.
She looked away, scolding herself for letting herself be moved by the fact that Isha seemed to be warming up to Ekko.
Because it didn’t matter.
It couldn’t matter.
Isha was hers.
Ekko… she wasn’t exactly sure what to make of him.
So it didn’t matter.
It couldn’t.
It wouldn’t.
She wasn’t going to doom whatever this was by letting the small smile Ekko shot her way mean anything.
Notes:
Love writing Isha even if I haven’t quite figured out how to write her POV.
Also tried to keep building her budding friendship and trust of Ekko in a way that feels natural.
And of course, her relationship with Jinx; their conversation may be a bit deeper than Jinx is used to but due to their bond I don’t think it’s too out of character
Chapter 8: Strike Back; the Prelude
Summary:
The month Zaun gave Piltover before striking once more goes by quickly
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
28 Days Left
The border was officially secure… or at least as secure as it could be all things considered. It was safe for now.
Jinx was at the Firelight’s hideout, sitting with Isha on one of the platforms, fixing up a few of the broken toys in the box, she had a feeling Isha was pretty much done with her puzzle toy, running out of ways to make it more interesting.
Isha tapped at her knee to get her attention, taking off her helmet and gesturing to her hair, the blue dye already starting to fade away.
Jinx tilted her head, gently running a hand through her hair, softly tugging at her brown roots, “What, you want me to dye it again?”
Isha nodded along.
Jinx clicked her tongue, “We should wait a bit longer, don’t wanna damage it now do we?”
Isha pouted but relented.
Jinx gently bumped her shoulder against Isha’s, “Are you going to go with blue again? You could try another color… purple? Pink? Green?”
Isha shook her head vehemently, pointing at the blue again.
“Alright, alright bossy. I’ll have some blue dye ready when the month is up.”
That seemed to satisfy the kid, who went back to handing Jinx tools from her box as she asked for them.
At some point, Sevika found them, grunting as she went to sit down next to them, observing the space around them, the tree at the center of it all and the kids running around on the platform next to them, some of them trying to take peeks at what Jinx was working on.
“What are you doing?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jinx shrugged, “Fixing up a few toys. I was bored.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Jinx turned to look at her, waiting.
“You made the little Firelight into a symbol. The people are starting to put him in the murals at your side. They’re starting to see you two as a pair, as equals.”
Jinx looked away, eyes going down to the broken down mechanical dog she was trying to get into working order, “…so?”
“Why would you do that?”
She snorted, “I would’ve thought you’d approve. Ekko is a lot more dependable than I am. Certainly more dedicated to, ‘the greater good’ or whatever.”
“Kid’s got spirit, I won’t deny that. Maybe under different circumstances that’d be enough. But he’s got too much heart, he-”
“Sevika, I know.” Jinx shook her head, gently hitting at the dog to get it to finally move, setting it down, “Believe me, I’ve told him just that.”
“So why make him a symbol then?”
Jinx sighed, hesitating, setting down her screwdriver before meeting Sevika’s gaze, “Look around. Ruthlessness might help us give Piltover a beat down but it won’t help us rebuild, make a safer place maybe but a better one? Not so much.”
Sevika inspected her eyes, searching for something, glancing back at the tree and the platforms where kids were running around, shifting to lean back against the wall, “Surprisingly enough, you have a point there.”
They fell into silence as Jinx grabbed a different toy, this one some kind of wind-up bunny.
Sevika spoke after some time, “I remember when the kid tried to come for you, way back when.”
Jinx froze, nearly driving her screwdriver straight through the toy.
“You cried and screamed for days. Silco didn’t know what to do.” Jinx’s grip on the screwdriver hardened, clenching her jaw, “And when you found out he was the leader of the Firelights… you knocked off his mask and you both just froze. You could’ve killed him, he could’ve killed your but you both just… froze. I’m sure the same happened on the bridge. You two always hesitate when it comes to one another-”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Jinx questioned, something heavy settling down in her chest, the memories of those instances, the way her stomach had dropped and, despite all her training and rage and drive everytime she found herself unable to deliver the final blow…
The way his eyes always widened as if he recognized her for a split moment that stopped him from taking the shot… did her eyes do the same?
Sevika turned to her, raising an eyebrow as she watched her, “I’m not saying it has anything to do with this… just an observation. The only thing I’ll say is, when it comes to the Revoltion, use your head. Nothing else.”
“What else would I use? My liver?”
Sevika just continued to stare.
Jinx turned away first, snorting, “Don’t you worry. I might be a little crazy but I’m nothing if not logical. Making Ekko a symbol was strategical, I know what I’m doing.”
“Funny… you almost sound like you actually believe that.”
She tried to drive her elbow into Sevika’s stomach, the woman catching her arm and tossing it back into her lap.
Jinx rolled her eyes and continued working.
***
26 Days Left
Ekko was careful as he traveled through the rooftops, more mindful than ever of his surroundings, one hand on the handle of the Z-Drive he’d hidden under his coat.
This mission could not go wrong.
Scar, Nivu and Vara ran along with him, Zaren and another of the newer goons; Cayea staying close behind them, all of them sliding down a roof and quickly pressing themselves down against the pebbles decorating the top of the lower roof, peeking over the ledge at their objective.
Piltover’s state of the arc hospital.
Thanks to some climbing equipment, courtesy of Jinx, they’d managed to sneak in through the bridge, crawling along the bottom of it and hiking along the sides of the rocks to find a small gap in security, quickly climbing up to the roofs and starting to make their way deeper into Piltover.
Piltover was probably expecting some spectacular strike of theirs at the end of the month, the truth was, their strike back would be a more subtle one, taking place over the next few weeks.
Ekko didn’t expect them to put the pieces together until it was far too late.
He set down his binoculars after checking the balcony that would be their entry point.
Empty and unguarded. Pretty much every single Enforcer was standing at the bridge and their border, too few of them left patroling their own city.
This would hopefully go according to plan. And, the hospital looked mostly empty, after all, the Pilties were a whole lot healthier than them right?
Ekko glanced at his sides, “Are you ready?” He questioned in a low whisper.
Zaren grinned, “Born ready boss.”
“Remember each of our duties, we fill the bags as much as we can, but do not leave any trace of us behind. We work in pairs, we work in silence, we get out in an hour exactly. Meet up back here. Got it?”
They all nodded along, Nivu giving him a smile he knew meant trouble, “Let’s go show them what a real… jinx is!”
Cayea sighed heavily and face-palmed.
Ekko took a moment to ask whatever deity still remained to give him patience, “Let’s just get this over with.”
They used their hoverboards (Ekko had spent a major part of the past two days making sure Zaren and Cayea learned how to use them until it was second nature) to make their way to the balcony, Vara lockpicking the entrance and all of them quickly making their way inside, finding a small sign indicating the different sections of the hospital.
They split up, Ekko and Scar finding the first of a few storage rooms, quickly heading in and inspecting the shelves, setting down the bags they’d brought along and starting to stuff them full of medicine, bandages and any other material they might need.
Ekko had never even heard of half the types of medicines contained in the vials they tucked into the bags, reading on all the diseases Piltover just had the cure for locked away in a closet.
Aside from Scar and Zaren, who carried five bags, they each had four bags to fill up.
As they worked, Ekko caught Scar giving him a quick glance, specifically looking at the pink and blue paint still staining his gloves.
Ekko sighed as he closed up the first of his bags, which he’d filled to the brim with bandages, gauze and disinfectants, “Spit it out Scar.”
“What?”
“I can read you like a book remember? I can tell there’s something you’ve been wanting to tell me. So just spit it out.”
Scar paused for a moment, taking a moment to inspect him before speaking, “I understand that we’re in a complicated situation and doing the best that we can. And I trust you, you know I do… but I just-” he broke off for a moment, clearly trying to figure out how to say what he had in mind, “Jinx may be on our side… but you should remember what she is capable of… I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Ekko took a moment to let the words sink in, “And here I thought she was winning you over.”
One of the toys she’d fixed up was a music box that had proved surprisingly effective at getting Scar’s baby to fall asleep.
Scar shrugged, “She is in a sense. I admit I had plenty of doubts but… I think we can trust her for now, when it comes to the Revolution.”
“Then where is this coming from?”
Scar took a moment, inspecting him before tilting his head, “When I say I don’t want you getting hurt, I’m not talking about the Revolution.”
Ekko froze for a split second before clearing his throat and zipping up his first bag, “I don’t-”
“Don’t try to lie. I can read you like a book.” Scar warned as he himself also zipped up his first bag, “You’re… different with her. Calmer. More comfortable even. If it were anyone else I’d encourage this but-”
“There’s nothing to encourage Scar.” Ekko snapped, setting up his next bag, “We’re leading a Revolution. We share a responsability, that’s all.”
Scar watched him, “Of course. I must have misread things.”
They continued their work in silence, smuggling away as much as they possibly could, and then setting up tiny purple disks beneath the rest of the packaged medicine.
When activated, the disks would cause vibrations that would break the glass, rendering the medicine unusable.
Ekko felt horrible at the thought of wasting so much medicine but, between the journals they’d sent Vara and Nivu for filled with information on how to produce the medicine and the fact that they wouldn’t even activate the disks if Piltover ended their use of HexTech-
It was necessary.
They had to hit Piltover hard. Make them realize what happened when medicine and resources weren’t just available in bulk within closets.
Once they were done filling up their bags, they hurried back to the balcony they’d entered through, careful to stay aware of any steps or sounds that they could hear.
They carried tranquilizers in the case they encountered anyone but the whole plan relied on the element of surprise. Of no one realizing what they’d done until everything came crashing down on them.
Vara was waiting at the balcony, since she would have to be the last to leave to re-lock the balcony, leaving absolutely no trace behind.
They found Nivu in the roof, waiting with bated breath.
Ekko felt himself tense up. He knew his Firelights were stealthy enough for this mission, but a part of him had been worried at bringing Zaren and Cayea as well.
That was why he’d insisted Jinx stay behind, she’d have a rol to play for other parts of the plan but this one… this one was a little too delicate.
After three minutes spent starring at his pocket watch, Zaren and Cayea arrived at the roof, Vara not far behind.
They still had to get back but Ekko allowed himself a small sigh of relief, “Let’s go home.”
***
24 Days Left
“What do you mean ‘inconclusive’?” Caitlyn questioned as she walked, nearly snatching the clipboard out of Maddie’s hands.
Maddie sighed, “None of our scientists or inventors have been able to give a definitive answer.”
Caitlyn shook her head, tossing the clipboard on her desk and going to sit down, covering her face with her hands, trying to think.
Ambessa, who’d been waiting in the shadows of the room stepped forward, “HexTech is Piltover’s most valuable resource. It is very likely that Zaun is trying to intimidate you into destroying it. There is no proof that HexTech is corrupting anything.”
Caitlyn shook her head, “But there is a possibility of it. And the only two people who could tell us for sure are missing I-” she sighed heavily, “We’re sure there is no sign of Viktor either?”
Maddie quietly shook her head.
Caitlyn pushed herself up, going to pace across the room.
She couldn’t count the number of evenings she’d spent in the lab bothering Jayce and Viktor when she’d been younger.
She’d seen the progress of HexTech, but plenty of it had always gone over her head, but she could vaguely recall a certain evening.
A time in which Professor Heimerdinger had expressed concerns over ‘producing magic and forcing it into stability’. Into an unnatural form.
Overtime, with the success of the Hexgate those concerns had been soothed and forgotten, but what if there had been merit to it after all?
Caitlyn looked down at the reports on the clipboard.
Pages and pages that could’ve been redacted with a simple ‘we have no fucking idea’.
Where are you Jayce? She thought desperately as she fell back on her chair.
She had no idea what to make of any of this. What to do with Zaun’s threat.
Were they telling the truth? Was HexTech dangerous? Or were they trying to trick them? To get them to get rid of their most valuable technology and weapon to get them on a more even playing field?
Maybe she should take a look at the Hexgates herself.
***
22 Days Left
Jinx and Isha were sitting at the ledge of the pond, Isha gently moving the lily pads around, Jinx working on potential sketches and blueprints for filters.
She caught Ekko heading their way, holding something behind his back.
“You’re going to regret that.” She warned teasingly.
He sighed heavily, “I made a promise.”
“She got you to promise?” She cackled as Isha went to turn around, looking up at Ekko with wide eyes.
Ekko ignored Jinx’s laugh as he went to crouch down, pulling a small hoverboard from behind him, Isha gasping in delight and quickly going to inspect it.
He’d given this particular mini-hoverboard blue and pink lights instead of the usual green, Isha hopping up and down and clapping before going to take the hoverboard, setting it down to give him a hug before going right back to inspecting it.
“You have to be careful kid, here-”
Ekko quickly explained to her how to keep her balance and how to direct the hoverboard, helping her turn it on and lifting her up so she could comfortably step on it, making sure she had some semblance of balance before letting her go, Isha testing it out.
Jinx shook her head, “She’s gonna be a menace now. If she somehow winds up on the higher branches-”
“I rigged it to not go higher than four feet.” He whispered, watching nervously as Isha started getting the hang of it, ready to jump and catch her if needed.
Jinx cackled, “Oh you better sleep with one eye open if she finds out.”
***
20 Days Left
Jinx and Ekko had snuck into Piltover under the cover of the night.
This mission would require them to be even more careful.
They laid down on a roof, watching through binoculars Councilor Salo’s estate, who had Enforcers patrolling.
“Second window on the third floor.” Jinx told him as she handed him the binoculars, which he looked through, “Looks like an office.” She said with a half-shrug.
“Looks dusty.” He mused.
They shared a glance, Jinx pulling up her hood before they waited for the Enforcers to clear the area, four were currently patrolling in pairs, which meant they had a two minute window to get in once one pair passed this side of the house.
The moment the Enforcers were out of side they ran, using a grappling hook instead of hoverboards to make their way up the wall and to the second floor, Ekko quickly picking open the lock, the two sneaking in.
It was indeed, gratefully, the office.
“Desk is locked.” Jinx said with a small groan.
“No time to look for a key- hold on.” Ekko inspected the desk, “He keeps his seal right here.”
Jinx looked at where he was pointing, scoffing, “Uh, security much?”
“Let’s just count ourselves lucky.”
“Mm, you look for a document with his signature, I’ll get started on this.”
Ekko followed her lead as she took out a small kit, using a candle with a special kind of wax and a tiny knife to start the process of copying Councilor Salo’s official stamp.
Ekko searched the office carefully, finding an open cabinet containing dozens of documents, quickly selecting one with his signature and placing it on the desk, taking out his own kit, using parchment paper, a light and a graphite pencil to make a perfect copy of the signature.
“Got it.” Ekko carefully placed the copied signature into his satchel.
“Give me a second.” Jinx muttered under her breath, carefully unsticking the wax from the stamp, coming up with a perfect copy, letting it cool for a moment before placing it inside a small container and nodding at him.
Looking out the window until the Enforcers passed them, they climbed out the window, Jinx keeping a hand on his back to make sure he kept his balance as he relocked the window and they hurried to get out of there, climbing the gate as quickly as they could and running to an alleyway before making their way to the roof.
In the fancier district of Piltover, the buildings tended to be further apart, which meant they had to be careful about their route to not be spotted as they made their way to Councilor Shoola’s estate.
They watched the estate, searching each of the windows, some of them with shut curtains that made Ekko nervous, if they couldn’t find the office-
“Got it… but apparently Shoola is a night owl.” Jinx snarled, passing him the binoculars, “Third floor fifth window.”
Ekko looked for it and indeed, he could just make out hands traveling across the desk, writing something.
He cursed under his breath, it was the middle of the night, two a.m. to be precise. What was the Councilor doing up?
“Could we pull it off with just one stamp?” Jinx questioned, taking back the binoculars to glare at the woman from a distance.
“Maybe… but I don’t want to risk it… let’s wait. If she’s still there in an hour… we’ll just have to admit defeat.”
Jinx made a face, clearly not a fan of the idea.
They laid down to make sure they wouldn’t be seen.
Ekko sighed heavily as he looked up at the sky, speaking only after a few minutes when he felt himself starting to get sleepy, “I wish we had a sky like this in the undercity.”
Even in the upper level, the pollution was too heavy for the stars to be visible.
Jinx snorted, “That’s such a you thing to say.” She titled her head, inspecting it, “It is pretty though… maybe too pretty for us.”
“Bullshit,” he quickly retorted, “It’s too pretty for the Pilties not for us. I bet they don’t even appreciate it.”
“Of course they don’t. They didn’t have to fight for it… glad to know you’re not over complaining about the sky.”
Ekko frowned, half-turning to her, “What?”
Jinx met his eyes, raising an eyebrow, “You don’t remember? When we were little…” she hesitated for a moment, clealy unsure of whether or not she should even bring up those faded memories from another life, “you found some book on constellations and we drew stars on the ceiling of Benzo’s attic.”
He half chuckled, the memory clicking in his brain, “I’d nearly forgotten about that… you nearly broke your leg doing that.”
She scoffed, “Only because you wouldn’t hold the ladder steady.”
“At least I actually held it, you shook it when it was my turn just because I said you drew weird stars.”
“I didn’t shake it! I just leaned on it and you freaked out. And my stars were great thank you very much.”
They both chuckled, turning back to look up at the real stars far above them.
It was strange, speaking of the past. It nearly felt like something taboo, to get to reminisce after everything that had happened.
They fell into silence again, occasionally glancing over the ledge to check if the Councilor was still there and, right as the hour was about to be up, Ekko glanced and-
He caught the door being closed, quickly elbowing Jinx, “She’s gone. Come on.”
They hurried to get down from the roof they’d chosen and climbing to the top of the gate guarding the estate, once more using their grappling hooks to get closer, scaling to the third floor and reaching the window, finding it open and slipping in, Ekko helping Jinx in to make sure she remembered to not land noisily.
They hurried to the desk together, finding it a lot neater than Salo’s, but the stamp was right there, Jinx quickly grabbing it to start working on it.
There were no signatures to be found on the desk and everything else was locked.
Ekko sighed, trying and failing to pick the lock of one of the cabinets. Vara’s pick-locking lessons only went so far.
He kneeled, deciding to break the bottom drawer’s lock with a small knife, skimming through the documents and finding the signature he needed to copy.
“What happened to leave no trace behind?” Jinx asked with a tiny grin as she started peeling off the wax from the stamp.
“That’s more a preference than a rule.” He justified as he got to work, smiling at Jinx’s snort.
As they finished their work, Ekko heard it.
Footsteps coming down the hall.
He cursed as he realized that, despite the door closing, the lights hadn’t been turned off, the Councilor had only stepped out for a moment.
They shoved the things in their bags and ran to the window, Ekko pulling at his Z-Drive as the doorknob started to turn, buying him just enough time to grab Jinx and practically launch them out the window and to the small ledge on the side, nearly falling in his haste, Jinx grabbing him and pulling him against her, the two pressed up to not fall off the ledge as the Councilor stepped into the office.
Neither dared move even an inch as the Councilor slowed, Ekko’s heart racing as he tried to think, had they left something behind in their haste? Had she noticed the broken lock?
The footsteps came closer to the window and Jinx pulled him closer to her, her breath hitting his collarbone, her arms at his back making sure he wouldn’t fall.
After what was perhaps the longest minute of his life, the Councilor shut the window and returned to her desk.
Ekko sighed in relief, leaning his forehead against Jinx’s shoulder.
They stayed still for another long moment before untangling themselves and going to head back to Zaun.
***
18 Days Left
Ekko was looking down at the two small earrings resting in the palm of his hand.
The other Ekko had had pierced ears and, after finding practically identical earrings whilst searching for scrap metal to put up barriers in certain more insecure areas of the border… he’d found himself considering piercing his own ears, as a reminder of his time there.
As something to remind him of the hope he’d felt seeing what could have been.
He glanced up to Jinx and Gert, who were helping Isha practice her shooting.
“Hey… do you know how to pierce ears?”
Gert’s eyes widened in delight.
Ekko found himself already regretting asking her.
***
16 Days Left
Jinx sat on the roof of The Last Drop, looking down, leaning her cheek against the knee she was holding against her chest.
She tensed up, taking out her gun when steps came from her side, too light to be Ekko or Sevika and too heavy to be Isha, she whipped around to point her gun at-
Gert raised an unimpressed eyebrow, “Am I interrupting a good sulking session?”
Jinx snorted as she rolled her eyes and put away her gun, “I don’t sulk. I was brooding.”
Gert chuckled as she went to sit at her side, “Right, my bad.”
Jinx’s eyes frowned, trying to figure out what Gert was doing, “Am I forgetting about some meeting we had or something?”
Gert hesitated before speaking, “You looked thoughtful today. I thought some company might do you good.”
“Huh… can’t say I’m used to that.”
“So, what’s on your mind?”
Jinx turned slowly to glare.
Gert didn’t seem intimidated, “Sometimes you just gotta let it out.”
Jinx considered that for a long moment, allowing her gaze to fall back to the streets below, “…do you have sisters?”
“No.”
“You’re lucky. They suck ass.”
Gert snorted, “You miss her?”
“I don’t know. I think I kinda hate her.”
“You can hate someone and still miss them.”
“How can I miss her when I don’t even know her?” Jinx shook her head, frustrated.
Gert just shrugged, “Family doesn’t make sense most of the time.”
Jinx sighed heavily, leaning her cheek against her knee once more. The two falling into a shared silence.
She found she didn’t mind the company.
After a long while, she slowly turned to her, “Gert?”
“Yeah?”
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this but… you’re almost too cool to just be copying my style.”
She laughed, “What? Scared I’ll start pulling blue off better than you?”
Jinx grabbed a small pebble of the roof to throw at her, “How dare you?”
The two laughed as they threw small pebbles at one another.
She wondered if this was what it was like to have a friend.
***
14 Days Left
Jinx jumped up to the ledge of the small fountain that stood at the feet of Vander’s statue, Ekko joining her after a moment, turning to the crowd before them.
“Thank you for coming,” Ekko started, “We have a few important things to discuss. We need to be careful with our resources, and we will ask some of you to help us preserve food and fish. We have a plan to get more resources soon but we are still planning for what we will do in the long run, any ideas are welcome.”
Jinx cleared her throat, “We’ve designed filters that can keep our water and air temporarily clean if Piltover tries to attack us on that front. We need a few volunteers to keep an eye on the air and water systems to make sure we aren’t caught off guard if that is indeed the case.”
Ekko and Jinx spent most of the day answering questions and setting up possible solutions to their… possible food problem that might pop up eventually.
The filters they’d designed were flimsy at best considering the sheer level of pollution in the air and water. They might work for a few days at most, which meant they still had to figure out how to construct a better system.
***
12 Days Left
Ekko followed Sevika into a lower level of an old chembaron layer, finding Zaun’s five best forgers sitting at a table, documents in front of them.
Ekko took a deep breath as he inspected the forgeries they’d spent a week working on and making sure they’d be perfect.
He raised the documents up to the light, inspecting the signatures and stamps, reading and re-reading the entire document to make sure they sounded right, that they’d successfully replicated the way of writing and ‘speaking’ that Councilors often used. The fancy language and technical terms.
He slowly grinned as he met the forger’s expectant gaze, “Well kid? We meet your expectations?” One of them asked.
“You most certainly did.”
***
10 Days Left
Jinx found it nearly easy to infiltrate the silos and storage units far into Piltover and away from the civilian buildings.
Scar at her side, slowly looked down at the tiny vial in his hands shinning a faint orange, “Are you sure this will work?”
Zaren clapped him in the back, ignoring the glare Scar sent his way, “Oh yee of little faith, everything she’s made has worked so far why shouldn’t these?”
“Thank you!” Jinx grinned before turning back to Scar, “This is a little chemical cocktail that I can promise will work. We just pour it in the silos and in a few days, it will corrode everything inside. If my calculations are correct, which- of course they are, it should take precisely ten days.”
Isha, who was hanging from her shoulders nodded knowingly, giving Scar a thumbs up.
Cayea held one of the small vials against the faint light coming from above, “And just like that we take out Piltover’s backup food supply.”
“Some of it at least.” Jinx sighed, “We can only do so much unfortunately.”
“Shhh.” Vara shushed them from her spot in the ceiling beam they were currently perched on, “Guard change just started, we got seven minutes.”
They hopped down, heading for the different silos.
Jinx chuckled to herself as she poured one of the vials into a grain silo, letting Isha pour in the second.
***
8 Days Left
Jinx and Ekko heard the attack long before they saw it.
They ran side by side through the streets, dodging civilians who were running away from the noise.
Reaching an alleyway close to the border, Jinx already had her gun out, catching sight of four Enforcers trying to force their way past their guards, the debrie behind them making it clear they’d detonated the landmines they’d planted there.
Ekko hoped on his hoverboard as Jinx raised her gun, hitting one of the Enforcers through the eye and in the head, Ekko slamming the end of his hoverboard against the head of another Enforcer, brutally knocking him down.
The momentary reprieve gave their guards what they needed to take care of the other two Enforcers, quickly shooting them.
Ekko returned to her side, clenching his jaw as he tried to catch his breath, Jinx spotting the body of one of their guards further in the alley.
“What happened?” Jinx questioned.
One of the guards winced as he went to sit down, “A Noxian soldier just ran in, detonated the landmines, then the Enforcers came right behind, tried to attack.”
“A single tiny attack? What’s the point of that?” Ekko asked before calling out for a healer, seeing one of the guards had been shot in the leg.
“Maybe testing us? Or they knew they wouldn’t be able to sneak in much else without us spotting them in an instant.” The guards proposed.
Jinx slowly shook her head, starring at the bodies now decorating the alley, “Whatever the reason… they’re going to fucking regret it.”
***
6 Days Left
Much to her own frustration, Jinx found herself back in the river.
She’d used the excuse of testing out a possible new filter to come out here.
She wandered in until the water reached her knees, looking out at the lapping water, starring into it, almost expecting an image to emerge from below.
“Why won’t you talk to me?” She muttered under her breath, “All the voices, all the times I wished it’d just… be quiet. And now the one voice I actually want to hear… and you have the fucking audacity of not saying anything.”
Nothing but the gentle lapping of waves gave any response.
She sighed, “I suppose I can kind of understand cause of the whole… killing you thing.”
She kicked at the water, splashing it, “You should be here. You’d probably know what to do… I think our plan is a good one… we’re going to show them a fraction of what it’s like to live down here… but I still think… you might have had something else- a missing piece- I don’t know.”
Jinx trailed off, closing her eyes for a long moment.
She slowly turned away, going to get out of the river.
***
4 Days Left
Sevika was very much not impressed when she finally found Jinx, trying to find her to tell her of the new border patrol protocol she’d finished preparing for when they finished their newest invention.
She found her in the basement of The Last Drop, metal parts, tools and rough sketches on the table letting her know they were perfecting the electric devices that would soon be a part of their border.
She and Ekko were on one of the couches, deep asleep leaning against one another, clearly exhausted, prototypes still in hand, they’d probably fallen asleep while working on them.
And, kneeling next to the table was Isha, playing with a small wind-up bunny, giggling when she saw her and gesturing for her to stay quiet.
Sevika rolled her eyes.
***
2 Day Left
Despite everything, a part of Ekko hesitated when the final part of their plan was in his hand, waiting to be dropped.
Jinx slowly turned to him, “It won’t kill anyone.” She quietly assured him, “Sure, it’ll make them sick, and quite uncomfortable but… they’ll live. They haven’t said anything yet about dismantling HexTech, we gave them a month… it’s time.”
Ekko looked down at the release device in his hand.
“What about the ones that get really sick? They might not have the medicine they need.”
“And that’s on them. We gave them time. We made it clear there would be consequences. We aren’t putting them through anything that they haven’t already put us through.”
Ekko continued starring.
Jinx sighed, leaning on a hip and offering a hand, “I can do it on my own if you want.”
He took a moment to glance at her offered hand before slowly shaking his head, “No… no we do this together.”
Jinx said nothing as she went to open the hatch of the pipe.
It was a pipe that provided water to Piltover- well, to the water dam.
They dropped the release devices that would poison the water.
Not poison, Jinx insisted, it would simply give Piltover a taste of the pollution Zaunians had dealt with every single day of their lives.
Creating a device that would release the same pollutants in their water at a big enough rate that it would poison the entire water supply within 36 hours had been quite the feat to accomplish, but Jinx had truly rised to the occasion in between working on the filters.
Ekko shut the hatch before turning to her, “A part of me still can’t believe we’re doing this.”
“Well you’d best believe it boy savior, cause in two days, it’s the day of reckoning.” Jinx told him with a grin.
Notes:
Jinx and Ekko are not fooling anybody and they are only growing closer by the day
The part with Gert was a fun one to write cause Jinx deserves at least 1 friend that doesn’t involve a huge amount of emotional baggage and confusing feelings
Very excited to reveal next chapter what the whole plan is…
Chapter 9: Zaun’s Royalty (Always a Dance with You)
Summary:
Zaun shows Piltover a fraction of what they’ve been through
Zaun decides to celebrate the small victory
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Caitlyn was waiting.
She stood at Piltover’s side of the bridge, watching the city line of Zaun, at the strange flickering lights that looked like…
“What is that?” She finally questioned.
Steb sighed heavily, “Some kind of… electric fence. I imagine it’ll be quite… explosive if we were to try to get through it.”
“…they haven’t said anything.”
“The sun is barely up.”
Caitlyn reminded herself to take deep breaths, so tense a part of her was suprised she hadn’t just snapped into a million pieces.
“Check if-”
She was cut off by explosions coming from behind her, from Piltover.
She turned around, watching as streets were suddenly flooded with The Grey but… not as much as the previous time Jinx had attacked…
“Something’s wrong.” Caitlyn said as she put on her mask, “This isn’t… this can’t be it. They’re planning something else, they have to be.”
It took two hours for the reports to come through, for Enforcers to approach her with reports from confused doctors and dock workers and for the panic to start making itself known in civilians and Enforcers alike.
Caitlyn rushed to the hospital, the Grey having been mostly cleared thanks to extra ventilation systems she’d requested be installed just in case.
But the hospital was in shambles and in clear panic, multiple doctors quickly approaching her to explain that-
There were maybe a few dozen vials of medicine left, the rest somehow having gone either missing or somehow breaking at some point in the night.
People were showing symptoms of illness, but not just because of the Grey, but generally getting severely sick, starting in the early morning.
As she tried to figure out what was going on, to calm the people, and figure out what had happened to the medicine, Maddie appeared with a concerned look and a clipboard, “We have a problem.”
***
Jinx couldn’t keep a huge grin off her face as she watched the ships approaching.
She knew Piltover would be waiting with bated breath to see what they would do now that the month was up.
They’d be expecting a big show, given the amount of security at the border, they were expecting the showdown to take place right there.
But they’d chosen to go a slightly different route.
Oh sure, yet another round of the Grey had imploded into quite a few neighborhoods but that was only a part of it.
They’d likely assume they were becoming predictable.
Until the affected went to the hospital and found little to no medicine.
Until people began getting sick because of the water that was slowly becoming polluted.
After all, how could they know what herbs easily helped counteract the effects when they’d never had to deal with it? They’d look for their fancy medicine and find none of it.
And then of course, the cherry on top.
The dock workers would find themselves waiting for a delivery of fresh food and they would wait, and wait, and wait.
Maybe at some point someone would try to figure out what was going on only to find out when they got word to their providers that, for some reason, Councilors Salo and Shoola had written to them, asking them to move a few delivery dates and to deliver at a tiny new dock in Zaun due to renovations being given to the Hexgates and the docks of Piltover.
The ships arrived and started helping take down crates and crates and crates of food and drinks and and silly luxuries to trade and supplies.
Chuck, decked out in a Piltover suit, was speaking with the captain of the ships, giving him official-looking documents to sign and making sure to mention security problems in Piltover, apologizing for the short notice of the delivery dates changing and advising caution of future correspondence.
Once the ships were starting to depart, she and Ekko approached some of the crates they’d commandeered, Ekko using a crowbar to pry one of them open, revealing ripe apples.
Jinx took one, tossing it from one hand to another before offering it to Isha, “What do you think?”
Isha took it with a frown, sniffing at it before taking a bite, eyes widening and juice running down her chin as she smiled brightly, giving her a thumbs up.
“I can’t believe how much there is.” Ekko said in a quiet tone, astonished at the sheer number of crates before them.
Arol opened another crate, cackling as he pulled out a wine bottle, “This is the good shit!”
Sevika spoke after checking a few other crates, “We need to be careful, some of these are already salted for preservation but we should make sure we preserve as much of it as we can. Just because it’s a lot doesn’t mean we should start splurging.”
“I think we could use some of it to start planting our own plants.” Scar proposed, “If we can find a good patch of dirt of course.”
“I completely agree.” Gert started, opening another crate to find silks and a bunch of seemingly random shit, “However, I do think we could take this opportunity to boost morale.”
Arol chuckled, “And how do you suggest we do that girl?”
Gert didn’t answer at first, too delighted to find a small box containing disks, “Well… I say we throw a little party. Some of the food is fancy shit that’ll expire in two weeks tops and there’s a bunch of extravagant stuff… we might as well use it.”
Jinx snorted, taking an orange from Isha before she could bite into it and starting to peel it for her, handing her a slice, “I think that’s an excellent idea. In fact… I think I got just what we need for a little celebration.”
Ekko hesitated.
This wasn’t technically speaking a win. They’d given Piltover a taste of their own medicine sure, but they’d been ignored when it came to their HexTech problem.
But looking at all the crates around them and the reports of Enforcers throwing up in the middle of their patrols… they’d weakened Piltover.
How could that not be a win?
And they needed the people in high spirits, a party might help with mixing sides and showing everyone what they could do when they worked side by side, besides… he didn’t think he could even remember a proper party ever being thrown in the undercity.
He glanced around to realize they were all looking at him, waiting for his opinion.
He sighed, “We worked harder than ever all month long… I think we deserve a night off.”
***
Ekko stood with Scar on a rooftop as night fell, watching Piltover, a few Enforcers had left the border, probably heading back to help with the inevitable chaos that was brewing due to the lack of medicine and confusion, or to rest after throwing up.
“Are we going to wait for them to say something?” Scar questioned quietly.
Ekko half shrugged, “We know they’ll try to retaliate more likely than not. The best we can do is let them drown in their panic and reinforce our border, keep them guessing whether or not we’ll do something else. Sevika said that, if we say anything the civilians will probably be even madder at us, but if we don’t, they might just turn their anger at the Council and the Commander.”
“Mmm… so what’s next?”
“Make sure we’re prepared.”
***
Caitlyn leaned back in her chair, trying to think.
“Zaun has truly shown their tenacity.” Ambessa said as she leaned back on her own chair, “We’ve been watching the border when we should’ve been watching the streets.”
She stayed quiet.
Dozens had fallen ill, she still wasn’t sure if it was just the Grey and perhaps something else that had been released into the air or if it was something else, if it wasn’t just her paranoia telling her the water was starting to taste… odd.
She’d sent some of it to be tested to know for sure.
“We must strike back!” Salo insisted as he hit the table, “We cannot allow them to simply get away with this! We must put together some kind of task force to put them back in their place.”
“Our priority should be making sure we don’t risk the people going hungry.” Shoola argued, “I just got word confirming that all our silos were targeted, I don’t know what they used but they’re useless. And of course, they managed to steal three months worth of food supplies and materials from right under our noses.”
“The people are falling ill because of Zaun’s audacity!” Salo reiterated, “We must attack.”
“They haven’t said anything.” Caitlyn said quietly, trying to think, “They haven’t gloated about their attack or anything of the like.”
“I believe their actions are more than loud enough.” Shoola told her, “Though I do not put it past them to try and take things into their own hands, to destroy the Hexgates themselves.”
“Precisely,” Ambessa agreed, “which is why we need more security there.”
Caitlyn rose from her seat, going to run her hands through her hair.
She herself didn’t feel very well.
She wanted nothing more than to tear down Zaun’s border and invade until she found Jinx and threw her in a cell.
But this was a lot bigger than Jinx now.
She’d meant it when she said that Zaun stood united. Was Vi-
No.
No, there was no time to wonder about that.
She’d taken a look at the Hexgates, finding nothing that jumped at her as odd or wrong, but then again, she knew little to nothing about how they were actually meant to work, the technicians who’d guided her clearly nervous about staying there for any longer than they needed to.
She sighed slowly, “I think… we should put up more security around the Hexgates and the places that were attacked. We lower the security at the border until we know how to break past their electric barriers but pull up the bridge to keep them from even thinking about attacking us directly. Our priorities should be getting medicine and supplies as well as the security of HexTech.”
She hesitated before turning to Ambessa, “You have dealt with rebellions before, is there any advice you think wise to give me right now?”
Ambessa raised a slow eyebrow, “I’d suggested to double the efforts in weaponizing HexTech. Given that apparently no one can even understand HexTech currently, I’d suggest finding a way to infiltrate Zaun in a way they won’t expect. You mentioned the pipes and underground tunnels had been safe-guarded?”
“Yes, with the electric barriers and, probably with landmines as well.”
“Are there no older blueprints that may prove useful? No way inside that was kept secret or that has been forgotten? We could always try and attack from above but they would see it coming.”
Caitlyn considered, “There may be some old blueprints from my ancestors that could have some forgotten or broken down tunnel… for now, let’s focus on increasing our security and getting medicine… nearly half our Enforcers are sick, we can’t think of an attack right now. But after that… we’ll see… as soon as we get some medicine I’ll send out the order to triple our efforts to weaponize HexTech. We must be prepared.”
Ambessa watched her for a long moment before giving her a single slow nod.
***
Jinx used her teeth to cut the thread before tying it neatly, “Here kid, all done.”
Isha, who’d been watching Gert work quickly ran to her, letting Jinx place the fabric over her head and fall to her hips, the dark pink tulle skirt falling to her calves.
Isha spun, her chuckles echoing throughout the airshaft.
The dark blue vest she wore was made of some kind of silk that had taken Jinx a moment to figure out how to work, sewing it on top of an old denim vest.
Most of the fabrics that’d been in the crates had been stored away, some given to Jinxers and seamstresses to make clothes for those who needed it. And one or two rolls, Gert had insisted Jinx keep for the party.
It’d been a day since their scheming had paid off, night was falling and soon enough, the party would begin.
Jinx was admittedly excited, ready to make a big entrance.
The fabrics might not have been exactly her usual style, but she’d made do, giving it her usual flare. Gert was testing out some disks for the party.
Jinx slowly stood up, going to stand in front of her half-shattered mirror, tilting her head as she inspected her reflection.
The top of her dress consisted of a combination of dark blue and black fabric, blue at the center, black at the sides, belts sewn together to serve as a half corset. Fishnets serving as long sleeves.
The skirt was asymmetrical and layered, one side longer than the other. The bottom skirt was made of bright pink silk, the layered pieces of satin and tulle on top in shades of blue and gold falling at different lengths, beneath it she wore tights she’d half ripped at intervals.
Her heavy boots with a green hourglass and a pink monkey painted on the sides.
Gold lines below her eyes and blue tones at the corner of her eye, dark pink eyeshadow fading into her upper eyelids.
And her usual pigtail braids. Braids that were still messy despite months of practice on her own.
They still looked a little off to her. Silco had always done her hair.
Gert grinned her way, “You really outdid yourself you know?”
Jinx gave a small twirl, letting her skirt fly around her, “Oh I know. I wasn’t entirely sold on the fancy shit but… a girl could get used to this.” She leaned forward, inspecting her makeup.
“Ekko’s gonna lose his mind.” Gert snorted.
Jinx froze for a moment, slowly turning to Gert, “That-”
“Don’t even. Anyone and everyone can see how you two are with each other.”
“I thought I was supposed to be the crazy one.”
Gert rolled her eyes, “Isha back me up here-”
“It’s not like that!”
Isha gave her a mischevious smile before leaning against her, pretending to sleep.
“We were tired!”
“I don’t get why you’re so adamant about this.” Gert told her, “Pretty sure neither of you even care about your… history anymore.”
Jinx just shook her head, tugging at her hair, “I’d be no good for him. I’m never any good for anyone.”
Gert stopped what she was doing, going to lean against the table close to her, “Well that just can’t be true. The kid’s turning out pretty well. And we wouldn’t even be in the middle of a Revolution if it weren’t for you.”
“…there’s a reason I’m ‘Jinx’ you know? People who get close to me… they have a really bad habit of dying.”
Gert glanced down, sadness entering her eyes, but not pity, to her relief, “This is Zaun… people in general share that bad habit. That… feeling… in your eyes when you two see each other… it’s kinda rare down here. Don’t you wanna see where it goes?”
Jinx snorted, “Trust me, he doesn’t want any of this.”
“I’m pretty sure he does.” Gert hesitated, clearly trying to figure out what to say, “Look… tonight is a night to celebrate. I’m not saying you throw yourself at him but… don’t just shut the chance of him out.”
“I’m no good for him.” She repeated in a silent tone, biting at the inside of her cheek to keep the pain of that reality in.
Gert tilted her head as she inspected her, “Why don’t you let him decide whether or not that’s true? Leave the past to the side for the night and just… enjoy this.” She finished as she stood and gently bumped their shoulders together.
Jinx sighed heavily, considering.
She glanced back at the dolls of Mylo and Claggor inside the tent she shared with Isha on rare nights now, spending most of her time in the Firelight hideout.
She looked back at the mirror.
She wasn’t the Powder that Ekko had grown up with. And even if she tried with all her might, she knew she could never be that again.
She most certainly wasn’t the Powder from the alternate sunshine universe.
She was starting to realize she wasn’t even Silco’s Jinx anymore. The one who’d been torn and unbalanced and rageful.
Her demons were still there in the back of her mind certainly, she could see them lurking in the shadows and whispering to her at night sometimes. But between the Revolution and Isha and… Ekko… it was a bit easier to cope with.
She could no longer tell if she was a mixture of everything, pulled apart and somehow mended back together or if she was becoming something- someone else entirely.
But she knew that she didn’t hate this strange person she found in the mirror.
Though, it would be of help if she could do something to help ‘leave the past’ or at least some of it behind.
She gently tugged at the braids, thinking.
“Isha… pass me the scissors.”
Gert’s head jerked up at that, seeming to already know what she had in mind.
***
Ekko was laughing, sitting with Scar and Zander as the party fully began.
They were in one of the main streets, the entire street decorated with Piltover useless trinkets and a bunch of other stuff, blue and pink and green and red fabrics hanging from the walls, a random chandelier they’d found in one of the crates had been hung up with different colored lights and mirrors to cast them all around.
A few booths held the foods that wouldn’t last long, elegant cheeses and strange crackers and shrimps and lobsters that’d still been alive in the crates. Bottles of too expensive wine and stuffed mushrooms and tiny pastries and plenty of other things Ekko didn’t even have a name for.
Music played up and down the streets from speakers and the street had quickly become a dance floor, mostly used by the kids, Firelights, the younger goons and Jinxers, the older adults either too sober or too hesitant to join in just yet.
Posters of Caitlyn and other Councilors were being used for shooting games, the losers taking shots, a few of the kids were preparing to hit piñatas with the images of the man of progress and Caitlyn filled with some candy they’d found, Vara and one of the Jinxers getting ready to rig them up for the excited kids.
“I still can’t believe all the random crap you guys sorted through.” Zaren said as he sniffed at one of the cheeses before trying it, “I mean- chandeliers? Fish eggs that they eat for whatever reason? So weird.”
Scar shrugged, “Some have more money than they know what to do with. They’re in an endless pursuit of entertainment.”
“They’re privileged and wear it like a badge of honor, that’s what they are.” Ekko said with a grin as he tried one of the shrimp cocktails Chuck- Thieram, he reminded himself, Thieram had prepared, wincing at the unexpected taste of it before taking another sip, “They also like shit that is an ‘aquired taste’.”
They continued the arduous task of ranking the different types of cheeses when the music changed, Ekko glancing up to catch Gert taking control of the music and speakers, a figure suddenly crashing into his leg, Isha going to climb the barstool next to him.
“Hey kiddo, they’re about to start hitting the piñatas.” He told her as he helped her up, being careful to not tussle her bright pink skirt.
Isha’s eyes widened as she started glancing around, clearly searching for said piñatas, Ekko pointing her in the right direction, the kid nearly jumping down, Ekko quickly setting her down, the kid disapearing amongst the crowd in an instant, reappearing next to the line, one of the Firelight’s kids quickly dragging her in.
He took a moment to glance around, searching for Jinx. If Isha was here, then she was undoubtedly somewhere around, preparing for a big entrance or something of the like.
As though he’d summoned her theatrics merely by thinking of it, fireworks suddenly imploded high above, people looking up to see bursts of pink, blue, red and green, clapping and whooping at the small show.
He grinned at the explosions, another song playing before Scar saw something over his shoulder and sighed.
“What?” Ekko asked.
Scar jerked his chin, “With Sevika.”
Ekko turned, looking for the table where Sevika, Arol and some others were gambling and there, standing with an annoyed Sevika, was-
She’d cut her hair.
Jinx had cut her hair.
It wasn’t as short as Powder’s had been, instead falling down her back and stopping a few inches above her waist, a braid crown at the back of her head holding half of it up.
Perhaps sensing him starring, she glanced up from where she’d been trying to mess with Sevika’s cards, catching his gaze and looking him up and down quickly, as though she’d been caught off guard.
Gert and Vara had talked him into taking a muted green blazer and black dress shirt they’d found amongst the crates painting the buttons over with green paint, also talking him into a small dark blue silk handkerchief in the breast pocket.
He hesitated, Scar undoubtedly rolling his eyes as he gave him a gentle shove, “Just go.”
Ekko stepped into the street and dance floor, Jinx watching him for a moment before starting to walk towards him, toying with her skirt as she sauntered, the crowd practically parting for both of them.
A slightly slower song started playing as they made their way to one another, Ekko reaching her, “Almost didn’t recognize you without the pigtails. It suits you.”
She snorted, “Almost didn’t recognize you without the face paint. It’s nice.”
Ekko chuckled lowly, starting to reach for her and-
She spun away playfully, her hair hitting his shoulder as she smirked.
Ekko glanced down, laughing to himself before going to follow, Jinx staying just out of reach as they slowly fell into the rhythm of the song, orbiting one another, Jinx spinning, arms raised up, drawing nonsense figures and playing with her skirt as she teased him, throwing her hair at him as they nearly played with the way she made sure to stay just out of reach.
After a long minute of the push and pull, he feigned left before heading right, managing to grab her hand and spin her around before pulling her to him, Jinx chuckling as she spun and letting him pull her close, a hand rising up to tug at the lapels of his blazer to straighten them.
And… they danced.
Ekko fully letting go and letting himself enjoy the moment.
Jinx danced without a care in the world, closing her eyes and letting him guide her at times, other times practically pulling him around leaving him to catch up with her as they spun together, or as she let herself fall back, trusting him to catch her and dip her.
At some point, she pulled him close by the front of his shirt, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, one of his arms instinctively finding her waist as they swayed and spun.
Being so close to her, catching the way the lights changed the color of her eyes for a moment, seeing her soft smile, feeling the way her body relaxed under his hands, he found himself quickly forgetting everything around them. The weight of the Revolution suddenly evaporating from his shoulders, the constant reminder in the back of his mind that this wasn’t Powder vanishing, losing its power as he realized that… he didn’t mind that.
She wasn’t even the Jinx she’d once been.
He found he truly didn’t mind this Jinx.
On her part, Jinx wouldn’t have been able to explain the feeling in her chest if she tried as they danced, forgetting everything outside their little bubble.
She’d had a few dance parties with Isha but this… this was different, the initial playfulness fading away after a few minutes, being replaced by a sense of giddiness and comfort as she found herself waltzing, her hands joining at the nape of his neck as he held her waist carefully, his forehead coming to lean against her shoulder for a moment.
“I’m really glad you’re here… I hope you know that.” He said in a whisper, his breath hitting her cheek, “These past few years have been… lonely. Circumstances could be better but… I’m glad we’re doing this together.”
Jinx took a moment to let the words sink in, a part of her almost relieved to know he felt that way, her thumb absentmindedly starting to rub gentle circles against the nape of his neck.
She shrugged, attempting to speak in a nonchalant tone, “I’m glad you’re here too. It wouldn’t be half as fun without you… even if your moral compass gets on my nerves sometimes…”
He rolled his eyes before guiding her away and spinning her back into him, her back against his chest, “Oh, I get on yournerves?”
“Very much.” She said, trying to ignore her heart starting to race.
She untangled herself from his arms before pulling him close again, tilting her head at him before hearing a crash and turning to see one of the piñatas on the floor, Isha throwing her arms up in victory, the stick in her hand coming dangerously close to clocking another kid in the face before she and a gaggle of kids went to stuff the fallen candy into their pockets.
They traded a glance before heading towards the kids, one of his hands finding her lower back as they made their way through the crowd, his warmth seeping into her skin even through the fabric.
“You kids having fun?” Ekko questioned as they reached the small group, Isha hurrying to hand Jinx a fistful of candy for safekeeping before returning to the group picking up the candies.
Gia, one of the Firelight kids went to him, raising a small wrapping, “What’s this one?”
“I think it’s some kind of caramel.”
“What’s that?”
“Just try it.”
Some of the other kids gathered around Jinx, asking a bunch of questions and bashfully asking if she could fix more toys.
He watched with a smirk as Jinx overcame her initial surprise, answering their questions, letting them set off a small glitter bomb and telling them she’d fix up more toys when she had the time.
Some time later, while Jinx and Scar argued against Zaren and Ekko’s cheese ranking, Caeya and Vara approached them with matching mischievous grins.
“I don’t know about yall but I personally think, these two deserve a little more recogniztion.” Caeya said as she leaned against Vara, who just grinned.
“I agree wholeheartedly.” She said as she revealed what she’d been hiding behind her back.
Two circlets made of flowers that could’ve never grown in Zaun, baby whispers they’d found amongst the fruit, some petals dipped in pink and green paint, the circlet of old copper wire that held it all together painted blue.
Crowns.
Jinx gasped in delight as she took one to better inspect it. Vara raised an eyebrow at him.
Ekko rolled his eyes even as he begrudingly tilted his head, already knowing the two girls wouldn’t let him refuse the crown.
Caeya looked far too happy as she went to crown him, “Accept this as a sign of gratitude and also as an apology for having to deal with our bullshit.”
The goons and Jinxers gathered around them snorted at that.
Vara chuckled as Jinx crowned herself, “And you accept it as a sign of official forgiveness. Ekko gave you the green first but now it’s our turn to give it to you. Thank you, for giving us what we needed to finally fight back.”
Jinx said nothing, seemingly overwhelmed, instead giving Vara and the Firelights that’d gathered around them a serene nod.
Zaren crouched for a moment to launch Jinx up on his shoulder, the girl shrieking before he helped her up on the table, Nivu and one of the Jinxers seemingly appearing out of nowhere to lift Ekko up on the table as well.
“Let’s give it up to Zaun’s Royalty!” Zaren’s voice boomed through the street.
The goons, Firelights and Jinxers cheered for them, giving them joking bows, Ekko pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment while Jinx relished in it, throwing pretend flowers and some candy (not Isha’s of course).
Ekko laughed as he begrudingly raised his hand in mock salute, the crowd cheering louder, Jinx practically jumping on him and joining in.
It was probably the best night of his life.
***
Over the following week, Ekko and Jinx found they had to move their operation on potential more effective water and air filters to her airshaft due to a lack of space in Ekko’s room.
Jinx was laying down disturbingly close to the edge of one of the blades, her hair hanging down toward the abyss, making Ekko slightly nervous as he sat against one of the tables he’d dragged down there.
They kept running into endless problems regarding the size the filters would have to be as well as to how to ensure they’d be effective considering just how polluted the water and air would be.
They were attempting to have a brainstorming session.
Ekko was taking apart and putting back together his pocket watch over and over again as he tried to think.
Jinx was fidgeting with her grenades, occasionally tossing one off into the abyss, an explotion sounding out below them.
They had very different techniques when it came to trying to come up with new ideas.
“What if… what if we use multiple layers of mesh?” Ekko proposed.
“It’d still have to be replaced every few days.” Jinx sighed, closing her eyes, “What if… we just steal Piltover’s unpolluted water and give them ours? Find a way to rework the plumbing system.”
“As poetically ironic as that’d be. It’s too much work, also we’d probably get caught.”
Jinx groaned, tossing another grenade down.
“I think-” Ekko hesitated, unsure on whether or not it would even be possible, “I think we might have to plan a heist.”
“Heist?” Jinx sat up, eyes practically shinning at the possibility, “What kind of heist?”
“Okay one, you were way too excited about that. And two… the professor showed me how to sneak into the Academy labs. If we had some of the technology there…”
Jinx grinned as she went to stand up, “We’re doing a heist!”
“It’s a possibility! We’d need to think it through before we can start planning anything-”
“We’re doing a heist!” She singed as she shimmied her shoulders at him, Ekko unable to hold back a small laugh.
“Look, if-”
“Jinx! Ekko!” They both jumped at Sevika’s booming voice, turning to see her hurrying to get on one of the blades of the airshaft, “We got a problem.”
Ekko’s stomach fell to the floor as he hurried to join her, “What? What is it? What happened?”
Sevika sighed heavily, “Somehow a group of Enforcers managed to sneak past the borders using some kind of drainage system we didn’t know about.”
“Was anyone injured?”
Sevika clenched her jaw for a moment, “They killed three civilians and four guards. A few of your Firelights got hurt.”
Ekko cursed, picking up a useless prototype to throw it down, “How did this happen?”
“There may be some passages we don’t know about. I set up new guards and told Gert to put up bombs on the passage through where the Enforcers snuck up on us but there may be more.”
“If we don’t know if there are more… what do we do?” Helplessness was starting to claw at his lungs, making it hard to breath.
Jinx snapped her fingers, “The blueprints. Holy shit- the blueprints!”
“What are you talking about?” Sevika questioned.
“Silco once told me about these blueprints he and Vander stole from Piltover that showed a few ways the two cities are connected, but for some reason they couldn’t use them.”
“Are they at The Last Drop?” Ekko questioned.
Jinx grimmaced, “No. Silco said they might’ve been good to have but that he couldn’t go back for them. That for some reason they couldn’t use them. He said they were at… Blisters and Bedrock?” She turned to him, hoping to see some kind of recognition in his eyes.
There was none.
She turned to Sevika, “Does that mean anything to you?”
“Mmm, Blisters and Bedrock… it was some kind of office that Vander and Silco shared before their fallout.”
“You don’t know where it is?”
She shook her head.
Ekko paused, an idea creeping into his mind, “Wait… so only Vander and Silco knew about it?”
“Yeah.”
“So that’s useless since no one knows where it is apparently.” Jinx stated, going to run her hands through her hair.
Ekko sighed, figuring he might as well just… say what he was thinking, “Well… there might be one person Vander told…”
“Who?” Jinx asked unconvinced.
Ekko just stared at her.
Jinx slowly blinked, starting to gently shake her head, “Don’t tell me you mean… you don’t…” she turned to Sevika, who shrugged, not opposing the idea, Jinx whinned, “No… no… nooooo!”
Notes:
[Cocktail Molotov starts playing]
Don’t think the little office space was ever referred to as ‘Blisters and Bedrock’ but I felt it was the most natural way of bringing Vi into the story so, yeah, very excited for yall to see what I’ll do with her
Really wanted to do a little more light-hearted chapter and Zaun deserve to celebrate the small victories after everything they’ve been through.
I try to show that at this point Jinx is slowly embracing all the different parts of herself, there is very little of Powder left, but it’s there and shines through especially with how she cares for Isha, and that embracing herself (embracing Silco’s last words to her that ‘you’re perfect’ helps her a lot)
And of course- my take on a Jinx/Ekko version of a little dance AAAAAAHHHHHHH had so much fun thinking of how their dynamic would be different to Powder and Ekko’s, with Jinx and Ekko being a bit more playful and teasing one another, I hope i managed to show that difference the way I wanted to
Finally, for max enjoyment, I’ll say that the whole time I was writing this chapter, I had Ma Meilleure Ennemie and Playground from the soundtrack and also Hot Gum by Sofia Isella (anytime I get stuck on a Jinx/Ekko scene i listen to Hot Gum)
https://pin.it/7CtwxWEgI
https://pin.it/6lQFZ7oXz
^ (inspo for Jinx’s dress in case you wanted to know)
Chapter 10: Good to See You’re Handling the Breakup Well
Summary:
Vi is straight up not having a good time.
Jinx and Ekko take Isha to see pit fights for enrichment and entertainment… also to get Vi
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vi knew she was nearing the end of her rope.
She knew that.
She just couldn’t find it in herself to care.
Vi had a headache, nausea attempting to make its way up her throat, she knocked it down with a shot of tequila before shaking her head harshly.
…that was a mistake.
Vi barely managed to stumble out of the bar attatched to the pit in time to throw up in the alleyway, groaning as she finished, going to lean against the wall, closing her eyes and trying to not throw up again.
When she opened her eyes, her gaze wandered further down the alley, catching a smear of blue paint on the building in front.
Frowning, she pushed herself away from the wall, forcing herself to ignore the nausea the movement caused as she went to get a better look.
It was a mural.
The entire wall of the building taken up by a mural of- of-
Vi threw up again.
It was Jinx. Hooded with her braids spilling down a cloak, holding a flag, a crowd around her, a white-haired figure she could only assume to be Ekko beside her.
She gritted her teeth.
She had told herself that she was done fighting for the day.
She remembered the crazed, yet sad look in Pow- Jinx’s eyes at the ‘dinner party’. The way Cait had screamed when Jinx had pulled the trigger and bombed the Council. The way she’d jerked and moved and yelled during their fight.
She’d heard the rumors from the beginning. They were inescapable.
And now everyone seemed to speak of it.
That Jinx had begun some kind of Revolution, nearly half the usual fighters in the pit either leaving to join or insisting that this was now ‘practice’.
She’d heard the whispers that Ekko was her right-hand man. That the two had stood side by side, hand in hand and had kicked out any and all Enforcers from the undercity.
Now, many called them the King and Queen of Zaun, managing to trick Piltover into embarrasing themselves and stealing ship’s worth of supplies from right under their noses, protecting the undercity and fighting for justice.
About a week prior she’d curled up in bed, trying to block out the sound of fireworks, seemingly the only one unintrested in joining in on their little ‘celebration’.
She didn’t know what to make of it all.
What could she possibly make of it?
Loris had tried to get her to consider visiting Jinx, or at least sneaking deeper into the undercity to try and catch a glimpse, to see how much of it was true.
His suggestion had very quickly descended into a screaming match and she hadn’t seen him since.
Vi went back into the bar and headed straight towards the door that lead to the half-underground pit.
She knew she was wasting away, spending her days fighting and drinking and sleeping.
But what else could she do?
Fighting was all she knew. And yet- she had nothing to fight for anymore.
No one to protect.
Because she’d failed.
She’d failed to protect Mylo and Claggor.
She’d failed to protect Vander.
She’d failed to protect Ekko.
She’d failed to fullfill Vander’s last request and ‘take care of Powder’. She knew Powder was long gone, another person she’d failed to protect.
She’d failed to kill the perversion that was Jinx, the twisted ghost that wore the face of her beloved sister.
And of course, right when there’d been the tiniest flicker of hope- she’d failed to protect Cait from change. From herself.
What was there left to do?
After seven years locked away she had no ties to anyone.
She could’ve gone to Ekko, but before the rumors she’d been terrified to learn that he hadn’t survived his fight with Jinx. To maybe try and help the Firelights only to fail miserably yet again as they were swallowed whole by the treachery of the undercity.
And even if she’d gone-
She’d fought alongside Enforcers.
Why should they trust her?
She’d thought maybe she could do what Vander had done, walk a delicate line and work with an Enforcer to keep the undercity from even more violence.
But of course, she’d failed at even that, every attempt to get Cait to slow down or to not be so harsh or careless with the Grey met with resistance and justifications she’d allowed herself to buy.
And in the end, like the world and everyone else, Cait had changed, had moved on without her.
She’d stopped needing her.
No one needed Vi anymore.
She had no one to protect.
She’d doubted the initial rumors of the Revolution, especially when they’d started to include Ekko as Jinx’s right hand man, but then… they’d turned out to be true.
She tried not to think of it.
Every time she’d seen Jinx, she’d been maniacal to some degree, clearly not caring about who she hurt or what Silco did.
How could she believe she’d completely changed in mere months and was now leading a Revolution? With Ekko no less.
Vi shook her head, trying to forget about it.
What was the point of it?
She had nothing to fight for anymore. But that didn’t mean hitting shit had stopped being cathartic.
She all but slammed her fists down on the desk where they ran the bets and organized the fights, “Put me in.”
Oril grimmaced, inspecting her for a moment, “Vi-”
“Shove your concern where the sun don’t shine. Put. Me. In.”
Oril sighed but relented.
***
Ekko grimmaced, unable to stop the instinct to place an arm around Jinx to make sure they didn’t get squished or separated by the crowd, Isha holding on to Jinx’s leg and hidding within the coat he’d lended Jinx.
They managed to make it to the stands without much inconvenience, looking down at the pit.
“Did we really have to come in for the show?” Ekko questioned, having to lean in close to be heard over the noise of the crowd.
Jinx rolled her eyes, grinning, “Oh don’t act like you’re not at least a little bit excited. Besides, it’s a way to see her without her seeing us ya know? Make sure she’s actually here.”
Ekko shook his head.
If it were anyone else he might’ve admitted that some part of him was looking forwards to the fights. But he suspected that if he admitted it to Jinx, she’d hold it over his head for the rest of their lives.
As a man with the betting slips made his way through the crowd, Jinx raised her hand, quickly placing down a few coins and taking a red betting slip.
He starred at her until she turned to look at him.
“What?” She asked, giving him a one-shouldered shrug, “It’s not like I bet against her.”
Ekko sighed heavily, trying to contain a small smile, Jinx already grinning widely.
As the spotlights landed within the cage and the presenter started announcing the fighters, Isha tugged at one of Jinx’s belts, Jinx picking her up and propping her up on her hip.
Seeing Isha still straining, clearly trying to get a better view, Ekko offered to take her, Jinx relenting, Ekko going to place Isha up on his shoulders.
Isha flailed for a moment, tensing up, having clearly never been held like that, holding on tightly to his still-healing pierced ears.
As Isha relaxed slightly and seemed to cheer up at the better view, Ekko was reminded of a time he himself had felt as tall as a mountain when his dad had lifted him up on his shoulders… he quickly dismissed the vague memory he hadn’t even realized he still had.
This was absolutely not the time for such things.
He looked down at the pit, seeing one of the goons that’d once worked alongside Sevika and…
“Holy shit… what happened to her?!” Jinx asked, half-horrified, half-entertained.
Vi had dyed her hair black and had dark makeup running down her face. She looked miserable and filled to the brim with rage.
She threw the first punch, knocking down the goon nearly two feet taller than her.
…damn.
As the fight continued and Jinx cheered, before he himself was too drawn into the fight, he stopped for a split second to wonder if this might be too violent to show Isha… that was a thought for another world however, he was sure she’d already seen a lot worse than pit fights and she was already wiggling around, clearly excited.
Ekko eventually got caught up in the fight, cheering at certain moves of Vi’s, who absolutely demolished the man, Jinx raising her red betting slip and shaking him, Isha laughing as she clapped, no longer concerned about falling, her obvious trust only making Ekko readjust his grip on her little legs as he bumped Jinx with his hip.
It was almost frightingly easy to forget why they were there. The importance of their visit.
Jinx made things… well… fun. He could never predict what she was going to do, but while that had once been concerning and worrying, now it was starting to be… something he almost looked forward to.
Vi won her fight, seeming emotionless as she went to leave the ring, immune to the cheers around her.
As they watched the next fight, Jinx collected the money from her bet.
They stayed where they were for a few more fights before a man approached them, with dyed green hair and a blazer that looked like he’d scrapped it together from three different ones, “The boss wants to see you two.”
Ekko raised an eyebrow after exchanging a glance with Jinx, “Is there a problem?”
“Not at all. The boss would just like to see you.”
Jinx shrugged, and Ekko carefully took Isha down, the kid returning to hide in Jinx’s coat and holding on to her leg as they followed the man to a higher section of the stands, a half-balcony holding red couches and a bar, a man with tattoo sleeves and perfectly gelled hair sitting at the center of it.
This had to be Jol, the leader of the fighting ring Sevika had contacted to make sure Vi was still here.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Jol said with a bright smile as he went to stand up, spreading his arms, “welcome to my humble buisness. Tell me, to what do I owe the honor of a visit from Zaun’s royalty?”
Ekko shifted uncomfortably, “We’re not anywhere close to royalty.”
He hadn’t thought the nickname would actually catch on when he and Jinx had played along with the mock coronation.
Jinx shrugged, “I like it, its got a nice ring to it.”
Jol just laughed, “Oh don’t be so humble boy. It’s all good fun. Now tell me, what brings you here? You need something? Looking for soldiers?”
Ekko and Jinx exchanged another glance, Ekko stepping forwards, “Not exactly, but if any of your fighters want to join us they are more than welcome. We could use a few guards in certain sections, might not be as entertaining as this but we’ll be sure to drop by when we know a good fight is coming.”
Jol snapped his fingers, “You got it. Half the folks here are itching for a good fight against Piltover and I’ll send you some guards by the end of the day. Now tell me, why are you really here?”
Jinx went to drop herself on one of the couches, Isha stepping out of her coat to look around, “We’re looking for one of your fighters specifically, could you tell us where we can find her when she’s not down there?”
“Of course. Just tell me the name.”
Ekko frowned, stopping Jinx, “Not to be paranoid but… I’d heard you never missed a chance to have someone owe you a favor. What do you want in return?”
Jol chuckled, “Usually that would be the case.” He admitted easily, “But right now, I’m actually returning a favor- well, more like paying a debt.”
Ekko just starred, confused.
Jol sighed, “My husband was among the people you got Piltover to free, not to mention my right-hand woman and some fighters that refused to let the Enforcer rats into their homes. So truly, anything you need, you got it. Who are you looking for?”
“She goes by Vi.” Jinx told him.
Jol sighed, “Ah, I see. One of the best fighters I’ve got… well… when she’s in her right mind and-” he looked over Ekko’s shoulder, snarling, clearly annoyed, “speaking of which- she’s back in the ring.”
Ekko quickly turned around, seeing that Vi was indeed back in the ring, seeming a little off balance.
He winced as the fight went on, Vi… losing. Being unable to keep her guard up like she had a mere hour and a half prior.
“Is she drunk?”
Jol just shook his head disapprovingly as Vi stumbled her way out of the ring, clutching her gut, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a ring of keys, taking out a specific key, “I have a series of apartments for my fighters upstairs. Third floor, fourth door to the right you’ll find her room.”
Jinx gave him a grateful nod as Isha took the key.
They made their way back out through the crowd and past the bar section of the building, stopping at the staircase, exchanging a look.
Jinx sighed heavily, “How likely do you think it is that she actually knows?”
Ekko shrugged, “I honestly don’t know Jinx. But we have to try.”
She looked down, Isha going to take her hand, leaning against her.
Ekko stepped closer, his voice softening, “Hey, I can do this on my own if you’d prefer to not see her. She might… take it better if I’m the one asking.”
Jinx considered it for a moment before shaking her head, “No. I’ll face her.”
Ekko offered his hand, Jinx watching him for a moment before taking it, the two starting their ascent, Isha running ahead, trying to climb two steps at a time.
The girl stood on her tiptoes to unlock the door, Ekko quickly stopping her from opening the door in case Vi swung at whoever went into her room without knocking.
He opened the door with caution, slowly stepping in, Jinx and Isha following him.
As it turned out, he needn’t have bothered.
The room was tiny, a small wooden dresser, old posters on the walls, a punching bag hanging right in front of the door, a dirty mirror directly to his right with a small basin of water and a shelf that held a few things.
Vi was passed out cold in a small cot, unresponsive.
Jinx and Ekko exchanged a glance before Jinx wordlessly made her way to the mirror, inspecting the products on the small shelf before going to pick up a small metal container, opening it to reveal black makeup, going to dip a finger in.
“What are you doing?” Ekko whispered.
Jinx just shrugged, “I wanna check out what makeup she’s using.” She leaned forwards, watching her reflection as she went to paint just below her eye.
Ekko rolled his eyes, hearing tiny punches and quickly going to tell Isha that, if she was going to punch the bag, she had to remember to keep her thumb on the outside of her fist to not hurt herself.
He turned to find Jinx had written her own name below her eye in a similar fashion to Vi’s tattoo, except-
He snorted, “You do realize you wrote that backwards right?”
She quickly checked it in the mirror, “Don’t ruin my fun.” She dipped her finger into a different container, gesturing for him to come closer, “Come here, I think you’d really pull off this as an eyeshadow.”
“No-” he barely managed not to laugh as Jinx tried to paint on him, holding her wrists as she playfully tried to reach his eyelids, he chuckled, “Jinx-”
Caught up in their jesting, they didn’t catch the slight shift in Vi’s figure, Isha gasping and then-
Vi slammed against Jinx, slamming her into the wall, the shelf right next to her shaking as she choked her.
“Vi-”
“Vi! Stop it!” Ekko went to interfere, only to be shoved back by Vi, who slammed Jinx back against the wall.
“What are you doing here?” She hissed.
“Just- wanna- talk-” Jinx managed to choke out.
Vi was not letting up, Ekko picking up the gun that had fallen from Jinx’s belt as Isha went to punch and bite at Vi’s calfs, Vi trying to kick her away right as Ekko pointed the gun at her.
“Let her go.” He growled.
“So it’s true then?” She questioned, “You’re with her?”
Ekko pressed the barrel against the back of her head, “I’m not going to tell you again Vi.”
After a long tense moment, Jinx’s wheezing breathing the only noise in the room, Vi let go, Jinx collapsing on the floor coughing, Isha flying to her side, patting her back and trying to help.
Ekko quickly shifted, going to stand between Jinx and Vi as the former recovered, lowering the gun and taking out his mace from where it hung from his back, a clear threat to Vi, who was watching Jinx.
Jinx tried to wave off Isha’s panicked fluttery hands, starting to drag herself up, speaking in a raspy tone, “Hey sis- good to see you’re handling the breakup well.”
“Not helping Jinx.” Ekko grumbled.
“What are you doing here?” Vi questioned.
Ekko spoke as Jinx fully recovered, “We just want to know if you have some… information.”
Vi frowned, “What are you talking about?”
“Do you know where Blisters and Bedrock is?”
“Vander’s old office? That’s what this is about?”
“Do you know where it is yes or no?”
Vi leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms, “What do you want with it?”
“That’s our buisness, just tell us and we’ll get out of your hair.”
“I’m not just telling you, Vander kept important shit in there.”
“We need some of that important shit.” Jinx told her, rubbing at her throat, her voice still raspy.
“Why?”
Jinx rolled her eyes, “Because we’re leading a fucking Revolution and we need to make sure your crazy ex can’t sneak back in to kill people!”
Vi gave the slightlest twitch at that, almost a wince, “What?”
Ekko sighed, “Some Enforcers managed to sneak in through some passages we didn’t know about, killed some of our own. Jinx thinks Silco might’ve left some more specific blueprints that could show those passages in that office. If there’s even a chance that they are still there we need to check, only problem is no one knows where the office actually is. So if you know, we really need you to tell us.”
Vi inspected them both for a long moment, before turning to Ekko, “I can understand you leading something like this… but you?” She turned back to Jinx, snarling, “Why should I trust you?”
Jinx chuckled humorlessly, taking a step forward, “Well sis, maybe I wanted to actually do something instead of just sitting on my ass while the Enforcers invaded our streets like they own the place. And I do not need you of all people trying to judge me, at least I haven’t spent the last few months passed out at the bottom of a mug.”
Vi went to get closer as well.
Ekko quickly stepped in their lines of sight, “That is enough. Vi you don’t have to trust her but at least trust me. Tell us where the office is.”
Vi’s eyes fleeted between the two, “It’s down in the old mineshafts. I can’t just tell you where it is, you’d wind up lost or worse.”
“So show us then.” Jinx half challenged, “Take us down and as soon as we find what we need you can come back to your…” she glanced around, “chambers.”
Vi slowly shook her head, “Not interested. I think you can find your way out.”
Ekko stepped into her space, “No. You’re going to show us.”
She snarled, “Or what?”
“You’re going to show us because you owe us at least that much. You can come back here and go right back to letting yourself rot away but after the fucking stunt you pulled with the Enforcers, you owe us at the very least to help us with this, or are you going to side with them yet again?”
He met her unrelenting gaze, a long minute passing before Vi sighed heavily and went to the dresser going to pull out a leather jacket and a change of clothes, “This better not be some kind of trap.”
They went out to the hall, Vi going to a proper bathroom on the floor to change.
Ekko sighed as he leaned against the wall next to Jinx, “One of us should head back. Make sure people don’t panic, we don’t know how far away the office will be.”
“Mmm…” she turned her head to him, “You go, I’ll stay.”
He hesitated, his knuckles brushing against hers, “Are you sure?”
Jinx gave him a small mischevious smile, “What you don’t think I can handle her? I’ll be fine. Might even manage to bring down some of that self-righteous ego of hers.”
He cast a glance at the bathroom door, “You know… she could do a lot of good for the Revolution…”
Jinx glanced down, “Probably. But she clearly wants nothing to do with it… well- with me.”
Before Ekko could reply, Vi emerged from the bathroom with a cleaner face, leather pants and jacket and thick boots on her. The HexTech mechanical gauntlets shinning on her arms.
“Are we doing this or what?”
“I’ll head back to base.” Ekko hesitated before going to crouch in front of Isha, gently adjusting her hat as he glanced at the two sisters, “Make sure they don’t kill each other alright?”
Isha gave him a very serious nod and salute while Jinx gasped, clearly offended, “Are you seriously making Isha our babysitter?”
Ekko shrugged playfully, “Better safe than sorry.” He gave Vi a serious look as he went to pass her, lowering his voice as Jinx argued about something with Isha, “You may have your issues with her that are fully justified… but you hurt her and I swear you’ll regret it.”
Vi didn’t reply, after one last glance at Jinx, Ekko went to leave.
Notes:
I really hoped you like that little peak at Vi’s mentality and how I’ll be writing her!!! I feel like her inner turmoil is so interesting to explore and I hope I managed to get it across in a way that is satisfactory
Also, the whole pit fights bit might be my fave Ekko/Jinx + Isha scene I’ve written so far, they really are a little family and i love to write them as such
Anyways, next chapter; sister shenanigans!
Chapter 11: It’s just Anatomy, you’re Only Half of Me (You’ve Been my Missing Piece, Are you Missing Me?)
Summary:
Vi guides Jinx through the mines.
The two sisters talk.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Caitlyn ran her hands through her hair, ripping off the band holding her ponytail together, all but shrieking as she threw her arms across her desk, throwing down papers and cups and pens.
The people were still sick. Not everyone could afford to only drink bottled drinks and they were struggling with the distribution, plenty of people trying to buy out the stock of safe water, the filters hurriedly designed by scientists faulty at best.
And now-
She didn’t know what had happened exactly, the squad she’d sent out had lost contact as soon as they were underground and now, a day later, she could only assumed the squad had managed to get through but had either been caught or had chosen to attack despite her orders.
Which meant that, one of the only three possible entrances they’d found with old blueprints was compromised.
And the other two consisted of collapsed tunnels that they’d have to figure out how to clear without alerting Zaun of what they were planning.
The door opened without a knock and Ambessa strolled in with a wicked look in her eyes, “It seems we finally have some good news.”
Caitlyn frowned as she glanced up, “Did the scientists finally figure out what to do with HexTech?”
“Not that good. However, it would seem we may have a way of infiltrating Zaun. One of the two collapsed tunnels is not as bad as we’d feared. Some controlled explosions should be able to clear the path.”
“But they’ll surely hear the explosions.”
Ambessa tilted her head, “I know you wished for an initial reconizance mission before choosing whether or not to launch an attack, but if we have a chance to attack them from the inside, we must take it, before your Enforcers become sicker and weaker. Besides, if we can kill Jinx and this- Ekko during the attack, the Revolution will quickly crumble.”
Caitlyn sighed heavily as she looked down at the papers she’d scattered across the floor. Complaint after complaint, dozens of documents marked as ‘urgent’ and notices that supplies wouldn’t be here anytime soon.
All of this had been caused by Zaun.
She glanced up at the wanted Jinx posters pinned on her cork board.
“…get some of your soldiers ready.”
***
Jinx frowned as she inspected the mineshaft before her, she clapped her hands, the mushrooms around them illuminating the space.
She remembered being down here once with Vander and once with Sevika and other goons. She knew her own biological father had brought her down at some point but that memory was lost to time, she only knew of it due to Vi speaking of it during one of the many sleepless nights they’d gone through after a bad heist.
Vi dropped down from the metal ladder behind her, a grimmace on her face as Isha picked up on the clapping, going to take the lead after Vi told them they had to head through the right tunnel.
“Are you sure you remember where it is?” Jinx questioned, going along, “Cause if you get us lost down here, I swear-”
“I remember.” Vi snapped, “So tell me, what exactly is Ekko smoking for him to trust you after everything? How did you worm your way into convincing people to follow you?”
Jinx snorted, “Oh, it must be just killing you that I’m actually doing something with my life huh?”
“A few months ago you were Silco’s lapdog, you didn’t care who he hurt, who you hurt, you revealed in the pain you caused. And you expect me to believe that you just- what? Course corrected? Changed your mind after what you did? After you attacked the Coun-”
“First off,” Jinx spit out, digging her nails into her palms to keep from attacking her, “I wasn’t Silco’s lapdog I was- I was his daughter. And second, are you actually upset about me attacking the Council? Weren’t you the one who despised Piltover so much you practically dreamed about burning it to the ground?”
Vi looked away at that. After the attack on the Council she admittedly had some… conflicting feelings.
She was pretty sure that if it weren’t for the pain and grief it caused Cait, she wouldn’t have been half as bothered. A tiny part of her was sickengly glad.
But she’d also been horrified thinking of the consequences it would bring, Vander’s voice echoing in her head, asking her what she was willing to lose if she were to go up against Piltover.
“You didn’t even stop to think about how you attacking the Council would impact the entire undercity. And now what, you’re playing hero? The Queen of Zaun, acting as if your hands aren’t dripping with blood… do they know just how delusional you are?”
She could still see the dinner party if she closed her eyes for long enough, the moment she’d fully realized Powder was gone.
Jinx rolled her eyes, turning to the kid, gently bumping her with her hip, “She wasn’t always like this you know? She actually used to be kinda cool. You know, before I kicked her butt.”
Vi scoffed, “What’d I just say? Delusional.”
Jinx stopped, going to turn around, facing her, “Yeah well, I wish I was just seeing things when you decided to throw in with the Piltie goons who murdered mom and dad!”
“At least they didn’t have to see the psycho their daughter turned into.”
“Bitch, which one?!” Jinx questioned, throwing her arms up, “Go on, act like you’re above this if you want but at least I didn’t turn my back on the undercity. Admit it sis, I’m a hero, I’ve been leading a Revolution while you’ve been wasting away at a bar feeling sorry for yourself. Now can it and keep walking before I kick your ass again.”
Vi half snorted, “You wouldn’t last one second without all your ugly gadgets and chickenshit tricks.”
Jinx had to fight hard only to laugh at that, those ‘ugly gadgets and chickenshit tricks’ were what had allowed her to survive all these years, what’d helped her outsmart Vi and Piltover and her countless enemies.
But of course, her sister had never seen the worth in that, much better at thinking with her fists, speaking of which-
“Ha! What about those overdesigned bitch-mittens you didn’t even build yourself?”
Jinx half-turned, trying to stay focused on the mission when a big clang caused the mushrooms all around them to shine even brighter, she didn’t have to look to know Vi had discarded her gauntlets.
She knew a challenge when she saw one.
Vi looked down at the gauntlets she’d just deactivated, anger simmering and starting to stir in the pit of her stomach, “You think I need these to-”
Smack!
The mushrooms glowed brighter yet again.
Isha’s eyes widened at the way Jinx had just smacked her sister across the face before placing her hands on her hips.
“There. One second.” She gave her a fake smile before going to turn.
The anger in Vi’s stomach imploded and she reached out to grab Jinx’s singular fishtail braid, pulling it and causing Jinx to fall.
Jinx screamed, kicking up at Vi’s stomach as the older sister tried to pin her down, managing to hit her again and kick at her ankles, making her lose her balance and pulling her to the floor as well, the two fighting for the upper hand.
“You- crazy bitch!”
“Oh come on! That the best you got ham hands?”
Isha watched, feeling as though only a second had passed before Vi was holding Jinx to the ground, trying to hit her, the younger girl running and hopping on her back, trying to hit at her neck and wrestle her off.
Between smacks and kicks and insults, the two sisters barely noticed Isha until she went to bite Vi, who instinctively jerked and hit the kid with her elbow, sending her flying and crashing against the ground, the kid yelping in pain.
The two sisters froze for a moment at the sound before Jinx shoved Vi off of her and scrambled to get to Isha, who was bleeding from her nose, gently pulling the kid to her feet and checking on her.
Isha quickly wiped the blood away, sniffing once, clearly trying to tough it out.
Jinx gave her a once over before gently tugging at her hand, “Still got all your insides?”
Vi’s stomach dropped at that.
That was her line.
That was the question she’d asked Powder whenever she took a bad hit and tried to act tough.
She took another proper look at the kid, she seemed comfortable with Jinx, chuckling slightly as Jinx placed her metal helmet back on her before turning to her and raising an eyebrow in question.
Vi took a deep breath, “Keep going to the right.”
They managed to get the rest of the way to the old make-shift office in silence and relative peace, Jinx clearly trying to keep things interesting for the kid, clapping in a specific rhythm and telling her the mushrooms weren’t toxic and trying one of them out.
The door was practically hidden, hard to make out if you didn’t know it was there, Vi pushing the door open and lighting two old lanterns covered in dust.
A part of her was almost surprised she’d actually remembered the way there. But then again, there was little to do in a cell but think of the past.
The space was small, dim even with the lanterns. Vander had once told her he and Silco had done everything to make the space feel like their own.
Cobwebs, notebooks and prototypes for Vander’s gauntlets collected dust in the corners of the room.
Jinx started heading straight for a wooden cabinet pushed far against the wall, freezing when saw the jackets hanging on the wooden planks, slowly approaching, moving the lapels of one of the jackets to see the ‘S’ painted on the inside, taking one of the cuffs and breathing the old scent in, tears springing to her eyes as she carefully took the jacket off the hook and placed it around herself.
Vi said nothing, her eyes just inspecting the papers and pens and trinkets left on the desk, approaching and carefully passing a finger over the wood, like the desk might fall apart from a single touch alone, disturbing the thick layer of dust, probably half an inch thick.
Jinx rummaged through the cabinet, sniffing and trying to ignore her grief, the cabinet had half empty drawers along with a bunch of bandages and metal bits and bobs mixed with documents and-
Blueprints.
Jinx took them out, inspecting them quickly to make sure they were what they needed.
She quickly saw why Silco and Vander had never actually used them, scribbles and notes on the blueprints pointing out collapsed tunnels and tunnels that contained high levels of the Grey.
Isha found a leather tube for her to place the blueprints inside, Jinx rolled the blueprints up, slid them in and slung the tube over her shoulder by the strap it had.
When she looked back, she saw Vi still standing in front of the desk, looking down at something.
“What is it?”
Vi glanced up, clearly hesitating before speaking, “A letter Vander wrote… to Silco. He must’ve left it when he showed me this place.”
Jinx frowned, slowly going to sit on the old chair, picking up said letter, blowing away some of the dust and starting to read.
Vi watched her sister’s face as she read Vander’s apology and regrets, the way her eyes widened slightly before filling with tears, pulling one of her legs against her chest, her thumb sweeping over Vander’s signature, coming away with thick dust.
She gave a tiny hiccup and before her brain could catch up with her instincts, Vi found herself starting to reach out, going to place a hand over Jinx’s shoulder to try and comfort her- she stopped herself, slowly drawing back.
“If Silco had found this… maybe everything could’ve been different.” Jinx lamented, sniffing, Isha quickly going to climb into her lap and wrapping her arms around her neck, gently patting her back.
Vi sighed heavily, “Do you think he would’ve forgiven Vander?” She questioned, doubt creeping its way into her voice.
Jinx shrugged, “I don’t know… but at least he might’ve had the chance to.”
They fell into silence for a moment, mourning what might’ve been, then Vi’s gaze fell on the jacket Jinx had pulled on and the red and gold socks she wore, indignant anger clawing its way up her throat, “You weren’t Silco’s daughter you know that? You were Vander’s daughter.” She said through gritted teeth.
Jinx didn’t seem insulted by that, instead snorting, “No I wasn’t. Not like you anyways.” Her eyes didn’t leave the letter as she spoke, “You and Vander were two peas in a pod. He knew how to talk to you and Mylo and Claggor… but I think we both know he never knew quite what to do with me… maybe I was just too different from him. He tried… and I did- I did see him like that back then… but he was your dad. Not mine.”
“And Silco was more like you?” Vi asked in disbelief.
Jinx carefully set Isha down as she kicked the chair back, going to turn to her, “We were both betrayed. Abandonned and-”
“I didn’t abandon you!” Vi snapped, stepping closer, “I needed a moment. I- I was going to come back, but Marcus got me and-”
“You hit me! You called me a Jinx you-” her voice broke, “You hated me. Even if it was just for a moment- I saw it in your eyes. You hated me.”
Vi couldn’t argue against that.
Because she had.
For one fleeting moment, she’d hated her baby sister.
Amongst the flames and grief sinking in and the realization that she was completely and utterly alone… she’d hated Powder.
Jinx drew back, scoffing and rolling her eyes, clearly trying to compose herself as she went to open the door and step outside, Isha going to clap to illuminate the tunnels, “I don’t even know why you bothered coming back here.”
Vi blew out the lanterns before following, annoyance and guilt and anger mixing up in her chest and thrumming against her sternum, “Did you forget? You and Ekko practically dragged me out here.”
“No I mean- to the undercity. The second your crazy ex let you out of Stillwater you could’ve overpowered her, fucked off to some other land to start over. Why bother coming back here?”
“Are you an actual idiot?”
Jinx paused, turning, geniuenly offended, “Scuse you-”
“I came back for you, you imbecile!” Vi raised her voice without even realizing, a part of her suddenly desperate to make her understand, half wondering how she could not already know, “I came back to find you!”
Jinx shook her head, clearly unconvinced, “How-”
“When Cait- when she first came to Stillwater she had these- evidence photos, she wanted to know more about Silco and one of them-” she trailed off for a moment, sighing heavily and going to run a hand through her hair, she still had a headache, “I saw a painting that looked like one of your monkeys in one of them. The second I knew there was even a chance of you still being alive- how could I not come back for you?” She groaned in annoyance and frustration, “I spent seven fucking years fantasizing about coming back, about finding you, about- about- about finding my baby sister.” she shook her head, turning away for a moment.
“…but that’s not who you found.” Jinx quietly said behind her.
“You changed… everything changed.” Vi sighed heavily, shutting her eyes and clenching her jaw tightly, trying to not cry, to not scream at the injustice of it all.
Jinx hesitated.
This was not what she’d expected from her sister.
She could see the pain lingering around Vi and dripping from her every word. She’d known she’d wound up in Stillwater, but she hadn’t really wondered how that must’ve been for her, being cut off from the world, with nothing to do but be alone with her thoughts and memories and grief.
“…you couldn’t give me a chance?”
Vi actually laughed, stepping closer before all but snarling, “You attacked me every chance that you got, no matter how I tried to get through to you. Ekko told me to give up on you so I don’t know why he’s a hypocrite all of a sudden when he seemed more than convinced you were a monster-” that stung, Jinx clenching her jaw, “And then you just- you just- how the fuck did you expect me to react to your little ‘dinner party’ huh? You say Silco was your dad but you killed him-”
“Because he was going to shoot you!” Jinx screamed before stumbling back and turning away, trying to take deep breaths, the darkness starting to creep around the edges of her vision, “And you changed too.” She continued through gritted teeth, Isha going to hug her waist tightly, seeing that the voices were starting to whisper in her ear, “The sister I knew used to dream of something like this. Of a Revolution, of taking a stand.”
Vi took a pause at that.
At first, she refused to believe that she herself had changed.
How could she have changed when she’d spent seven years static, frozen in a cell?
But now…
She barely recognized herself in the mirror.
Perhaps she’d lost herself at some point, maybe it’d started the moment she’d met Jinx, this new person with her sister’s face who she couldn’t get through to, who didn’t need her.
Maybe she’d had the chance to not lose some part of herself by refusing to become an Enforcer, but she’d truly believed she could play double agent. Ensure they captured Jinx whilst also trying to keep Cait in check and make sure she was fair to other residents of the undercity.
But in the end her instincts had torn her apart, between wanting to keep Cait from doing something she’d regret and an old gut reaction to protect the distortion that had once been her baby sister, ripping her from the inside out and causing her to stop Cait, to grab the barrel of her rifle and take away her chance to kill Jinx.
Every failure had chipped away at who she once believed herself to be.
A protector.
A leader.
The person who would someday finish what Vander had started.
She wasn’t any of those things anymore.
“Maybe we both died in a sense.” She whispered under her breath, taking a shaky breath.
Jinx exhaled, shocked at that.
She turned back to Vi, the utter hopelessness on her sister’s face tugging at something within her.
She wondered if all sisters had the potential to be so twisted and complicated and abhorrent and intertwined.
How it was possible to hate Vi but still hate to see her in so much pain even more.
Because before she became the beginning of Powder’s ruination, she’d been the solid ground beneath her feet.
She thought back to the first real glimmer of hope she’d felt in nearly a decade.
Jinx cleared her throat, taking a single step closer to Vi, “You know, Ekko told me something a while back… when he first started to trust me, when he convinced me to work together. He said that… the versions of ourselves that we could’ve been, if things had gone well… they’re long gone. Buried six feet under. But… that doesn’t mean that these versions of ourselves aren’t worth fighting for.” She went to stand in front of her, tilting her head as Vi still had her eyes shut, “…Vander would want more for you than to just… waste away at some random bar.”
Vi shook her head helplessly, “What else can I do? …I have nothing.” She whispered, so lowly Jinx barely managed to hear her.
Jinx couldn’t help but step back, freezing for a long moment as Vi started walking again, starting to guide her back out.
If there was one thing she’d always seen her sister as… that was a fighter.
This wasn’t her changing… this was her… giving up.
Jinx couldn’t even believe it. But then again… Vi had never fought for herself, she’d always fought for others.
If she thought she had no one left to fight for…
Jinx debated with herself as she followed Vi, her mind going back to the horrified way she stared at her during the dinner party, the way she was fully convinced she was nothing but crazy, unable to see past her initial shock of not finding her as she’d left her, innocent fearful little Powder.
But if she of all people had been given a second chance in a sense… she thought of the letter that Vander had left Silco, a letter a single action that could have changed everything.
Jinx skipped to catch up to Vi, Isha walking a bit in front of them, still clapping for the mushrooms.
“You know… if you decide you want to put those fists to good use… you could join the Revolution.”
Vi slowed down, glancing down at one of the many murals that’d been put up as they emerged to the streets of Zaun.
This mural was a copy of the flag Jinx had created, Vander’s gauntlet, Ekko’s mask and Silco’s eye, with a painting of Jinx holding a torch far above her head.
It seemed to be taunting her.
She scoffed, shaking her head, “I still don’t trust you.”
“And I don’t trust you.” Jinx rebutted as she reached the top of the ladder, groaning as she reached the surface, “But if there’s one thing Vander and Silco always agreed on; it was that we had to look out for our own down here… okay maybe that was a little more Vander’s mentality but you know what I mean.” She added when seeing Vi’s unimpressed raised eyebrow.
Vi watched her for a long moment before movement came from their right and Sevika arrived, Jinx guessed this area of Zaun was part of her patrolling routine.
Sevika scoffed, giving Vi a once over with a curled lip, “Oh look, the Enforcer’s lapdog, and you had the gall to call me a traitor.” She all but snarled.
Vi instantly started stepping up, “You want a round two Sevika? Interested in needing another arm?”
Jinx hurried to get in between the two women, laughing, “Oh, as much as I would love to see you two trading blows, I need to get these blueprints back to base… ugh Ekko is really rubbing off his responsible behavior on me. Forget what I said, go for it.”
She took a few steps back jokingly, a tiny part of her hoping they’d take her seriously, instead Sevika and Vi just seized each other up for a long moment before Sevika turned to Jinx, “You headed back to base?”
“Yep. Did Ekko send you?”
“He sent out extra patrols. Come on, let’s go.” She finished with one last disdainful glance Vi’s way before starting to walk away.
Jinx looked back to Vi, waiting.
Vi met her gaze, sighing heavily before turning her back on her and starting to walk away.
Jinx bit at the inside of her cheek as Isha went to squeeze her hand.
Jinx squeezed back before going to follow Sevika, stopping after a moment when she realized Isha was watching the alleyway Vi had taken to walk away, clearly thinking about following the older girl.
“Isha.”
She glanced back to Jinx, fidgeting with her sleeves before gesturing to the alleyway and then pointing to herself and the rooftops.
“Why do you wanna follow her?”
Isha just shrugged. Maybe just curiosity.
Jinx sighed, “Stay out of sight. As soon as she makes it back to the pit you get back to base alright?”
Isha quickly nodded along before taking off, going to climb a rusty ladder to reach the rooftops.
Jinx watched, trying to figure out how to feel about all of… this.
“You alright kid?” Sevika questioned after a moment.
She frowned, “I’m fine. I just… never thought I’d see her give up.”
“…I wouldn’t count her out just yet. Come on.”
Jinx slowly turned on her heel and went to go back to the base.
Notes:
This is NOT the last we’ll see of Vi, we’ll see her next chapter do not worry
I really hope you like this chapter, I was really excited to write this interaction between the sisters, I feel like they have so much conflict but at the same time sisters are just so weird (as a little sister) like- truly there is nothing that can break you (or comfort you) like a sister
Chapter 12: When Does a Ripple Become a Tidal Wave? When Does the Reason Become the Blame?
Summary:
Vi tried to get her thoughts in order.
Caitlyn attacks.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vi walked through the streets with her head down and heavy breathing, trying to not think about anything that had just happened.
They’d emerged to a random street, but it only took her a moment to get a sense of where she was, starting to make her way back to the pit.
There weren’t many people around, but those she saw had something in common with what seemed like every single person she saw nowadays.
They all wore something blue. A mark almost, to show them as part of the Revoltion, as following Jinx. Bracelets made of thread, patches of blue fabric sewn into clothes, blue ribbons in hair, pins and shoelaces and nails painted blue.
She looked down, wandering into empty streets before she came across…
A statue.
A statue of Vander with his pipe, someone had placed stones painted blue within the pipe.
Vi snorted humorlessly, slowly tilting her head as she inspected the statue.
She sighed heavily, placing down her gauntlets as she continued to look at the statue, “You know… I actually have no idea whether you’d love or despise all of this.” She started quietly.
Vander had dreamed of a rebellion, but he knew the price it would cost them all, had seen for himself what happened when they attacked.
But that’d been before Shimmer, before Jinx and Ekko. Before they’d somehow managed to bring all of the undercity together.
“You know I remember… I remember you telling me that I didn’t get to be selfish, not when there were people depending on me, looking up to me… but I suppose no one depends on me anymore…”
She slowly sat down at the ledge of the small fountain around the statue, sighing heavily as she drew her legs against her chest.
For years she’d wanted nothing more than to be like Vander, to take on his original dream and take the fight directly to Piltover, scream until they could no longer be ignored or looked down on. Make them pay for all the pain and death.
But she knew the guilt and regret he’d carried with him after the battle in the bridge, how much he blamed himself.
She knew that Jinx was right about at least one thing; Vander would want more for her than to spend her days fighting on bets and drinking.
He would probably expect her to step up, to help the Revolution, to take on the role that had once been his, not back when he’d been a leader but when he’d been a protector.
But she’d been a protector her whole life, and where exactly had that gotten her?
Since leaving Stillwater it was like everytime she felt like she’d found dry land, had figured out what to do, the ground fell out from under her, revealing a cruel joke, that she made the wrong choice every single time.
She had no ties to anyone, had made herself a strange in between, an enemy in a sense due to her stint as an Enforcer, she wasn’t trust worthy.
And even after months in the undercity, she was still surprised sometimes by how much everything had changed, how the world had kept moving without her.
It made her feel insignificant.
What could she contribute to the Revolution if her absence had meant nothing?
She heard small laughs and giggles, turning her head to see a few kids gathered together in an alleyway, two boys and a girl, playing some kind of game, using chalk to draw on the floor.
She knew from the vibrant color of the chalk that it was probably one of the many, many things Jinx and Ekko had commandeered from Piltover.
Feeling eyes on her back, she glanced over her shoulder quickly, just barely catching movement up on the roof, the kid that clearly looked up to Jinx crouching down but not quickly enough.
Vi rolled her eyes, “I saw you kid.”
A long moment passed before the kid peered over the edge again, hesitating before going to climb down, approaching her with something between caution and curiosity, like she was a wild animal, which Vi supposed was kinda fair.
“Did Jinx tell you to follow me?” She questioned.
The girl shook her head, taking slow steps forward until she seemed to determine it safe to fully approach, going to crouch next to her gauntlets, looking at them with fascination, carefully running a tiny hand over one of the metalic knuckles.
Vi let it happen, the kid was obviously just letting her curiosity get the better of her and it wasn’t like she’d be able to try and take the gauntlets, Vi seriously doubted she’d even be able to lift just one of them.
She took a moment to inspect the kid as the kid inspected the gauntlets, “I’m sorry for hitting you. Wasn’t exactly my intention.”
The kid shrugged it off, not looking up from the gauntlets as she admired the faint glow coming from the center of the gauntlets.
In that moment Vi realized that she still didn’t know something, “…what’s your name?”
The kid looked up, making signs with her hands that clearly held meaning that eluded her, “Sorry, I don’t understand what that means.”
The kid rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed, hesitating before reaching into one of the many pouches of her vest, taking out a piece of chalk, going to write on the ground in messy, wobbly letters.
“Isha?” Vi questioned, tilting her head and scrunching up her eyes to make sense of the mess of letters.
The kid nodded.
“Hm, suits you. I’m Vi.”
Isha raised an eyebrow, unimpressed as she starred, as if to say she obviously already knew, gesturing to her tattoo.
Vi snorted, “I suppose it’s kinda obvious huh?”
Isha nodded along before tilting her head, hesitating before gesturing to the alleyway before making punching gestures and pointing at her temple.
“…am I going back to the pit?” Vi guessed.
Isha nodded, waiting for an answer.
“Yes.”
The kid rolled her eyes, dissapointed but clearly not surprised, stomping her foot before reaching into her pocket and-
Vi closed her eye for a moment at something hitting her forehead, “Did you just throw a pebble at me?”
Isha just stomped her foot again.
Vi raised an unimpressed eyebrow, “If this is your attempt to get me to join, you’re not doing a very good job.”
Isha starred, like she was trying to look directly into Vi’s soul, Vi met her gaze, not backing down, the girl scrunching her eyes, seemingly determined to not be the first to look away.
After a long minute, Isha blinked hard, annoyed as she crossed her arms.
Vi snorted quietly, leaning back, “Not joining.”
Isha watched her, gently shaking her head before going to crouch, passing a hand over the gauntlet one last time before standing up and running off, going to join the kids playing in the alleyway, one of the boys clearly recognizing her and going to include her in the game.
Vi watched for a moment, feeling a pang in her chest when, for some reason she was reminded of herself for just one moment, the boys and girls playing flashing her back to a time where she and Claggor had convinced Mylo to oblige Powder and play silly games in The Last Drop’s basement.
She sighed heavily, shaking her head as if to rid herself of the memory.
She glanced up at Vander’s statue.
“I’m sorry dad.” She whispered under her breath, trying not to let tears blur her vision, blinking them away, “I just can’t- I don’t even know if I have a good heart to keep anymore. I wish I could be more like you… but I don’t know what to do anymore.”
She slowly went to stand up, still watching the statue, a part of her wanting to ask for some kind of sign, something to tell her what she should do, how to move forward, how to-
An explosion came from the alley where the kids were, followed quickly by a shrill scream.
Vi moved before her brain had even processed what was happening, the gauntlets closing around her forearms as she ran, seeing smoke and then-
The kids were on the ground, the girl, not Isha, but the other girl, maybe one or two years older than Isha trying to stand in front of her and the boys, blood gushing down her leg, in front of them-
A hole had been blown in the ground of the dead end alleyway, in front of it a single Noxian soldier holding a bloodied spear, crawling out of the hole, more Noxian soldiers and an Enforcer.
She quickly realized that this was some kind of attack or invasion, the Noxian soldier with the spear had probably been the first through, attacking the first person he’d seen, which just so happened to be an about ten year old girl.
Vi saw red, fury taking over as she remembered.
Remembered running from Enforcers, remembered being a little kid, trying to protect her siblings whilst still being small. Remembered the terror that flooded her when she wasn’t sure if she could win a fight.
Remembered having to stop Maddie from going after some of the younger gang members who she knew didn’t have a choice.
Remembered trying to stop Caitlyn from taking a shot that risked hitting a child.
They were kids.
They were kids.
She acted, stepping in front of the children, grabbing the spear and ramming the end directly against the Noxian soldier’s helmet, knocking him back. Hurrying forward, slamming the soldier towards the other invaders, gaining a bit of space, reaching for a dumpster and bringing it down to make sure there were less space for them to come through, punching one of them down, using the confusion to take a moment and turn to the kids, seeing the boys had helped the bleeding girl down and Isha was trying to aim a gun in her hands, ripping off her jacket and throwing it at them.
“Keep pressure on that wound! Don’t let up! You-” she gestured at one of the boys, “Go get help, NOW!”
Vi all but snarled as she turned back to the soldiers, “Let’s see how you do when you pick on someone your own fucking size.”
The dumpster she’d tipped over formed something of a bottleneck, the first soldier through recieved a gauntlet to the side of the face, Vi slamming their head against the wall before letting them drop, kicking the next Enforcer in the stomach, knocking him back into another soldier who got right back up and recieved an uppercut.
She let herself fall into the haze of the fight, not thinking about what her actions meant. It didn’t matter, she could figure it out later, in that moment all that mattered was holding her ground and keeping the kids safe.
She didn’t let herself think about anything else.
***
Isha watched as June’s hands quickly became blood-stained as he held the jacket to Lena’s leg, trying to stop the bleeding.
She glanced at where Vi was fighting before looking down at the gun in her hand. She knew she couldn’t get a shot, not without probably shooting Vi.
“Isha help me!” June told her, keeping a hand on the jacket as he wrapped his other arm around Lena, trying to get her further away.
Isha quickly reached into the many pockets Jinx had sewn into the inside of her vest, finding a small metal tube.
She couldn’t do much, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do anything.
She broke the small tube in half, blue smoke quickly rising from it, a flare that Jinx had told her to break if she were ever in trouble.
Then she placed pressure on Lena’s wound, who yelped in pain, June quickly going to place his arms under her armpits to start dragging her away while Isha made sure to keep her from bleeding even more.
***
Ekko and Jinx were running. She’d found him mapping out new patrol routes with Scar, she’d been in the middle of showing him the blueprints whilst heading back to base when they’d heard an explosion.
A quick glance at the blueprints let Ekko realize that the Pilties hadn’t quite cleared the rubble and emerged at the entrance, instead they must’ve risked blowing up the top of the tunnel at some point and crawled out of the man-made entrance.
Problem was, they weren’t sure exactly where that was.
He saw the way panic entered Jinx’s eyes when they caught sight of a pilar of smoke slowly rising from the distance.
Isha.
“Ekko!” He looked up to see Nivu on one of the rooftops, tossing down two hoverboards he easily caught.
He handed one to Jinx as he hopped on his own, hurrying towards where the smoke was rising.
Before they could start making a general sweep of the area, a boy, Finn if Ekko wasn’t wrong, son of one of the goons, stumbled through the street, eyes wide and afraid, “The Enforcers they- they- Lena is hurt!”
“Where?” He asked to quickly confirm Isha’s signal was coming from the same place.
“By the Hound’s statue!”
They flew past a few streets, his heart pounding hard enough he was surprised it didn’t bruise his ribs. Jinx already had a gun tightly gripped in her hand.
As they reached Vander’s statue, he saw smoke and dust and the sounds of a fight.
They managed to reach the entrance of the alleyway.
Lena, Vara’s little sister and one of Isha’s friends was on the floor, bleeding from her leg, June, a boy who’d been taken in by the Jinxers, was standing between her and the Enforcers, using his body to cover the two girls, a blood streak letting Ekko know he’d done his best to get Lena a bit further away from the fight, holding a jacket against Lena’s leg was Isha, glancing back at-
Within the alley, with her back to them stood Vi, gauntlets glowing faintly as she held off a group of soldiers and Enforcers.
Ekko could see several unconsious forms further into the alley, but some of the Enforcers were starting to climb over the dumpster Vi had probably knocked over to keep the soldiers from overwhelming her.
“Get the kids out of here!” He barked at Nivu before flying into the alley, slamming hoverboard-first into the Noxian soldiers that’d reached the top of the dumpster, knocking them back.
Jinx whistled, a subtle signal for him to back away as she threw something that flew over the first wave of the attack.
“Grenade!” One of them yelled before said grenade went off, Ekko pulling Vi behind the dumpster just in time.
“Give me some smoke Jinx!” He called out.
Another grenade was thrown, this one imploding and releasing pink and blue smoke.
He took a step back when backup arrived, “Sevika, help Vi hold the line! Zaren, Scar, don’t let them climb that dumpster!”
The three quickly followed his orders, Ekko heading back to Jinx, who was kneeling in front of Isha, whose hands were stained with blood, Nivu carrying Lena away, June and Finn following him.
“Are you alright?” Jinx questioned, eyes wide and fearful.
Isha quickly nodded before throwing herself into her arms.
Ekko kneeled next to them, going to rub quick circles against Isha’s back, scanning her for a moment for injuries, “Isha, go with Nivu, now.”
Isha hesitated, clearly not wanting to leave Jinx.
Jinx cupped her face, “Go, stay with Lena, make sure she’s safe.” She told her, knowing giving her a duty would make it easier for the kid to do what she’d been told.
Isha ran after Nivu.
He placed a hand on Jinx’s shoulder, “You good?”
Jinx clenched her jaw, “Yeah, let’s get this over with.”
Ekko turned right as another explosion went off behind them, next to the fountain.
More Enforcers.
Ekko cursed loudly, only slightly relieved when he saw more of their own arriving to the scene.
“Spread out, form a circle! No one makes it out of this area!” He quickly yelled, turning to two goons, “Stay at the entrance of the alley, don’t let Vi and the others get cornered.”
He ran straight for the new hole in the ground, dropping a crystal bomb, hoping to at least somewhat slow down the unslaught of Enforcers trying to climb out and attack.
There must have been about three dozen of them, some of them managing to avoid the crystals and climb out, rising up with guns.
Ekko knew they were outnumbered until more backup arrived, especially if the other Enforcers managed to get past Vi and Sevika.
He went to take laps around the hole on his hoverboard, avoiding being shot at and attacking when he could, his Firelights following his lead.
Jinx jumped on the ledge of the fountain around Vander’s statue, using the higher ground to try and get better shots at the Enforcers, but they seemed to be heavily armored, she wasn’t able to do much without risking hitting their own, instead she accepted the bag one of the Jinxers threw at her, opening it and crossing her fingers the Jinxers had packed some of her more useful and deadly stuff.
One of the Noxian soldiers managed to send his spear directly for Ekko’s feet, knocking him off balance and sending him crashing down, others quickly taking his place in an attempt to contain the threat, to not be overpowered.
Ekko coughed, wincing at the scrapes on his arms before seeing a few Noxian soldiers that’d made it past the alleyways, headed straight for Jinx.
Jinx raised a grenade launcher she’d been working on, the very first capsule imploding against the chest of one of the soldiers and blasting out pink paint.
She cursed under her breath. She’d been hoping for something deadlier. She quickly loaded up another charge as the soldiers barely slowed down, shooting one of them in the head, this grenade exploding, with shards of shrapnel impaling and stopping the man.
Ekko threw another crystal bomb as he managed to get back up, catching another soldier in the chest.
Soon, too soon, their flimsy defense broke down, more Enforcers and soldiers charging towards them…
Straight towards them.
It snapped into place in Ekko’s mind as he jumped on the fountain ledge to join Jinx, clutching his mace tightly.
They were here for them.
***
Vi retreated with Sevika and the two other fighters, the Enforcers had used some kind of disk that had sent electricity racing up her leg, slowing her down just enough for a soldier to throw her to the side and for their line to be broken.
As they were pushed back, she saw the mayhem that had quickly descended all around Vander’s statue.
They were outnumbered, more Enforcers and soldiers emerging from the ground, on the fountain ledge stood Ekko and Jinx, trying to hold off the soldiers that were going after them.
Metallic traps had disarmed most of the Enforcers from guns, somewhat giving them a chance.
Vi fought, going to make her way towards them, trying to think about the current attack and figure out what exactly their goal was.
Did they just want to take out Jinx and Ekko? Or was this going on all around the undercity, an actual attempt to take over the undercity?
She watched as one of the Noxian soldiers was hit by one of Jinx’s bullets, barely slowing down and thrusting his spear at her, Jinx hissing as the blade cut at the inside of her forearm and nearly disarmed her.
The soldier recieved a mace to the face instantly, courtesy of Ekko, who pulled Jinx back into the water of the fountain, taking the thicker gun from her and going to shoot at the soldiers trying to surround them while Jinx rummaged through a bag, throwing another grenade in the middle of the conglomerance of soldiers.
Vi covered her head at the explosion, quickly fighting her way through the few soldiers left after it and climbing up on the ledge, “Something’s wrong.”
“No fucking shit, did you just notice that?!” Jinx half yelled at her as she continued searching through her bag.
Vi rolled her eyes, “You don’t get it, Cait wouldn’t do something like this-”
Ekko all but snarled, “If you start defending her right now, I swear-”
“No I mean- this is too disorganized, meant to overwhelm us sure but- there must be something else going on. Something more subtle, there’s probably a smaller squad sneaking in somewhere.” Vi quickly explained.
Jinx looked more than ready to dismiss her before her eyes drifted off, anger fading from her face.
Vi followed her gaze, finding a boy with a head wound leaning against one of the alleys in the middle of the unslaught, breathing heavily as he searched for something.
Ekko sucked in a breath, “Nivu.”
Jinx started whipping around, searching, “Where are the kids?”
***
After the explosions at the two points of the tunnel they’d chosen to use for their main attack, Caitlyn used a much smaller controlled explosion to knock down a wall and find the sewer systems, emerging two streets away from the mayhem.
The plan was to get to the rooftops and snipe from above, ensuring Jinx and Ekko were eliminated, hopefully without them it wouldn’t take long for the Revolution to break down.
But right as Maddie and Steb went to emerge from the sewers behind her, a hit came at the back of her knee, Caitlyn barely containing a scream.
A boy, probably in his late teens, was raising a mallet to-
She slammed the butt of her rifle against his abdomen before hitting him in the head, the boy stumbling back, stunned by the attack, blood gushing down as she hit his temple twice more.
She flinched as something hit the back of her shoulder, paint imploding and staining her uniform.
She spun, raising her rifle, ready to shoot and-
It was the kid.
The kid that’d tried to protect Jinx, holding a gun.
Behind her, sitting against the wall was another girl, a boy pressing a jacket against her leg.
Yet another boy, maybe nine years old pushed himself in front of the girl holding the gun when he saw Caitlyn preparing the take the shot.
Caitlyn froze.
The boy’s eyes were wide with terror, jaw clenched in forced courage, clearly expecting her to pull the trigger.
The girl bleeding on the ground was crying, screaming in terror, the boy kneeling at her side frozen, shock and horror clear on his face.
The girl with the gun had eyes filled to the brim with rage, but she could see the way her hands trembled ever so slightly as she held the gun.
It clicked in Caitlyn’s mind. The boy she’d just attacked had probably been trying to get these kids away from the fight when he’d spotted her, was the girl bleeding because she’d gotten caught in the crossfire? Had the soldiers or the Enforcers chosen to attack a girl who couldn’t be more than ten years old?
Why wouldn’t they after all? Their growing hatred for Zaun had gone unchecked and they’d certainly never been punished for crossing certain lines before.
Hadn’t Caitlyn herself once risked shooting a kid for a chance to finally get Jinx?
And now these children were terrified… of her.
They were kids.
They were kids.
And they were clearly horrified of her specifically, had probably seen posters of her and knew who she was and knew her as someone to fear, someone who would pull the trigger.
Was this what she had become?
Hadn’t she been the one to be outraged at the palpable injustice the children of Zaun lived under? Hadn’t she gotten into a screaming match with her mom over it?
And now here she was, mere months later, pointing a gun at them.
She took a step back, feeling like she was in a daze, half lowering her gun, the kids still on high alert, watching her.
Then by her left, Maddie moved, nearly shoving the boy out of the way and snatching the gun away from the girl before raising her gun.
Caitlyn quickly turned to her, “Stop that.”
Maddie didn’t, frowning, “What?”
“They’re just kids.”
“Look at them. They’re wearing blue.”
They were, all four of them, a hair clip on the bleeding girl, a bracelet and long socks on the boys, a vest and dyed hair for the girl Jinx seemingly knew.
“They’re children.”
“They’re hostages.”
And Caitlyn knew. She knew that that would be the exact way Ambessa would handle the situation, her voice seemed to echo in Maddie’s words. She’d suggest taking the children, especially if she knew the smallest kid had some kind of relationship with Jinx, was clearly important to her.
Here was a chance to end this, or to gain the upper hand, gain leverage.
But if doing what Ambessa would do, if getting the upper hand meant stooping this low, meant frightening children and using them like pawns…
“Maddie lower your gun.”
“Commander-”
“That is an order.”
She knew Steb was right behind them, unsure of what to do.
Maddie took a deep, angered breath, “Whose side are you on?”
Caitlyn’s grip on her rifle tightened as Maddie didn’t follow her order, the kids were tense, watching the two of them, not daring to move, “Maddie-”
A scream tore from behind them, a figure slamming into Maddie and knocking her down, Ekko on a hoverboard, Jinx jumping from the hoverboard and on Caitlyn, kicking her down.
Caitlyn screamed, rage nearly blinding her as Jinx tried to wrestle the rifle away from her, the blue-haired girl sending a vicious kick straight for her knee, Caitlyn falling to one knee, but sending a punch for Jinx’s gut.
Ekko slammed his mace against Maddie’s hand as she went to shoot, a sickening crack echoing in the alley before he quickly lifted the bleeding girl on his hoverboard and yelled at the other kids to climb on and get out of there, crystals trapping Steb before he could interfere.
Jinx threw down some kind of metallic thing, which activated, Caitlyn’s rifle instantly seeming to come to life, being ripped from her hands and flying into the trap, Maddie and Steb’s guns following suit.
Caitlyn all but snarled as she pulled out the Noxian spear she’d attatched to her back, launching herself at Jinx, who dove under her arm, whipping around and trying to shoot her, Caitlyn barely avoiding the bullets.
She kicked Jinx against the wall, going to stab her straight into it, Jinx twisting just so to avoid the spear sinking right next to her ear, before driving her knee twice into Caitlyn’s gut, a knife appearing in her hand as she went to stab her.
Caitlyn used the long part of the spear to deviate the path of the knife, avoiding a stab to the chest, grabbing Jinx and crouching, throwing her over her shoulder and directly against the opposing wall of the alley.
Ekko was fending off Steb, Maddie still half kneeling on the ground, cradling her hand as she tried to de-activate the metallic trap.
She kicked Jinx in the stomach before she could stand, raising her spear and bringing it down with all her strength, Jinx managing to roll away but not fully avoiding the edge of the blade slicing open her thigh.
Jinx screamed in rage and pain, raising her gun, three shots ringing in Caitlyn’s ears, she went to get closer, Jinx suddenly jumping up, some kind of spike emerging from the tip of her shoe as she kicked, the blade sinking into Caitlyn’s calf.
Caitlyn hissed in pain, head-butting Jinx and knocking her down.
“Commander!” She didn’t bother turning at Maddie’s yell, simply reaching out and catching the rifle she’d finally managed to free.
“No!” Ekko threw something that blew up, but Caitlyn still didn’t turn around.
She was ending this now.
All the hate and decisions and choices and becoming what she had become had led her to this, to Jinx momentarily weakened, Ekko held back by Steb as he avoided being shot by Maddie.
Caitlyn raised her rifle, aiming for the perfect shot.
***
Vi was gasping for breath, fists still up as she inspected the situation before her.
Backup had arrived, Firelights with hoverboards ready to track down the few Enforcers that’d managed to get past them, goons to relief them from the overwhelming numbers of soldiers.
Ekko and Jinx had taken off after seeing the boy they called Nivu, afraid the kids were in danger, clearing a path with grenades.
Vi hadn’t followed, instead making sure they could get through a thick group of Enforcers and then standing back to back with Sevika as they fought, waiting for either backup or defeat.
Some of the Enforcers were running, retreating back through the blown up holes and trying to escape, goons following to make sure they left or died trying to. They knew it was over, the few remaining being taken down by them and some of the goons, Jinxers and other Firelights arriving with medical supplies.
A blue-haired girl, one of the Jinxers stumbled down the alleyway, hauling Jinx’s mini-gun, glancing at the few Enforcers remaining before turning to Sevika, clearly ready to use the gun, “Jinx?”
Sevika punched down one of the last soldiers before turning to Nivu, who was leaning against the fountain, still bleeding from his head, no doubt concussed as another Firelight tried to tend to his wounds, “Kid?”
Nivu squeezed his eyes shut, clearly trying to focus, to remember despite the hits to the head, after a moment, he weakly pointed to one of the alleyways, the same one he’d gestured to from the distance when he’d spotted Ekko and Jinx.
Vi clenched her jaw. Had her gut been right? Had Ekko and Jinx gone to find the kids and had instead found Cait?
Was Cait here?
From the alley, huddled together on the hoverboard, emerged the kids, barely keeping their balance, one of the Firelights quickly going to help them land the hoverboard.
“You need to help them!” One of the boys cried out, pointing at the alley, “It’s- it’s the Commander!”
Vi’s stomach fell to the floor as she exchanged a glance with Sevika.
Sevika’s gaze hardened as she looked around at the injured, the debrie and smoke before meeting Vi’s eyes, “She did this.”
“…I know.”
Sevika jerked her chin towards Vander’s statue, “You were supposed to be the one to lead this you know? That’s what he would’ve wanted.”
Vi wasn’t sure if that was quite true.
Towards the end Vander had valued the idea of relative safety over the idea of rebellion. But she did know that he’d expected her to lead in some kind of way, to take a similar role to his, to take care of their own.
“Don’t think I’m much of a leader… but I’m not done fighting.”
“Fighting for who?” She questioned.
Vi couldn’t answer. She still wasn’t entirely sure.
So she didn’t answer, instead, she started making her way towards the alley.
“Hey!” She turned to catch the minigun, the blue-haired girl watching her with hard eyes, “Just in case.”
Vi nodded once, taking off running.
It didn’t take long for her to be able to make out the sounds of a fight, feet thumping against the ground as she sped up, nearly crashing into the alley and-
Jinx had her back to her, having fallen on the floor, Cait stood over her, bloodshot eyes filled with pure rage as she raised her rifle, behind her, Ekko was fighting off Steb, kicking Maddie down, clearly trying to get to Cait.
Vi moved, barely registering what her body was doing as she remembered the mines, Jinx helping Isha up and tearing up at the sight of Silco’s old jacket and offering her a place in the Rebellion even if she didn’t trust her.
Glimpses not of her sister, because Jinx would never be Powder again but flashes that let her know that maybe Jinx wasn’t quite as maniacal as she’d made her out to be in her mind.
And even without that- the deep rooted instinct to protect her little sister and seeing the pure rage in Cait’s face, no trace of softness or compassion was enough for her to make a choice.
Caitlyn was far too focused on Jinx, seemingly not noticing Vi as she ran, going to grab the rifle right as she pulled the trigger and-
Jinx screamed at the way Vi threw herself in front of her, moving the rifle away but still being shot, wincing and falling to one knee.
Cait gasped, eyes widening in surprise as she took a half step back.
Vi used her surprise to tighten her grip on the rifle, driving the butt of it into Cait’s gut.
Just like she’d done to her when Vi had first tried to stop her from going down this path.
Ekko finally managed to get out of Steb’s grasp and knock Maddie’s gun from her hands, running, hitting Cait in the back to fully bring her down.
Jinx growled, showing her teeth as she picked up the minigun Vi had dropped.
Caitlyn was astounded, half in shock at the sight of blood starting to flow down Vi’s side, staining her pants as she stood in front of her sister.
Steb grabbed the back of her collar, “COME ON!”
He barely managed to drag her to safety as Jinx screamed, stepping in front of Vi and the minigun went off, rounds hitting the walls of the alley as she tried to get them despite Vi trying to tell her not to.
Steb gripped both Caitlyn and Maddie’s arms, “We must retreat!”
Caitlyn gritted her teeth together, hearing the minigun slowing down and knowing Jinx would probably try to follow. With the minigun…
“Retreat.” Caitlyn agreed.
Jinx ran to the end of the alley just in time to see them closing the metal grate as they dropped into the sewer system, her grip on the minigun tightening as she considered whether to go after them or to go back to Vi, who Ekko was already checking on.
She didn’t have to make a too tough choice when Sevika and Scar appeared from another alley, she quickly pointed at the grate, “They left through there, check how they got in!” She commanded before running back, dropping the minigun and going to kneel next to Vi.
“Bullet grazed her stomach,” Ekko explained, pressing a rag against Vi’s wound as she hissed, “You’re lucky it didn’t hit any organs.”
“Yeah, I’m feeling real fucking lucky now.” Vi managed to say through the pain.
Jinx bit the inside of her cheek as she watched, she wasn’t sure if the wound could quite classify as a ‘graze’ more like Vi had been shot on her side instead of her center.
“Why did you do that?” She questioned angrily.
Vi did her best to roll her eyes, trying to ignore the pouncing pain on her wound, “Because I might still be kinda pissed at you and I might not be very interested in joining the Revolution… but you’re still my sister.”
Jinx took in a shaky breath, remembering the dinner party.
Are we still sisters?
“You’re an idiot.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You need stitches. And medicine.” Ekko told her, glancing at the alley, “I’ll go get a hoverboard to get you to base.”
“I don’t need-”
“Don’t even Vi.” Ekko warned her gently, “You’re hurt, we have medicine, you’re not toughing this out. We’re taking you to base, don’t try to argue, I will knock you out.”
“Little man all grown up now?” Vi asked only half-mockingly.
Ekko just raised an unimpressed eyebrow before going to stand up, ignoring his own wounds.
“He’s bossy.” She muttered annoyed.
“I know.” Jinx said with a tiny grin, going to press a rag against the wound.
“…what now?”
“Now we make sure they can’t use the tunnels again, lick our wounds back at base… and then we bring down hellfire… somehow.”
Notes:
This was a long one, few things;
First, Isha and Vi, Isha is curious about Vi but doesn’t particularly care about her and is obviously kinda biased against her due to Jinx, so I tried to write her as mostly curious mixed with unimpressedVi interfering was- I feel like she could ignore it all if she hid away but the she’s still a protector, the second she saw children in danger she was going to step in, it doesn’t necessarily mean she’s ready to fully wake up and join the Revolution but she couldn’t just stand back and do nothing
Also for some soulmatism, both Vi and Cait are pushed into action (or inaction) thanks to the same kids and seeing how they’ve been affected by all of this and, as a little detail, we have Isha, a child of the undercity, Lena of the Firelights (who’s the kid I’ve mentioned hanging out with Isha since ch3, she finally has a name!), Finn of the goons and June of the Jinxers, each representing a part of Zaun and being the ones to accidentally impact both of them.
Also regarding the kids, they refer to Vander’s statue as the Hound’s statue cause I headcannon the younger kids would only know Vander by his nickname
As for Cait, this is kinda her wake up call but it’s far from over for her…
This was very much a wake up/self reflection chapter for both Vi and Cait ch title, ripple become tidal wave for Vi, reason become the blame for Cait!
One last thing, I just started my 7th semester of college so updates might slow down to twice or once a week depending on my work load, we’ll see cause I’m really flying through certain chapters
Chapter 13: A Respite and Some Forethought
Summary:
Vi gets some rest and silence to think
Ekko and Jinx gather with their most trusted allies to figure out what to do next
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Jinx hammered the metal bands into place, wiggling them to make sure they were secure.
She was down in the tunnels with Sevika and Arol; making sure that Piltover couldn’t try another attack through there.
Landmines, canisters of the Grey, barriers of electricity and shots that would deliver an overdose of Shimmer should do the trick.
But just in case Jinx also added a tripwire that ensured that anyone who got pass all that wound up buried as a prize for their troubles.
As they started to make their way out of the tunnels she turned to Scar, “We’re sure this is the last tunnel?”
“We double and tripled checked all of the blueprints you recovered, this is the last tunnel they could possibly use to try and attack again.”
Jinx nodded along, “Good. Then we strike as soon as we know… well… as Vi wakes up we can start figuring it out.”
***
Vi winced and groaned as she slowly came into conciousness, scrunching her eyes up at a bright light above her.
“Oh- here.” A voice said, the light dimming slightly.
The last thing Vi remembered was being moved on to a hoverboard and watching the view shift around her as they hurried her back to ‘base’, an old Healer and Jinx standing over her before she lost consiousness.
She took in her surroundings, glancing around to see a light dimming above her, a roof of wooden planks and hanging lanterns.
She was on a small cot, a girl around her age appearing above her, with black hair pulled up in a bun and honey-colored eyes, “How are you feeling?”
Vi groaned, “Just peachy. Where am I?”
“The infirmary. Kellie gave you something for the pain, said you shouldn’t be in too much pain. Whoa wait-”
The girl went to help Vi sit up slowly, she laid against a clumpy pillow, “Jinx?”
“Out, taking care of some stuff.”
“Ekko?”
“Same.”
“Good.” Vi gritted her teeth as she prepared to swing her legs off the bed and-
The girl stopped her, swinging her legs right back, “Yeah, you wanna get out of here you’ll have to get through me. I’m under strict orders to put you under if necessary.”
Vi snarled, “Seriously?”
The girl snorted, “No. You’re hurt and you need rest. Just cause you’re staying for a bit doesn’t mean anybody expects anything from you.”
Vi inspected the girl, looking her up and down, “And what do you care? Last time I checked I was still pretty much adjacent to the enemy.”
The girl watched her for a long moment before gesturing, jerking her chin at the right, Vi following to find a few other cots, one holding the girl who’d been attacked by the Noxian soldiers.
“I’m Vara, and that’s Lena, she’s my baby sister. And if it weren’t for you, I’m pretty sure she’d be dead right now. Still think you’re enemy adjacent?”
Vi inspected Lena’s sleeping form, “Is she alright?”
“She needed a few stitches, but aside from the scare, she’ll be just fine. June, Finn and Isha had a few scrapes and bruises from being so close to the explosion but they’ll be alright as well.”
She sighed, adjusting slightly, “Good. Now, what exactly are Jinx and Ekko doing?”
“That’s kinda confidential.” Vara told her.
“They’re securing the tunnels and getting ready to get back at Piltover.” Another girl said as she came into view, with vibrant red hair tied back in a braid and a wicked grin, “Hey, I’m Caeya.”
Vi frowned, she felt like they were both somewhat familiar, “Weren’t you with the goons?”
“Yep. Still am.”
Vi glanced between the two girls as Caeya leaned an arm against Vara’s shoulder in an act of casual intimacy, “…I swear I saw you two fighting at some point in an alleyway. Didn’t you shoot Vara?”
The two shifted uncomfortably, trading glances.
Caeya cringed, “Ah, right… sorry?”
“Holy shit, I’d totally forgotten about that.” Vara said under her breath, the two snorting after a moment, “Got more important things in mind than holding grudges I suppose.”
“So all of you really are just fine working together?”
“It’s for a greater cause.”
“Hm.”
The door opened and Jinx stepped in, carrying a set of blueprints, Ekko close behind her.
“How’s Lena?” Ekko asked.
“She’s fine, lost some blood but, she should be back on her feet in a few days.” Vara answered.
“Good.”
Jinx went up to Vi’s bed, “Haven’t tried a breakout yet?”
“You left me with babysitters, so no.”
“I’d rather think of us as pleasant company.” Caeya quipped in.
“How are you going to strike back?” Vi questioned.
“We’re still weighting our options, speaking of which,” Jinx reached into Ekko’s pocket to check his watch in such a nonchalant way that Vi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at it, “we have a meeting in like- ten minutes so we need you to give us a hand.”
“With what?”
Ekko took the blueprints in Jinx’s hands, spreading them across the bed, “When you were in Piltover you were in the tower right? Did you see more than just the Council room?”
“Not really.”
“Do you know what level the Hexgates are on?”
Vi watched his face, trying to figure out what he was thinking, “Why do you want to know?”
Ekko met her gaze, “We’re still figuring out exactly what we’ll do. But we can’t just do nothing after the way they attacked. They killed thirty six of us, and we got nearly three dozen people in another infirmary. We’re thinking about targeting the Hexgates.”
Vi continued inspecting him before sighing heavily, “From what I saw and remember…”
She explained what little she knew of the layout of the tall building as best as she could.
***
Caitlyn was still rummaging through papers when a knock came at the door, “Come in.”
The door opened, Maddie and Steb entering her office, Maddie having her right hand in a cast.
“Commander, is everything alright?” Steb questioned.
Caitlyn didn’t answer, instead throwing a leather folder at Maddie with just a little more strength than necessary, the girl barely catching the folder and slowly opening it with a confused frown.
“…a …a dishonorable discharge?” The redhead questioned, clearly caught off guard and not believing the document in her hand.
“I know what you did.” Caitlyn said through gritted teeth, “You’ve been subtly altering my orders, omitting indications to only attack if spotted and letting Enforcers believe that I said to always take the killing shot- you’ve been encouraging violence on my behalf and you nearly disobeyed a direct order from me. So yes, you’re getting a dishonorable discharge, and you’re fucking lucky I’m not throwing your ass in a cell. Leave your weapons. Thank you for your service. Steb, please see her out.”
A muscle in Maddie’s cheek twitched, “You can’t do this.”
“Can’t I? You had no right to go behind my back in such a way.”
“We both know you weren’t going to do what was necessary-”
“Necessary?!” Caitlyn went to step out from behind her desk.
“Do you think those animals deserve mercy?! I don’t remember you thinking so when you were willing to do anything to catch Jinx! She made us look weak! She killed your mother!” Maddie yelled.
“I am responsible for all of Piltover now, not just a squad! And I- I owe it to Piltover to keep what little honor we have left.” Caitlyn half pleaded for understanding, holding a hand against her chest, “You have no idea what it was like down there.”
“Oh so now you’re empathetic towards them?! You can’t play both sides Commander.” She spit out Caitlyn’s title, “You owe it to Piltover to win.”
“Not by attacking children.” She said as she lowered her voice slightly, “Never by attacking children.”
Maddie shook her head, hatred and disgust in her eyes as she took off her rifle and threw it at her, “There’s going to be collateral damage Caitlyn. No matter what you do this will end with you having blood on your hands. You can only choose whose it’s going to be. Theirs? Or ours?”
Maddie turned away then, walking out with her head high and slamming the door on her way out.
Caitlyn sighed as she turned to Steb, “Follow her, make sure she doesn’t communicate with other Enforcers… and if she tries to speak to the Noxians let me know.”
Steb slowly nodded before going to leave.
Caitlyn ran a hand over her face, pinching the bridge of her nose.
She’d barely slept at all the previous night. Their failed attempt to take out Jinx and Ekko leaving her with far too much to do, taking list of what Enforcers hadn’t returned, signing and reviewing nearly fifty letters to the families of the deceased or the allegedly deceased.
Once she’d finished that, she’d gone over certain reports and pulled out copies of older orders of hers, speaking with a few senior Enforcers to figure out exactly why she felt like her control was slipping.
That was how she’d found out about Maddie encouraging the hatred for any and all Zaun citizens and editing her orders.
She’d already given out two more dishonorable discharges for unnecessary use of force and had been assured by the senior Enforcers that they’d make sure the younger Enforcers understood they had to be more cautious, but she wasn’t quite sure if she believed them.
Now she found herself debating on where to focus security.
Because she knew Zaun would strike back and strike back hard after their attack.
The only question was what their target would be.
***
Vi was thinking, mulling things over in her head as she ate a lunch consisting of tuna and vegetables.
It’d been about two hours since she’d woken up, Vara had brought her some food and was now sitting with Caeya as they ate with Lena and another boy, Finn, sensing Vi wasn’t very enthusiastic about their company but still clearly determined to keep an eye on her.
She heard the tiny shuffling, turning to her left to see Isha approaching, unceremoniously climbing up on the bed and plopping down in front of her, holding a small cup with dried fruit, popping some into her mouth and slowly chewing as she watched Vi.
She snorted lightly, “Hey kid. How come you’re not with Jinx?”
Isha scrunched up her nose, bringing up her leg and tapping at some bandages covering her knee, clearly annoyed.
“Ah, you’ve been banished to the infirmary too?”
Isha nodded.
“You’re such a liar.” Another boy, maybe a year older with curly black hair hopped down from two beds down to run up, this was June if Vi wasn’t wrong, “Ekko just said you should try and get some sleep.”
Isha made a face at him before shrugging, clearly, she didn’t see any difference.
“You kids alright?”
Isha shrugged again, June puffing out his chest, waving her off, “We’ve seen worse.”
Though she knew that was very true, it did nothing to ease her worry, they should never have ‘seen worse’.
“Where did you learn to fight?” June’s question snapped her out of her reverie.
“…my dad taught me.”
Isha pointed at the gauntlets that were currently leaning against the nightstand at her side, then tapped her temple.
“I got them in Piltover, apparently they were supposed to be used for mining or something like that.”
“You stole them?” June asked excitedly.
“…pretty much yeah.”
“That’s awesome.”
She let June inspect the gauntlets, Isha sharing her dried fruit either out of pity or gratitude for answering their questions about Piltover and the gauntlets.
At some point, Vara went to the door after being called by a guard, the two talking for a moment before she turned to her, frowning, “Uuuhhh, someone’s here to see you? Says his name is Loris.”
Vi winced as she went to straighten up against the lumpy pillow at her back, “I know him. Can you… let him in or… is there some protocol?”
Caeya waved her off, “Pretty much anyone is welcome in here, we just tend to check before letting strangers into the infirmary and other areas like that.”
Loris appeared at the doorway, quickly going to approach the bed when he spotted her, “Are you alright?”
“I’ll be fine. How’d you find me?”
“I heard about the attack, when I couldn’t find you I had a feeling you’d gotten yourself involved in some way or another. Asked around and here I am.” He told her as he carried chair to her bedside and sat down, “How’d you get hurt exactly?”
Before Vi could answer, Isha turned to her, mimicking a gun with her fingers.
“You got shot?!”
Vi scowled at Isha, “You’re a snitch.”
The girl just gave her a bright smile before hopping down and going to sit with Lena, June following her.
Vi sighed before turning to Loris, “You didn’t have to come here.”
“Yeah well, despite your very best efforts I still care about you, and if my friend gets into a fight and shot at, I’m going to check on her.” He said as though it was simply common knowledge, “Did you see your sister?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
Vi shook her head, “I don’t know, it’s just… messy, all of it.”
“During the attack… did you see… her?”
He didn’t have to specify who he was talking about.
“I barely recognized her.” Vi said under her breath, “The look in her eyes… I’m starting to think she might just burn the entire undercity to the ground.”
“Certainly looks like that’s where we’re headed…” he crossed his arms as he went to lean back on the chair, “so what are you going to do about it?”
Vi slowly met his eyes, “Don’t start.”
“Don’t start what? Are you really considering going back to the pit and just… see how it all turns out? Seriously?”
Vi looked down, running a thumb over the bloodied bandages covering her knuckles.
“Am I just supposed to forget everything Jinx did? Everything I did?”
“No. But maybe you two could out your differences aside, maybe you could get your sister back, even if it isn’t in the way you’d pictured it.”
“Why are you pushing this?”
“Because you’re still here.” Loris leaned forward, lowering his voice, “And we both know that if you really wanted to leave you already would’ve, even if it meant tearing your stitches. That’s just the flavor of stubborn that you are… so if you’re still here… then I think at least a part of you wants to stay.”
Vi shook her head, “I just… I don’t know that I can help… that I want to help.”
Loris said nothing, instead simply raising an eyebrow.
Vi looked down at the bloodied bandages again.
She thought back to everything Vander had ever taught her, the pain and rage she’d felt returning to the undercity and seeing the inner fighting, everyone divided in a way they’d never been before she’d gone to Stillwater.
And now… Firelights and goons being close friends, goons and Jinxers fighting side by side, all of them putting their differences aside. All fighting for a singular cause, for each other, for a better future.
…Vander would’ve liked that part of the Rebellion. Everyone working together.
Maybe she could stay for a few days, fully figure out what she wanted to do. For now…
She slowly turned to Loris, “Hey… didn’t you mention you used to patrol the Hexgates?”
***
Ekko flinched as he went to sit down in their make-shift war room.
Both he and Jinx hadn’t gotten out of the fight unscathed, but this was far too important to leave for another day.
Gert stood at one of the walls that they’d used blackboard paint on that they’d gotten from Piltover’s supplies a while back, scribbling some of their potential options.
Ekko unrolled the blueprints of the Council Tower over the table, pinning down the corners with small stones, “Vi couldn’t tell us exactly what floor the Hexgates operate from, and we can’t just blow it all up because I need to do some calculations to see how likely it’d be that, if we blow the lower floors up, it’ll set off the core. If the core goes-”
“Our air and water go too.” Sevika finished.
“Precisely. And our filters still aren’t prepared to deal with… all of that.”
“How do we know they won’t cut off our air and water regardless?” Arol questioned.
“Because when I was down there, it didn’t seem like anyone was really allowed in. With Jayce and his partner gone, it’s actually likely no one is even really aware that the ducts down there supply our air and water, they might just assume it’s part of the core.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for targeting the Hexgates,” Jinx started, muttering under her breath, “I can’t believe I’m about to say this-” before continuing, “But putting that aside for a sec, we have a chance right now to hit them where we’ve never really been able to before. We can ruin their image.”
They all took a moment to turn to Jinx, surprised by the suggestion.
Jinx crossed her arms, “What?”
“Nothing. Just-” it was times like these in which Ekko was reminded Jinx had been raised by Silco and had probably picked up on some of his more… political tactics, “How do you suggest we do that?”
“They already attacked civilians before and this time, we got injured kids. Technically speaking, we haven’t stooped that low, we’ve never attacked civilians directly, and if they’ve been affected by our schemes, that’s only because their beloved Council refused to comply or even try to negociate with us. So now- we all know this is escalating, I say we declare war, but we don’t speak to the Council, we speak directly to the civilians, explain why we’re escalating and what the Council did to cause us to react.”
“Get them to see us as people in a rough spot and to be critical of the Council.” Ekko contemplated, “Could work… maybe.”
“But then is straight up bombing them off the table?” Sevika questioned.
“We already wanted to target the Hexgates specifically if we go for bombs, not risk too many civilian lives. This would just reinforce that general idea to try and keep the civilians out of it as best as we can.”
“What about the food supply?” Arol questioned.
“Again, that’s a response to them attacking us and not going after civilians directly, technically speaking.”
“What of the Academy heist?” Scar asked after a long moment, holding his baby in his arms since he’d just gotten her to fall asleep, “You’d mentioned we could find what we need for better filters there. Would we do the heist and then bomb the Hexgates after declaring war?”
“We’d be spreading ourselves too thin, especially after the way we were affected…” Ekko sighed heavily, leaning back on his chair, “I think we should put the heist off for now, the way the Professor showed me, I don’t think the Pilties will think to put protection in those areas so, if we plan correctly we shouldn’t struggle too much to get in once we get our strength back.”
“So now the question is how do we get the bombs into the Hexgates and if we can even bomb them in the first place without blowing up our air and water supplies.” Jinx said before blowing a raspberry, going to run her hands through her hair, “I hate this.”
“I think we should attack the supplies again.” Arol said after a long moment, toying with a cigar but not lighting it, “We know that they ordered a bunch of stuff to make up for what we hijacked. Before the ships get here, couldn’t you go with your hoverboards and steal some of it?”
“It’s possible, I could make a larger hoverboard or a magnetic platform to stick to the sides of the ships.”
“You could leave and poison some of it.” Sevika suggested, “Or if you’re still against straight up poison, degrade it again, steal what you can, ruin the rest.”
“Weaken the citizens belief that the Council can solve the problems they cause by their actions.” Gert contemplated with a grin, “I think that could send a message if the Hexgate plan doesn’t pan out.”
“Might not be enough though.”
“Well what if-”
They all jumped, shooting to their feet when the door suddenly opened, being practically kicked in, Vi appearing at the doorway, a tall, muscular man behind her.
“What the fuck Vi?!” Ekko demanded as he set his mallet down.
Before Vi could explain, Vara arrived, clearly out of breath.
“You had one job!” Jinx told her.
Vara looked up with a grimace and offended look, “She locked me in the bathroom!”
“You wouldn’t let me leave.” Vi justified.
“Because you’re supposed to be resting!”
“I have information.”
Jinx rolled her eyes, “You said you didn’t know anything specific about the Hexgates.”
“I don’t, but he does.” She told them as she jerked her head towards the man, “This is Loris, he used to be an Enforcer-” they all shot to their feet again, “And he quit! He’s been staying down here since, you can ask Jol if you don’t believe me. He used to patrol the Hexgates and the entire building really.”
Loris slowly stepped into the room, inspecting each of them while Vara shut the door and forced Vi into a chair.
“Why did you leave the Enforcers?” Ekko questioned, staying seated but keeping a hand on his mallet.
Loris crossed his arms and gave a nonchalant shrug, “I don’t fuck with dictatorships.”
Jinx snorted appreciatively, “Good man.”
Ekko turned the blueprints so they were facing him, placing a marker on top of them, “Can you tell us what floor the Hexgates operate from?”
Loris met his gaze, slowly frowning, “What exactly is your plan?”
Ekko didn’t answer, inspecting him in turn.
Loris sighed heavily, “I didn’t become an Enforcer to hurt people. I won’t help them destroy you… but I won’t help you destroy them either.”
“Boring good man.” Jinx quietly reassessed.
Ekko continued to inspect Loris, biting the inside of his cheek for a moment before choosing to trust his judge of character, “If we know where to plant bombs, we plan to blow up the Hexgates and maybe take the fight to the Commander and the Council. But no matter what we choose to do, we’ve agreed to try and keep the citizens out of it as best as we can.”
Loris squinted his eyes at him before going to inspect Jinx.
Then, he went to grab the marker.
Notes:
With Vi, I wanted to show that, while she’s still a bit on the fence, she does want to help the undercity, especially after seeing that everyone really is seemingly working together (Vara and Caeya are the main example of this Firelight and goon respectively ex-enemies now close friends -and maybe on their way to being more- and could be seen almost as a parallel to Vi and Cait… V and C see?)
Hope you like my characterization of Loris!
Chapter 14: Don’t Dream Too Far, Don’t Lose Sight of Who You Are
Summary:
Ekko and Jinx talk to Vi
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Jinx and Ekko walked down the halls of the base together.
“We should lock him up for a bit.” Jinx told him.
Ekko shook his head, “I don’t think he lied to us.”
“He was an Enforcer. I’m not sure I really believe his change of heart is enough for him to stand by during our plans.”
“Doubt locking him up would help with that.” He argued, “I don’t trust him enough to actually involve him in the plans but I think we could trust him just enough to let him help with guard duties if he wants to join in. We can set him up to guard in pairs with Hal, tell him to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”
Jinx rolled her eyes, “Fine. What about… what about Vi?”
Ekko pressed his lips together for a moment, “Do you trust her?”
Jinx stopped walking, Ekko going to turn around, waiting for her to meet his gaze, “I… I don’t know. I mean- it kinda seems like she might want to join but I don’t know that I trust her with helping us basically run Caitlyn into the ground.” She crossed her arms, looking away, “What if she feels all conflicted and shit in the middle of our attack or something?”
Ekko stepped closer to her, going to lean against the wall, Jinx copying him, leaning one shoulder against the wood to keep her eyes on him, “I don’t think even Vi fully knows where she stands… but she’s one of the best fighters down here. And there’s also the psychological play bit… you told me yourself Caitlyn seemed… floored to see Vi fighting against her. I want to talk to her, figure out just how much I trust her to get involved.”
“Mmm.”
Ekko watched her, trying to figure out what she was thinking, “Do you want to talk to her as well?”
“…maybe later. I want to check on Isha, there’s no way she’s still in the infirmary.”
He hesitated before reaching out, gently squeezing her hand, “Try and get some rest, these next few days will be hectic.”
She raised an eyebrow, “I will if you will.” She half-challenged, not bothering to wait for an answer before going to walk away.
Ekko allowed himself to watch her for a few seconds before heading to talk to Vi.
As soon as Loris had started explaining the tower in more detail, Ekko had asked Vara to escort Vi back to the infirmary, knowing she’d probably started bleeding through her bandages.
He found her leaning against her pillow, arms crossed and eyes closed.
Ekko carried a chair to her bedside, “Bored?” He asked.
She didn’t bother to open her eyes, “Very much so.”
“…Loris’s insight will be very helpful, thanks for bringing him in.”
Vi shrugged before opening her eyes and watching him, eyes scrunching up as she inspected him, “What are you trying to do here Ekko?”
“I’m trying to figure out whether or not I can trust you. And if I can trust you, how much.” He answered honestly, leaning back on the chair and crossing his arms, inspecting her in turn.
Vi snorted, “Funny you should be so careful, you didn’t seem to have much trouble trusting Jinx.”
Ekko did his best to not react to that, “Circumstances brought us together… I knew she was the best shot we’d have at a Revolution and I knew she’d need someone to back her up, so we decided to work together.”
“Mmm, and in all of that how did the whole ‘Zaun’s Royalty’ thing come along? You don’t seem like you’re holding grudges at all considering you were ‘brought together by circumstances’.”
He chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, “You don’t have to be combative Vi, it’s really not helping your case.”
She shook her head, “I’m not being combative, I just want to understand. Because… weren’t you the one who said Jinx was beyond help? Too far gone?”
Ekko looked down, “I was wrong. I’ll admit that.”
“And you actually trust her? After everything she’s done?”
“I do. I didn’t really when we started but over this past month and a half she’s won my trust, and I like to think I’ve won hers.”
Vi watched him for a moment longer before sighing heavily, slumping back into the pillow, “I don’t know what to think of her anymore.”
Ekko hesitated, before going to sit by her legs, “I was confused too… we spent a very long time at each other’s throats and now… she’s not Powder… but that doesn’t mean that she’s not your sister. That she’s not someone you can care about.”
“Is that what you figured out?” She asked with a raised eyebrow, “You two seem pretty chummy.”
He shrugged, trying to not give anything away, this whole situation was complicated enough as it was, “We work well together.”
Vi clearly didn’t believe that was enough to explain their partnership but luckily didn’t call him out on it.
Ekko met her gaze, recognizing the moment she started wondering about what would happen next, he spoke after a long moment, “Are you going to stay?”
“…I don’t know.”
He sighed before going to stand up, “For whatever it’s worth, I think you should stay. I think you got a lot more to contribute than you’d think.”
Vi scoffed, shaking her head.
He continued, “There’s a reason we all looked up to you when we were little you know? And it wasn’t just because you were the oldest or the best fighter.”
“…what if I lost whatever it was that made you all look up to me?”
Ekko watched her for a long moment, “Why did you sign up with the Enforcers?” A part of him had been dying to ask, to finally know, “Was it just because of Caitlyn?”
Vi looked down at her hands, “I thought I could help… maybe work with Enforcers the way Vander did, try to keep Caitlyn from being too aggressive… I thought maybe if I stayed with her… I don’t know what I was thinking, but evidently I failed.”
Ekko sighed, “Well it was very stupid of you regardless… you could’ve come back, the Firelights would’ve welcomed you.”
“…I didn’t know whether or not Jinx had killed you. And I didn’t… I didn’t want this place to be even more unfamiliar.”
He fell silent at that.
He hadn’t considered that Vi might’ve assumed he’d been killed.
“What you said before, about losing what it was that made us look up to you as kids… I don’t think that’s the kinda thing you can truly lose… misplace maybe, forget, but not lose. I’m not saying you become a leader… but we could use more fighters like you.”
Vi didn’t reply, Ekko went to leave.
***
Jinx found Isha at one of the lower platforms, hanging out with June, Finn and Lena, the four sitting around a make-shift board game, they’d probably opted for a board game due to Lena’s still-healing injuries and to not rip her stitches accidentally.
“Hey kiddos, June don’t try to hide that, I saw you.”
June groaned and returned the two cards he’d taken subtlety, getting a dice thrown at him courtesy of Isha.
“We said no more cheating!” Finn whined.
He, June and Lena quickly descended into an argument while Isha divided up her cards, giving most of it to Lena much to Finn’s dismay and went to stand up and run to Jinx.
“Were you winning?” Jinx questioned as they made their way higher up.
Isha rolled her eyes, signing to let her know June had been winning even before he’d started cheating due to Lena nearly catching up to him.
Jinx gently rustled her hair, “Well don’t let that get you down, you know you beat them in any aiming game.”
Isha just kept walking.
Once they reached their room, Isha hopped up on the bed, legs dangling down, Jinx shut the door and went to kneel in front of the kid to be closer to her eye level.
“You alright? I know I didn’t have much time to check on you after the attack.”
Isha didn’t meet her eyes, just shrugging.
Jinx scooted closer, trying to get her to meet her eyes, “You must’ve been scared… there’s no shame in that.”
Isha kept her eyes glued down.
Jinx went to sit at her side, wrapping an arm around her, “You did well, you helped keep Lena safe and from bleeding out and you ran to get help when Ekko told you to. I know you hate it but that was the right thing to do, the best thing you could’ve done as well.”
Isha went to grab her arm, gently tracing the bandages wrapped around the inside of her forearm.
Jinx sighed, “I’m alright kid, so is Ekko. It was… we weren’t expecting an attack like that but the important thing is that we came out the other side alive. And… and we won’t let them get away with this.”
Isha cuddled against her, Jinx taking a moment to bask in the contact and use it to reassure and remind herself that, almost miraculously, Isha hadn’t been hurt.
Then, she reached for the gun hanging from her belt, handing it over to Isha, who seemed relieved to see it, “Sevika found it during clean up.”
She thumbed some of the drawings on the handle, thinking for a long moment before gesturing to her arms, mimicking punches.
“Vi? I think she might stay for a little bit. At least while we strike back.”
Isha tapped at her temple.
“We’re thinking about bombing the HexGates. But we will have to sneak into Piltover no matter what we chose.”
Isha went to stand on the bed, gently shaking Jinx’s shoulders to make sure she had her full attention before gesturing, forming ‘V’s with her index and middle fingers and placing one fist on top of the other.
‘careful’.
Jinx gave her a soft smile, “You know Ekko won’t let us be anything other than careful.”
Isha just repeated the gesture with a stern look.
Jinx gently cupped the girl’s face, “I promise I’ll be careful. Have a little faith kid.”
The girl threw herself into Jinx’s arms, Jinx quickly wrapping her arms around Isha, holding her tightly and pressing a kiss against her temple, “I was scared to death that something had happened to you kid.” She confessed in a low voice.
Isha squeezed her, as if to say ‘me too’.
They stayed like that for a while.
***
“You’re making shimmer?”
Jinx turned to find Vi standing at the doorway, rolling her eyes at Vi’s stunned and half-repulsed expression.
“It’s our best medicine.” She easily justified before turning to Ekko, who was working at her side, “You told her to come here?”
“I told her she could if she wanted to.” He turned to Vi, “As much as I hate to admit it, we need shimmer, we use it as medicine, some of the fighters as booster. We don’t make the drug version and we limit access to it as best as we can.”
Vi was frowning, glancing at the vials all around the room, holding reactives, prototypes and glowing shimmer, “You use it as medicine?”
“It’s the best we’ve got down here… well, thanks to some sneaking we have a lot more proper medicine now but shimmer still comes in handy in the middle of a fight.” Jinx told her.
Vi stepped into their make-shift lab, heavy steps echoing ever so slightly as she got closer.
Ekko glanced between the two sisters, a part of him nervous about how they’d act.
Jinx leaned back against the table as she went to inspect her sister, “Can you fight?”
Vi glanced down at her still bandaged torso, “I can handle it.”
“We’re thinking about putting you in a squad with Sevika to attack the HexGates while we handle the declaration and… distraction.”
After a long discussion, Ekko and Jinx had agreed that, while Vi’s presence might’ve given them some advantage in a fight against Caitlyn, they didn’t want to risk Vi being hesitant or conflicted when it could cost her (and them) their lives.
“Are you good with that?” Jinx questioned.
“As long as Sevika isn’t up my ass about something, I’ll be just fine. What exactly are we going to do at the HexGates?”
“Well we decided against a long range attack,” Ekko started, “the explosions have to be exact and precise to minimize the risk both to civilians and our utility ducts. So, you’ll be planting bombs while we buy you time and make sure they’re distracted.”
“What about security at the HexGates?”
“First part of the plan is to give them… incentive to abandon their posts.” Jinx said with a wicked grin, “You’ll probably encounter some but, if they’re Enforcers we’re not holding back anymore. If you encounter civilians or scientists, minimal force.”
Vi frowned, eyebrows scrunching up as she glanced between the two of them, “What exactly is the ‘incentive’?”
Ekko and Jinx exchanged a look, Ekko smirking as he looked back to Vi, “You’ll see.”
Vi looked between the two, somehow recognizing the mischievous faces she’d thought they’d both grown out of, “I don’t like this.”
***
Night fell as Vi found Jinx in one of the higher platforms, fidgeting with some small machine.
She approached slowly, leaning against the wall.
“What do you want?” Jinx asked annoyed, not bothering to look up.
“Just wanted to talk.”
“About?”
Vi shrugged, glancing far down at the small pond, “I don’t know… what are you making?”
Jinx took a moment, glancing and trying to decipher her.
Vi rolled her eyes, “Look, I’m trying here, alright?”
Jinx waited another long moment before speaking, “I’m fixing up some kind of puzzle toy for the kids. Finn accidentally dropped it.”
“You fix toys? So that’s why the kids like you.”
“Hey, they also like me for my stellar personality.”
“You tell yourself that.”
Jinx was about to throw the puzzle when she realized Vi was just teasing her, her tone holding no real malice.
She decided to play along, “Don’t take this the wrong way but that dye job makes me want to throw up and weep.”
Vi rolled her eyes, running her hand through the uneven shades of black of her hair, “I needed a change, didn’t exactly care about it coming out pretty.”
“Evidently.”
Her big sister gave her the middle finger before tilting her head, “You cut your hair.”
“I needed a change.”
“It’s definitely better than the pigtails.”
Jinx gave her a metallic middle finger.
Vi hesitated, fidgeting with her jacket, pulling the zipper up and down a few times before speaking again, “Did Silco- did he actually treat you like a daughter?”
Jinx was surprised by the question, the screwdriver in her hand freezing, “…yes. He always treated me like a daughter… he kept my drawings and comforted me after nightmares and made sure I got what I wanted… he took care of me.”
Vi went to get closer before sitting at her side, making sure to keep some distance between the two, “I fucking hated his guts… but I’m glad you had someone looking out for you while I wasn’t there.”
She turned to her, frowning, “…did you not think he actually treated me like his own?”
Vi hesitated, chewing on the inside of his cheek, “When I first got out I assumed he’d kidnapped you, that he had you captive. And then when Sevika said you were like his daughter… I thought he was manipulating you, using you, lying to you… it didn’t make sense to me that it could be any different. I thought you needed me to save you from him.”
Jinx snorted humorlessly, “Funny. Ekko thought the same thing once.” She shook her head quietly, “Pretty sure the only time he lied to me was about you. Probably thought you being back here would wreck me- which I mean he wasn’t wrongabout… but it still pissed me off.”
“…would it have been better if I just hadn’t come back at all?” Vi asked in a whisper in a way that made Jinx think she probably hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
Jinx turned to inspect Vi, whose eyes were glued to the floor, shoulders hunched, stance guarded, ready for a blow.
“…I mean… I kinda saw you everywhere regardless. You never left here,” Jinx told her as she tapped her temple, “made sense to me you’d eventually become real. Just wish you hadn’t had such shitty timing… or such a shitty companion.”
Vi chuckled lowly, “She wasn’t that bad… back then.” She added at Jinx’s incredulous and unimpressed raised eyebrow.
“Could you really not tell she’d turn out to be a crazy dictator? How did you not catch that?”
“Hey! It’s not exactly like I could get a lot of experience dating from my cell.” Vi growled, starring her down.
Jinx met her gaze, the two starring each other down for a few seconds before both starting to chuckle at the ridiculousness of it all.
“Ugh this is so weird.” Vi said under her breath as the chuckles passed, the two clearly not quite sure what this meant, how they were meant to proceed from here, how they were exactly meant to act like sisters after so long, after so much.
“It is.” Jinx easily agreed, because there was no way around the weirdness and strangeness that lingered in the air and in the way there were still feet of space between the two and that neither trusted the other, “But… it’s not… awful either.”
Vi turned to her sister, watching her as she picked the screwdriver back up and got back to work, hair falling over her shoulders now that it’d been freed from its braid.
“No… I suppose it’s not.”
Vi stayed up on the branches, watching the firelights and birds getting ready for the night while Jinx worked on the toy, staying mostly quiet. Once Jinx was done, the two stood and parted paths, not much else said but something shifting between the sisters.
***
Ekko turned when the door to his room opened, Jinx stepping in.
“Took you a while.” He started, leaning against his desk before jerking his chin towards the bed where Isha was curled up, “Kid fell asleep, said something about you being busy?”
Jinx took a moment to place a thin blanket over Isha and watch her before turning to him, “I was talking with Vi.”
“Oh… how was it?”
“…weird.”
“…but you didn’t fight?”
“No.”
“Well that’s progress right?.”
She shrugged, going to join him, looking at the crystal bombs he was working on, “Want some help?”
“I’m pretty much done with these, but I thought you might want to take a look at this.” He pulled up a duffel bag, pulling out thick cloth material and pieces of metal he’d hammered into-
“Armor?” Jinx raised an eyebrow before glancing his way.
“Just a bit of it. It’s necessary.”
Jinx made a face, “It’s restrictive.”
“I’m not arguing with you on this. Even if everything goes according to plan we’ll still be in even more danger than usual. The only actual armor will be for the chest and torso.” He pulled out a few tubes of paint and brushes.
Jinx watched him, probably realizing from the look in his eyes that he wouldn’t budge on this, rolling her eyes before going to inspect the armor.
“You should also consider putting up railings in your hideout.”
She scoffed at that, “Why?”
Ekko stared at her, “Because one slip and you’d be falling into the abyss.” She tried to wave him off, he shook his head, sighing, “I get you like being unpredictable but sometimes it’s almost like you don’t value your life.”
She snorted, “Well…”
His head snapped up at that, eyes widening slightly.
She quickly backtracked, “That was a joke.”
“…Jinx-”
Isha suddenly bolted up in bed, screaming as she trashed, trying to move and falling off the bed.
Jinx moved, dashing forward to catch her, quickly pulling her against her chest, trying to calm her down, assuring her whatever had frightened her had just been a nightmare, Ekko going to stand close to rub circles against Isha’s back and trying to get a good look at her as the kid trembled.
“Isha, Isha baby, it’s okay, I’m here, I’m right here.” Jinx tried to comfort her, bouncing her slightly, unsure of what else she could do to get Isha to breath.
She’d never seen the kid like this before.
Ekko stepped away for a moment, returning quickly with a cup of tea, standing just behind her to get Isha to un-bury her face from Jinx’s chest, “Hey, hey, here, take a sip sweetheart.”
After some encouragement, Isha, still crying, managed to take a few sips, Ekko quickly taking the small reprieve to start guiding her through a breathing exercise.
It managed to get her to breath, but she was clearly still unsettled by her nightmare, Ekko seeming clueless as to what else to do as he went to rub circles against her back as Isha rested against Jinx’s chest, nearly limp, occasionally sniffing.
Jinx held her tightly, took a deep breath and started singing to her.
Ekko froze for a split second, glancing up at her in surprise, Jinx ignored him, Isha snuggling deeper against her chest as Jinx went to sit on the bed and lay her down.
Isha scrambled for a half second, clinging to both of them, clearly thinking Jinx was laying her down to let go, instead continuing to sing as she laid down, Ekko sitting down as well.
The lullaby Jinx sung was one she had nearly forgotten about, the song she could only vaguely remember her mother singing to her to help her sleep, after her death, Jinx had sometimes sung it to herself to self-soothe.
And now here she was, singing it to Isha to help her fall back asleep after a nightmare.
Somehow, it worked like a charm, Isha’s grip on them weakening as she clearly struggled against her dropping eyes.
Jinx kept singing even as Isha fell asleep, finishing the song and allowing silence to fall over the room.
“…fucking Caitlyn must’ve scared her more than she let on.” Jinx said under her breath, gently running a hand through Isha’s hair.
“…you didn’t move.” Ekko whispered, also watching Isha.
“What?”
“At the bridge. When the bomb went off, you didn’t move. You just… laid there.”
Jinx tensed up, clenching her jaw as she remembered.
The fight, Ekko knocking her to the ground, clearly ready to put her out of her misery before his eyes met hers and he hesitated, clearly wishing things could be different.
She’d thought there were worse ways to go.
So she set off the grenade.
Ekko had scrambled back, managing to knock the grenade away as it went off with his mace.
She hadn’t moved.
“Why didn’t you move?”
Jinx rolled her eyes, trying to summon her anger, “Don’t you remember you were in the middle of beating me up? Stop to consider that maybe I couldn’t move?”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Ekko’s voice softened ever so slightly, “Why didn’t you move?”
Jinx sighed heavily, laying down fully, Ekko following her lead, the three cramped slightly on the bed, “I was tired. Of… everything.”
That was all she’d say on the matter.
It was all she could really say, with no clue how to further explain what she’d been thinking, how she’d felt, how messy and fractured her mind had been in that moment.
Ekko seemed to sense that if he pushed her she’d either shut down or shoot him so instead he looked at Isha, “Has she had nightmares before?”
“Not often. And never like this… she also says I should be more careful.” Jinx begrudgingly admitted, running a hand down Isha’s arm and going to hold her tiny hand, running a thumb over her knuckles, relief flooding her yet again that she hadn’t been hurt.
Ekko took a moment to watch her.
Seeing the way she acted with Isha always moved something in him, the softness and sheer care and gentleness she only allowed out with the kid was what had fully convinced him that he’d been wrong to think Jinx had absolutely no love left in her.
But then again, it was hard not to love Isha.
He hesitated before speaking again, “I won’t… I won’t pretend to know your mind Jinx but… if it’s hard for you to be careful for yourself… could you maybe be more careful for Isha?”
Jinx finally looked at him, meeting the silent plea in his eyes.
She supposed it would be easier to be more cautious if she thought back to Isha’s fear that she would leave her behind. That her recklessness could cost Isha the closest thing to a mothe- to a sister that she had.
But she could see something else in Ekko’s eyes, cloaked behind using Isha to ask something of her. The silent ‘for me’ that was left out of his request.
Jinx found herself propping up on her elbow, mirroring Ekko before slowly reaching out, cupping his face, Ekko’s eyes widening slightly, but he didn’t pull away, instead leaning against her hand, eyes further softening.
Something within her ached, yearning burning in her chest as she went to lean in, careful to not put any weight on Isha’s form still resting between them.
In the silence, she could hear the stutter in Ekko’s breath as his eyes flicked down to her lips before starting to lean in as well, a hand starting to reach for her.
But before he could touch her and before she could finally do something about the yearning that felt like would consume her alive, she heard it.
The subtle nagging voice at the back of her mind, the shadow of a dead brother standing behind Ekko, the memories of everyone she’d loved and killed pulsing in her mind in tune with her skipping heart beat.
She pulled back, scrambling out of the bed.
“We should get some rest.” She said in a raspy voice, going to scoop Isha into her arms, shushing her and bouncing her to keep her from fully waking up.
“Jinx-” Ekko scrambled up as well, going to try and stop her.
But she was already opening the door, ready to escape the whispers and shadows and reminders and the obvious mistake that would be allowing Ekko to get even closer to her.
“Jinx-”
“See you tomorrow.”
Jinx shut the door behind her, going to cup the back of Isha’s head as she all but ran to her room, a knot forming in her throat, frustration and desperation and that same painful yearning threatening to make tears fall down her cheeks.
But she couldn’t lose one more person. Couldn’t curse one more person by allowing them into her life, she’d started to accept that maybe Isha was somehow immune to her jinx. But she couldn’t risk believing that two people could survive her.
Especially not Ekko.
Notes:
Listen listen LISTEN- IT’S ALL ABOUT THE YEARNING AND FEAR OF INTIMACY OKAY?!??!!? Don’t bring out the pitchforks, there’s not way Jinx wouldnt’ be scared of acting on her feelings
Trying to show some awkwardness between the sisters cause well they don’t know each other anymore so- yeah
Anyways, there should be more action in the next chapter!
Chapter 15: How Much Buildup before Everything Blows?
Summary:
Ekko and Jinx each process and panic in their own ways
There is an announcement made in Piltover
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ekko raised the binoculars to his eyes, watching.
Dawn was approaching and in the distance he could see it, three flying ships headed straight for Piltover.
“Are we sure about this?” Scar questioned in a low tone, “It’ll be risky.”
“It will be.” Ekko easily agreed, “blowing them up will only get us so far. This is how we fully get the message across, besides, the guards on the ship won’t know to be on the lookout.”
He looked back at the group of Firelights, Jinxers and goons he’d gathered for the mission, “Remember, the bigger hoverboards are technically speaking still prototypes, so don’t put too much weight on them, we drill a tiny hole in the boxes, if they’re useful we take them, if they’re too heavy or useless, dose them. We work quick and in pairs. Let’s go.”
They threw themselves off the dock, using their hoverboards to get closer to the flying ships, making sure to stay below them and out of sight.
Reaching the side of one of them, Ekko and Scar attached a longer hoverboard, more a metal square than anything to the side of the ship before climbing aboard, watching out for… there were no guards.
These ships weren’t from Piltover, they were just making a delivery, they probably weren’t too worried about robbers.
The deck was filled to the brim with boxes, new supplies headed for Piltover.
He and Scar approached the first box, lifting a small wooden drill, quickly creating a small hole, peeking in to see packs of rice, they quickly placed it on the metal plate and went back.
They went through a few boxes, taking four and pouring poison and decaying agents into the rest before jumping over the railing and waiting until they passed through a cloud for cover to detach from the ship, going to head back to the undercity.
Ekko no longer felt bad about the poison.
Scar glanced towards the skyline of Piltover as they went to fly low, the sun was just barely starting to come up, the dark would only cover them for a little while longer.
“I don’t see anything out of the ordinary,” Scar said, Ekko barely hearing him over the wind whipping against his ears, “Vara, Caeya and Jinx are probably back, doubt they had any complications.”
“Yeah.” Ekko answered half-heartedly.
Scar frowned slightly, glancing twice at him, hesitating before speaking, “Are you alright? You seem a bit… upset.”
“I’m fine Scar.”
“…could you at least try to sound believable?”
Ekko sighed heavily, “It’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t sound like it’s nothing. Did something happen with Jinx?”
“Look I just- I just want to focus on getting through today. And I can’t do that if I’m distracted.”
“…so something did happen with Jinx?”
“…I don’t want to talk about it. You can say I told you so.”
“Lucky for you I don’t believe in adding insult to injury, you look miserable enough as is. What happened?”
“I was an idiot that’s what happened.” Ekko grumbled.
“An idiot… how?” Scar asked.
Ekko stayed quiet, thinking back to the previous night as they got back to the undercity, leaving some goons to unload the boxes as they started heading back to base.
He knew what he’d seen in Jinx’s eyes.
He knew that they’d found themselves falling into a moment of vulnerability, a silence that exposed the bitter loneliness they’d lived with for so many years and the way the other’s presence had acted as a balm on that bruise.
He knew, he knew that Jinx had been ready to kiss him, to close the gap between them, to act on the unspoken feelings they’d been skirting around.
Ekko had started it, the stillness and comfort of the moment giving him the impulse to quietly plead with Jinx to be more careful. He must’ve exposed himself more than he’d thought. She’d seen right through him.
But she hadn’t pulled away. At least not at first.
Ekko had been an idiot because for a split second, he’d dared to believe that maybe, just maybe, it could be easy.
But then she had indeed pulled away.
He’d seen the fear and panic and mistrust in her eyes.
Even after everything, she still believed herself to be cursed… or to be a curse.
He’d been a fool to believe that had changed, or well- more accurately, he was a fool to forget about that.
Seeing the tension and mild anger and frustration in the way his leader walked, Scar knew there could only be one answer to his ignored question, he decided, perhaps against his better judgement to bite the bullet, “Did you two… dosomething?”
Ekko rolled his eyes, “No we-” he hesitated, glancing around, making sure they’d reached an at least somewhat-private spot before turning to Scar, “…we almost kissed.”
Scar sighed internally, cursing himself for not just letting Ekko stew in silence, but well- he was his friend, this was par for the course, “What happened?”
“…she pulled away, left like there was a bomb in the room.”
“…did you initiate?”
“No. She did. She started leaning in and then…” Ekko groaned, letting his head hit the wall behind him.
“…what were you doing before that?”
Ekko explained the armor he’d prepared and how Isha had had a nightmare and they’d consoled her, leaving out some of what they’d said since he simply didn’t feel like he had to tell Scar everything for him to understand.
“What are you going to do about it?” Scar questioned.
Ekko clenched his jaw, “…I don’t want to push her… but I’m also- I am so fucking sick of letting this place take everything from us. But I don’t know what to do. I can’t take away her pain, I can’t take away years of her blaming herself for everything, thinking that she’s a curse… I don’t know what to do.”
Scar considered that for a long moment, “Don’t push her… but also, don’t let her push you away. I believe that might be all you can do for now.”
Ekko said nothing, simply staring into nothingness, frustration and helplessness clear in his eyes.
He was a bit lost. But he knew for sure that there was no way he was going to let Jinx pull away from him. It was fine if she wasn’t ready for anything more, he himself wasn’t sure if he was ready, but he wasn’t about to lose what they’d managed to build so far.
***
Jinx knew she was stalling, trying to walk as slow as possible without raising suspicion, not wanting to get back to base just yet.
Caeya and Vara had been with her on her mission, neither seeming to think anything was off, perhaps writing up her unusual silence to concentration, but she knew Gert had clocked her as soon as she’d met them at the border.
“Alright- what’s going on?” Gert asked, stopping from where she and the girls had been outpacing her, “You’re dragging your feet.”
“I’m not dragging my feet I’m just thinking.”
Vara and Caeya exchanged glances with Gert before doing a double-take on Jinx, watching her.
“Stop looking at me like that!” Jinx demanded, hurrying to step past them.
“What did you do?” Caeya asked as she hurried to catch up.
“You didn’t sneak in any extra charges or anything right?” Vara questioned, also going to catch up.
“No! I might like some good old unexpected pizzazz but that’d just be stupid.”
“Then why do you look like you kicked a puppy?” Gert asked.
“Cause I might as well have.” Jinx muttered under her breath, remembering the almost betrayed, hurt look in Ekko’s eyes the previous night.
“What was that?”
“Nothing! It’s nothing alright?! I’m just tense cause of the plan and hoping we’ll manage to properly fuck the Council over!”
Gert inspected her, slowly raising an eyebrow, “Jinx… what’d you do?”
Jinx just scoffed and rolled her eyes, continuing her walk, putting more distance between them.
Vara and Caeya allowed it, Gert sprinting to keep up.
“Hey, did Vi say something?”
“No- she’s actually… trying. It’s weird.”
“Is it Isha? I thought she was fine-”
“She’s alright, had a nightmare, but the little chaos deviant is fine.”
“…so it’s Ekko?”
Jinx didn’t answer.
Gert sighed, “Jinx-”
“Don’t.” Jinx stopped, turning to her, “I don’t want to talk about it, I don’t want advice, none of it, nada, zero, zilch. It doesn’t matter.”
“…doesn’t sound like it doesn’t matter. But if you change your mind you know where to find me.”
Jinx didn’t bother to reply, hurrying ahead, her urge to get away from Gert’s sad understanding eyes overpowering the dread of returning to base, where she would inevitably find herself with Ekko at some point or another.
She’d nearly kissed Ekko the previous night. And he would’ve let her. He’d leaned in as well.
She was trying to convince herself that it’d simply been them getting caught up in a rare moment of silence and peace.
He didn’t want her, not really, he’d probably just desired her in that split moment-
If she gave it enough spins in her head, she could perhaps make a pile of all the glances and tensions and quiet conversations and intense gazes, set them on fire and write them off as either coincidences or as nothing more than lust from a boy who had probably never spent much time alone with someone his own age due to… well everything.
But even with the mazes and ugly knots that permeated her mind, Jinx couldn’t even start to convince herself of that.
Foolishly and sadly enough, he cared about her.
That was what frightened her.
Maybe if it’d been nothing but lust she wouldn’t have pulled away.
But it wasn’t. She knew it wasn’t.
Sure there was a certain tension that she’d noticed and even reveled in occasionally, when they were alone, moments in which she caught him looking at her when she was distracted. Moments she found herself inspecting him as he sparred with Scar.
But that was only a part of it.
It was dangerous.
Dangerous because this was Zaun, and soft things did not survive in the undercity.
Dangerous because they were in the middle of leading a Revolution.
Dangerous because somehow they knew each other too well and not at all.
Dangerous because she was who she was and anyone she cared about didn’t seem to do too well.
It was only the knowledge that Isha would disapprove and the begrudging care she’d come to have towards the Revolution and the people around her that kept her from packing a bag in the middle of the night and running.
She wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to face him again.
***
Ekko’s breath caught in his throat when he saw Jinx and Gert emerge from one of the entrances, he saw the tension in Jinx’s face, how a cheek in her muscle twitched when she met his gaze, hesitating for a split moment before going to join him to address the quickly forming crowd around them.
He didn’t offer a hand to help her on the ledge of the pond, he knew she wouldn’t take it if he did offer and he couldn’t risk the two seeming divided at such an important moment.
Ekko cleared his throat as he turned to the crowd, “Alright people! We were put to the test a few days ago. We lost dozens of our own, many of whom were not fighters, we fought off an attack… but we didn’t win. I can’t call it a win considering what we lost.”
He could see the anger and frustration in the eyes of the fighters around her, he could barely see divisions anymore, Jinxers and goons and Firelights and civilians mixed together, sharing symbols and clothes and weapons and pain and grief and determination.
Vi was standing far back, leaning against the wall next to Loris, who’d be staying behind to help guard the base in their absence.
“Today we make Piltover pay!” Jinx continued, “If they don’t want to listen to us, we’ll make them. Today we declare war!”
The crowd cheered, raising their arms in unison, following Jinx’s lead.
“It won’t be easy,” Ekko said as the cheers lessened, “But we have fought against hardship our entire lives. Today we start a war! For the civilians and fighters Piltover killed, for the children who deserve better than this, for every one of us, for Zaun!”
The crowd cheered yet again.
“We all have our part to play, you all know what to do. Stay close to each other, be careful… and good luck.”
Ekko headed for his room, knowing Jinx would be following, maybe not necessarily because she wanted to but because that was where she’d left her gear.
He left the door open behind him, Jinx coming in and hesitating before stepping inside and shutting the door.
“Here’s your gear, and the armor plates.” He told her, handing her a box before turning away, going to put on his own equipment, “How’s Isha?”
Jinx hesitated before taking the box, half-grateful and half-dissapointed that he seemed to be all business, “She’s fine. She’ll be staying with Nivu since he’s still healing from the concussion.”
Nivu had put up a fight about being left behind, but Ekko still didn’t quite trust his balance and he knew his vision was still a bit blurry.
Better to have him stay behind with the kids.
Ekko nodded along, trying to think as they finished preparing, sliding armor and weapons into place, casting glances at Jinx every few seconds, who was very clearly doing all she could to not look at him.
Jinx cleared her throat as soon as they were done, not wanting to risk another vulnerable moment, “Well, we should get going,” she said cheerfully as she went to head for the door, “chaos to bring, vengeance to strike and all, I-”
Ekko grabbed her wrist, stopping her, “Wait.”
Jinx didn’t turn around, still facing the door, heart racing as she prepared to wretch her hand away.
Ekko spoke before she could, voice soft, “I’m not going anywhere Jinx. I won’t push you, and I understand if maybe you’re not ready to hear it but I have to say it, because it’s the truth.” He went to step in front of her, fearlessly meeting her gaze, “You’re not what you think you are. You’re not a curse or whatever bullshit it is you believe about yourself. And I’m not going anywhere. You get to not be ready for more but you don’t get to pull away from me after everything. I am not going anywhere.”
He let her go before she could reply, taking a step back and going to open the door, not breaking eye contact, “Now… let’s do this.”
Jinx followed him.
***
Caitlyn was walking the streets, at the halfway point between her home and the Council building, trying to figure out what to do next when it happened.
All around her, sirens and speakers came to life, a single long piercing sound making her and everyone around flinch and go to cover their ears at the screeching.
And then-
“Good morning Piltover!” Jinx’s voice came booming from all around her, “The sun is rising, the birds are chirping, Enforcers are being little bitches, and Ekko and I have got an announcement to make!”
Caitlyn’s blood ran cold, her stomach dropping to the floor as the people around her began looking around, almost as if they expected Jinx to appear out of thin air, ready to attack.
Given her near boogeyman status, Caitlyn wouldn’t have been surprised if civilians believed the blue-haired girl had the ability to teleport.
“Keep an eye on the rooftops! Come on!” Caitlyn quickly started barking orders at the Enforcers close to her, slinging her own gun off her back and inspecting the rooftops as she hurried up.
“You see, I suppose you could say we recently realized that you- civilians that is, might not even really be aware of why we have done what we’ve done.” Jinx’s voice continued, “Why we are seemingly attacking you out of the blue. But the thing is… we’re not just doing this for fun. I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely a part of it but that’s not all there is to this.”
“Your whole lives you’ve been taught to look down on the undercity.” Ekko’s voice continued, “You’ve been told that we’re less than you, less civilized, dangerous and without morals. That is what you see us as, that is all you were ever taught. That the undercity is nothing more than a shadow, a blemish attached to your perfect Piltover.”
“What you were never taught is why the undercity is in such a state of disgust and contamination. And that… is because of you… or well… your Council.” Ekko kept going as the people around them seemed still panicked glancing around, tense and nervous, clearly unsure of what would come next, “What you weren’t taught is that all that there is wrong with the undercity comes directly from Piltover. Your Council, and the founders of Piltover before them only cared about building a perfect utopia. A place with no contamination, no smoke rising from ugly factories, no wastewater stinking up any nice neighborhood, no sign of trash that comes with your lifestyle. So what did they do with all of that?”
“They dumped it all on us.” Jinx answered, voice mocking but holding an edge of anger, “They sent their wastewater and contamination and everything they deemed dirty and imperfect to us. They dumped so much on us that to this day our very air needs to be filtered for us to be able to breath. Your Council has held us under their thumb with violence and hatred. They made sure the only possible way to survive was by either sacrificing our lungs in their mines to get your precious stones and minerals in exchange for scraps or by fighting for our lives and yeah- crime.”
“Most of us have done things we are not proud of in order to survive.” Ekko took over again as Caitlyn finally reached the Council building, yelling at the Enforcers around her to figure out if this message was being transmitted all over Piltover, “But we are done fighting amongst ourselves and allowing your Council to exploit and abuse us. Even with all the violence that has existed amongst ourselves somehow the top causes of death? Illness, that one comes mostly from the contamination you have imposed on us… and Enforcers killing us like animals or throwing us in cells with no trials and seemingly for any excuse they can come up with.”
“We are fighting, not because we want to torture Piltover or whatever it is you have been told or have deduced.” Jinx’s voice was nearly shaking with rage, “We are fighting to be able to live instead of merely surviving. We are fighting because, even offering trades and peaceful options we are not just turned down but attacked. We are fighting for the rights that you have had the privilege of taking for granted. We have attempted to keep some semblance of integrity. We have only attacked in retaliation and we have done our best to keep you civilians away from the main line of damage.”
“WHY IS IT STILL GOING?!” Caitlyn demanded from one of the engineers who was frantically pushing buttons on a console.
“I- I don’t know! We can’t turn them off automatically, it’ll take at least two hours to get them all manually.”
“Then get going!”
She tuned back in as Ekko spoke once more, “That is a lot more than what the Council and your Commander Kirammanhas deemed us worthy of. Enforcers have always shot to kill. We have been attacked with no regard to whom exactly they are killing. In their latest attempt, children were injured.” Caitlyn shut her eyes, shame and rage simmering at the bottom of her stomach, “And no one cared. Why would they? It is far from the first time that your dear Enforcers, who you think of as heroes, target children of the undercity without a care in the world.”
“Which is why we are done.” Jinx’s voice returned, “Some of us thought that maybe we could manage to handle this without starting a war. But after your Commander ordered a sneak attack in which dozens of us were killed, twenty civilians were slaughtered- children were attacked- we are done. But we wanted to reach out to the civilians with a promise we will do our best to uphold.” Interference ran for a moment, Jinx’s voice becoming even louder, booming throughout the entire building, Caitlyn knew every single pair of ears in Piltover heard her next words, “Today, Zaun declares war on Piltover!”
The Enforcers all around her began trading nervous glances, Caitlyn rushing to the window to see civilians listening with wide eyes and nervous fidgeting.
“We declare war… but we will still try to keep civilians from direct harm.” Ekko said, “Because well… we know better than anyone what it is to be nothing more than collateral damage. Piltover may not grant us that courtesy… but we will try to uphold it nonetheless.”
“But the Council… Enforcers,” Jinx chuckled darkly, “Commander Kiramman. We will make you pay for your crimes. For the lives you’ve taken. For every time you have looked down on us and made our lives living hell. We will show you everything that you have taken for granted- everything that you have taken from us… and we will make you… suffer.” Jinx growled out the last word, the hair at the back of Caitlyn’s neck rising at it, “…and that starts today.”
The far off explosions came the moment Jinx uttered the last word.
Despite standing at the window and seeing the flashes of explosions it wasn’t until a minute later, as she watched piles of smoke slowly rising that Caitlyn fully registered what she was looking at.
What places Jinx and Ekko had targeted.
The homes of the Councilors. Which included-
Caitlyn’s breath caught in her throat, dread and horror nearly choking her as she stumbled back, “Dad.”
Notes:
I’d planned for action to kick in again this chapter but alas things changed, hope you liked the speech Ekko and Jinx gave (it was pre-recorded) next chapter, Cait sees the aftermath and HexTech is targeted!
Also, not sure when next chapter will be up, college got a bit crazy aaaaaaahhhhhhh thanks for understanding!
Chapter 16: A Game of Cat and Mouse
Summary:
Caitlyn tries to find her dad
Ekko and Jinx run into something unexpected
Vi gets to work setting up the explosives to blow up the HexGates
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Caitlyn was running, boots hitting the pavement heavily with every step, desperation and absolute dread and terror threatening to tear her apart from the inside out.
They’d bombed the Councilor’s estates.
They’d bombed her home.
She couldn’t focus, couldn’t listen to a word Ambessa and other Enforcers had to say, couldn’t give orders or answer questions. Not until she knew-
Not until she found her dad.
Squads of Enforcers were hurrying to the estates that’d been attacked, Ambessa furious as she made her way towards the bridge to see if there would be an attempted invasion.
Caitlyn could barely think, barely breath as she ran.
She nearly slammed into the closed gates, heart dropping to the floor at the sight of her home.
Half the building was collapsed, dust and smoke covering the entire estate.
As she struggled to throw the gates open she half-registered that the half of the building that’d been actually blown up wasn’t where the bedrooms were, but the half where she and her dad had their bedrooms was lopsided now, the roof half collapsed, she had no idea of just how much damage the building had sustained.
She nearly fell as she struggled her way through chunks of rubble and dust, spotting a hole she could climb through to enter the collapsed part of the building.
“Commander!” One of the Enforcers called after her, “It’s dangerous to go in, the rubble could shift or the roof could collapse, we should wait for-”
“Scout the general area!” Caitlyn ordered, “Send out orders for the areas around all the estates to be searched and cleared! Now!”
She stumbled into a room- well, what had once been their dinning room. Half the room was gone, nothing but rubble in it’s place, a chandelier hanging on by a thread, another one shattered on the floor.
Caitlyn ventured deeper into the destroyed rooms, “DAD?!”
Rubble blocked her way into the next room, she kicked some of it away and used the butt of her rifle to break down the door half buried behind the rubble.
“DAD?!” She called out desperately in between coughs, sure she would wreck her vocal chords, “DAD WHERE ARE YOU?!”
***
The explosion had been loud, even with ear-protection, Jinx couldn’t help but wince at it.
When she’d been here with Caeya and Vara, they’d made sure to target one side of the house a lot more.
As soon as the rubble had somewhat settled, she and Ekko quickly made their climb, entering through a window on the third floor.
Commander Kiramman’s office.
“Oh wow-” Jinx whistled, almost taken aback, “Obsessed much?”
One wall was covered in pictures and pins and strings, showing posters of her face and one or two of Ekko’s wanted posters, maps of Piltover and Zaun, sketches of Silco and a few others.
“She needs a hobby.” Jinx joked before taking out a can of blue spray paint, getting to work on the board.
Ekko said nothing, already rooting through the desk and filing cabinets.
They weren’t sure how long they’d have, their pre-recorded message was playing again, they’d set it up to loop, making sure everyone heard it.
Jinx cast a glance behind her as she worked. Ekko had barely said a word since they’d set off.
I’m not going anywhere.
His simple statement, and the determination and certainty he’d said it with seemed to be echoing in her head, bouncing against her skull, refusing to fall silent.
It was an empty promise.
After all, it wasn’t like it was up to him. Not really.
They could be killed at any moment.
But the look in his eyes…
She quietly shook her head, trying to snap herself out of her reverie, out of the memory and the way she found herself attuned to every sound Ekko was making behind her; the shifting of his coat, the tiny metallic tink every time the chain of the Z-Drive hit the main device, the shuffling of papers and the opening and closing of drawers.
They couldn’t have been there for more than five minutes (and getting ready to leave) when they heard it.
A weak call for help.
“Hello?!” A voice came from outside the office, “Is anyone there?!”
Ekko and Jinx slowly exchanged a look, freezing in place as another call came.
Jinx shot Ekko a warning look, “Don’t. Don’t-”
He went to step away from the desk, going to investigate the call.
“Ekko!” She hissed as she went to follow.
“It could be a civilian.” He hissed right back.
“We knew there was a risk civilians could be caught in the blasts!”
He ignored her, opening the door and heading into the half collapsed room attached to it, the voice and sounds of struggle coming from further into the gigantic house.
“Are you serious right now?” She questioned in a whisper, carefully stepping over debris and a fallen bookshelf.
“Could be a maid.”
“Could be an Enforcer. Why are you pushing this? It’s a Piltie either way!”
“We just said we’ll try to keep civilians out of it-”
“Councilors families barely count!”
“And it could be a kid for all we know.”
There was reason they’d tried to set the bombs as far away from the bedrooms and as close to the offices as possible in the homes of all the Councilors. They knew the Councilors themselves would probably not be home, but their families would likely be.
Despite Jinx’s strong belief that the families shouldn’t really count as civilians, between the whole keep-civilians-out-of-it thing and knowing purposefully killing the Councilor’s families would likely come back to bite them in the ass (i.e. Caitlyn going bonkers after Jinx had killed her mom)- it was something she’d begrudgingly agreed to after listening to Ekko’s arguments.
Passing a half-fallen doorframe, Jinx caught sight of a leg, pointing it out to Ekko.
There was someone half buried, a thick slab of concrete having fallen from the ceiling and on their chest.
“Hold on!” Ekko called out, grabbing a loose floorboard and using it as leverage to lift the slab slightly before quickly going to drag the man out from under the debris before more of the ceiling could collapse.
When she saw a dark blue head of hair, Jinx quickly stepped out of sight, cursing under her breath and glancing at one of the many family portraits hanging around.
It was Caitlyn’s dad. She knew Ekko recognized him when he drew in a sharp breath and glanced around to make sure she was hidden.
“Are you alright?” He asked after a moment, tensing up and hoping he wouldn’t be recognized.
The man was too busy coughing however, pushing himself back against the wall, “My leg-”
From his thigh, a piece of metal protruded, Ekko had no idea where it could’ve come from.
The man didn’t seem too out of it, Ekko helping him lean against the wall before the man took off his jacket and used one of the sleeves to make a tourniquet a few inches above the wound, gritting his teeth through the pain.
The man looked up and Ekko saw the exact moment he recognized him from the wanted posters in his daughter’s office.
He seemed more confused than anything, “You… you…” his strength seemed to leave him all at once as he slumped back, shutting his eyes for a moment before speaking again, “Is it true?”
Ekko was surprised that that was what was on the man’s mind at the moment, “…I wish it weren’t.”
The man suddenly tensed, going to glance around, “Is she here?”
He was looking for Jinx.
Before Ekko could think of what to do, another screaming voice came through the destroyed hallways.
“DAD?!”
“CAITLYN-” Ekko knocked the man over the head as soon as he started responding to his daughter’s call.
Jinx came out of hiding, going to grab his wrist and dragging him to get behind the half destroyed door that Caitlyn’s voice had come from, the two pressing against the wall to stay out of sight as Caitlyn entered the room, breathless.
She’d left her high collared cape behind, running in and nearly tripping over some of the debris littering the floor as she made her way to her dad.
Jinx slowly raised her gun.
They weren’t here to kill Caitlyn… but they had indeed hoped their paths would cross.
One moment, Caitlyn was checking on her dad, who was clearly dazed from the hit and going in and out of consciousness, the next, she was screaming, a bullet grazing her leg, a second shot grazing her shoulder.
Ekko realized Jinx would very much be toying with Caitlyn.
Jinx ran before Caitlyn could even get her bearings, pushing herself off a pile debris to slam against Caitlyn, knocking her to the ground.
As Jinx pulled back to land a punch a spear was thrown from the half broken door, sinking into Jinx’s shoulder-
Ekko pulled the chain of the Z-Drive, the spear flying back.
Jinx punched Caitlyn as Ekko slammed into the man who’d thrown the spear on his hoverboard, the metal meeting the man’s face and knocking him down.
He didn’t lose his grip on the spear as he hit the floor however and Ekko only had a moment to pull out his mace.
The man wore red and silver armor, a Noxian soldier, and probably a high ranking member of the army given the strange runes decorating the spear he held and the medallions dangling from his belt.
Ekko gritted his teeth as he parried the attack sent his way, using his hoverboard to slip under the man’s arm and hit him in the back with the end of his mace, trying to knock him off balance.
Caitlyn managed to get some leverage and half-throw Jinx off of her.
Jinx let it happen, chuckling to herself as the other girl stumbled to her feet, “What’s the matter? Didn’t think we’d take the fight directly to you?”
Caitlyn was wheezing, half in pain and half in rage, screaming as she launched herself at Jinx, picking up her rifle.
Jinx dove under her arm, avoiding a hit with the rifle and kicking the back of her knee before jabbing at one of her wounds, she felt the shimmer burning in her veins as she avoided two gunshots, managing to get behind Caitlyn, taking the rifle and using it to start choking her out, slamming them both into the wall, trapping Caitlyn between the rifle chocking her and Jinx’s chest, who leaned her knee against Caitlyn’s lower back to further trap her.
“Get off me-” she said through gritted teeth as she tried to wrestle her away.
Jinx held on, laughing under her breath again, “Sucks doesn’t it? Knowing your life hangs on the balance, depends on the whims of a power you don’t even respect?”
Caitlyn threw her elbow back, Jinx jumping to the side but managing to dig her fingers into the wound on Caitlyn’s shoulder, who screamed and tried to hit her with the rifle, Jinx jumping again once more before kicking her down, she felt hot, the shimmer fully flooding her system an she went to slam a foot down on Caitlyn’s ankle, who screamed yet again, when she went to aim the rifle again, Jinx ripped it clean off her hands and used the butt to slam down on her ankle again, something cracking.
Across the room, Ekko was quickly realizing he’d have to out-smart the Noxian soldier, he was managing to stay out of reach and unharmed, but that wouldn’t be enough to bring him down, especially when he seemed to be unfazed by his attacks and hits.
Caitlyn found herself pinned down, Jinx using her rifle to choke her out once more, but this time she could gain no leverage against a wall, Jinx sitting over her, putting her entire weight on the rifle, knees pinning her down.
At her right, her dad was still unconscious, she’d only managed a vague glance at him before being shot, he had a tourniquet on his leg and was far too pale.
She had to get him out of there.
Caitlyn felt something digging into her side as Jinx slammed the rifle down on her windpipes when Caitlyn tried to force it off her.
There in her pocket, a simple button she’d been given by Singed not too long ago.
She’d been against using it, especially after being told that Singed wasn’t even entirely sure that it’d work the way he intended it to.
But now-
Caitlyn could barely breath as she quickly dug into her pocket and clicked the button.
A shrill whistle came from the small device.
Ekko winced at the sound, the man wincing as well, but barely slowing down and-
He pulled on the Z-Drive, using the split second of distraction to knock down a collum, allowing the half of the ceiling said collum had been holding up to fall on the man, half burying him in rubble.
The man was already going to stand up, the runes on the staff starting to glow and-
Ekko pulled on the Z-Drive again, swinging his mace with all his strength and letting it land on the man’s head, beating in his skull before he could even register what was going on, viscera and blood jumping like Ekko had popped a balloon.
The whistle was still going. What was that?
He turned, seeing Jinx kneeling over Caitlyn, keeping her down as she pressed the rifle’s long barrel down on her throat, Caitlyn’s father had just regained consciousness, starting to try and get to his feet, eyes widening as he registered what was going on and-
The entire manor seemed to shake for a moment, dust falling from above as a thumping sound came from someplace outside.
Thumping that almost sounded like… like footsteps? But they were too loud, too powerful to just be some Enforcer or soldier.
Before Ekko could tell Jinx to back up and before he could think of anything to do, something burst through the windows at their left.
A creature, a massive creature all fur and muscle, blood red eyes simmering as it tore through the room going straight to where Jinx and Caitlyn were, a clawed hand or paw going to grip Jinx like she was nothing more than a rag doll, Jinx screaming as claws sunk into her abdomen, blood splattering across the room and the creature went to bite her, yawing maw opening to-
Ekko didn’t even register when he pulled on the Z-Drive, using it thrice to perfectly time throwing a crystal bomb into the creature’s mouth and another at it’s clawed feet, all but slamming into Jinx right as the creature’s claws started sinking into her abdomen, sweeping her off her feet and getting her on the hoverboard.
Jinx screamed, holding on to him with one arm, blood running down her torso, she gritted her teeth together as she shot at the creature- the beast twice as it began recovering from the bombs, the bullets seemed to do nothing, the grenade Jinx threw after as Caitlyn’s dad screamed and Caitlyn tried to drag him away from the chaos not seeming to do much either.
The entire building was crumbling around them, what little stability had been left being obliterated by the beast’s erratic and violent movements.
Ekko couldn’t avoid the beast trying to jump at them, hissing as his claw managed to knick his leg and send them flying-
He pulled on the Z-Drive, avoiding the beast this time.
“What is that thing?!” Jinx questioned as she tried to shoot at it again.
“Hold on!”
He guided the hoverboard straight through one of the shattered windows, the beast yowling behind them, crashing through what was left of the wall and going to follow them.
Ekko cursed as he went to glide above the rooftops.
“Are you alright?!”
“Just scratches.” Jinx said through gritted teeth, “What do we do?”
“I don’t know, I don’t think we have anything that can hurt that thing.”
Jinx squeezed him with the arm she’d wrapped around him, “Up!”
Ekko didn’t waste time asking why, guiding them higher up just as the beast jumped from beneath, nearly reaching them.
He could hear screams from the streets below, people trying to run away when they saw the creature.
It was on a rampage, clearly not caring about anything that wasn’t catching them. Either not seeing or not caring about the civilians that got caught in the chase.
“The HexGates!” Jinx suddenly said, “They’re still setting up the explosives maybe-”
“Maybe a HexTech weapon will be able to bring it down.” Ekko finished the thought, steering the hoverboard into a harsh turn to avoid another jump from the beast, he saw Enforcers also running through the streets, clearly unsure of what to do, a few of them going to try and shoot them down.
He risked a glance back to look at Jinx, the cuts on her abdomen weren’t too deep, he wasn’t sure if she’d need stitches, but they were still bleeding, he risked another glance far below them, seeing the beast continuing its rampage.
They had to get to the HexGates.
He only hoped they could get there before Vi and Sevika blew it all to bits.
***
Vi was waiting, leaning against chipped rock, clinging to the edge of the rocks that marked the beginning of Piltoverterritory. They’d scaled beneath the bridge and were now waiting.
Caeya was at her left, heaving bags just as her filled with explosives and a tube slung over her shoulder holding the blueprints of the HexGates, scribbled by Loris, Ekko and Jinx, showing exactly where they were supposed to plant the explosives.
At her right, was Sevika, with a frown on her face as Ekko and Jinx’s speech began to sound throughout the streets.
“How long do you reckon it’ll take the Enforcers to clear the streets?” Zaren questioned in a low tone from Caeya’s side.
“Let’s give it five minutes after the explosions before we go for it.” Scar told him.
Vi heard the distant sound of explosions.
The Councilors estates.
They all managed to make out the sounds of panicked Enforcers, clearly unsure of what to do, arguing with each other, many leaving after orders were barked to go check the estates, giving them their opening.
There were a few Enforcers still guarding the streets, but they were few enough that they were able to make quick work of them, scaling to the rooftops to start making their way to the HexGates.
The streets were crowded with confused civilians, many of them clearly not knowing how to feel about everything that had just happened. Arguing amongst themselves and many in a hurry to get back home despite the Enforcers trying to keep them from panicking.
They reached the last rooftop before a vast empty area before the Councilor building, Vi quickly took off one of the bags she was carrying, retrieving from it a gun with a large metal magnetic hook attached to several meters of metallic cord.
She handed it to Vara, who started taking aim, the plan was to use the cord to create a zip line to directly get in through the large opening holding the biggest HexGates and set the explosives.
They were just hoping that the height and distraction of the repeating speech would be enough to keep them from being spotted instantly.
Zaren went to peek over the ledge, holding a hand up to signal for Vara to wait a moment.
“All right… now! Come on quickly!”
Vara took her shot, the metallic hook landing at the top of the opening, Vara and Vi working together to quickly attached the other end of the cord to the buildings they were on before clipping the hooks on their make-shifts harnesses on, Vi taking the first of the metal rods to use to slide across the cord.
She waited for Zaren’s signal before throwing herself, the momentum taking her across the open space.
She let go, making sure to remove the rod right before slamming into the wall, dropping and rolling into the room from which the HexGates were controlled.
There were three Enforcers standing at the doorway, perhaps trying to figure out what was going on, whether or not to also go to the Councilors estates and what their orders were exactly.
The three turned as she ran, heading straight for them, slamming one into the ground and kicking the other back, the last being dragged back by a metal trap that emerged from Sevika’s arm as she landed behind her.
Vi slammed the head of one of the Enforcers against the wall three times, the other two Enforcers being taken care of by Sevika and a newly arrived Zaren.
Then she turned to Sevika, who was watching her with dubious eyes, “Any of these guys friends of yours?” She questioned with a rough voice.
Vi dropped the Enforcer as she went to step up to Sevika, “You wanna give me shit for that stint of mine, that’s fine. Just don’t do it during a mission. And also, don’t fucking forget that you’re every bit the traitor that I am.”
Vi swore she could almost hear the way Caeya, Zaren and Vara exchanged glances as they went to check if there were any more Enforcers in the hall.
Sevika scowled, “You and I are nothing alike. I may have betrayed Vander, but I never betrayed Zaun.”
“Vander was Zaun. The closest thing to a protector we ever had. And you know it.”
Sevika stepped closer, starting to square up-
“Leave your bickering for later.” Scar said as he stepped between them, “We have a job to do.”
Vi stared Sevika down for a long minute before they both stepped back and got to work.
She traveled the halls with Caeya, Zaren and Vara, taking down the few Enforcers they encountered and finding the spots marked in the blueprints across two floors before returning to the main ‘control’ room, where the gigantic orb that functioned to send off huge packages was being packed with explosives by Sevika and Scar.
That’s when Vi heard it.
Screaming and the noise of buildings being destroyed.
Scar stepped into the metal arcs that opened into the platform they’d used to get in, eyes widening, “It’s Ekko and Jinx! Something’s chasing them!”
Vi hurried to join him, glancing down to see-
Ekko and Jinx were on his hoverboard, hurrying away from… a thing.
A beast, even at a distance she could see the glint of its blood red eyes and hear the guttural noises it made as it chased after the hoverboard.
Jinx was slightly hunched over, probably injured, Ekko was doing all kinds of turns and tricks to try and buy time, to keep as much distance as possible between them and the creature.
But it was clear to her, the beast wouldn’t stop until it killed them.
Ekko and Jinx were going in a straight line, blocks away from them but not heading directly for the HexGates.
Vi knew they wouldn’t get any closer, the creature didn’t seem to care what it destroyed as it chased after them, which meant it could set off the explosives they’d set up or even worse, possibly trigger the HexGates deep underground that would mean the destruction of their air and water ducts.
It was obvious they needed help, Jinx taking a shot at the creature but the thing didn’t even flinch, roaring as it jumped from a building, nearly knocking them out of the sky.
Vi gritted her teeth, “Zaren give me your hoverboard.”
“There’s no way you can go up against that thing!” Zaren argued even as he handed over his hoverboard.
“We’ll see about that. Maybe this thing could work in taking it down,” she patted the metal arcs, “but we all know the only people that could reconfigure it into a weapon-”
“Are Ekko and Jinx.” Vara finished, cursing under her breath.
“What is that thing?” Caeya wondered aloud.
“I have no fucking clue… but I’m going to find out.” Vi said as took a running start before jumping off the platform, thankful for the two hoverboard lessons Vara had talked her into as she headed for the beast.
Notes:
Oh yeah bitches, the Beast has arrived!!!
So excited for next chapter!!! We’ll get more of Tobias and his reaction to all of this, the Beast in full and even (in either the next chapter or the one after that still unsure) a long awaited Ambessa POV!!! Also Caitlyn suffering some more cause of course!
Chapter 17: Revelations and Recognitions
Summary:
Vi fights the Beast
Ekko and Jinx try to figure out what to do
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vi’s heart was racing, adrenaline starting to pump through her veins as she got closer to the thing.
She could just make out Ekko and Jinx on their hoverboard, sailing through the air and headed for the harbor as they tried to stay out of reach.
She’d already seen that bullets seemed to do nothing against the creature. Maybe brute force would prove more effective… at least that was her hope.
When she was close enough, she launched herself off the hoverboard, landing on the creature’s back and going to wrap her gauntlet-covered arms around its neck, trying to drag it back, to slow it down.
The monster roared, going to try to wrestle her off, moving frantically, crashing into a tall building.
“GET OUT OF HERE!” She screamed at Ekko and Jinx, “GET TO THE HEXGATES!”
She caught glimpses of Jinx and Ekko hesitating, clearly not wanting to leave her on her own as the beast continued its rampage, trying to get her to let go, she dug her fingers into the creature’s flesh and fur, gritting her teeth together as rubble fell over her when the creature crashed into another building.
Then, before she knew it, the creature jumped, launching itself off the side of a building to try and grab the hoverboard Ekko and Jinx were on, trying to make their getaway.
“WATCH OUT!” Vi screamed desperately as she kicked at the beast and put her full weight into trying to choke the creature.
She saw Ekko trying to reach into his coat, Vi managing to hinge the creature just enough so that the only thing it was able to do was dig a claw into the edge of the hoverboard, sending the two spiraling out of control.
Ekko managed to pull on the Z-Drive, but it was too late to avoid the creature’s claw even with a stolen second, instead using it to wrap and arm around Jinx and jump, launching the two into and through the window of one of the buildings, his hoverboard spinning and crashing into the floor.
He groaned as he went to get up, shattered glass all around him, he’d landed half on top of Jinx, his coat luckily managing to protect them both from most of the cuts.
He looked up to see a woman huddled in a corner with two children, watching horror-filled eyes.
“Run! Get out of here!”
She didn’t need to be told twice, running out of the room with the children huddled in her arms.
He pulled Jinx into a sitting position, Jinx hissing and wincing, he quickly cupped her face, “Are you alright?”
The gashes on her waist had stopped bleeding, but they didn’t exactly look good.
Jinx all but growled, eyes flashing pink, “I’m fine- you?”
“Fine.”
“Vi?”
Ekko carefully approached the broken window, glancing down to see Vi and the beast engaged in an intense battle, Vi seeming to hold her ground for the time being.
“She’s gonna need help.”
Jinx used a desk for support as she went to get up, “We have to get to the HexGates.”
“We have no way to. Not anymore,” Ekko cursed under his breath as he inspected the smoldering remains of his hoverboard, “We’re going to have to stand our ground or find another way to get to the HexGates quickly.”
“…actually… not necessarily.”
Back outside, Vi crouched, waiting for the beast to get close before delivering a double upper-cut.
She was jabbing and dodging and kicking and using every trick she’d ever learned in order to hold her ground.
She was struggling to not back down and to avoid the creatures relentless attacks.
It jumped at her, Vi shoving her gauntlet in front of her, the creature trying to maul at the gauntlet as she managed to grab a hold of its ear with her other hand, dragging him down, slamming her knee against its jaw, only able to do so due to the unexpectedness of the attack.
She socked the thing with all her strength, sweat beads making their way down her neck, she ran when the creature tried to ram itself against her, stepping against the wall of a building and using a street light to gain height, the creature running into the wall as she launched herself in the air, managing to land on its back yet again.
But this time, it seemed the beast knew what she’d been planning to do, jerking and sending her flying against the opposite building before she could get a good grip on its fur.
She crashed against a brick wall, groaning as she collapsed on the floor. Before she could even try to get her bearings or stand up, the creature’s paw slammed against her, pinning her to the wall.
Vi started to panic, trying to kick and punch at the thing, but its strength was far too grand, she couldn’t get it to let her go.
The thing growled in a low tone, she could vaguely make out a scream, maybe Jinx calling out for her, but either unable to reach her or to do anything to help.
The creature leaned in, Vi wincing away as it seemed to sniff at her, its grip on her lessening slightly as it began to open its mouth.
But right as she reluctantly accepted the fact that she was about to get eaten alive, a strange gurgling came from the beast’s throat before-
“V- V… Vi?”
It took her a long moment to understand that the creature had just spoken her name, opening her eyes to meet its gaze, bright red eyes flickering for a split second into blue and green.
“…what?”
The creature sniffed again, the pressure on her chest lessening to the point that she could probably wiggle her way out if she tried, but she was too shocked by the beast apparently being able to speak- apparently knew her, to try and escape.
“Vi?”
She recognized the voice, somehow the almost animalistic growl disappearing in its second call.
But… that was impossible. It couldn’t be.
But those eyes…
They might’ve been a different color, but she recognized the cautious warmth slowly filling them. Could recognize the gruff in the voice as it called out to her yet again.
“…Vander?”
The creature let her go, Vi nearly falling down in her shock.
It was breathing heavily, looking down at its paws, almost in horror, perhaps at his actions, perhaps at its appearance, she couldn’t be sure.
She slowly dared to step closer, “Dad? Is that you?”
The beast slowly glanced back up to her, Vi let one of her gauntlets open, taking it off with clear gentle movements, wondering if maybe she’d lost her mind or if this would take the crown for her stupidest moment as she went to lift her hand towards the creature.
The blood red eyes flickered again, growling for a moment, but Vi didn’t move, staying in place, “Dad? Vander?”
The creature went to sniff at her hand, Vi held her breath as she went to carefully place her hand against the creature’s forehead.
“Dad?”
The creature exhaled, his breath making Vi’s hair fly back. Then, ever so slowly, Vander leaned his forehead against hers.
***
Ekko cursed as he glanced out the window, “I think they’re at a stand-off.”
Jinx cursed even louder and he turned to find her holding the HexSphere she’d brought along and inspecting her gun, “That fucking thing practically tore my gun in half.”
He quickly joined her, “How long to repair it?”
“There’s no way to do it quickly, especially since I’d specifically modified it to be able to adapt to the Sphere. Back to square one.” She approached the window, glancing down and- “There! Could we hijack one of those?”
Ekko followed her gaze, finding a small street car.
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” he didn’t mention the fact that neither of them knew how to drive an actual car, he figured they could work it out easily enough, “but that thing might spot us before we can put some distance between us, I think it’s got our scent.”
“We’ll just have to risk it… we’ll slam into it, get Vi in and then head for the bridge, signal Sevika to detonate the charges right before we reach it, that should provide enough distraction, and if not- well given the way that thing has acted… I think it might actually take care of the bridge guards for us.”
They prepared as they spoke, Ekko had found a small toolbox in one of the rooms, Jinx tearing up the sheets from the bedroom to create makeshift bandages, Jinx finishing wrapping up the slashes on her torso and Ekko quickly sorting out the few things that might actually prove useful.
“That thing is on a rampage, the path to the bridge is pretty long…” he quietly shook his head, “Who knows how many are dead already.”
Jinx hesitated, glancing up at him, but seeing the conflict in his face was enough for her to place a hand over his wrist and speak in a stern tone, “They’re not our responsibility Ekko. You have to stop feeling bad or guilty over Piltie civilians. Caitlyn set that thing free, let her deal with the fallout. We got our people to protect, you can’t afford to also be trying to protect Pilties… we promised to try and keep them out of the direct line of fire when we attack, but if their own Commander choses to throw them on it… that’s not on us.”
Ekko met her gaze, she could tell this weighted on him. He might’ve hated the Enforcers just as much as her, but seeing innocent- if ignorant people frightened and hurt…
He sighed heavily, dropping his head, Jinx getting closer on instinct, his forehead resting against her shoulder for a long moment before he pulled back, “You’re right.” He said under his breath, “You’re right.”
She tried not to shudder at the feeling of his breath against her skin, “I’m always right.”
He snorted, “You wish… come on.”
He took her hand, helping her up despite the fact they both knew she didn’t really need help.
Some voice at the back of her mind was sounding the alert, telling her to pull away, pull back.
But she… she didn’t want to.
And she believed Ekko when he’d said that he wouldn’t push her for more but wouldn’t let her get away with retreating into herself.
They hurried to start scaling the wall, moving further towards the car they’d seen.
Jinx cast a quick glance towards Vi and the creature, the creature had slowed down, from a distance she couldn’t tell exactly what was going on but she didn’t think they were fighting anymore.
What was going on?
They managed to make it to the car without drawing attention to themselves, she could hear the distant running and screams of civilians.
Ekko stopped her as she went to break a window, instead managing to force one of the doors open, Jinx climbed into the driver seat while Ekko opened the hood, checking how the thing worked.
Jinx shoved a hunting knife that’d been hanging from her belt directly into the delicate leather surrounding the steering wheel, peeling it off to reveal a bunch of cables and a few buttons.
Ekko worked the motor while Jinx cut up a few cables, managing to get the car to turn on by pushing two exposed ends together while Ekko shocked the battery under the hood.
Jinx cackled as the car came to life, but her laugh quickly turned to protest when Ekko all but lifted her and shoved her into the passenger sear, shutting the driver door closed.
“What is wrong with you?!”
“If you thought for even a second I was gonna trust you with driving this thing you might just actually be crazy.” He told her with the tiniest smirk as he moved the shift stick a few times, she could almost see the gears turning in his head as he figured out how the car worked.
“You’re a fucking bore.” She told him as she prepared her spare gun, “I hope you know that.”
Ekko didn’t answer, instead slamming his foot on the gas pedal, the car lurching forward, headed straight for Vi and the creature, which had stilled.
“What is it doing?” He questioned.
“No idea… let’s see if this tickles him.” Jinx snorted as they continued to speed towards the creature, ready to slam into it and-
They were only feet away when Vi saw them, eyes widening before she moved, going to jump in front of the creature, “DON’T!”
Ekko cursed loudly, slamming on the break, both him and Jinx nearly cracking their faces open against the dashboard as they came to a sudden stop.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Jinx screamed as she went to open her door, Ekko pulling her back, seeing that-
The creature had turned, eyes blood red as it growled and snapped its jaws at them, Ekko was trying to think what to do, kick the car into reverse or try to swivel around Vi and escape that way?
Vi turned back to the creature, raising her gauntlet-less hands as she tried to… calm the creature?
“Jinx, Ekko, not a fucking word.” She took a step closer to the creature, every muscle in Ekko’s body tense as she spoke, “It’s alright… Vander, Vander I know you’re in there dad.”
Vander? He turned to Jinx, seeing her frown, growing tense.
“Vander it’s alright it’s-” Vi glanced back at them for a moment, signaling for them to stay put, “It’s Powder and Ekko, you remember them right? Look at them, it’s them.”
Ekko was very seriously considering just running Vi over and slamming into the creature, had she cracked under the pressure? Absolutely lost her mind?
But Jinx placed a hand on his arm before he could make up his mind, sucking in a breath, “Look at it.” She said under her breath, eyes wide and astounded.
He followed her gaze, looking at the creature and seeing as it seemed to take deep breaths, inspecting him and Jinx, the red in its eyes ever so slowly shifting in color; one becoming a bright golden and the other a warm blue.
Ekko’s stomach dropped to the floor.
And then, it spoke, “Pow…der?”
“Yes! Yes it’s Powder!” Vi quickly assured, stepping closer, placing a hand against the creature.
Jinx couldn’t move, could do nothing as her brain tried to comprehend what she was looking at, what had just happened.
The creature… was Vander?
How could it be? How was it possible to-
…Singed.
But… could it really be?
He’d called her Powder… he’d recognized her.
She slowly finished opening the door, Ekko’s gentle voice becoming a faint echo as she stepped out of the car, Vi glancing back at her, nervously offering one of her hands, the creature glancing between the two, clearly also incredibly confused and gobsmacked by everything that was happening.
“It’s alright, it’s okay.” Vi continued in a gentle tone, Jinx couldn’t tell if she was talking to the creature or her… maybe both, “You know her, you recognize her right? Jinx give me your hand.”
“Uuuuhhhh…” Jinx was pretty sure she was in shock, giving up her hand, “How sure are we he’s not going to bite it off?”
“Shut up.” She told her softly, placing her hand next to her own, on the large nose of the creature, “It’s us dad. It’s us.”
Jinx tensed up at first at the feel of fur and skin under her hand but tried to relax, could he smell fear now?
At the sound of another door opening, the creature drew back, eyes flashing red for a moment as it looked at Ekko, who was slowly getting out of the car.
He paused for a moment, Vi quickly returning her hands to the creature, “No- Vander- Vander, it’s just Ekko. It’s Ekko.”
“Is that really him?” Ekko asked, inspecting the creature, “What did they do to him?”
The creature’s eyes seemed to soften as it looked from Ekko to Jinx and back to Vi, “Violet.”
“I’m here. I’m here.” Vi’s voice broke as she leaned her forehead against Vander’s.
“We have to get out of here.” Ekko told them as he stepped closer slowly, not wanting to alter Vander again, “Vander… can you follow us back to the undercity? Do you remember the way?”
Vander didn’t reply, his gaze slowly shifting to his clawed hands, trying to understand what he was now.
Vi tried to get his attention, “Dad, Vander, this is important, we have to get back to-”
She was cut off when a spear was thrown her way, Vi screaming as it got her shoulder, barely managing to move for it to graze her and not stab her.
“VI!” Ekko barely managed to catch Vi, grunting as they both went down, Jinx quickly shooting the Noxian solider that’d thrown the spear, now emerging from the end of the street behind the car, all of them having been too distracted to hear the soldier’s heavy boots on the pavement.
And behind him- more soldiers and Enforcers, approaching with shields and guns and spears.
There was no way out. That was Jinx’s thought as her brain raced to try and figure out what to do. There was no way they’d be able to get into the car before getting shot to pieces and she and Vi were already injured and if something happened to Ekko-
An ear-splitting roar seemed to shake the very ground beneath them as Vander jumped over the car and slammed the soldier Jinx had shot further into the pavement, some of it cracking under the force, the creature growling.
“Do not touch my daughter.” He snarled before bringing down his claws and-
Jinx heard more than saw the head of the soldier roll away.
“GO!” Ekko didn’t have to tell her twice.
Vander started attacking the soldiers and Enforcers, slashing at them as they tried to fight back, gunshots and spears doing nothing against him, Vander stood his ground, giving them cover as Jinx and Ekko quickly shoved Vi into the backseat despite her protests, Jinx managing to snatch her gauntlets up and slip into the car by the still open passenger window, “HIT IT!”
Ekko complied, slamming his foot on the accelerator.
“We can’t just leave him!” Vi hissed when she tried to move, Jinx tossing her a rag to place pressure on her wound.
“Something tells me he’ll be just fine.” Jinx told her.
“He’ll find us.” Ekko said, though he didn’t sound very sure, “And he’s giving us the chance we needed.”
They sped through the streets, at one point coming across three Enforcers who were clearly making their way towards the fight.
Jinx reached over Ekko’s lap, jerking the steering wheel to hit them as they passed by.
Ekko just rolled his eyes when she suggested making a game out of hitting any Enforcers they came by, extra points for Noxian soldiers.
“Do you think… do you think he’ll manage?” He didn’t have to specify who he was talking about.
Whatever Vander was now, it was obvious he was incredibly dangerous, bullets didn’t seem to be able to hurt him… but they’d left him to go up against dozens of Enforcers and soldiers.
“…I don’t know.” She said helplessly.
Jinx sighed heavily, retrieving a small flare gun from her belt, Ekko saying nothing as she went to lean half out the window (Vi wordlessly hooking a finger around one of her belt hoops to make sure she didn’t fall), sitting on the ledge as she raised and shot the flare gun, bright green flares shooting into the sky, bright and unmistakable.
The signal Sevika and Scar had undoubtedly been waiting for.
Jinx barely had time to pull herself back into the car when the explosions started.
She impulsively went to hang out the window again, this time backwards to see the HexGates within the Council Building going up in flames.
She knew Sevika and the others would be on their way back to the undercity, having already put distance between them and the HexGates due to- due to the bright blue blasts emerging from the sphere, flying over them, exuding power and energy as the gigantic golden sphere fell from its holds and from the building.
More screams echoed through the city, Jinx could almost smell panic in the air, unable to hold back a giggle.
Ekko tugged at her belts, “We’re almost at the bridge, sit down.”
Jinx rolled her eyes but obliged, slipping back into the car, “What’s the plan?”
“Given all the panic, Vander and the explosions… I’m hoping there isn’t a lot of security left at the bridge…”
“So your ‘plan’ is just to barge through and hope for the best?” Vi guessed, not sounding very impressed.
“Do you have any better ideas?”
As a matter of fact she did not.
“Think we could summon Vander?” Jinx asked.
“He’s not a demon.” Vi chastised her.
“Kinda looks like one.” Jinx grumbled, Vi kicking the back of her seat in response.
“Both of you shut up.” Ekko said through gritted teeth as he prepared one of his crystal bombs, clicking buttons until the sunroof started to open up, “We’re almost at the bridge.”
Jinx took the crystal bomb from him and went to prepare a grenade of her own, shifting in her seat to be able to more easily throw them out the sunroof in case it was needed.
“Get ready.” Ekko warned her before they took a sharp turn, nearly crashing into the wall of a small alleyway that had certainly never been intended to be used by cars, coming out at a flatter site, the bridge in sight, only a few Enforcers roaming around, closer to the alleyways, clearly paying attention to the smoke and fire emerging from the Council Tower.
Jinx popped out through the sunroof for a moment, throwing the bombs to each side to clear a path and another one at the barricade as they started tearing through the stretch of land before the bridge.
“Hold on!”
Jinx plopped down on her seat right as Ekko pummeled through the remains of the barricade, wincing as the car nearly bounced around as they ran over steel rods and half broken metal sheets.
Behind them, they heard screams and the ground seemed to shake, Jinx half turned to see through the back window the creature- Vander, had seemingly jumped from a building, landing amongst the Enforcers and attacking them.
“He’s following us!” Jinx said.
“Or he really did remember the way back to the undercity.” Vi said half under her breath.
Ekko didn’t answer, frowning as they got closer to the undercity and the blue lines within the alleyways that marked the place the landmines and the electric gate started.
“Vi… you spent some time in Piltover…” he started as he eyed the stick with a button at his right, “Is this an extra brake?”
Vi followed his gaze, “Pretty sure, I think it’s an emergency brake but I only saw Cait use it when she parked. Why?”
“No reason.”
Ekko braced himself before making a sharp right, slamming his foot down on the brake and pulling up the stick brake, Jinx and Vi both cursing as the car itself seemed to whine, wheels screeching and smoking as they came to an abrupt stop, mere inches away from the blue line, the car lurching and nearly toppling to the right.
Jinx slowly turned around to stare him down as the car seemed to balance out, “And you had the fucking audacity to act like me driving would’ve been bad.”
He met her gaze, “I got us here in one piece didn’t I?”
One side of her mouth lifted into a slow wicked grin.
“Can you do whatever the fuck this is later?” Vi questioned as she went to open the door.
Vander was at the end of the bridge, looking at the buildings.
Ekko quickly climbed out of the car as well, seeing Sevika and Scar starting to approach, the others not far behind, starting to grab their weapons-
“Don’t attack! He’s with us- he-”
Vander’s gaze landed on Sevika, roaring again as it went towards her, Sevika’s eyes widening for a split moment as she went to raise her metallic arm and-
“NO! DAD!” Vi all but threw herself at Vander, trying to step in front of him, “Don’t attack! She’s with us! She’s with us!”
Jinx hurried to Sevika’s side, unsure of what to do, but standing at her side, watching as Vander huffed, rage in his eyes before Vi half stumbled back when he moved too close to her.
Vander instantly stopped when Vi fell, stepping back, looking down at his now-blood-covered hands.
Jinx recognized the look in his eyes.
He was horrified by his own actions, by himself, by the fact that now, it would be entirely too easy to hurt those he loved.
And she knew what he was about to do.
“Wait- Vander-” Jinx could only start reaching out before Vander tore down the street in the opposite direction, vanishing in an instant.
“NO!” Vi went to run after him, only to be stopped by Ekko, “Get off me!”
“You’re hurt and I doubt we’ll be able to keep up with him anyways.”
“What if he hurts people?” Scar questioned, eyes wide, still processing.
“He won’t…” Jinx turned to Caeya and Zaren, “It looks like he’s keeping away from the streets, but follow him and make sure no one attacks him if they do… just follow him.”
“He might be heading for the mines.” Vi reluctantly said, “We can’t just leave him out there.”
“I’m not saying we do.” Ekko told her, “But right now we need to regroup and figure out what we can do.”
Ekko glanced towards Jinx, meeting her gaze, a silent question in his eyes.
They’d spread their message, even now it was still on a loop being blasted all over Piltover, they’d scared the Council, they’d blown up the HexGates, they’d humiliated Caitlyn.
But there was one final bit that they’d been arguing over whether or not to do.
Ekko remembered what Jinx had told him… it was time to leave the Pilties to their own fates. He nodded once.
Jinx clenched her jaw, turning to Vara, who’d been watching them both, waiting for an order, “Blow it up.”
“Blow what up?” Vi quickly questioned.
No one answered her, Vara pressing a button, the explosions coming from the bridge enough of an answer.
Jinx half winced at the loud sounds of metal being deformed and ripped apart, they’d set up a bunch of bombs at the middle and their end of the bridge, half of it collapsing, pieces of pavement, metal rods, and barricades falling into the water far below.
Vi was breathless watching it happen, turning to Jinx, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Jinx just shrugged, “We weren’t sure if we’d actually do it or not.”
And a part of her had feared Vi might chose to stay in Piltover if she knew in advance there was a chance the easiest link between the cities would be destroyed.
Vi frowned, but she didn’t seem too upset, looking back to where Vander had vanished.
“Is it really him?” Sevika asked in a quiet tone.
“He protected us… it’s him.” Vi told her.
“What did they do to him?” Scar questioned in half-awe and half-repulsion.
“I have no idea…” Vi slowly clenched her fists, breathing becoming heavy with rage, “But they’ll fucking pay for it.”
Notes:
Hope you liked my take on the revelation of who Warwick is!
Coming next; Ambessa’s POV and Caitlyn gains some insight (also more Timebomb if things go according to plan)
Chapter 18: You Made Your Bed, Now Lie in It
Summary:
Caitlyn grapples with the consequences of her actions.
Ambessa thinks about her next move.
Jinx and Ekko make it to the infirmary.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ambessa stood in the eye of the storm.
She could all but smell the panic and terror around her as she walked over corpses and fallen pieces of armor, both Enforcers and her own soldiers caught up in the onslaught.
It’d been mere moments since one of her soldiers had quietly handed her Rictus’s spear, runic talismans still hanging off of it.
He was dead.
Ambessa watched, inspecting the half collapsed bridge, in the distance, beyond the dust still settling, she could just barely make out the car Ekko and Jinx had hijacked heading further into one of the alleyways, perhaps one left without landmines.
She ripped the string of talismans from Rictus’s weapons, going to tie them around her forearm and fist, thinking.
It didn’t take long for the young Kiramman to join her.
“What happened?!” She was using a makeshift crutch, her foot clearly injured, glancing around in horror, “Where is the creature?”
“Gone.” Ambessa told her, “It turned against your Enforcers and my soldiers and apparently vanished into the undercity. But it doesn’t seem to be continuing its rampage.”
Caitlyn shook her head, wincing at the carnage left behind by the Beast. At least Zaun’s message had finally been cut off.
Another person stepped into the space, observing the bridge with more curiosity than anything.
Caitlyn all but growled when she spotted him, “Singed, what the fuck?! You said the creature was under control!”
Singed slowly tilted his head at her, stepping closer, “Who did you have it attack?”
“Jinx and Ekko! And it did- but- you didn’t say it’d attack everything in its path!”
“I said my Beast has raw, impulsive instincts, that if you summoned it to protect you it could become unpredictable.”
“Unpredictable enough for it to turn on our own people?!” Caitlyn demanded, getting in the Doctor’s face, ignoring the pain of her ankle, “What happened? And don’t you dare lie to me.”
The doctor watched her, glancing back at Ambessa, at the destruction of the streets and at the bridge before answering, “Some of the Enforcers spotted the young Violet fighting the Beast… given that she survived, I can only assumed the creature recognized her. That was not something I thought it capable of.”
“Recognized her? What do you mean recognized her?” Caitlyn growled.
Singed chuckled in a low tone, “The Beast used to be a human. A very particular human, he had to be, in order to withstand the… modifications needed to create him anew.”
Caitlyn frowned, trying to process, “You… you did all that… to a person?” She questioned with disgust, “Who?”
“Zaun called him the ‘Hound of the Undercity’, he-”
“Vander?!” Caitlyn’s stomach fell to the floor, she knew that title, Vi had told her about it when she’d quietly talked a little bit about the man who’d taken her in and taught her to fight, “The Beast is Vi’s dad?!”
Singed shrugged, “I was under the belief that he’d forgotten all about his prior life, he never gave any indication of remembering. But then again, he never came face to face with his daughter.”
Caitlyn stumbled back, nearly collapsing when she thoughtlessly put too much weight on her ankle.
The creature was Vi’s dad.
She slowly looked around, looked at the destroyed buildings and the crater in the Council Building, the debris left of the HexGates, the smoke rising from several parts of Piltover.
She thought back to the message, to Vi’s soft, guilt and grief ridden voice when speaking about Vander. Thought about Jinx taunting about her life being in the hands of a power she didn’t even respect.
Ambessa stepped closer, “We can still salvage this, but only if something is done quickly, we must-”
“No.” Caitlyn spun around to face her, rage thumping in her chest, so overwhelming she could barely breath past her shame, “I am done.”
Ambessa slowly raised an eyebrow, “What?”
Caitlyn stood her ground, baring her teeth, “This has gone too far. They declared war and- as we’ve seen, we’re not prepared for that. And I will not send more Enforcers to their deaths. I mean- look around!”
Caitlyn spread her arms, ignoring the throbbing pain in her ankle, as she inspected her surroundings.
She’d summoned the Beast- Vander, and he’d torn through the streets, she’d messed with a power she couldn’t understand because Singed and Ambessa had been convinced Vander would be a perfect weapon.
She didn’t even know how many civilians had been injured, if any had been caught in the debris and rubble the creature had left behind in its rampage.
Not to mention the Council Building, had any civilians been nearby when the explosions had gone off? Had they been crushed by the rubble?
Even now she could still hear civilians screaming, she’d sent out whatever Enforcers were still left to help with rescue efforts, to try and get a handle on what was going on, on whether or not civilians had been injured.
She’d done this.
Even after seeing all Jinx and Ekko could do, she’d still been stubborn enough to believe that they could take on Zaun, she’d never stopped to consider how the civilians of Piltover might get caught up in the fighting.
She’d never believed they could even get hurt.
She’d fallen for the propaganda that’d been spoonfed to her her entire life and that she’d been trying to break out of when she’d started her investigation; that Piltover was superior, untouchable, that its civilians never had to worry about violence.
But now her eyes were wide open.
Civilians were hurt because of her recklessness.
Enforcers had become more violent and had died under her command.
She’d allowed Ambessa and Singed to poison her mind.
And perhaps worst of all, she’d unknowingly contributed to dehumanizing a man, using him as nothing more than a weapon.
The man that’d raised Vi, who she’d spoken about with nothing but reverence and warmth and grief.
She’d done that.
There was no one to blame but herself.
It was time to put a stop to the madness she’d allowed to fester under her skin and infect her city.
She had no idea if Zaun would be willing to negociate something in order to stop the war before it even fully began, but she had to try.
She would swallow her pride and the grief she’d used as an excuse and she’d reach out somehow.
But first-
Caitlyn took a deep breath before meeting Ambessa’s gaze, “I appreciated your mentorship and your help General Ambessa. But you and your troops are no longer needed. I ask that you leave as soon as possible. Thank you.”
She spun on her heel and leaned on her makeshift crutch, going to leave, she had to find her dad and write many many letters.
***
Ambessa said nothing as Caitlyn limped away, jaw set in determination, haunting eyes clearly feeling the full weight of useless guilt.
She took another glance towards the bridge before turning to the destroyed Council Building, she’d caught a glance of the fallen golden sphere that’d been the source of the highly controlled HexGates lying on the street, shattered into pieces.
Things had, most certainly, not gone quite according to plan.
She realized her mistake now.
Ambessa had underestimated Zaun’s tenacity.
More specifically, she’d underestimated just what Jinx and her firelight boy were capable of.
Given what she knew of Zaun’s history, she had not expected for them to come together in the way they had. Perhaps she’d applied too much pressure, giving them a common enemy and enough righteous rage for them to be willing to work together.
Though it wouldn’t have happened if Jinx hadn’t stepped up as their leader, yet another thing she had not expected.
She’d thought of Jinx as a lone wolf, though, if the appearance of the firelight boy, Ekko, was any indication, perhaps he’d been the one to push her into leading their Revolution.
With hindsight in mind, she knew she’d bet on the wrong horse.
This whole thing had started because Jinx had done what apparently not a single scientist in Piltover had been able to do.
Weaponize HexTech.
Seeing the damage, Ambessa had gotten a glimpse at the true potential that laid within HexTech.
She’d thought she could coerce Jayce and Viktor into creating weapons to take over Zaun, using the apprehension of Jinx as the perfect coverup to get her hands on the weapons.
She’d seen the grief of the young Kiramman as the perfect leverage to take her under her wing, to whisper in her ear and ensure the construction of her weapons. It’d certainly given Caitlyn the drive and initiative to become the leader of Piltover.
But of course, Jayce and Viktor had vanished into thin air, and not a single person could replicate, or even seemingly understand their work.
Mel was also still missing.
And Caitlyn had been falling apart for a while, doubting her actions, guilt creeping up on her.
Then there were of course, Jinx and Ekko, who’d proven themselves to be formidable opponents.
After Jinx’s attack, Ambessa had considered attempting to find the girl and offer her help to take over Piltover, but between her own daughter being on the Council, the knowledge that whatever access Jinx had to HexTech was limited and the very real problem that was the fact that Ambessa knew Jinx seemed to be a wildcard, an uncontrollable force of nature with no known alliances or objectives, Ambessa had made her choice.
Her grip on the talismans tightened.
She’d chosen wrong.
But it was as she’d told Kiramman, there might still be a way to salvage her operation, she merely had to act quickly and carefully.
Because Ambessa would not stop until she had weaponized HexTech.
***
Caitlyn found herself in the hospital, trying to figure out what was going on.
She saw it quickly.
The looks of doubt and anger and fear civilians kept shooting her way, mothers clutching their children closer to their chests as she passed, fathers clenching their fists and children seeming confused and untrusting.
It seemed Jinx and Ekko’s message had had an impact.
That of course, combined with the quickly spreading rumor that the two had initially been guiding the Beast away from civilians. That the Beast was something Piltover had somehow sent after them but had lost control over, Caitlyn didn’t know if that particular form of the rumor had already made the rounds but she knew it was only a matter of time.
Caitlyn stopped in front of an office, taking a deep breath before pushing the door open, seeing her dad standing behind the desk, going to pull on his lab coat.
“Dad you should be resting.”
Miraculously, he hadn’t had any severe injuries, but he had a ribcage hairline fracture, which meant he should’ve been in bed.
Her dad glanced down at her ankle, “Pot meet kettle. I thought I might be needed.” He spoke in a detached tone, not meeting her eyes.
She sighed heavily, “Dad… please look at me.”
Her dad shook his head for a moment, looking at the floor, “Cait… is what they said true? Did you-” his voice broke as he quickly went to wipe at his face, “Did you attack children?”
Caitlyn felt a knot in her throat quickly forming, shame burning in the pit of her stomach, “Dad- it wasn’t like that. I didn’t- I mean- I almost did but-”
Her dad just shook his head, taking a step back, turning away from her, “The Grey… I didn’t like it when you said you’d use it but you said… you said you would only use it to take down Silco’s men… was that the truth? Or did you use it against civilians as well?”
Caitlyn closed her eyes, tears running down her cheeks, “I- I thought-”
“Yes or no Caitlyn?!” Her dad snapped as he spun to inspect her.
She couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been so angry.
“…civilians got… caught up in it all.”
Her dad’s eyes filled with tears, “The air purifying system… getting the Grey under control in Zaun was one of your mother’s greatest accomplishments. I now understand that it was the bare minimum but- you undid that. For what?”
“To catch Jinx!” She stepped forwards, wincing as she put too much weight on her ankle, her dad quickly moving around the desk to help her into a chair, unable to see her in pain even when he was mad or dissapointed or- she didn’t even know what to make of the look in his eyes, “She killed mom! I wanted to bring her to justice!”
Her dad kneeled in front of her, “Don’t you think I wanted to see her caught as well?! But- you’ve crossed too many lines Caitlyn. If everything those kids said is true then we never had any right to barge into their streets the way that we did. Can’t you see that this isn’t justice anymore?” He pleaded with her.
“I know that. I know that-” Caitlyn cried, “I just- I don’t know what to do anymore dad I- I want to put an end to this but- I know I went too far.”
Her dad slowly rose to his feet, going to one of the cabinets in his office and retrieving a brace for her ankle, mechanically putting it on her, silent.
“Dad please say something.”
Her dad took a moment to breath, seemingly gathering his thoughts before looking at her, “I can’t- I can barely look at you Caitlyn. This is not what I wanted for you, it’s not what your mother would have wanted. I think it might be too little too late Cait.”
“Don’t say that dad-” tears were starting to fall down her cheeks, “I’m sorry. I know I messed up, I know I went too far, I know I lost sight of what I was meant to do- the people I was meant to protect. I know that- but I just- I wanna make things right but I don’t know if I can.”
Her dad pressed his lips together for a moment, “What else did you do? What about the Enforcers?”
“They- I didn’t have the control I thought I did.”
“They attacked civilians?”
“…yes. They did.”
“Children?”
Caitlyn didn’t answer, closing her eyes and going to cover her face as she leaned her elbows against her knees.
Her dad sighed heavily before going to stand up again, taking a bag from underneath his desk and placing it on top of it, swinging it over his shoulder, taking out his medical bag as well.
Caitlyn frowned, “What are you doing?”
“Our home is gone Cait.”
“I’ll figure out where we can stay-”
“Caitlyn.” The tone of his dad’s voice, defeated but determined gave her pause, “I can’t- I can’t stay here. After your mom… I know I wasn’t as present as I should have been. But your mother and I raised you to know what the right thing is, to know where the line is. I can’t- I can’t stay here.”
It took her a long moment to realize he meant Piltover.
“Where- where are you going? When are you coming back?”
Her dad shook his head helplessly, “I don’t know Cait. But I- I don’t know.”
Caitlyn was trying to breath, panic fully setting in.
He couldn’t leave.
He was the last person she had left.
“Dad- you can’t- dad please-”
He shook his head, sniffing, clearly trying not to cry, “I love you Caitlyn. You’re my daughter, I will always love you no matter what but-” he ran his hands through his hair, “If I failed you somehow I’m sorry… but-” he broke down for a moment, “Your mother would be dissapointed… I am as well… I don’t know if you can make this right… but I hope you mean it when you say you want to try, and I hope you will actually try.”
Caitlyn tried to pull herself together, to do anything other than cry as her dad stopped to press a kiss against the top of her hand before going to leave.
She wasn’t sure how long she spent in his office, sobbing.
She’d waited too long. She’d done too much.
She wanted to go back.
She wanted her mom.
She wanted Vi.
At some point, she managed to stop sobbing, to start gathering herself together, wiping away her tears and snot with her cape, ripping it off and tossing it on the desk, going to stand up, taking deep breaths.
Caitlyn winced from the throbbing pain in her ankle, she really had to get that properly checked… she leaned against the desk, thinking back to the moment everything had truly spiraled out of control.
She remembered the rage taking over after her failed attempt to kill Jinx. Pointing her rifle at the kid before Vi had stepped in and stopped her.
She remembered the betrayal and pain and tears in Vi’s eyes after she’d hit with the butt of the rifle, the silent pleading in Vi’s eyes to stop, to understand that she was trying to save her from herself.
She shouldn’t have pushed her away.
Caitlyn continued taking deep breaths as she barely managed to pull herself together fully.
She left her cape on the desk, going to open the door of her dad’s office, stepping into the hall and-
She hissed, quickly clasping a hand over her neck as she felt a sharp sting, pulling something from her skin.
A small dart.
Caitlyn cursed, her injured ankle finally failing her as she collapsed on the floor, her vision blurring, the world slipping away from her, nausea keeping her down as she could barely make out the vague figure of black boots walking towards her.
***
Ekko felt a weight lifting off his shoulder as he shut the door behind him.
The past few hours had been a lot, sending orders, setting up a new kind of patrol to watch certain points in Piltover and ignoring the ache all over his body from the falls and going side-first through a window.
They were in one of their makeshift infirmaries, Jinx making sure to wrap new bandages around her waist and hijacking his coat before stepping in, Isha, who’d been following behind Kellie, one of their healers, quickly turned and gasped, running and nearly slamming into Jinx, who’d crouched down to hug her, swiftly pulling her in and holding her close, clearly hiding a wince, “Hey there kiddo.”
Isha pulled back slowly, frowning as she inspected Jinx, starting to pat down her arms, looking for injuries.
Jinx gave her a gentle smile as she ruffled her hair, “I’m fine Isha.”
Ekko crouched next to her before Isha could continue her patting and discover the bandages, reaching out to take one of the kid’s tiny hands, “She was careful. You don’t need to worry kid.”
Isha glanced between the two, trying to look deep into their eyes and figure out if they were telling her the truth.
Given that she accepted when Ekko went to pick her up, he assumed she believed there were no serious injuries.
Jinx squeezed his elbow, silently grateful that he’d picked the kid up.
It took less time than he’d suspected to get Isha to leave the room, gently asking her to get a message to Vara, who they knew would be on the other side of the base, Jinx groaning as she finally allowed herself to sit down.
After blowing up the bridge, she’d ignored Ekko’s attempts to check her injuries, insisting it could wait.
Ekko crossed his arms as he watched Jinx shrug off his coat, trying to ignore the way her muscles moved as she rolled her shoulders.
Kellie quickly got to unwrapping her bandages, “What is this? Why didn’t you come sooner?” She quickly demanded as soon as she revealed the gashes across Jinx’s waist, there were five of them, two deeper than the rest, starting almost at the middle of her back and going around her side, just barely reaching the front of her stomach.
Jinx hissed as Kellie started using some rubbing alcohol on the wounds, “It’s just a little scratch, we got more important things to worry about.”
Kellie glanced at him to stare him down, Ekko quickly raising his hands, “Hey, I tried to get her to take a break earlier.”
“Try harder next time.” She said in an unimpressed tone.
Kellie was one of the most experienced healers in Zaun, almost fifty and having spent nearly thirty-five years working in fighting pits and rings. She’d quickly established herself as the lead Healer of the rebellion, being in charge of the three infirmaries and the supply of medicine they’d stolen from Piltover.
She had also quickly proven that nobody could pull one over on her.
Needless to say, Ekko wasn’t interested in pissing her off, giving her a moment to inspect the wounds, turning away and pulling a flimsy curtain around the bed to give Jinx a vague sense of privacy, even if the only other two patients in the room were asleep.
“Will she need stitches?”
“Only on the two deeper gashes.” Kellie said, disapproval dripping from her voice as she applied a balm to the more shallow cuts once she’d finished disinfecting them, “I expect you- both of you to take at the very least all of tomorrow to rest.”
Ekko scrunched up his nose at the same time as Jinx scoffed, “Kellie-”
“No ifs, ands or buts. You can consider that part of your regimen in order to heal. Don’t think I don’t see all those tiny cuts Ekko. You both need to sleep and let your bodies heal. You won’t do the Revolution any good if you drop dead from exhaustion or if you pop your stitches… again.” She finished with a glare towards Ekko, who had indeed pulled a few stitches on a gash he’d gotten a while back and had gotten an earful for making Kellie re-do her work.
He’d tried to remind her any healer could’ve done that, but Kellie insisted on treating the two of them herself.
“…we’ll try.” He relented.
Kellie snorted, “Oh no- you’re not ‘trying’. You’re doing it, I’ll talk to Sevika and Scar, I’ll lock you up in your rooms if I have to.”
“You’re a tyrant. Who let you run this place?” Jinx questioned.
Kellie pulled out a needle, “You did. And I can only have so much patience, I know Vi got stabbed- again! And she went to get stitched up with Isaac as if it was nothing!”
Ekko quickly noticed how Jinx tensed up the second she saw the needle, pulling away, “What’s that?” She said, guarded all of a sudden.
“It’s just anesthesia, to numb the area before I start stitching it up.” She explained easily.
Ekko took a step closer on instinct, looking at the way Jinx was starring at the needle as if it was a gun.
All of a sudden he remembered Singed’s lab. The bloody table surrounded by broken glass and discarded needles still dripping with shimmer.
Oh.
He stepped even closer, going to stand at her side.
“I don’t need it.” Jinx said, clenching her jaw.
Kellie seemed to believe this was a simple case of a dislike towards needles, “I’m not having you grit your teeth through the pain when we have the medicine to ease it.”
Jinx went to snap at Kellie, Ekko quickly going to gently place a hand over hers, “Hey, it’s alright. I got you.” He said in a low tone.
Jinx glanced back at the needle before meeting his eyes, taking a deep breath and relenting, still clearly on guard until Kellie was done injecting her.
Kellie didn’t speak until she was stitching the wound up, “Ekko, I’m gonna check your cuts in a second, make sure that none of them are very deep and disinfect them. Now, I would very much prefer if you kids spent the night here, I don’t care if you want to share a bed, just as long as there’s no funny business, I don’t need you worsening your injuries because you couldn’t wait-”
Ekko felt his face go hot, unable to look at Jinx, turning to Kellie, “We are not-”
“I don’t care about excuses or lies, so don’t bother. If you’d rather spend the night in your own rooms, just make sure to get proper rest. Again, no funny business, you can wait a few days.”
Jinx broke down into a fit of giggles at his clear distress, Kellie having to tell her to stay still.
Ekko was trying not to think too much about it as Kellie finished stitching up the gashes and went to quickly check his wounds.
…did people just think he and Jinx were sleeping together?
They’d never even spent the night in each other’s rooms!
…not the full night anyways.
fuck.
After a very forced promise that they’d get at least nine hours of sleep, Ekko went to walk Jinx to her room.
Both were exhausted, but she was the injured one and he was pretty sure she was a wind gust away from just giving up and sleeping on the floor.
The only reason they didn’t stay in the infirmary was because their rooms felt safer.
As they dragged their feet through the halls, Jinx sighed heavily, “So… Vander is alive.”
“…seems like it.”
“You think it was the right call? Keeping it under wraps?”
“Given that he disappeared into the mines… until we can find him and fully figure out just how much he remembers… yeah, I think it’s best if we just keep it in our close circle for the time being.”
Jinx nodded along, yawning as she rubbed at her eyes, “Are you actually going to sleep that long?”
“Pretty sure Kellie will actually knock us out if we don’t.”
“I say we let her try.”
“I say we don’t. I fear her wrath.”
He found himself standing before Jinx’s door before he was quite ready to part ways, going to hold her wrist, gently passing his thumb over her pulse.
She didn’t pull away, but didn’t meet his eyes either, instead looking at his chest.
He took a moment to inspect her, to really look at her.
She wasn’t as pale as she’d been two months prior, she was still nowhere near suntanned, but she no longer looked sickly at all times, and she’d- they’d both put on a bit of weight since they’d hijacked Piltover’s supplies and had figured out a good distribution system.
He cleared his throat, “Are you alright? This whole day, not even counting the Vander thing… it was a lot.”
Jinx sighed heavily, “…yeah, it was. But I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
Jinx smirked ever so slightly, taking a step closer, invading his space, “As cute as you are when you’re worried… you don’t have to hover.”
Ekko rolled his eyes, grinning, “I don’t hover.”
“You totally do… are you alright? I know that moral compass of yours is probably aching a bit.”
Ekko shrugged, “I don’t like the fact that Vander’s rampage probably killed civilians… but you were right. That’s Caitlyn’s fault and her problem… we got our people to take care of.”
“…our people… still feels weird to me to think of them that way.”
“…I know.”
Even after years of fighting for Zaun, Ekko had never really been accepted by anyone other than his Firelights, and, in Jinx’s case, she’d been feared by most, it felt bizarre for both of them to suddenly have the people’s trust and their faith, to be embraced by every section of Zaun.
To be seen as leaders.
Ekko pressed his lips together for a moment before giving Jinx a small smile, “But… I suppose we gotta get used to being Zaun’s Royalty.”
Jinx meet his eyes, smirking, “You finally said it.”
“I still don’t like the title-”
“You love it. And I think we deserve it.” She teased, poking him.
He gently grabbed her wrists to stop her from poking him, they both chuckled until they seemed to realized they’d fallen into another quiet, soft, vulnerable moment.
Ekko tried to hold on.
Jinx let go and took a step back, hanging her head low for a moment to inspect the floor before clearing her throat.
Ekko watched her, waiting for her to meet his gaze.
She didn’t, starring once more at the buttons of his coat.
He’d said he wouldn’t push.
But…
“Jinx-”
“Don’t.” Her voice was barely a whisper, raspy and cautious, a tone that would’ve once made him put his guard up, “You… Ekko you don’t want this. So just don’t.”
He scoffed, “Don’t want this? I do.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
Ekko stepped closer, trying to will Jinx into meeting his eyes.
“I know perfectly well what I’m saying. It’s a mess- we’re both messes and it’s probably stupid and dangerous and a million other things but I don’t care. I am sick and tired of letting this place take everything from us… aren’t you?”
Jinx said nothing for a long moment, she looked almost pained as she forced herself to meet his gaze
The ruthlessness of Zaun and the cruelty of Piltover had taken almost everything from Ekko.
But it wasn’t quite the same for her.
She was her own worst enemy.
She was the reason she’d lost Vander and her brothers. She’d killed her dad. She’d pushed Vi and Ekko away until they saw nothing but a madwoman.
Jinx knew how this story went. She knew what her role was.
Just because she was playing the hero now didn’t change what she was deep down.
It was selfish and bad enough that she’d let Ekko get as close as he’d gotten to her over the past two months.
It was bad enough that she seemingly couldn’t help but tease him and be playful and just a little bit flirty, somehow it’d only taken weeks for that to become instinct.
But she wouldn’t- she couldn’t be his undoing.
And she knew that would be exactly what she would be if she let this happen. If she gave in to the craving and yearning burning like a fire in the pit of her stomach.
So she clenched her jaw and willed herself to become stone as she tilted her head, “Just say goodnight and go Ekko.”
Ekko looked like he wanted to fight, like he wanted to argue.
A part of her wished he would. Wished he’d yell at her, give her an opening, an excuse to scream and fight and lash out, to show him the side of her he seemed to be forgetting about.
But he didn’t.
Instead he sighed heavily, perhaps remembering that he’d said he wouldn’t push, or perhaps he sensed that she was about to burst and lash out.
“…goodnight Jinx.”
“…night.”
Jinx didn’t dare to turn to watch him walk away.
Didn’t dare to test her self-control and composure in such a way, going into her room and instantly collapsing into her bed, groaning into the lumpy pillow.
She was exhausted, sleep already starting to pull her under even as questions almost seemed to taunt her, bouncing around her skull.
Questions about Vander and Piltover and Silco and Ekko.
She remembered that there was another Powder. A Powder that wasn’t a curse, wasn’t a jinx.
Maybe the universe taunting her further with her eternal fate… or maybe proof that Ekko was right and she wasn’t what she thought she was.
…maybe she’d take Gert up on that offer to talk.
Notes:
Loved writing this moment for Caitlyn and of course, Ambessa’s POV, I really hope you liked my take on Ambessa’s mindset and how she reflects on her plan
Cait should have made sure there were people making sure Ambessa was leaving however, the Enforcers are scattered all around, she’s distracted and also probably hit her head so- yeah :)
And of course, Timebomb! Hope you liked that scene with them!
Chapter 19: Changing Tides and Changing Winds
Summary:
Shit happens while Ekko and Jinx take a well deserved nap
Notes:
Only really had time to skim this so I’m sorry if there’s any grammatical errors
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Vi could barely believe the day they’d had.
It felt impossible to believe that sneaking into Piltover and declaring war and finding Vander and nearly getting stabbed had all occurred within a day.
She sat at the top of one of the buildings close to the border as night fully fell around them. She knew from Caeya that Jinx and Ekko were under strict orders to sleep for a good while.
She brought the binoculars in her hands to her eyes, inspecting the blue lines that marked the cut off from the landmines beneath the dirt.
“Everything looks good.” She said, “Doesn’t look like they’ll be retaliating tonight.”
“Or anytime soon if they have any brain cells left.” Scar said as he joined her, his baby in a sling across his chest, deeply asleep, “I hope we’ll have at least two weeks while they clean up, gather their strength and take care of the injured.”
“We could definitely use them.” Vara muttered under her breath, “We still got plenty of people in the infirmary that need time before they can fight again.”
Vi sighed heavily, “How soon do you think we can go looking for Vander?”
“We should give him some space. He must be confused, ran for what was familiar. And you’re injured, even if you’re ignoring it.” Scar told her, “You shouldn’t go while Ekko and Jinx are resting.”
Vi groaned, but didn’t argue.
A part of her was afraid that, if she went to find Vander, she’d find out that she’d been fooled somehow, that she’d only imagined that the creature that’d attacked her was her dad.
If everyone else hadn’t witnessed what she had, she probably would’ve thought that she’d somehow cracked.
From a building to her left, Zaren approached, tense and clearly on guard, Vi quickly standing up to hear what he had to say, “We have someone further down, some guy on his own, I don’t know if he might be dangerous he’s just… there.”
“Is there someone keeping an eye on him?”
“Sevika and Caeya. He hasn’t tried to cross the border yet.”
“Show me.”
Vi jumped across rooftops along with Scar, following Zaren until they reached a much further part of the border, where Sevika was crouching by the ledge of the building, eyes glued on what the possible intruder.
She wordlessly crouched a few feet away from Sevika, using her binoculars to get a better look at the intruder and-
“Wait… that’s… that’s Tobias Kiramman.”
“What?!” Zaren was quickly hushed by Scar.
Sevika turned to him, “What the fuck is he doing here?”
“I don’t know. But he’s not a threat, he’s a doctor.” Vi pressed her lips together for a long moment, trying to think about what to do, “I… I have no idea how he could even get here, especially on his own.”
“…well go ask him.” Zaren told her after getting over his shock, nudging her.
Vi pushed him back, Zaren falling on his butt, “I’m not talking to him, we’re not exactly besties.”
“Well you’re the only one of us who knows him.” Caeya interjected before Zaren could speak again, “So get down there and figure out what’s going on.”
Vi groaned as she rolled her eyes, Sevika glared her way but said nothing.
After a long minute hyping herself up, Vi dropped from the building, landing a few feet away from Tobias, who jumped at the sudden sound, clutching a leather bag against his chest.
“…Doctor Kiramman.” She started, feeling awkward.
She hadn’t exactly had a lot of chances to talk with the man.
Tobias cleared his throat, “Violet…”
“…what are you doing here?” Vi knew he had no weapons on him, but she still couldn’t help but be cautious, ready to attack if this was some kind of trap.
Tobias hesitated, glancing down before meeting her gaze, he looked tired, exhausted really, “Caitlyn told me that… that everything in your sister’s message is true.”
Vi tensed up, she wasn’t sure what she expected him to say, but it definitely wasn’t that, “…it is.”
“…I don’t like your sister… but I- I don’t… things have gone too far. And I know it’s partially my fault… maybe if I’d been there for Caitlyn more-” he cut himself off, swallowing past the lump in his throat.
Vi felt awkward. Tobias had been cautious of her after Jinx’s attack, but he’d never been hostile, and she’d recognized the haunted look in his eyes before she’d gone back to Zaun.
“You were grieving.”
“So was she.”
Vi slowly let her gauntlets release from her arms, setting them down before stepping closer, “What are you doing here Doctor?”
He took a deep breath, “I’m here to offer my help.”
“…what?”
“Given how… resourceful you’ve proven yourselves to be, I have no doubt you ought to have excellent healers… but if you require a surgeon… I’m here to offer my services.”
Vi tensed up, “If this is because of pity or-”
“Cassandra believed in peace. She wanted to vote to prevent anymore bloodshed. The air filtering system was one of her greatest accomplishments. And I made an oath when I became a doctor, I- I cannot just sit by and do nothing.”
Surprisingly enough, Vi believed him, the desperation and despair in his eyes too deep to be fake.
There was no denying that having a surgeon with the type of education Piltover had access to would be a big deal,especially considering that she’d overheard Isaac and Kellie worried about a few of the patients that were still not doing very well after the attempted invasion.
However…
“It’s not up to me.” Vi spoke truthfully, she knew she was still in the process of gaining back trust, but even if she wasn’t, she wasn’t the leader of this Revolution, “I can make sure you get a chance to talk with Ekko, but that’s about all I can do.”
Tobias pressed his lips together for a moment before quietly nodding along, accepting that shot.
Vi whistled as she looked up, catching Scar and Zaren descending from the building on their hoverboards, she had no doubt in mind that they, along with Caeya and Sevika, had overheard the entire conversation.
Scar inspected Tobias for a moment before jerking his head towards Zaren, “Zaren here will escort you back to base and keep you company until Ekko is available. I hope you understand our request to stay put.”
Tobias nodded along again, “Very well.”
Vi watched as he set off with Zaren, heading down the streets towards their base. She knew Zaren would likely either find an empty room or have him stay in the infirmary since none of them wanted to wake up Ekko and Jinx until morning.
Not only was Sevika the only one unafraid of invoking Kellie’s wrath but also… well the two were exhausted and deserved some sleep.
She and Scar made it back to the top of the building, and, despite taking a glance into Tobias’s bag, Scar still turned to her, “You don’t think he’ll be a threat?”
“He’s harmless.” Vi assured him.
“How did he get here?” Caeya questioned.
“…I have no idea.”
Scar frowned, clearly not liking that answer, “I’ll take a look around. Caeya, Vara, you with me?”
“Sure.”
The two set off on their hoverboards to take another look at the border.
She was left with Sevika, watching the bridge once more. Luckily, neither spoke, a few minutes passing in silence before Vi frowned, noticing something strange.
A gathering of lights, all illuminating what seemed to be the same spot, unmistakable. The half destroyed Council building, a lone figure standing amongst the wreckage, dressed in blood red.
“I think… I think they might be giving some kind of announcement.” She told Sevika after trying and failing to get a better view with the binoculars.
Sevika kneeled, going to dig through a metal box that’d been left near the ledge, pulling out a radio.
“Is that from Piltover?” Vi asked.
“No, but Jinx rigged it to pick up on the frequencies they use most of the time.” After fidgeting with the channels for a minute, the static turned into words.
“-great sorrow that, after an investigation, we have concluded that the accusations of unnecessary violence from Enforcers… are true.”
“That’s General Ambessa.”
“Why is she admitting it’s true then?”
Vi shrugged, she knew the General was cunning, a strategical, dangerous woman.
“I am afraid that, after conversing with the remaining Councilors and some of the Enforcers, it has been discovered that the cause of this corruption, has been none other than Commander Caitlyn Kiramman.”
Vi tensed up at Ambessa’s words.
“It would appear that, in the young Commander’s desperation to capture Jinx and end the rebellion of Zaun, she encouraged the unnecessary use of force and allowed violations of the Enforcer’s code of ethics to go unpunished.”
“The Commander has been removed from power and will remain under observation due to a few injuries she suffered. Now… I would like to make myself clear when I say that, as a Noxian General, I was unaware of the long history of injustice between Piltover and Zaun, but after a long conversation with the Councilors and even longer consideration, I wish to still offer my help, in giving the Enforcers of Piltover proper training. The reputation of Noxian soldiers is nothing other than true, as Noxians they are taught how to be efficient, yet never cruel.”
“I understand if your trust in your Council has suffered a severe hit after today, but I can assure you, that they only have your best interests at heart. Even if past Councilors have indeed made questionable decisions when it comes to their treatment of Zaun… that does not mean they are not a real threat, especially now that they have destroyed your HexGates . Zaun themselves said that they are preparing for war. And, in spite of the dark truths brought to light today, I wish to still offer my support, for I have nothing but great respect and admiration for the values that Piltover was once built upon. Let us help Piltover get back to the city of progress that it is meant to be!”
Vi tuned out the rest of Ambessa’s speech, another Councilor, Salo, coming in to support everything she’d said.
She took a few steps back, trying to think, hating the fact that somehow, she was worried.
Caitlyn had used Vander as a weapon and yet-
She shut her eyes tightly, clenching her jaw and trying to calm herself down.
“Do you reckon it’s true?” Sevika questioned in a low tone.
“Why are you even asking?” Vi shot back angrily, thinking Sevika was taunting her.
“Finn and June both said that some redheaded Enforcer was all for taking them as hostages, but that Kiramman stopped it from happening. So tell me, do you think it was all her?”
Vi slowly met Sevika’s eyes, she was giving Caitlyn the benefit of the doubt, or at least trying to.
Vi looked down at her boots, “I… I don’t think so. She was angry, furious… but that was when she was leading a small squad. Leading literally all the forces in Piltover… even as mad as she was I just can’t believe that she’d push the Enforcers into more violence… she was actually against that before. And… and you and I both know that the Enforcers have always been like that… I think Ambessa is plotting something. Saying that Caitlyn was all but out of commission? Her not even saying anything, not even an apology or something to try and safe face?”
“It’s suspicious.”
“Exactly.”
Sevika turned off the radio, going to walk the length of the roof, thinking, “This Ambessa character, what do you know about her?”
“She’s ruthless. Her own daughter Mel, one of the newer Councilors that went missing didn’t trust her… and she was pushing to weaponise HexTech. Hard.”
Sevika’s eyes narrowed, “So I imagine she wouldn’t be very happy that we took out the HexGates.”
“…no she would not.”
“And it’s quite obvious she won’t back down.”
“No she won’t.”
“…she’s a threat.”
“A big one.”
Sevika clicked her tongue, inspecting the outline of Piltover like she might be able to decipher something if she starred long enough.
Vi felt conflict pulling at her, tugging at the bottom of her ribcage as she considered asking the question she both feared and needed the answer to.
“Why did- why did you betray Vander?” She asked, tense and on her guard, frowning, her eyes glued to the ledge of the roof.
Sevika glanced back at her, clearly surprised by the question. She’d probably expected a fight the next time the topic came up, not a simple question.
“I know you won’t understand this. But I didn’t see it as betraying Vander, I saw it as staying loyal to Zaun.”
Vi clenched her jaw, rage nearly making her implode, but she managed to hold her tongue, to give Sevika a chance to explain.
“Vander was your dad kid, obviously you looked up to him, you didn’t see what I saw. After he took you kids in… he stopped trying to fight, trying to push for more. He was terrified that if he caused Piltover’s wrath again that you kids would pay for it. He blamed himself for the Bridge Battle, your parents and everyone who lost their lives… he tried to keep those who were willing to stay silent safe, but… safe wasn’t going to get us anywhere.”
“So you chose Silco?”
Sevika curled her lip for a moment, clearly not liking Vi’s tone, “Think what you will of him. But Silco did more for Zaun than you will ever know. He never stopped working towards an independent Zaun, for all his faults, he never stopped caring. Never stopped fighting. He was willing to do anything to get us out from under Piltover’s thumb. Maybe that made him a monster… maybe a monster was what we needed at the time.”
“And what do we need now?” Vi asked after a long moment of silence, begrudgingly admitting to herself that she could almost understand Sevika’s point of view.
“Now… now we need Revolutionaries. That’s what Jinx and Ekko are… Jinx has the ruthlessness to make Piltovertremble, Ekko has the heart that we’ll need to rebuild, to truly make this dump a better place.”
“…and that’s why you follow them.” Vi finished for her quietly.
Sevika didn’t reply.
Vi sighed heavily as she went to sit on the ledge, only wincing slightly when she shifted her injured shoulder.
The silence was bordering on comfortable.
She hadn’t forgiven Sevika, she doubted she could truly fully forgive her… at least not for a while.
…but she almost started to understand her.
She couldn’t tell if that was somehow worse than simply forgiving her.
***
Caitlyn groaned as she slowly regained conciousness, her limbs feeling heavy and her thoughts slow.
She brought a hand to her head mostly out of instinct, trying to massage the massive headache and heaviness away as she tried to listen for anything around her.
There was silence, the only sound a water leak slowly dripping.
Caitlyn managed to fully open her eyes, frowning when she saw that far above her, was a ceiling made of rocks… almost as if she was in a cave.
What was the last thing she remembered?
The message, the bomb, the Beast.
Cutting Ambessa off, her dad leaving, a sting on the side of her neck.
Caitlyn grasped the threadbare sheets beneath her, she was in a small cot.
She jerked up the second she caught a glance of bars out of the corner of her eye.
She knew where she was.
She was in the dungeons. The Council dungeons that hadn’t been used since Stillwater had been built.
Caitlyn tried to make sense of what was happening.
Aside from the cot, there was a bucket of water at her side and what she could only assume to be a waste bucket at the opposite corner of the cell.
She winced as she stood up. She still had the ankle brace her dad had given her, but her ankle still throbbed in pain as she limped her way to the door cell, trying it despite logic telling her there was no way it’d be open.
Indeed, shaking the cold metal did nothing, Caitlyn considering yelling out for answers when the silence was interrupted by a heavy set of boots.
In the shadows obscuring the corridor she knew led to an elevator, there was a figure.
Caitlyn gritted her teeth together before speaking out, “Step into the light!”
The figure chuckled quietly before complying.
Caitlyn’s stomach fell to the floor, “Maddie?”
Her instant thought had been that Jinx had somehow managed to kidnap her… again. That she’d thought to place her somewhere no one would even think to look for her but…
“What the fuck is going on?” She demanded, starting to feel faint.
Maddie didn’t reply, instead slowly tilting her head as she inspected Caitlyn before she stepped to the side and another voice came from the tunnel.
“Let’s call it… ‘course correction’.”
Caitlyn knew that voice.
Ambessa stepped slowly, almost casually into the light, approaching her cell nonchalantly, not seeming boastful or even smug, indifferent about the fact she’d imprisoned Caitlyn.
“Release me at once.”
Ambessa raised an unimpressed eyebrow, “Or what young Kiramman? I regret to inform you that you have been… removed, from power.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Oh, I did nothing.” Ambessa assured her, going to walk along the outside of her cell, inspecting it to make sure there was no way for her to escape, “You see… the situation Piltover is in is a… delicate matter. There were already citizens protesting, demanding answers, and someone ought to be held responsible for the atrocious way in which Zaun citizens uninvolved in the battle have been treated.”
“What.. wha-” dread poured over her as she fully realized what was going on.
Jinx had called her out specifically. She’d mentioned Enforcers being violent but hadn’t mentioned the Noxian soldiers.
If Ambessa was to be believed then there were citizens who wanted to know the truth.
She was a Commander, she’d been supposed to keep the Enforcers under control she-
She’d tried to kick Ambessa out.
Now Ambessa was setting her up to take the fall for it all.
Caitlyn aggressively shook her head, “Do you think you can just lock me up without being questioned? Without people looking for me? I am-”
“But no one will come sniffing. Not when they’ve already been informed that you’ve been removed from power and are being kept under observation whilst the Council decides what to do with you and while you recover from your injuries.”
“…what?”
Ambessa tilted her head, stopping mere feet in front of her, inspecting her, “No one is coming for you Caitlyn.”
“…what do you want?” She hatred the way her voice nearly trembled, out of anger or fear she didn’t know.
“What do I want out of Piltover? HexTech weapons. What do I want out of you?” Ambessa sighed as she crossed her arms, “I could kill you, I considered it but I may yet have use for you. You are still useful, even if it is behind bars young Kiramman.”
“…you’re going to go through with the war on Zaun.” Caitlyn quickly realized.
“Indeed.” Ambessa started turning around, going to walk away, “I had high hopes for you, and I will admit you impressed me in some ways. But I now realize that Jinx and her firelight boy might just be the answer to my problems, but given our current positions… well let’s just say I will require a more… creative solution. Get comfortable young Kiramman, you will be here a while.”
Caitlyn slammed herself against the unyielding bars, “AMBESSA!”
The General didn’t react, disappearing into the shadows, Maddie following behind.
But Caitlyn knew Maddie would likely stay just beyond that hall with at least another two Noxian soldiers.
They would stay and make sure she didn’t go anywhere.
She stepped back just to cringe as she placed weight on her injured foot, allowing herself to fall to the floor, leaning her forehead against the iron bars.
What was she going to do now?
The war would go on between Zaun and Piltover.
How many people would die because she’d been stupid enough to let a wolf sink their fangs into the Council?
To let her grief and rage drive her every action?
Would Zaun even know that Ambessa was now seemingly in charge? Or would they think that Shoola and Salo were at the helm?
Was there a way that she could warn them?
No.
And even if there was, why would they ever trust her?
She’d caused all of this.
And now she wouldn’t even be able to see the consequences of it all.
Notes:
Weird to write a chapter without Ekko and Jinx but it was necessary, those two are just knocked out during all of this
Next chapter… self reflection for our royalty (if things go according to plan)
Chapter 20: A Wound that Could Heal
Summary:
Ekko and Jinx wake up and see what happened during their nap
Plans are made
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ekko felt like there was quicksand trying to pull him under when he woke up, groaning and hiding his face in his pillow.
How long had it been?
Ekko allowed himself a few more minutes to lay in bed, simply breathing and allowing himself the luxury of doing nothing.
But in that quiet nothingness, thoughts came.
Thoughts about Jinx and what she’d said the previous night.
He wasn’t sure what to do about that whole… situation. He didn’t want to fight with her, didn’t want to push her, especially when she seemed to be starting to get better, more… stable.
But he didn’t want to just sit by and let her believe that she was a curse.
There had to be something else. Something he didn’t know about that wad making it so hard for her to accept the possibility of… of them.
Should he ask Vi?
No.
Jinx trusted him, he wouldn’t go behind her back in such a way.
As he continued to think and trying to figure out what to do a part of him was almost… amused.
After spending years with every waking moment consumed by thoughts on how to get more food and how to help Shimmer addicts, how to stay out of Silco’s clutches and overall, how to keep his firelights safe, he hadn’t exactly had a lot of time for normal ‘teenage’ worries.
Even if at nineteen he barely thought he even classified as a teenager anymore.
But regardless, there was something almost… comforting in fretting about a girl. About laying in bed worrying about his heart, trying to figure out what he was even feeling at this point. Even if circumstances were still very much out of the ordinary.
Ekko tensed up when he heard his doorknob starting to turn, ready to grab his mace when a head of blue hair popped in.
He relaxed, “Hey kid.”
Isha perked up when she saw he was awake, hurrying to his side and starting to climb into the bed.
Ekko let her, slightly confused since this was new territory, the kid had never come looking for him like this.
“Where’s Jinx?”
Isha let herself fall back, pretending to snore for a moment.
Ekko snorted, gently nudging her leg, “Got bored and thought you’d come see if I was awake?” He assumed.
Isha nodded along as she sat up, tapping her legs as she looked at him half-expectantly.
When she tilted her head, Ekko mirrored her, amused, “What?”
Isha chuckled at the way he mirrored her tilt until they both toppled to the side. Then she hesitated, before going to tap her temple before making claws with her hands and a mean face.
Ekko froze for a moment, “Wait… are you asking… about the Beast?”
Isha nodded enthusiastically.
“How did you even- did Jinx tell you about the Beast?”
Isha shook her head.
“Then how did you find out?”
The kid just shrugged and chuckled mischievously.
Ekko assumed she’d somehow managed to overhear Sevika or Scar discussing that whole situation. If so, the kid was even sneakier than Ekko had thought.
“What… what are you asking me here exactly?”
After a few gestures and signs, he came to the conclusion that Isha just wanted to know why the Beast seemed to be a big deal from whatever she’d overheard.
Ekko hesitated for a moment, but he knew that if they kept too much from Isha the kid might get frustrated and do something stupid.
He went to sit up against the wall, Isha still laying down, but placing her chin over the back of her hands, “You know that a creature attacked us while we were in Piltover and destroyed a lot of stuff right? Well… as it turns out, we are… almost entirely sure that that… thing, is actually a person. A person we used to know.”
Isha frowned, fully sitting up.
“You know the stories of the Hound of the Undercity? Vander?”
Isha’s eyes widened as she slowly nodded.
“He took care of Vi and Jinx for some time and… now we think he might be back as the Beast.”
The kid was frozen for a long moment before tapping her temple.
“We don’t know how. Right now our best guess is that maybe Singed had something to do with it, but we honestly have no idea.”
She pursed her lips together as she frowned before pointing to one of his maps and tapping her temple again.
“We know that he went down into the mines, but we don’t know his exact location. He spent decades working down there so… we think he headed to where it was familiar.”
Isha placed her right fist with her thumb up over her left palm, a sign he recognized to mean ‘help’.
“…I’m not sure if we can help him. But we want to try.”
She nodded along before looking down into her lap, eyes sad.
Ekko sighed, shifting to her closer, gently tapping her knee, “Hey… he recognized us. There’s still some part of him in there, and Vander… kid you have no idea how strong he was, there’s a reason he used to lead us. If there’s anyone who can survive whatever happened to turn him into the Beast without breaking it’s him.”
Isha shook her head, she wasn’t upset because of that. She extended her right hand and placed it in front of her face, spreading her fingers and touching her thumb to her chin twice, the sign she used for Jinx before tracing invisible tears down her face.
Ekko felt his heart clench as he realized why Isha was worried, “Jinx was sad?”
Isha nodded along, other signs letting him know that Jinx had unsuccessfully tried to hide that fact. Then, she pointed at him.
He winced, “She’s sad because of me?”
Isha shook her head before pointing at him again.
“You want me to do something about it?”
She nodded.
Ekko sighed heavily, hesitating before pulling Isha into his lap, the kid didn’t fight, instead sinking into his chest, her trust making him feel warm, and the fact that, for the first time since he’d met her he could see actual baby fat on her cheeks making him want to squeeze her against him.
She hadn’t exactly been as emaciated as some of the other kids with Jinx doing her best to take care of her, but the change in her and all the other kids was still palpable and painfully obvious to all of them.
June was actually starting to grow, spurting up at an almost impressive speed.
Some of the older kids of twelve and thirteen were actually experiencing growing pains.
He settled Isha against him, “Look kid… you know I care a lot about Jinx but… she’s different with you than she is with the rest of us. She has a hard time letting us in, letting us help. And that’s not entirely her fault, she’s been through a lot and… she’s doing the best that she can right now. If she needs me, I’ll be there but… I can’t exactly force her to open up.”
Isha huffed, crossing her arms.
“Believe me, I know it’s frustrating. But the best thing we can do is not let her push us away. And believe me, I’m not moving an inch if she pushes.”
Before Isha could reply, a knock came at the door, a knock he recognized.
“Come in Scar.”
Scar stepped in, barely allowing any surprise to enter his face when he saw Isha, giving her a gentle half smile, “Hi Isha.”
Isha gave him a gentle wave.
Scar crouched down to not be looking down on her, “Could you go help June and Lena transport some stuff for lunch? There is a matter I must discuss with Ekko.”
Isha hesitated, clearly knowing she was being sent away, but she seemed to hold some semblance of respect for Scar so she relented after a moment, Ekko helping her down before fully registering what Scar had said and turning to him as the man shut the door behind Isha.
“Wait- lunch? What time is it?” Ekko asked quickly.
Scar half winced, already knowing what Ekko’s reaction would be, “It’s nearly two-”
“I slept for fifteen hours?!” Ekko nearly tripped as he hurried towards his dresser, already ripping off the clothes he’d fallen asleep in, “Why would you let me sleep for fifteen hours?!”
“Evidently you needed it.” Scar replied dryly, watching as Ekko hastily put on another set of clothes, “Besides, you can relax, it’s not like the sky fell down while you took a nap.”
Ekko rolled his eyes, “If the sky didn’t fall then why are you here?”
Scar stayed silent for a moment, “There’s been a… situation. We have a guest.”
“A guest?”
“Tobias Kiramman.”
Ekko froze just as he prepared to splash some water from his basin on his face, slowly turning to Scar, “Please tell me Jinx didn’t wake up before me and decided to stage a kidnapping.”
“She’s still asleep as far as I know. Kiramman just… showed up at the border, Vi spoke to him and apparently he’s here to… offer his services as a surgeon.”
Ekko frowned, taking a moment before going to wash his face.
Scar continued, “Vi seems to think he’s genuine. Something about him not knowing about all the bullshit you and Jinx spoke about in your speech and his wife’s final decision to vote for peace, something along those lines.”
“What’d you do with him?” He asked as he grabbed his toothbrush and moved to the sink in his tiny bathroom.
“Zaren took him to an empty closet and got him a cot, he’s been guarding him, he agreed to wait to have an audience with you.”
“So he’s been waiting for fifteen hours.” Ekko spoke through the foam of his toothpaste.
Scar made a face of disgust, “More like ten.”
Ekko rolled his eyes as he rinsed out his mouth, “You should’ve woken me up.”
“You and Jinx were five seconds away from dropping dead.”
“Should’ve woken me up.” He insisted.
“You’re a stubborn ass.”
“Damn straight.”
They started heading down the hallways of their base at a brisk pace, the movement fully waking Ekko up.
“So…” Scar started, “how are things with Jinx?”
Ekko groaned, going to cover his face, rubbing at his eyes, “I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Alright-”
“I just don’t know what to do anymore.” Ekko continued quickly, the words practically spilling out, “I tell her I’m not going anywhere, she says I can’t be sure of that, I tell her she’s not a curse, she insists she is, I tell her I want her, she tells me I don’t. What am I supposed to do? It’s not like I can force her to see reason.”
Scar sighed heavily, probably regretting asking, “I am willing to bet that to her everything that she’s saying makes perfect sense. You should remember it’s all she’s believed for nearly a decade. It’s not easy to change ones mindset.”
“But what do I do?”
“…I don’t know Ekko. Right now… you might just have to give Jinx a bit of time.”
Ekko didn’t answer. That wasn’t really a solution that he liked.
But what could he do that wouldn’t be pushing Jinx after he’d said that he wouldn’t?
They continued their path, Ekko hurriedly managing to eat half a sandwich before they made it to their destination, Ekko going in to find Zaren leaning against a wall as he cleaned his gun, a man with dark blue hair splattered with grey sitting over the small cot in the room.
The man quickly rose to his feet, not seeming intimidated but clearly out of place.
“Bout time boss. Hope you enjoyed the nap.” Zaren said half-jokingly, gesturing at his cheek, “Surprised you don’t have pillow face, how’d you do that?”
Ekko ignored that, meeting Tobias’s gaze as he slowly crossed his arms, “Zaren, give us a moment?”
Zaren pouted at being ignored but relented, shutting the door behind him.
“I assume you’re Ekko?”
“Yes. I’ve been told you’re here to offer your services?”
Tobias cleared his throat, a hand on a leather bag Ekko could only assume carried some of his instruments, “That would be correct.”
“Why?”
“…I was not aware of… of how far my daughter allowed things to go. I’ve always known the conditions in Zaun weren’t ideal but, I truly thought they’d gotten a lot better over time. My wife believed in peace, and so do I, I made an oath as a doctor… I want to help.”
Ekko considered the offer, inspecting the man standing before him.
He found that he believed the man was genuine in his offer.
However…
“Doctor Kiramman… you do realize that, if you were to help us… work in the infirmary, eat in the dinning hall, sleep in our quarters… it’s quite likely you’d run into Jinx at some point or another?”
Tobias sighed heavily, head dropping for a moment, “Yes, I am quite aware of that.”
“And you’re alright with that?”
“…I suppose I am.”
Ekko hesitated before nodding along, clearing his throat, “Alright then, follow me.”
Ekko guided the man to the infirmary, where he quickly introduced him to Kellie, who instantly began questioning what surgeries he could perform with the resources they had and put him to work.
Ekko left after making sure Isaac, one of the Healers, would show the man where they ate and where he could sleep when the day was over.
He met Vi at the exit of the infirmary, going to walk with her.
“You believe him?” She questioned.
“For now, yes. Were you worried about that?”
Vi shrugged, “Not really. But um… there’s another situation you should be aware of.”
Ekko groaned, he was never getting proper sleep again.
***
Jinx was combing Isha’s hair, it was long enough now that she could properly braid it. She yawned as she tried to shake off the last bits of sleepiness from her system.
As she worked, Gert sat at the other end of her bed, repairing the rips on a jacket and absentmindedly finishing what was left of their respective lunch.
“So… are we not going to talk about it?” Gert finally asked.
“Talk about what?”
“About why Ekko looked like a kicked puppy last night when I saw him headed for his room.”
Jinx tensed up for a moment before resuming her brushing, “Why would you assume I had anything to do with that?”
Gert raised an unimpressed eyebrow, “What did you tell him?”
Jinx stayed quiet for a long moment, keeping her eyes on Isha’s hair, “I uh… I told him the truth.”
“And the truth is?”
“…I told him that he doesn’t want me… not really.”
“That is the biggest pile of bullshit I’ve ever heard-”
“Gert-”
“Have you seen how that boy looks at you?” Gert rolled her eyes, “You really need to get over yourself.”
“I-”
“No listen.” Gert hesitated from a moment, glancing to Isha who was clearly pretending not to listen as she fidgeted with a bunny plushie, “I know that I don’t know your whole story but… don’t you think you deserve another chance? Don’t you think you’ve tortured yourself enough?”
Jinx just shook her head, “I… I don’t want to hurt him.”
“Ekko can take care of himself.” Gert set down the jacket, going to sit next to her, “What are you so afraid of?”
Jinx parted Isha’s hair, starting to braid it, “I can’t lose him. I just can’t… not again.”
Gert sighed, gently leaning her head against Jinx’s shoulder, “Look… no one can fault you if you’re not ready for more but… if you’re holding him at arm’s length because you’re scared of what might happen, of losing him… don’t you think you’d regret it if you let your fear take this away from you?”
Jinx didn’t answer, but leaned against Gert as well as she tied Isha’s braid.
“…just something to think about.” Gert added.
Jinx ran a thumb over the plaids of Isha’s braid, trying to think.
***
“-I’m sorry who did what?” Jinx questioned, eye twitching as she leaned forwards.
They were in the war room, Arol, Sevika, Scar, Gert and Vi all present, Loris and Kellie joining them as well.
Kellie ignored Jinx’s flabbergasted tone, “I’m all for it, from what I saw today, he’s a good surgeon and he knows his place, he listened to me and he treated everyone without any qualms. He’ll be a great asset.”
“Okay- no, hold up- time out,” Jinx gestured with her hands wildly, glancing around the table, “Who the fuck let Tobias Kiramman in? And who thought ‘hey, you know what’d be great? To give him a knife and let him into the infirmary’?!”
Vi winced, “Scar found him at the border, I spoke to him and had him wait until he could talk to Ekko, who agreed to let him stay and took him to Kellie.”
Jinx whipped around to glare at Ekko, who remained unaffected by her glare, “Why didn’t you ask me for my opinion?”
“That’s what I’m doing right now, why do you think I brought it up?”
“Well what good is it to ask me after the fact when Kellie already has him on the freaking payroll?” She demanded.
Ekko rolled his eyes, but before he could refute her, Sevika interjected, “The man is harmless and even so, he’s still under supervision. A Piltover surgeon is a valuable asset and you know it. That situation is all but settled so we should talk about the other matter at hand.”
Jinx let herself fall back on her chair, taking a moment before turning to Vi, “You think its a coup?”
Vi hesitated, “Honestly I don’t know. But there’s something fishy going on here. And regardless of whether or not it’s a coup- Ambessa is all but in charge of Piltover now. And she’s dangerous, we shouldn’t underestimate her.”
Loris cleared his throat, “I managed to get a message to an Enforcer friend using a code through the radio, asked if Caitlyn really was encouraging violence, they said it was the opposite, she was in the middle of trying to set in place stricter regulations for Enforcers. Don’t know what you want to make of that.”
Jinx crossed her arms, thinking, “And where is Caitlyn now?”
“Ambessa said something about her being kept in observation.” Sevika frowned, nearly drilling a hole into the table with her glare before glancing towards Vi, “Do you think she might try to reach out for some kind of negotiation?”
Vi considered that for a moment, “I didn’t spend a lot of time around her but… I don’t think she would, from what I know she’s pretty used to taking what she wants by force. And if she were to reach out… I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be favorable for us.”
“We’ve all heard stories of Noxian invasions… we can’t trust her, not by a long shot.” Ekko grumbled, fist against his lips as he inspected the updated map on the table, “And she said she’d be training Enforcers under Noxian regulations?”
“Pretty much yeah.”
“We need a plan of action.” Arol stated as he went to stand up, “We gotta sort out our priorities and- while I’m all for preparing for the worst, we can’t waste all our energy in wondering what this General will do next. Especially when we know we’ll probably have a few weeks of relative peace.”
“We gotta figure something out to grow crops.” Ekko reflected, all of them sighing as they remembered their unsuccessful efforts to grow eatable crops in Zaunian soil, “And now we definitely have to finish the water and air filters… Scar, did you get a chance to look into the cult thing?”
Scar stood up, going to place a purple marble on the map, “Yes I did, I’m… not quite sure how to describe it.”
“Cult thing? What cult thing?” Vi questioned.
Jinx leaned towards her, letting her cheek rest on her hand, “There have been some rumors about some kind of- miracle healer, herald person living deeper in Zaun. Rumors about him being able to heal Shimmer addicts? And more recently something about clean air coming from his layer, cult base- whatever the fuck it is.”
“And, there have also been rumors about plants growing down there.” Ekko added before turning to look at Jinx, “You and I will go pay this herald a visit.”
“Finally something interesting.”
“Wait-” Vi hesitated, “What about Vander?”
Jinx pressed her lips together for a moment before tapping a different spot on the map, placing a stone over it, “We know he went into the mines, you don’t reckon he’d head to his old office do you?”
“Maybe.”
“…you should go look for him. You’re the one he recognized first. And you know that part of the mines.”
Vi watched Jinx carefully, the way she avoided her gaze.
She didn’t want to accompany her to find Vander.
She thought back to what she’d said when they’d been down in the mines, how she hadn’t really been Vander’s daughter, not in the way that Vi had been.
She could argue with her baby sister later, “Alright. Are you taking anyone with you to see this herald? Who knows if he might be violent.”
“Ppfffttt,” Jinx waved her off, “I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle.”
They wrapped the meeting up, but Vi didn’t miss the way Ekko kept glancing at Jinx and how she refused to meet his gaze.
Vi silently rolled her eyes at the two of them, she waited until most of them had left, taking the opportunity that opened when Scar and Loris asked Ekko to stay behind for a moment and Jinx going to leave to follow her sister.
As she stepped out of the room, she grabbed her elbow and started guiding her down the hall, all but dragging her into the small room that Vi had quickly claimed as her own.
“Uh- can I help you?” Jinx asked as Vi let her go and shut the door behind her.
“…Why don’t you want to see Vander?”
Jinx’s grin fell, she crossed her arms, almost hugging herself, “It’s not that, but, in case you didn’t notice, I got a lottathings to do, and unfortunately right now, cult trumps search party-”
“Don’t bullshit me.” Vi cut her off, but there was no fire behind her words, “Why don’t you want to see him?”
Jinx hesitated, glancing down at her shoes, sighing heavily, “He doesn’t even know.”
“Know what?”
“…that it was my fault.” Jinx shifted her weight from foot to foot, still looking down, “That if it weren’t for me… he wouldn’t have been hurt- he wouldn’t have been turned into-” Jinx cut herself off as she turned away, running her hands through her hair.
Vi sighed heavily, she hadn’t considered that, “Jinx… it wasn’t-”
“Don’t say it wasn’t my fault. We both know it was.”
The two sisters stood across each other, Vi trying to figure out what to say.
There was a time in which comforting her sister had been second nature, the right words always coming to her.
Now…
“He will forgive you. He recognized you too and… I know that, you didn’t really feel like his daughter, but he always saw you as one… he’ll forgive you. Especially when he sees all that you’re doing right now.”
Jinx didn’t look convinced.
Vi hesitated, she knew that they were still cautious about one another, that they weren’t close and that this was probably the second or third time they’d managed to talk without winding up in a fist fight but-
“Did something happen with Ekko?”
Jinx’s eyebrows shot up, “Why would you ask that?”
Vi shrugged, “Did it?”
Jinx scoffed, “It doesn’t matter.”
When she went to leave, Vi stopped her, gently grabbing her wrist, “I know we’re not… if you need or want to talk… I’m here.”
Jinx’s eyes softened ever so slightly despite the awkwardness in the offer, “…thanks. And I’m uh… I’m sorry about the whole Caitlyn situation, I know you’re probably a bit worried about her.”
Vi dropped her head, looking at the floor, shame unfurling in her stomach, “I shouldn’t… logically I shouldn’t worry or care about her anymore.”
“Yeah probably… but then again logically speaking… you probably shouldn’t care about me either.”
“That’s different.” Vi quickly refuted, looking up to meet her gaze, “You’re my sister.”
Jinx gave her a weak half smile, “I guess I am… you always had too big a heart you know?”
Vi returned the weak smile, “That’s what Vander used to say.”
“It’s not… a bad thing you know? Inconvenient sure, but- you know what I mean.”
Vi snorted, “You’re horrible at this comforting thing you know?”
Jinx rolled her eyes as she chuckled, “Shut up, like you’re any better.”
The two sisters went to leave the room, parting ways at the end of the hall.
Notes:
Whatever you do, don’t try to look up the sign Isha uses for Jinx
And finally, we’re getting to see Viktor and his cult!!! Very excited for that
Chapter 21: Sometimes the Monster you Ought to Fear Isn’t the One in Plain Sight (What Makes a Monster?)
Summary:
Jinx and Ekko visit the Herald
Vi goes to look for Vander
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Jinx was grateful that Ekko allowed them to walk in silence as they made their way deeper and deeper into Zaun.
They went past the industrial and residential areas of Zaun, passing and descending into the fissures and eventually reached what had one been a sinkhole that Jinx quietly thought of as some kind of black hole, serving as a place where Shimmer addicts could hide from the light and from sight.
But now-
“What the fuck…” Jinx trailed off as she and Ekko reached the bottom and saw… a field?
“This was… not in the reports.” Ekko quietly said as they started making their way through the field of weeds and patches of yellow flowers that ended at a large metal arc.
“No fucking shit.” Jinx whispered, almost afraid to disturb the sense of peace that hung in the air.
“Good evening.” A man appeared at the entrance to the… community? Cult? Assembly? Jinx could see metal and wooden stands and people working beyond the arc, “What brings you to our sanctuary?”
Ekko and Jinx exchanged a glance, Ekko stepping forward, “We wish to speak to the Herald.”
Jinx tilted her head as she inspected the man before her, feeling he was vaguely familiar. He was dressed in white robes, pieces of what almost seemed like… organic material or metal or a combination of both decorating his temples and cheeks, his eyes an unnatural silver color.
He, and everyone Jinx could catch glimpses of held themselves with an almost robotic level of serene-ness. It was… uncanny.
“You may see the Herald, but I’m afraid you will have to leave your weapons, they are not allowed within the sanctuary.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? What-”
“Jinx.” Ekko cut her off, placing a hand on her elbow, “Let’s just go with it.”
She scoffed, complying but complaining about it loudly as she took off her gunslinging belt and left behind her grenades and her hunting knife, Ekko leaving his mace and crystal bombs.
“That rule is bogus.” She grumbled as they stepped into the sanctuary, the man guiding them.
“It’s really not.”
“Who’s side are you on?”
The corner of Ekko’s lip rose slightly, not enough for a smirk though, they followed the man past stalls and playing children, all of them having the strange metal bits and silver eyes. She could tell Ekko was also unsettled by those particular traits.
They reached some kind of greenhouse, the man opening the door and stepping to the side, allowing them in.
The greenhouse was a marvel. With huge beautiful plants Jinx didn’t even have a name for bursting from pots and spilling over ledges.
A figure sat at the edge of a water fountain, slowly rising to their feet and half turning to them.
Jinx tensed up, not sure what to expect.
The Herald was a tall man with brown and silver hair reaching his shoulders and a blue robe reaching the floor.
The first thing that caught her attention somehow was that he didn’t have the strange organic metal stuck to his temples and his eyes were more blue than silver.
The second thing that caught her attention was the realization that the purple things on his arms weren’t sleeves made of strange metallic material.
No… this Herald was, at least partially, made of metal.
She could almost feel Ekko tensing up beside her as he came to the same realization.
“I have been expecting you.” The Herald spoke with an accent Jinx couldn’t place, fully turning around and revealing more of his metal body as he tilted his head, “I have heard much of your exploits. I hope you are not here to ask for soldiers.”
Ekko shook his head for a moment, discarding his surprise and quickly clearing his throat as he took a step closer, “No. It’s quite clear you’re not very interested in any kind of violence.”
He elbowed Jinx when she muttered ‘coward’ between her teeth.
The Herald took a second to glance to Jinx before turning to him again, “That would be correct. Are you here to be healed?”
Ekko took a moment, glancing to the side, managing to see through the glass of the greenhouse the people roaming around, eyes drawn to the metal swirls around their temples and the strange movements and the silver tones beneath their skin and in their eyes.
Were they all connected to the Herald?
Just what did he do to heal these people?
Ekko took a breath, choosing his next words carefully as he turned to the Herald, “Not exactly. We wondered if you might be able to help us grow viable crops.”
The Herald half frowned, “Is that so?”
“There was also word that the air down here is a bit cleaner.” Jinx interjected, walking up to the Herald and starting to walk around him as she inspected him, the man watching her in silence, “How’d you do that? We’ve been working on possible air filters but… well you might help give us a boost on that.”
The Herald slowly tilted his head as he considered, “This is a neutral, safe space. I am not interested in helping you on your war.”
“This isn’t about the war.” Ekko quickly said, stepping closer, “This is about helping Zaun. About making sure we have a way to keep getting clean air and grow our own food. I heard your whole purpose is to help Zaun, do you not think this counts as helping? Because-”
Ekko trailed off for a moment. Stepping closer allowed something in his brain to click, remembering a photo kept in a Piltover laboratory, a photo he’d asked Jayce about while he’d been snooping.
“Ekko?” Jinx’s eyes widened with worry at the way he’d stopped, fingertips grazing the sleeves of his coat.
“You’re Viktor. Aren’t you?” He questioned.
The Herald’s eyebrows half rose in surprise, “How did you know that?”
“I saw a picture of you in Jayce’s lab you… you were his partner. You helped create HexTech.” Ekko’s voice rose, fists clenched in anger as he looked at the metal skin again, fully understanding- “That’s also a product of HexTech right? What did you- all of this is HexTech?!”
“Whoa- hold up, you helped invent HexTech?” Jinx quickly questioned.
Viktor was still looking at Ekko, “Indeed… in another life.”
“All of this is HexTech?” Ekko asked again, “That’s how you cured those people? Some new HexTech thing?”
The Herald hummed before stepping back and going to walk deeper into the greenhouse, leaving them to follow behind, “I suppose you could say that. Before you attacked the Council we made a new discovery… but that is not important right now.”
“HexTech is corrupting things all around. The very ground on which we stand.” Ekko quickly told him, hurrying to be able to step in front of him, “You have to stop using it immediately.”
The Herald’s cheek twitched, like he wanted to scoff but couldn’t quite express it, “HexTech is the path to a better future, to a new era of pro-”
“If you say progress I swear-”
“Alright boys, are you really going to make me the reasonable one here?” Jinx questioned as she crossed her arms, not bothering to catch up with them, watching with a combination of interest and worry.
Ekko gritted his teeth together, meeting the Herald’s unwavering cold gaze, “Forget it. We want nothing to do with HexTech. Let’s go.”
He went to head down the hall to get the hell out of there.
Jinx stopped him, going to grab his wrist, “Hold up,” she turned to the Herald, stepping up to him, “alright, tell me this you metal fortune cookie. Rumor has it the Man of Progress’s partner was originally from Zaun. That true?”
That was bullshit. There was no rumor, in fact, up until he’d seen their lab, Ekko had had no idea the Man of Progress had a partner. Jayce had mentioned Viktor was originally from Zaun, Heimerdinger speaking of him as well, and he’d told Jinx. He wasn’t sure if she was trying to get under his skin or just pressure him.
Viktor watched her for a long moment before nodding.
“Let me guess, you fucked off to Piltover to work your ass off for a better life, became a co-creator of fucking HexTechjust to not get your due credit… and yet you forgot all about Zaun didn’t you?”
Viktor tensed up, accent thickening as tension entered his voice, “I did not-”
“You did.” Ekko interrupted, “Even before all of this bullshit- you had influence, you could’ve done something- anything! But no, you stayed in Piltover and focused on making HexTech a profit cow instead of doing anything helpful with it. You didn’t give a shit about Zaun up until you came back here as some kind of savior with technology you don’t even realize is poison.”
“You know nothing- I have always cared-”
“Then prove it tin man. Can you help us without using HexTech?” Jinx stepped in, “You’re a scientist aren’t ya? Can you help us make air filters and figure out how to grow crops?”
The Herald inspected them both before taking a deep breath, his serene calm returning as he spoke again, “I do not wish to get involved with the Revolution.”
***
Viktor knew what a slippery slope this was.
He didn’t want to get involved in anything to do with the Revolution that wasn’t healing and helping more people get a step closer to the glorious evolution.
He knew that if he got involved, there was some chance that he might get involved in the conflict with Piltover, which was the last thing he needed at the moment.
But right as he turned-
“Viktor.”
He sighed as he turned to the side.
Sky appeared further away than usual, sitting at the ledge of one of the fountains, drumming her fingers on the cover of a notebook.
Her notebook.
She gave him a pointed look.
It’d been her dream to help with the air situation of Zaun, it’d been the project she’d spent years on. Part of the project being what he’d used to slightly improve the quality of the air in the sanctuary.
“You said you wanted to help Zaun,” she said as she slowly rose to her feet, approaching, “did you mean it?”
He sighed, speaking to her in his mind, “We must focus on the glorious evolution.”
“Wouldn’t improving the conditions in Zaun help push us into that evolution?”
“You don’t know that.”
“Viktor.” She softly chastised, arriving at his side and going to inspect the children who’d been dubbed the King and Queen of Zaun, “Look at them. You know they care, it could be good to have some kind of partnership with them.”
“They don’t care to be connected, I can tell.”
“We can still help them. And who knows, they might help us.” She slipped her hand into his, fathom touch warming his skin, “You said you wanted to help Viktor. This is helping.”
He fully slipped back into the present, Jinx and Ekko both watching him with annoyance and anger clear in their eyes, Jinx about to go off on him.
“Tell me Powder, if I were to help you, what would I recieve in return?”
Jinx frowned at the name, drawing back before snarling, “You don’t exactly strike me as a business man. But theoretically, what would you want?”
He tilted his head, inspecting the girl, “Do you have access to any HexSpheres?”
Jinx didn’t react, no muscle flinched or twitched, “No.”
Viktor almost chuckled, the girl was a good liar. Somehow, in some strange way she almost reminded him of Mel in that moment.
“I want nothing in exchange for helping with the air and crops.” He made his way to where he’d left Sky’s notebook, meeting her gaze, waiting for her quiet nod of approval before he turned back to Ekko, handing him the notebook, “An old friend worked for a long time on a project related to that, well… she was more interested in helping with the air pollution but with some modifications it might just be useful to cleanse the dirt into viable soil. She was yet to figure out an effective release mechanism, but given what I’ve heard of you two, I think you might just be able to figure it out. I can help with the construction of it.”
Ekko slowly took the notebook, clearly doubting him, opening it and starting to skim through it, “This ‘old friend’ of yours. Who was she?”
“…Sky Young. Another scientist from Zaun.”
“So that’s it? Just like that you’ll help us?” He questioned, Jinx going to read the journal over his shoulder, leaning against his arm.
“Under the condition that you don’t try to involve me in anything else. I can help you construct whatever is necessary.”
Ekko was annoyed by that, but quietly relented.
“We’ll take a look at this, we’ll return when we have potential designs.”
“Very well.”
Ekko all but walked backwards, keeping an eye on the Herald as he and Jinx went to leave, Huck waiting at the entrance to escort them out.
Viktor watched the two as they made their way towards the metal arc, clearly on guard and keeping a close eye on anything and everything that moved around them, searching for threats.
As he turned, pain suddenly stung at his middle, Viktor grunting, grinding his teeth together as he leaned against one of the potted plants, Sky frowning in worry, starting to reach out, Viktor quickly raising a hand to remind her not to touch him when this happened.
The more… instinctive side of the HexCore now imbedded into his being was becoming… louder as of late, more desperate for the Glorious Evolution.
It was a powerful, unnatural and constant pressure at the back of Viktor’s mind. He didn’t know what that part of the HexCore… of him would do if it were to take control of him, to do what it so clearly wanted to do and fully consume Viktor’s mind.
Sky believed the ‘consciousness’ of the HexCore would have more destructive means of ‘helping’. Viktor was more inclined to believe that the HexCore’s methods would simply be more… unnatural.
“The boy said HexTech is poisoning the ground.” Sky started cautiously as his mind slipped into the astral plane, reaching out to help him stand fully upright, “Do you think it might be true?”
“We both know it’s true.” He gestured to the strings all around them, the ones of a deeper silver tone marking the places where the very core of HexTech was expanding, “But it is not a poison. It is salvation, they simply do not realize it yet.”
Sky half frowned, following his gaze to the astral threads that tied the very universe together, inspecting the silver ones, “So then what is your plan? Will you help them despite having different goals? Despite them clearly not believing in HexTech? In the Evolution?”
Viktor hesitated for a moment.
The HexCore was not happy about him agreeing to help the children. But…
“Your research deserves to be known. I know how much it meant to you… at least I do now. And you said it yourself, this is helping Zaun take a step closer to Evolution.”
She gave him a tiny half smile at the mention of her work, tilting her head, hesitating before continuing, “Did it perhaps get under your skin? What they said about you forgetting Zaun once you’d reached a good job in Piltover?”
Viktor sighed heavily, taking a few steps in the astral plane with Sky, “Maybe… I never had much power… but I could’ve pushed. I could’ve spoken up more… especially after Jayce became a Councilor but… there is nothing to be done now but move forward.”
Sky looked like she didn’t fully believe him, but relented, nodding as they exited the astral plane to get back to work.
***
As she made her way through the mines, Vi tried to distract herself by going over the to-do list they’d made towards the end of their meeting.
While Ekko and Jinx would indeed be paying the Herald a visit to figure out if he could help them, they knew that, even if they miraculously could start growing their own crops, it wouldn’t be enough to sustain them once the preserved stuff ran out.
So Sevika, Arol and Scar had opted to start investigating where they could import supplies from at a reasonable price.
There was also an entire overhaul reviewing the security set up at the border and the base given that they were now officially at war.
They’d also be periodically tuning in to the radio frequencies Piltover used sometimes to give out messages, just in case, though Vi held secret hopes that-
No.
No.
She shouldn’t hold out any hope of catching news of Caitlyn. She really shouldn’t.
She sighed heavily as she found another track in the mud of the mines.
She’d managed to find a few footprints, too big to be human, claw imprints making it clear just who had left them behind. But somehow, they pretty much seemed to lead nowhere.
Vi kept following them though, determined to do everything she could to find her dad.
“Vander?!” She called out, her voice echoing off the cavern-like walls, “Dad?! Are you here?”
Silence for a long moment, then right as Vi was about to continue down the mineshaft-
Shuffling.
Slight shuffling to her right, down a dark passageway that broke away from the mineshafts and the somewhat-marked-path.
Vi didn’t hesitate, following the noise, guiding herself with the light of her gauntlets.
Thankfully, it only took a minute of searching before the dim light of her gauntlets caught something just to her left.
A silent pair of eyes, one golden-brown and the other an icy blue.
“Dad.” She sighed in relief, letting her gauntlets open and carefully setting them down, the light still allowing her just enough visibility as she went to take a step closer and-
Vander shrunk back, watching her.
“…dad… it’s me. It’s Vi.”
“Vio…let.”
“Yes, yes it’s me.” She tried to get closer again only for Vander to shrink back again, she got the message, allowing some distance but frowning, “Dad?”
Vander half-growled, half-whimpered, raising his claws to inspect them, “Dan…ger.”
“What do you mean?” Vi quickly went to inspect their surroundings, “Where’s the danger dad?”
She turned to him and-
oh.
He thought he was dangerous.
“Dad- no, come on, it’s you.” Vi tried to plead, crouching down since he seemed to be making himself as small as possible, and even then she still had to look up at him, “You’d never hurt me.”
“…already did.”
Vi quietly winced, “You didn’t know it was me. And I already forgave you.”
Vander just lowered his head in shame.
He was ashamed, maybe terrified of what he’d become, what he’d been made into.
Vi moved slowly, Vander not moving a muscle as she shifted until she was leaning against him, the two sitting side by side like old times, fur tickling her side and almost making her sneeze where she leaned her head against his arm.
She was starting to realize that finding Vander wouldn’t be the hard part, he’d barely been hiding.
No, convincing him that he wasn’t a danger -to them-, wasn’t a monster, that would be the hard part.
How long would it take her to convince him to return with her to base?
It didn’t matter. She didn’t care.
If he wanted to stay in the mines for the time being, then she’d visit everyday and drag Jinx and Ekko down until Vander understood what she already did just sitting next to him.
That it was still him. Still Vander.
The same Vander who’d taken her in and who’d had endless patience with her and had raised her as his own.
He’d taken her in, taken care of her when she’d had no one. She could do the same for him now.
She felt the determination setting in as she carefully placed a hand over his own, eyes running over the protruding tendons and long blood-stained claws, leaning further against him.
Vi would figure out how to help her dad.
No matter what.
Notes:
Ahhhhhhhhhhh, I was real nervous to write for Viktor, really hope you liked my take on him, I tried to make him mostly Viktor since in my mind, when he’s the Herald he’s the one in control and the HexCore is just barely influencing them, I treat the HexCore almost like a separate identity
I love Sky, and, even though I’ve read that some of the writers intended for her appearance in the astral plane and visions to be a manifestation of the HexCore- that’s bogus to me, that was Sky’s ghost, presence, whatever yall want to call it and I write her as such, also, I’ve read that Sky’s work involved the yellow flowers outside of Viktor’s cult area and that we see Claggor working with in the AU world (I headcannon that in the AU world Sky managed to create a prototype and that’s what Claggor was carrying around), I’ll be explaining that whole thing a bit more in the next chapters
finally, for Vander, I write him a bit more… human? Like- he doesn’t remember everything but is able to reign in his more animalistic traits/instincts, especially when Vi is there to remind him of who he is, it won’t be easy but he didn’t lose all his memories (therefore they won’t be taking him to Viktor)
Also also also, we’ll get some more of Ekko’s thoughts on Viktor and HexTech next chapter
Next chapter will be posted on Friday, it’ll be a shorter one that usual but is a very necessary one and it will be titled… Just a Baby Born Blue
(So excited but also scared for that chapter…)
Chapter 22: Just a Baby Born Blue
Summary:
Ekko learns a truth
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ekko and Jinx made their way back to the metal arc in silence, both quietly taking in everything around them, the people and tools and crates and spurting seeds.
They made it to the arc and took back their weapons, all but ignoring whatever weird shit the man guiding them was saying about the ‘greatness of the Herald’, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.
As they began the walk through the field of weeds, Ekko turned to Jinx, “Tin man? Metal fortune cookie? Seriously?”
She grinned, jumping as she tapped his shoulders and going to snatch the notebook from his hands, “I say it as I see it. Now tell me, do we trust him?”
“…I don’t know.” Ekko sighed heavily, “He’s… strange. But that seems to have potential.” He pointed at the notebook Jinx was skimming through.
“It’s all based around a species of yellow flower.” She gently ran a finger over a plastic baggie that had been taped onto one of the pages, holding dozens of golden seeds, “Apparently the species has the ability to absorb contaminants at a micro level and release them as pure air but doesn’t have the best system to absorb contaminants that were more than a meter away, this Sky was working on designing a machine to help the plant have a further reach and get to more contaminants. They literally eat contamination.”
“That must be why the air down here is a bit better.” Ekko gestured to small patches of yellow flowers sporadically planted along the field, “The flowers get the contamination they can but this Herald didn’t help improve the capture system of the plant… why did he change his mind?”
“He didn’t. He still wants nothing to do with the Revolution.”
“No but- he wasn’t going to help at all and then he just… yielded.”
Jinx shrugged, “Who knows how cult leaders think? But… I mean this notebook… it’s literally all about air contamination… maybe he realized he didn’t really have to do much at all.”
Ekko stayed quiet, Jinx rolling her eyes and going to walk backwards to meet his gaze.
“The whole HexTech thing bothers you doesn’t it?”
Ekko sighed, “Yes. But as long as we can get help out of him without using anymore of it, I guess we’ll work together.”
“How do you reckon he wound up all purple-y?”
“Who knows… there were a bunch of weird scribbles and blueprints in his lab, stuff I couldn’t even make sense off, maybe they meddled with it a little too much.”
“If he’s using HexTech or something similar to heal people… it almost seems like they’re connected.”
“It does.” Ekko quietly shook his head, “That can’t be good. I have a bad feeling about that… but for now he doesn’t seem to have any bad intentions so let’s just… file that problem away for later.”
Jinx said nothing, turning around once more and returning to the page she’d paused on.
They continued their ascent back to the higher parts of Zaun, taking turns inspecting the notebook and starting to trade possible ideas for what they could make.
As they got closer back to base, Jinx started fidgeting with the cuffs of her half-deconstructed blue jacket, “Ya think Vi found anything?”
Ekko took a moment to look at her, noticing how she now seemed to be inspecting the floor, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she did… you alright?”
Jinx quickly nodded, “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Ekko quietly shook his head, “Well… you don’t seem very excited by the idea of Vi finding Vander.”
Jinx scoffed, “Oh what? Just cause I’m not jumping up and down in excitement doesn’t mean I don’t want to see him.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Ekko told her, annoyed, they were past this, “Why are you nervous about Vi finding Vander? I know it might be hard but… I really think there’s still some part of his personality in there, the look in his eyes… he spoke. I think we might be able to get him back in a way.”
Jinx stopped entirely, pressing her lips together as she further fidgeted with her sleeves, “That’s… that’s what worries me.”
“…what?”
Jinx closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before meeting his gaze, “I’m worried he’ll remember.”
“…why?”
“Because if he remembers… I’ll have to tell him what I did.”
Ekko slowly shifted his weight to properly face her, anxiety starting to thrum from his stomach and out towards his limbs as he fully registered that Jinx was completely serious, an almost haunted look in her eyes, “And… what did you do?”
Jinx chuckled humorlessly, tears springing to her eyes as she looked away, placing her hands on her hips as she moved around a bit more, “Oh he’ll hate me- you’ll hate me. You’ll finally realize that you don’t want me.”
“Jinx that won’t happen-”
“It was my fault.” The words toppled out of her mouth, like they’d been waiting at the tip of her tongue for years, “It was all my fault.”
Ekko shook his head, “Jinx there was nothing you could’ve done, you-”
“I set off a bomb.”
He froze at that, Jinx had crossed her arms, staring him down with eyes filled with tears and determination, “…what?”
The whole tale spilled out of Jinx, she wasn’t even sure how she managed to get through her confession.
She explained how Vi had left her behind, how furious that had made her. But she just wanted to help- she wanted to help- she wanted to help.
She could almost see it in her minds eye as she told Ekko about the bomb she’d built, the very first of her bombs to work. She saw the slow realization and horror in his eyes when she told him how she’d used what she hadn’t known at the time to be unstable HexSpheres.
She told him how the bomb had worked.
How it’d worked too well.
shedidntmeanto
How Claggor and Mylo had been killed in the initial explosion, crushed to death.
shedidntmeanto
Vander had been injured and the warehouse had been burning so badly that he’d launched himself out a window with Vi to get out of there.
shejustwantedtohelp
Jinx hadn’t intended to include Vi’s reaction in her tale, how she’d struck her and branded her as a jinx and how she’d thought she’d abandoned her bitting the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood to keep that part to herself.
She’d never actually spoken about that night. Silco knew what had happened mostly thanks to being there and overhearing what Jinx had said in her nightmares the first few months after he’d taken her in.
But she’d never spoken about what she’d done that night.
Had never had to see someone’s reaction to her actions.
Ekko looked horrified, eyes widening with every one of her words.
She was desperate to turn away, to freeze everything and escape the inevitable crumbling of his trust in her, of their friendship and… everything between them.
But she wouldn’t run from this. She deserved it.
She deserved to see his horror, she deserved to be repulsive to him, she deserved for him to blame her for losing part of his family, the boys he’d seen as brothers, Vander and Vi- even Benzo, she’d been the one to uncover the unstable HexSpheres and accidentally cause the explosion in Piltover that’d started this entire thing in the first place.
She deserved it. She knew she did.
And yet, a part of her couldn’t help but try to plead, to stop the inevitability of losing Ekko, of losing his care and companionship and-
“I didn’t mean to-” watery words spilled out at the same time as her tears, whispers creeping in on her as she hugged herself, stumbling back, as if putting distance between them would stop the look in Ekko’s eyes, “I just wanted to help I- I- I didn’t know-”
Ekko finally seemed to snap out of the stupor he’d been in, reaching out as Jinx squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself, shrinking in on herself, ready for the hit or the scream or the accusation that was surely coming now that he knew who and what she truly was and-
He grabbed her elbow.
But instead of throwing her down or shoving her away or grabbing her by the shoulders to better scream at her-
He pulled her in, wrapping his arms tightly around her, tucking her head under his chin.
“You- you’ve been carrying this with you this whole time?” He asked, voice cracking and breaking in despair.
Not despair of her she realized confused, but despair for her.
“What… Ekko- did you hear what I just said?” She questioned through her tears, almost angry.
Didn’t he understand what she’d done?
She shoved him away, wiping at her face aggressively as she tried to understand what the devastated look on his face meant, “Don’t you fucking get it? It’s my fault. Everything it’s all my fault-” her voice broke, Mylo standing over Ekko’s shoulder, watching her, making sure she took responsibility for killing him, for ruining them all, “I blew up the warehouse- I blew up that fucking Piltover apartment that started all of this bullshit in the first place! I- I killed Mylo and Claggor- I thought I’d killed Vander and Vi- I killed my dad… I almost killed you.”
She gestured wildly, trying to not react at the way Mylo was prowling about.
Ekko rushed forwards, going to cup her face, pressing their foreheads together, voice set with determination even though his eyes were filled with tears, “You were a kid Jinx. You just wanted to help, you didn’t know what those Spheres were, you couldn’t have known what they would do.”
“…I killed them.”
He pressed his lips together for a moment, sniffling, “You made a mistake. A horrific, awful mistake… but it was a mistake. You wanted to help and didn’t know how.”
Jinx pulled away again, turning and running her hands through her hair, pulling at it, “Why aren’t you angry? Why aren’t you upset?! How can you just be fine with this?!”
“I am not fine with this! How could I be fine with this?! I-” Ekko cut himself off for a moment, trying to take a deep breath, “I wish you’d told me! I wish you’d come to me! We both lost everyone that night I- I- we could’ve figured something out together-”
“Oh come on Ekko! You would’ve hated me if I’d told you-”
“I wouldn’t have-”
“You would! You would have!”
“No I-”
“VI DID!”
Ekko froze at that, at the haunted pain and wild tears in Jinx’s eyes, “…what?”
Jinx sniffed, wiping snot away with the back of her hand, turning away, “After it happened… when Vi realized what I’d done… she hit me… said that Mylo had been right and that I was a jinx… then she left. She says now that she just needed a moment… that she was taken before she could come back… but…”
“You didn’t know that.”
Jinx hugged herself, shaking, head jerking every few seconds as she relieved the painful memory, Vi’s words had once been a constant, bouncing and echoing in her skull, it’d been a while since they’d been on a loop though, “Silco found me… and when I told him Vi’d left me… he saw himself in me… and I… I couldn’t imagine going to find you… telling you. If the truth of that night was enough for Vi to turn against me…” she paused for a moment, meeting his eyes through the strands of hair she’d messed up by pulling at them, “I couldn’t have bore it if you hated me too… not you.”
Ekko watched her for a long moment, trying to figure out what to say.
What could he possibly say to that?
In truth he had no idea how he might’ve reacted if she’d actually shown up that night, found a way to run from Silco and find him… he wanted to think that maybe he would’ve been angry at first, or shocked, but he wouldn’t have deserted her… never.
He watched her, this beautiful disastrous mess that’d mesmerized him for as long as he’d known her.
This force of nature contained in pale skin, blue hair, unnatural eyes and fainted scars that was somehow everything he was missing, everything he needed.
This echo of could-have-beens and should-have-beens wrapped up in so much fear and guilt and trauma that she refused to believe she could still have what should have always been theirs. What could still be theirs dammit.
He took a step closer, quiet relief alleviating the weight on his chest slightly when she didn’t instantly pull away.
“Jinx-”
She winced at the name, an ever so slight thing he might’ve missed if he hadn’t been inspecting every detail.
“…P-”
Nope. That would be even worse.
He was pretty sure that was the worst thing that he could possibly do.
Ekko approached almost like she was a skittish street cat he didn’t want to scare. She stepped back when he went to reach for her, but he tried again, managing to place a hand under her elbow, speaking as softly as he could, “Listen Blue… it wasn’t your-”
“Don’t.” Her voice cracked as she spoke through gritted teeth, big eyes on him, “Please don’t lie Ekko. It was my fault. I can’t escape that.”
He swallowed.
It had been her fault. It’d been the consequence of her actions, even if she’d wanted to help.
She was right, there was no escaping that… that was the truth.
“It was an accident.” And he couldn’t let her forget that.
Because that was also the truth.
Jinx watched him for a long moment, trying to find something in his gaze, “That doesn’t change what happened.”
“No… but it still matters. You were trying to help. How were you ever meant to cope with something like that? I-” he broke off, gently pulling her against him, Jinx not fighting him, instead collapsing against him, “I don’t hate you for what happened Blue. And whether or not it was your fault, I don’t blame you for it either. I won’t hold it against you. It was an accident… it was an accident.”
Jinx sniffled against his chest, starting to cry again, going to wrap her arms around him, Ekko quickly tightening his hold on her, pressing a kiss against the top of her head.
Jinx shook against him, Ekko all but holding her up, supporting her weight, “I don’t get it- how are you not mad?”
He sighed heavily, “It happened a long time ago, and again… you didn’t mean to. And you… you mean too much to me to lose you all over again- I can’t- I can’t lose you again Blue. I can’t believe you’ve been carrying this on your own for so long-” his voice broke, Ekko squeezing her as if he might be able to show her just how much it pained him to know-
Know this and that she’d lived with it for so long.
It made sense now, in the most devastating way, why she’d embraced Jinx as her name, why she was so adamant that she would ruin everything, so adamant that she’d wind up hurting him.
Maybe even… Ekko could imagine maybe this had been why she’d refused to leave with him all those years ago… maybe she hadn’t just been choosing Silco, maybe she’d thought she was protecting him, from herself.
Ekko cursed under his breath, now he knew why she was so convinced of being a curse.
Jinx slowly pulled back, Ekko quickly shifting to cup her face as she did her best to wipe away her tears, “Are you alright?” He asked quietly.
She snorted wetly, letting him help wipe the tears away with his thumbs, “Ask me tomorrow?”
He chuckled weakly, letting her fully take a step back and allowing them to fall into silence for a long moment, “…thank you… for telling me… for trusting me with that.”
She half shrugged, eyes on the floor, “Thank you for… not freaking out on me.”
“Anytime Blue.”
She scrunched up her nose, tilting her head, “Blue?”
“You’re not a jinx.” He said as softly as he could.
She pressed her lips together for a moment, “You know… when I first started going by ‘Jinx’… Silco said that maybe I could embrace being a jinx not to the people close to me, but to my enemies, to those who’d treat Zaun like dirt… I didn’t really listen to him at the time but… now I think I get why he said it, what he was trying to say. He’d probably be annoyed that I’m only taking his advice post-mortem but… I think I’m starting to see it that way so… you don’t have to worry about calling me Jinx. I still prefer it over… anything else.”
Ekko nodded along, though he’d be thinking about that.
Jinx hesitated as she watched him, a part of her wondering if this was some kind of dream, if it was truly possible for him to just… forgive her in a sense for what she’d done.
Unless…
Mylo whispered in her ear. Why would he just… forgive her? Not blame her? Maybe because…
“Ekko… if you’re- if… if you’re only alright with me because you’re prioritizing the Revolution or you’re afraid that if you get mad at me I’ll leave you all-”
He quickly shook his head, “This has nothing to do with the Revolution. I’m not doing or reacting in any way that I don’t want to. Don’t worry about that.”
Jinx watched him for a long moment, looking for any sign of discomfort, or anger, any sign that he was lying for the ‘greater good’ and all of that.
She found none.
She went to hug herself, trying to keep the tears of relief and disbelief at bay, “Okay… thanks again for… not freaking out on me.”
Ekko hesitated, not sure if he should say what was on his mind but-, “It’s gonna take a whole lot more than that to freak me out.”
Her nose scrunched up, like she was still trying to figure him out before giving him a small smirk, “Don’t say shit like that, I might just take it as a challenge.”
He rolled his eyes, throwing an arm over her shoulders both to reassure himself that she was still at his side and in case she still wasn’t fully convinced that his view of her hadn’t changed… at least not for the worse, “Come on, let’s go home.”
Notes:
Ah, so Ekko knows! And now Timebomb take one step closer to being together yay!!!!
Also, I really want Ekko to have some kind of nickname for Jinx, I’m still tentative on it being blue, it’s a bit basic but I like it and it’s cute, but he’ll prob be alternating between that and ‘Jinx’
really hope you liked this chapter, I was super excited for this particular convo
Chapter 23: Forgive the Children We Once Were
Summary:
Isha wants her parents to just get together already
Ekko has to make a hard call
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Jinx watched, she sat on the desk and quietly watched as Ekko went to write on the wall/blackboard, reworking their tentative calculations and half-made potential machinery sketches.
She inspected him as he dragged the chalk across the wall, trying to find any tiny sign that he was hiding his anger, that he secretly wished for her to get out and leave him alone.
She found none. She’d found nothing since she’d told him the truth of the night Silco had taken over Zaun, since he’d held her, since they’d headed back- back home.
Once they’d gotten back, they’d been quickly informed by Sevika, Arol and Scar that they’d found a few potential options to start trading in, in order to import meat products and a few other things, Jinx and Ekko had poured over every letter, proposal and document, Jinx being taken back to countless hours spent in the rafters while Silco rambled about contracts and how to make a good deal, the man loved a good monologue.
He would’ve had a field day pouring over the dozens of pages of business talk.
They had agreed to leave that discussion for the following day after Sevika had proposed using Shimmer medicine as their main trading proposal and Ekko and Scar had nearly popped several blood vessels right there and then.
Vi had gotten back at some point, mostly to gather food and a few blankets, explaining that she thought it’d be for the best for Vander to stay in the mines for the time being and asking Jinx whether or not after taking over the Last Drop, Silcohad kept any of Vander’s old stuff.
Jinx knew Silco had indeed kept a few things and had stuffed them in the deepest corner of the basement, she’d go back to see if she could find them, but had suggested maybe waiting a bit before showing those to Vander since they didn’t know how he might react to reminders of his old life.
Isha was standing on a chair, drawing flowers and monkeys and figures, doodling along the margins Ekko’s sketches, Ekko keeping a hand on the back of the chair to make sure it didn’t topple over while inspecting his drawings.
Seeing that made affection burn in her chest.
She gently shook her head as she tried to return her attention to the sketches scattered over the desk.
Instantly she heard the small stomp of Isha jumping down from the chair and going to tug at her jacket with a pout.
Jinx quickly turned fully to her, “What’s wrong?”
Isha pointed at Ekko then wove her right hand in front of her face with only four fingers up, the sign for ignore.
“I’m not ignoring him.” She said as she lowered her voice, “What are you talking about?”
She just stared at her, unimpressed.
Jinx gently ran a hand through her hair, “Drop it bug.”
Isha rolled her eyes but seemed to relent, going to climb up on Jinx’s chair to climb on to the desk, legs swinging back and forth as she watched them work, going to doodle on the blueprints they’d already discarded, transforming tentative but faulty chamber designs into animals and ships.
“What do you think of this?” Ekko asked, Jinx turning to inspect the sketch he’d just finished, going to stand at his side.
“Mmm…” she picked up one of the chalks, going to make some edits, “Maybe if we add some more valves? I feel like we could make almost… if we added plastic pipes to suck in air to deliver to the plant would that work?”
“I feel like we might overwhelm the flowers then… maybe if we could program it to be a gradual drip of air?”
Jinx chewed on her lip, “What if… instead of designing almost a carrier we could make some kind of dome, simpler, and we can make them big enough to cover multiple flowers.”
“I like that idea… but what about the soil? The whole reason we were thinking about making carriers was because it’d make it easier to monitor the soil and make sure we’ve effectively lowered the contamination in it enough for the flowers to grow.”
Jinx groaned, rolling her eyes, “Why can’t anything ever be easy?”
“Let’s take a break for now, we can keep brainstorming after the meeting tomorrow to figure out what to do with this.” Ekko said as he went to rub his temples, closing his eyes.
Jinx gently bumped him, “You good?”
“Yeah, just tired.”
They both turned at the sound of Isha giving a huge yawn, both quietly chuckling, “Looks like you’re not the only one.” Jinx teased as she went to pick up Isha, who leaned against her chest but shook her head when she went towards the door, pointing to Ekko’s bed.
Jinx frowned, “You wanna stay with Ekko?” She asked, trying her best to not sound hurt, even though the idea of Isha preferring to stay with Ekko pained her to the core despite the fact that she knew the kid might just be craving something different or novel.
Isha shook her head, tugging at Jinx’s shirt and pointing at the bed again, turning to her with big, pleading eyes.
Oh the little shi-
“You wanna stay with both of us?” Ekko asked, already blushing as he fully registered what Isha wanted.
Jinx rued the day she’d encouraged the kid to use her cuteness to get what she wanted from Sevika and Scar as the kid shyly nodded and titled her head further into Jinx’s chest.
Though admittedly some part of her was also proud of her kid.
Ekko shot her a glance, clearly trying to assess how she felt about Isha’s request, but Jinx was watching the top of Isha’s head, trying to signal to her mentally to meet her gaze, the kid wouldn’t and Jinx knew it was because she’d start giggling if she did.
He cleared his throat, “You girls can take the bed, and I’ll-”
Isha made a protesting sound, making grabby hands at Ekko. It was clear she wasn’t gonna let this go.
Damn who’d raised this kid?
Again, if only Jinx could manage to stop being proud of the little shit’s gentle manipulation and masterful use of cuteness.
She remembered countless times she’d used a well placed head tilt and pleading eyes to get Silco to fold to whatever she wanted.
Was this karma?
She was pretty sure this was karma.
Jinx sighed in defeat, gently bumping her head against Isha’s, the kid giggling as she rubbed their hair together, “You win kid. Come on.”
She placed Isha on the bed, hesitating before heading towards the small wooden cabinet Ekko used as a dresser, opening it and casually taking out a shirt.
“What are you doing?” Ekko asked as he went to refill their glasses of water in his small sink.
Jinx placed the shirt on the bed, smiling to herself, already knowing she was about to fluster him, “Getting comfortable.”
She went to take off the shirt she was currently wearing, Ekko whipping around with a small half-hiss, half-curse to give her some semblance of privacy, Isha laughing at his reaction.
Jinx tossed her own shirt to Isha, since she’d been wearing one that’d be long enough for her to wear as a camisole, slipping on Ekko’s.
She ignored the fact that the shirt smelled like him, this was more about giving Isha some comfort than her herself having comfort, she’d only barely recently started having actual ‘night clothes’ after all. And she had a feeling Isha wouldn’t want to head to her room to pick up their pajamas.
…getting to tease Ekko was just a bonus.
Ekko cleared his throat, grabbing another older shirt and heading to his bathroom, shutting the door behind him, Isha and Jinx both chuckling before Jinx went to help Isha take off her shoes and get comfy.
“I know what you’re trying to do you know.” Jinx told her as she went to fold her clothes and Isha adjusted her make-shift camisole.
Isha just batted her eyelashes innocently.
“You’re a lot more devious than you let on you know? Respect.”
Ekko emerged from the bathroom, having changed into his own night clothes, trying to keep his eyes on the ground as he rummaged through his drawers to toss a pair of soft Piltover sweatpants to Jinx.
A few more minutes and they were in bed, Isha between them, eyes already falling shut from sleepiness, it was a bit late for the kid.
Jinx gently traced the hair framing Isha’s face, humming under her breath to get her to fall asleep quicker and easier, Ekko watching them both with a fond look in his eyes.
He waited until Isha’s breathing evened out before speaking in a hushed whisper, “Hey… are you alright?”
She shrugged, “I guess. I suppose I just…” she glanced up at him for a split second, “A part of me keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop… I’m still surprised you don’t blame me for… everything.”
Ekko sighed.
The feeling in his chest when she’d told him wasn’t quite anger. No.
It was despair. Grief. Dread for the girl and the boy they’d once been.
They’d never stood a chance had they?
Dread still clung to his heart when he thought back to all his interactions with Jinx back when they’d be enemies, the solitude and pain behind her eyes that he now knew the cause of.
She’d spent all those years punishing herself, blaming herself, believing herself to be a monster and (he was almost sure) living with voices in her head.
He had a feeling it might take some time for Jinx to fully accept the fact that he wouldn’t turn his back on her.
And he couldn’t even really blame her for that, not when she’d spent so long hating herself.
But maybe…
There was one last thing to say…
“You know… I also blamed myself for a long time.”
“What?” Jinx finally tore her eyes away from Isha, inspecting him, “Why would you blame yourself?”
Ekko went quiet for a moment. And somehow he understood that fear that’d been in Jinx’s eyes earlier.
Would she blame him? Could he even fault her if she did?
…damn, understanding Jinx’s feelings was not a fun experience.
“Because… I’m the one who gave Claggor the tip to the Piltover apartment, remember?”
Jinx blinked in surprise, she didn’t remember everything about that day, of the failed robbery that was the first domino to fall for the events that would make her into Silco’s daughter. That would cause her mind to further shatter and make it hard to recall certain things that weren’t her mistakes-
There, amongst the scattered memories of that fateful day, the fragment of what had at the time been an insignificant conversation.
‘How did you know about this place?’
‘It was a tip from little man.’
‘Little man?’
Oh…
“If I hadn’t told you about that place… maybe none of this would’ve happened.” Ekko confessed in a whisper as he gently lifted Isha’s limp hand, running a thumb over her tiny knuckles, “I guess you could say we’re both at fault… or maybe all the fault lies with me. After all if you hadn’t gone there… you wouldn’t have had the unstable HexSpheres.”
“I didn’t remember that…” Jinx watched the guilt and shame etched in Ekko’s face as he refused to meet her gaze, still watching Isha.
“I did… those first few months I… I really hated myself. I felt like it was all my fault… sound familiar?”
“…well it sounds dumb when you say it.” Jinx felt her eyes filling up, reaching out to place a hand over Ekko’s wrist, “I’m guessing you didn’t quite take the self-destructive route like little old me?”
That got the smallest snort out of him, “I met Scar and some others and… eventually I managed to grow past it… forming the Firelights, trying to fight for Zaun, all of that helped but… it was always there in some shape or form at the back of my mind, even if I could go months at a time without thinking about it. Do you… do you-”
“I don’t blame you.” Jinx quickly said, “Don’t think I could even if I wanted to.”
She remembered the two desperate kids they once were.
Desperate to help, to be part of the ‘gang’, to work for their keep and be respected by the undercity.
She could only imagine how excited Ekko must’ve been to have a good tip for them, to be able to say that he’d ‘staked out’ a possible bounty.
She remembered the pride beneath the fear when Vi had agreed to let her go on the job.
She remembered the tangle of rage and panic and indignation and helplessness forming knots in her chest and throat and behind her eyes when Vi had refused to let her come on the mission to save Vander.
How desperate she’d been.
When she saw it from that perspective, especially now that she was older and could fully realize just how young, how small they’d been… she found she couldn’t truly blame the children they’d once been.
She reached out slowly, gently tracing his eyebrow, Ekko leaning into her touch, “What a pair we make huh?”
He shook his head but gave her a weak smile, taking her hand and placing it against his cheek, pressing a kiss against her palm, “If I can believe you when you say you don’t blame me… can you believe me when I say the same?”
She watched him for a long moment, sniffing and wiping at her nose, Ekko reaching out, placing a hand over her waist, the soft weight more reassuring than she would’ve ever cared to admit, thumbing at the fabric of his shirt.
Finally she half shrugged, trying to downplay the emotion in her voice, “I suppose.”
He nodded along, clearly trying not to cry as he let himself fully collapse on his pillow, gently squeezing her waist, “No more secrets?”
Jinx pulled her hand away, placing it over Isha, pulling her against her chest as she scooted a bit closer to him, “No more secrets.” She quietly agreed.
“…good night.”
“Good night.”
***
It wasn’t until two days later that they could finally have a meeting to discuss the possible trading deals.
Jinx sat, trying her best not to roll her eyes or her head as Arol and Scar went over who it was they were seeking to trade with, the terms of the deals if they were to pay and the terms if they were to trade something their partners wanted.
They wrote on the wall, marking the best possible deals and what they could perhaps do to get the ball rolling.
Gert cleared her throat at some point, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for rebuilding the economy and what not but… we don’t have a whole lot to trade and… where would we get the money for these trades from? I know Silco’s coffers are still pretty full since we haven’t really had to spend all that much so far but if we want to provide for all of Zaun… realistically that money would only last us for- a year at most. And I don’t think that’d be enough to stabilize our own economy enough to be able to keep purchasing from these people.”
“You’re right kid.” Sevika said as she stood up, placing her fists on the table, leaning forwards, her shadow falling over Ekko, who was seemingly trying to drill a hole into the table with his stare, “Which is why I say we actually use our most valuable resource as a trading chip. Shimmer.”
“No-”
“Let me finish Ekko. Believe it or not, I’ve never been a fan of the drug version of Shimmer, I’m not proposing that we sell the drug, I am proposing we take advantage of the medicine version.”
“Any version can be used as a drug!” Ekko declared as he also got up, slamming his hands against the table, “You’ve seen the dangers of Shimmer up close and personal, I am not letting us release that fucking monstrosity to other nations that won’t know any better! The second one of them abuses Shimmer you know we’ll be creating addicts!”
“I mean- they wouldn’t know that though.” Gert advocated with an apologetic look in her eyes as Ekko whipped to look at her, “I’m just saying, very few people outside of Zaun even know about Shimmer. Why not just sell it as a medicine and just caution very heavily against using it too much, we can say it can become toxic with enough accumulation or something?”
“It’s not safe.” Ekko argued, “If this goes wrong and people wind up addicts, we could have an international crisis in our hands, not to mention they might just cut all ties with us for it.”
“Not to mention,” Vi joined in, leaning back in her chair, arms crossed as she inspected the map, “If even one person outside of Zaun finds out about the booster version of Shimmer, they’re likely to try and replicate it. I assume you all remember the original shimmer soldiers? The whole reason Silco and Singed created it in the first place was to make soldiers, we’ve edited it over the years to not straight up create monsters but… do we really want to put that in the hands of outsiders?”
“Doubt they could figure out the formula.” Jinx said off-handedly, “Ekko and I barely could and we had nearly all of Singed’s notes.”
“But it’s not impossible for someone else to figure it out.”
“Shimmer is too unpredictable.” Ekko continued, “We can’t predict how buyers would use it. No matter how much we warned them they might not be cautious enough and- we’re not trading it!”
Sevika rolled her eyes, “What else do we have that would be as valuable? That could actually serve as a trading chip so we won’t go broke in a year?”
“I’m sorry kid but I think Sevika might be right.” Arol started with a heavy sigh, “Selling Shimmer may not be right morally speaking but… it may just be the right thing to do for Zaun.”
Ekko looked towards the blackboard, inspecting the documents before turning to Arol and Sevika, watching them both for a long moment before slowly sinking into his chair, covering his face with his hands.
Isha, who’d been doing worksheets to practice her writing on a tiny table they’d set up in a corner for her -a newer project was a makeshift ‘school’ for the kids which, for the time being was making sure they all knew how to read and write- quickly went to climb up on his lap, patting him gently, Ekko embracing her and hiding his face against her.
Jinx mentally sent her a thanks as she rose from her own chair, the attention shifting to her as she gave Ekko a moment to gather his thoughts.
“I think we’re all forgetting something.” She started as she drummed her fingers against the table, “Yes, Shimmer is very valuable, but it’s not the only valuable thing we have that we could trade.”
“What else is there?” Vi questioned.
“Uhh… the mines?” Jinx snorted at the way everyone tensed and straightened up at what she thought was something quite obvious, “When you and I went down there it looked like there was still quite a bit of stuff there. And, unless I’m misremembering, that was the main thing Piltover wanted outta us way back when. So why not get more stuff and use that to trade?”
Scar shook his head, “The section you went to was one of the only ones that wasn’t flooded with the Grey.”
“Not to mention one of the only somewhat stable passages.” Arol added, “It’s dangerous down there. Not to mention most of us older folks wouldn’t go back there for anything.”
“If Ekko and I can get a working prototype of the flower based air filtration system, that could fix the Grey problem, and we can stabilize the passages to make them safer before we start mining, set up watches and work in rotations so there’s never anyone alone down there. Not to mention, this could help get the economy going, create jobs and a bunch of other shit we’re going to need eventually. And if the older folks don’t wanna go down, they can help with the polishing and making everything more sellable- or better yet, yall can help with the crops once we get that going.”
Vi hummed, shifting in her seat, “That might just work, Silco and Vander might’ve left some maps of the mines back in their office that could be useful.”
Jinx slowly turned to Sevika, raising her eyebrows in quiet question and equal challenge.
Sevika slowly sat, crossing her arms as she considered for a long moment, “…metals might be easier to trade.”
“So then-”
“No.” Ekko’s voice gave her pause, she turned to him as he slowly unburied his face from Isha’s shoulder and went to stand up, handing Isha over, taking a second to squeeze her hand as he made sure she had a good hold on the kid before turning to the others, “It’s a good idea- a great idea… for the long run.”
Jinx felt a weight tugging at her heart as she understood what he meant, what he was about to tell the others, instinctively placing a hand on his arm for support.
“Figuring out a working prototype, securing the mines, getting the material, refining what needs to be refined… that would take weeks, months maybe… and I don’t know that we’ll have that long to negociate, and if we were to pay until then… we can’t rely on Silco’s coffers for this, not when we still don’t know what other situations may come up further down the road. And we definitely shouldn’t go in debt by promising we’ll eventually pay in minerals and metal…”
Ekko took a deep breath, looking at Jinx and Isha for a moment, to remind himself of what he was fighting for, of who he’d do anything for, of what he had to prioritize.
He remembered the morning two days prior, opening his eyes to see Isha and Jinx curled up together against his chest, Isha waking up with a giggle.
“We’ll trade medicinal Shimmer, with a very clear warning against its misuse and a document to sign stating that we are not to be held responsible if our buyers abuse it.” He fisted his hands, digging his nails into his palms, “We’ll have to build up a good relationship with our partners, especially since we’re not sure how long it’ll take us to have viable crops and be less reliant on trades to survive. We’ll trade medicinal Shimmer for the time being and, once we secure the mines, we can also trade metals and minerals and gems and lower the amount of Shimmer we produce and sell. Maybe eventually, depending on how everything works out, we stop trading Shimmer entirely and shift to a focus on metals as our main trading chip. Does that sound good to everyone?”
He slowly met the gaze of everyone who sat at the table, each agreeing as they nodded, quiet respect growing behind Sevika and Arol’s eyes, bitter defeat but understanding loud in Scar’s every movement.
Zaun was the priority. His people were the priority, the people in other nations could-
A thought hit him, a train barreling into his chest, crushing his ribs and squeezing his lungs and almost making him choke.
Was this how Silco had thought? How he’d felt? How he’d been able to do all the monstrous things Ekko had watched in terror and despair as a a child and had spent years trying to stop?
Had Silco ever been a good man with good intentions? How long had it taken for the weight of wanting the best for Zaun to slowly corrode his consciousness away?
How many dead ends and slow realizations that he’d have to fight tooth and nail for every inch of progress- for every bare minimum had it taken for him to throw his humanity and remorse away and decide that no crime, no heinous act was too much as long as it was for Zaun?
Had he ever tried to justify his actions by telling himself he was protecting the most important people in his life? Providing a better future?
Were they alike at all?
“Ekko,” He flinched when Jinx placed a hand on his shoulder, seeing that everyone else had left, Jinx leaning against the table to try and get a better look at him, “are you alright?”
Jinx had all but kicked everyone out as soon as Ekko was done talking, seeing the tension in his shoulders and how he seemed to tune them out as soon as they’d agreed, ordering Arol and Scar to reach out to their potential buyers and start editing the trading proposals, she and Ekko would have the final say but the merchants would take the two older men more seriously during negotiations. She’d promised Vi they’d be down to visit Vander soon, had quietly asked Gert to get some food to Ekko’s room and had wordlessly handed Isha to Sevika.
“Ekko?”
He finally reacted, pulling her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist and hiding his face against her collarbone, “Tell me that was the right decision.” He pleaded desperately, breath hot against her, “Tell me I’m doing the right thing.”
She slowly returned the embrace, arms around his shoulders, a thumb rubbing soothing circles against the back of his neck, “It was the right call to make Ekko.” She reassured him, softening her voice as much as she could, “I agree that it could be dangerous to trade Shimmer but right now… it’s the best shot we’ll get at good deals and a somewhat stable resource to trade. It’s the right choice for Zaun.”
“I just-” he let out a shuddering breath, still holding her close, almost as though he wanted to absorb her into himself, “I know that we can only afford to worry about Zaun and our people right now but- what if we cause a crisis someplace else? If another city has to deal with addiction to Shimmer and-”
“Hey,” Jinx pulled back just enough to be able to cup his face, making sure he met her gaze, “We are not selling drugs, only the medicinal version of Shimmer, and I know- I know that any version can be abused but- we’re selling it as medicine and we’ll be sure to warn them against its overuse… that’s as much as we can do. If the people over there don’t treat it with caution… that’s not on us. It’s not our responsibility.”
Ekko swallowed, shutting his eyes for a moment, “I know logically you’re right but… I still hate it.”
“…I know. But it is the best path to take right now. And maybe we won’t have to sell it for that long.”
Ekko met her gaze, hands slipping from her back to her waist, giving her a bit of space so she wasn’t nearly pressed against the edge of the table with him in front of her, “Thanks, for trying to come up with another way out of this.”
Jinx shrugged, “To be honest I’d been thinking about the mines for a while. We got a… complicated history with those, but they could be useful if we’re the ones making the rules. And I don’t like the idea of someone figuring out the formula for Shimmer, now that could come back to bite us in the ass. And…” she glanced down, “I know how much you dislike that particular idea.”
Ekko gave her a weak smile before stepping closer again, leaning his chin against the top of her head.
She sighed against his chest, “Will you be alright?”
“I just…” Ekko hesitated, “a part of me is scared that… if I can justify this by putting Zaun as the priority… how do I know that I won’t start justifying other stuff I once stood against? I know that there are things we’ll both have to compromise on to get Zaun to a better place but… do I still know where the line is?”
Jinx squeezed him for a moment, “You don’t have to worry about losing your way Ekko. You… you have a strong heart, you’ve never allowed Zaun or Piltover to break you. The fact that agreeing to do this causes you this much conflict… it tells me that you are still very much aware of where the line is.”
“But what if I stop caring about that as much?” Ekko asked in a whisper, not daring to pull away, to look her in the eye, “What if I change?”
Jinx stayed still for a moment, considering his words.
She let him go but didn’t step back, instead placing her hands on the table and hopping up on it to be closer to his eye-level, close enough for her knees to brush against his legs, placing her hands on his shoulders.
“You asked me before if I wasn’t sick and tired of this place taking everything from us… well quite frankly I am. I really am.” She leaned forwards, barely hearing the catch in Ekko’s breath at their closeness, “This place isn’t taking one more thing from me. It’s not taking you, and it’s not taking what you worked and fought tooth and nail to keep, to preserve. You’re not losing your way Ekko, I’m pretty sure you couldn’t even if you tried. You’re not like me, or Sevika or even Silco… we both know there are plenty of things you would never compromise on, you won’t lose that. And- if somehow, someway you started to get lost, you don’t have to worry cause I will personally drag you right back over your precious line by the ear.”
He snorted at that, gently shaking his head.
She smirked, “I got your back Ekko. I may act annoyed by your moral compass but… we do need it, as much as I hate to admit it… you won’t lose that.”
He took a deep breath, doing his best to blink back his tears as he met her gaze, taking her hand and running a thumb over her knuckles, “Thank you… I got your back too, you know that right?”
The corner of her lip tugged up, “I know.”
They stayed like that for a minute before heading back to keep working on a potential prototype.
Notes:
Really wanted to write Jinx consoling Ekko and some more hard decisions to be made for the sake of the Rebellion and of course; Ekko finding himself able to relate Silco (oh the bitter irony!)
Also, just wanted to let yall know there MIGHT now be 2 updates a week since today is my last exam before spring break!
Chapter 24: What’s at Risk, If I Cross the Line?
Summary:
Ekko regrets proposing a new workshop
Vi and Ekko talk
Gert is over everything
Jinx visits Vander
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ekko slowly set down his end of the table at the same time as Zaren, taking a step back to inspect the spot they’d placed it in and-
“No! More to the right!” Jinx quickly told them, standing a few feet away, hands on her hips as she ordered everyone around.
Zaren groaned, rolling his eyes, “You just said to move it to the left!”
“By two inches, not a foot!”
Ekko rolled his own eyes but went to pick up the table again.
Jinx found another victim in Vi and Scar, who were moving a cabinet, “That shouldn’t be so close to the door, set it up against that wall.”
“What about these?” Caeya asked, she and Vara heaving boxes filled to the brim with tools, metal scraps, blueprints and prototypes.
“Put them under the desk for now. Gert, be careful with those.”
Gert was wheeling in some of the Piltover equipment Ekko had received from Professor Heimerdinger, “I’m always careful, I’ll set these up next to the metal tables.”
Said metal tables held all the crystal lab equipment they used to produce Shimmer.
“Alright. Isha! How’s the wall coming along?”
Isha, who’d been hard at work with June, Lena and Finn painting a whole wall with the blackboard paint, gave her a thumbs up and a giggle, she and June using their hoverboards to reach the higher parts of the wall, the four doing their best to layer the paint evenly.
“I’m starting to sense this might’ve been a mistake.” Ekko grumbled under his breath.
Jinx threw a wadded up blueprint at him, “Hey, you’re the one who said we should have a proper workshop.”
Considering both that they’d need to produce more Shimmer and the slowly growing amount of prototypes and blueprints filling up Ekko’s room, they’d decided to move their operation to one of the supply rooms.
Well… two of the supply rooms, Zaren and Ekko knocking down a wall to join two of them into one to work as their laboratory/workshop.
“I didn’t think you’d be such a tyrant about it.” Ekko quipped with a smirk.
“Then you don’t know her very well.” Vi joked.
Jinx gasped, throwing a hand over her chest, “Wow, betrayal from all around.” She turned towards Isha, “Can’t trust no one these days kid.”
Isha snorted.
Jinx took a slow spin to inspect the space, they still had to set up a few shelves and get what would hopefully be more comfy chairs but aside from that (and the fact the room needed a bit more personality), it was looking good.
“I guess this will do for the time being.”
“Finally.” Zaren grumbled under his breath, all but running off, picking up Vara and throwing her over his shoulder despite her kicks and protests, “I don’t wanna have lunch alone!”
Caeya chuckled as she followed them, “We’ll come round later if you still need help with the shelves.”
“Thanks Caeya.” Ekko went to place one of their blueprints for prototypes on one of the two desks in the room.
“I’ll be off too then, Arol, Sevika and I will be personally delivering the official trading contracts.” Scar told them before heading out.
Gert got up, taking a moment to stretch before going to hand a cooler to Vi, “Here’s the meat you asked for. And, will you head down for lunch?”
Vi shook her head, “I’ll eat with Vander, thanks for the meat.”
Gert raised a questioning eyebrow to Jinx, who went to stand by her, “I’ll tag along. Ekko?”
Ekko hesitated for a moment before shaking his head, “I think I’ll walk to the mines with Vi, I could use a walk.”
Jinx was a bit surprised but shrugged, “Come on kids, you can finish up the wall later. Time to eat!”
The gaggle of kids hurriedly set down their brushes over the old papers they’d set up and shut the cans, running to catch up to Gert and Jinx as they started down the hall, already chatting about possible decorations and graffiti they could set up to give the workshop more personality, arms linked together.
Vi tilted her head at Ekko, “Everything alright?”
“It’s fine. Just… haven’t had a chance to talk to you lately.”
“Mmm, alright then, come on.”
They started making their way down the hall, walking side by side.
“How has umm… how has Doctor Kiramman been doing?” Vi asked after hesitating for a moment.
“Kellie says he’s proving to be a real good asset. Tends to eat in the infirmary with Isaac and a few other Healers, hasn’t caused any problems as far as I know.”
“Good, that’s good.”
“How has Vander been taking… all of this?”
Vi pressed her lips together for a moment, considering, “About as well as you could expect. I… I think he’s starting to remember a bit more. But not everything, not yet. He’s… kinda confused a lot of the time, he knows time has passed but everything from that last year seems to be a blur. I’m thinking about taking down a few of his old things but I think it might be a bit soon.”
Ekko hummed, “Is there anything else you think might help?”
Vi paused for a moment, turning to him, “Visiting.”
Ekko winced, “I know… sorry, things have been a bit hectic-”
“I know. And, well I think it’d be for the best if Jinx visits with me first, then you, then maybe both and all three of us together might manage to help him remember some more.”
“Do we… want him to remember? I mean, who knows if right now he remembers whatever Singed did to him but if he doesn’t… isn’t that for the better?”
Vi sighed heavily, “I’ve given that some thought. But…Vander would want to remember his life, even if it came along with a lot of pain… or at least I think he would… it’s been a long time since I tried to put myself in his head, figure out what he’d do.”
“Really? I did it all the time.” Ekko quietly said, the two going to look at the floor instead of each other, “After they were… gone… whenever I couldn’t figure out what to do or how to survive I’d try to figure out what Vander would do… what Benzo would do… even what you would do.”
“So you’d block with your face when in a tight spot huh?” She joked, voice half hoarse.
He gave a weak laugh, “Yeah pretty much. But hey give yourself some credit, you did make some good plans and choices, you know, every once in a blue moon.”
Vi rolled her eyes, shoving him to the side, Ekko letting himself be pushed, chuckling as he returned to her side.
“Hey… you think you could help me talk Jinx into visiting Vander? She’ll listen to you.”
“Didn’t she say she’d visit tomorrow?”
“I don’t think she will…” Vi hesitated, swinging her arms for a moment before continuing, “She’s… worried, Vander might be mad at her. So, there’s that.”
Ekko took a pause at that, they’d left the main base and were in one of the alleys, he leaned against the wall, trying to figure out how to ask what he wanted to ask, “You know… Jinx told me about… about what happened that night, when we thought Vander had died.”
Vi’s head jerked up at that, “What- you- you didn’t know what happened?”
He snorted humorlessly, “How could I have known? I wasn’t there, and Silco took Jinx in that very night and before all of this it’s not like we were in the habit of chit-chatting so… she told me a few days ago.”
“…oh. I should’ve thought of that, told you…”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” Ekko sighed heavily as he let his head fall back against the bricks, “I’m glad I got to hear it from her… she told me how you reacted… what you said.”
Vi shut her eyes for a moment, going to lean against the opposite wall, setting down the cooler of meat and covering her face with her hands, “I… I really fucked up that night… that whole week really, from the moment I talked Claggor and Mylo into a job in Piltover… I was going to come back. I just- I just needed a moment. And the second I saw Jinx I- I know I messed up, I shouldn’t have said what I said… but… in that moment I just- I lost it.”
“…you’d just lost Claggor and Mylo… you thought you’d lost Vander. You shouldn’t have said it but… I understand why you did.” Ekko said quietly.
“If I hadn’t reacted the way I did… do you think that maybe… she wouldn’t have gone off the deep end?” Vi asked in a hesitant way, perhaps a part of her not wanting to know his thoughts on that particular subject.
“…I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a good idea to start wondering about that kind of stuff, it won’t change what happened, won’t do anyone any good.”
Vi slowly tilted her head, watching him, “She told you everything?”
“Yeah.”
“…and you forgave her?”
“I did.”
“Good… you’re good for her. You two… you were always at your best when you were together.”
Ekko watched her for a long moment, frowning as he recognized the look in Vi’s face, “You blame yourself.” He realized.
Vi snorted humorlessly, “I’m the one who planned that job, who let Powder tag along. And then that night… I left Powder behind. You don’t think that makes me the person at fault?”
“And I’m the one who gave you the tip for the apartment in the first place.” Ekko shook his head, “This blame game? I’m starting to realize it’s just gonna go around and around, it’s useless.”
“You and Jinx were the kids, the ones I was responsible for. Vander always said… it was on me if I lead you into a dangerous situation.” She tried to argue.
“You were a kid too Vi. It shouldn’t have been on you.”
“But that’s the way it was. You know… I’m proud of you little man, watching you with the Firelights and now with all of this… you became everything I thought I’d be.”
Ekko shook his head quietly, “I wanted to be just like you back then you know?”
“…I know. But I’m glad you found your own way. You and Jinx both… you’re more than survivors, it’s hard to do more in Zaun than just surviving.”
“Hopefully it’ll stop being that way soon. And you’re helping with that. Probably more than you know.”
Vi shrugged. She’d started giving hand-to-hand combat lessons since plenty of the Firelights and even some of the younger goons had often relied on long-range attacks or sneaking up on opponents and Vi had managed to observe some of the Enforcer’s basic attacks and Noxian tactics back in Piltover.
She was teaching them how to hold their own against said attacks and tactics.
Just in case.
Vi picked up the cooler, “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
Ekko hesitated as he pushed himself away from the wall, “I’ll talk to Jinx about visiting Vander, see what I can do.”
“Thanks.”
Vi set off on her own, after taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Ekko went to return to base.
***
Jinx tore a piece of bread in two, dipping it into the only-slightly-suspicious stew the kitchen had made before shoving it into her mouth.
“So…” Gert started as she stirred her lemonade, freshly squeezed lemons and sugar next to her, turned out she had a sweet tooth, and with the promise of sugar being part of the very first shipment that was now headed their way, she had allowed herself three full spoonfuls, “things with Ekko seem less… tense.”
Jinx slowly looked up at her, waiting for her to back down.
Of course, Gert didn’t, leaning back and smirking as she met her unrelenting gaze.
Jinx rolled her eyes, pretending to be annoyed as she took a sip from Gert’s lemonade, ignoring her protests, “We had a chat… a good one and… things are… less uncertain. We’re good.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t get my hopes up when I ask whether or not you two finally got over yourselves and made out?”
Jinx slowly raised an eyebrow.
Gert groaned, letting her head fall back for a moment before leaning forwards on the table, “You are killing us. You two are killing each and every single one of us you know that right? It’s not that hard! You spend lots of time alone together so just chose a moment, grab him, kiss him, and put us all out of our collective misery.”
“It’s not that easy!”
“Why not?!”
“Well because- because-” Jinx was mortified, she was feeling herself blush as she glanced down, stirring her stew slowly as she mumbled the rest of her sentence, “Iveneverkissedanyone.”
“What was that?”
“I’ve never… kissed anyone.” Jinx mumbled under her breath, refusing to meet her eyes.
Gert starred at her for one, two, three seconds before all but melting, placing a hand over her heart, “Awwww Jinx, I hadn’t thought of that! That is so cute!”
“Don’t call me cute!” Jinx half snapped before covering her face with her hands, letting her forehead on the table right next to her stew.
“Sorry sorry I just-” Gert trailed off, clearly trying not to smile since she didn’t want Jinx to think she was making fun of her, “So, is that what’s holding you back at this point? Lack of experience?”
Jinx slowly rose up a bit, keeping her forearms on the table, leaning her head against them, tilting her head to look at Gert, who cocked her head, a tiny smile tugging at her lip.
“Let’s say… hypothetically-”
“Hypothetically of course.”
“That I want him.”
“Alright…”
“And let’s say that he wants me.”
“I like where this is going…”
“…what if something goes wrong? What if he just… stops wanting me?”
Jinx hated this, she was used to the feeling of insecurity, it’d made a home beneath her ribs and right next to her jugular vein a long time ago, it also lived in Mylo every time he decided to pay her a visit.
But this… this was different.
If Ekko changed his mind, or if she tried to see where they could go and he decided it wasn’t what he truly wanted, decided that she was better off as a fantasy, a faraway what-if…
She didn’t know if she’d be able to survive that.
Was it worth it to even risk the chance of something like that happening?
Was it-
Jinx blinked in shock after Gert poked her in the forehead, “Okay I know you’re not that stupid.” She said with an angry glare.
Jinx could only stare in confusion, “…what?”
Gert rolled her eyes, “Jinx… Ekko adores you, I’ve seen how he looks at you! I mean- do you really think he would ever do something like that to you?!”
“I-”
“Do I even want to know what you’re talking about?” They both turned to find Sevika standing at the edge of their table, setting down a metal tray and slowly sitting down, ready to leave.
Gert threw her arms up, clearly outraged, turning to Jinx, “Repeat what you just said to me about Ekko.”
“What’d the kid do?” Sevika questioned in a grumble.
“He didn’t do anything but- I just-” Jinx turned to Gert, “It’s just not worth the risk alright? People change their minds all the time.”
“About what?” Sevika questioned.
Jinx and Gert entered a staring contest.
Gert didn’t want to betray Jinx’s trust, but something had to be done here. And she had a feeling Jinx might just listen to Sevika, after all, she’d known her for years.
Sometimes friends had to stab each other in the back, just a little bit.
Gert turned to Sevika, “Jinx actually thinks that if she finally kisses Ekko senseless, he might change his mind and stop wanting her or something-”
“Dude!” Gert barely dodged a screwdriver being thrown at her head.
“She seems convinced that he’s going to hurt her or reject her or something equally as nonsensical.”
Sevika slowly raised an eyebrow before turning to Jinx, “Seriously?”
Jinx shifted in her seat, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms, avoiding both their gazes.
Sevika rolled her eyes, “Give the kid some credit, he must be half-insane with the way he looks at you but that boy would rather die than hurt you. Has ever since you were little gremlins. Remind me again why it is that you two never even broke a bone when you spent six years fighting?”
Jinx shrugged, sinking slightly more into her chair, “There were always more opponents around…”
“Uh huh. Sure, whatever you say.” Sevika rose to her feet, probably having spotted a desolate corner where she could eat unbothered, “Just quit it with the excuses…” she hesitated before lowering her voice, “Silco wouldn’t have wanted you to live in fear.”
Jinx gave her a metallic metal finger, trying to not show her shock at the unexpected mention of her dad.
Gert tilted her head, “Do you genuinely think he’d hurt you?”
“…most people wind up doing it… even when they don’t mean to.”
“But do you think he would?”
Jinx hesitated, “No. I mean- I don’t know.”
Gert scrunched up her nose, “Are you afraid that you’d hurt him?”
“…you know that I am.”
Gert glanced to her far left, where the kids were finishing up their breakfast, sharing a small bar of chocolate, June giving Isha one of his two squares without much thought.
That reminded her-
“When you told me a bit about how, you and Ekko knew each other as kids… you said you lost him back then. You didn’t say you grew apart or that you wound up on opposite sides of the fight. No, you used the word lost. Almost like he used to be yours back then. And maybe that was true, maybe in a sense he was yours and you were his when you were kids, confidants, best friends… but I don’t think you ever truly lost him. Not if what Sevika says about you two never being able to really hurt one another is true. Not if what you said about your bridge fight is true. Have you ever considered how beautiful that is? That, even with all the pain and the grief and the fighting and the deaths… you two never truly lost your bond, were never fully severed from one another. Don’t you think that means something? If all the years and the battles couldn’t fully break your bond… what makes you think something else could now?”
“…he deserves better.”
“Bullshit.” Gert reached out, gently placing a hand over Jinx’s fidgeting hands, stopping her from picking at the skin around her nails, “And even if it wasn’t bullshit… you’re the one he wants.”
“I… I want… I want him. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted something so bad but… what if I jinx it?”
“If there are bumps down the road… that’s just life. That’s not you being a curse or whatever. And you two- Jinx if you can lead a fucking Revolution, I’m pretty sure you can handle it if something comes up.”
Gert gently squeezed her hand, “Hey… after everything you two have been through and after all you’ve done for Zaun… you deserve something soft.”
Jinx smiled sadly, squeezing back, “Thank you Gert… I’m glad you decided to copy me and wound up in Stillwater that day.”
Gert cackled, “So am I. Though I must admit, I might be ready to leave the blue dye behind.”
“I approve, you’re getting too cool for it.”
They both chuckled and Jinx sighed as she went back to her now-cold stew.
She had some stuff to think about.
***
Jinx all but held her breath as she reached the bottom of the ladder, heart beating loudly.
It’d been two days and now-
Vi gently brushed a hand against Jinx’s wrist when she saw her nerves, “Come on, he’s this way.”
Jinx followed after Vi, trying to calm herself down and ignore the gut-feeling slowly growing, the voices that whispered and told her that Vander would see her and go berserk, that he’d somehow realize what she’d done and attack her.
After a while, they reached a wide cavern, where she could see a nest Vi had probably built out of blankets, pillows and soft fabrics leftover from the Piltover supplies.
Curled up inside said nest was Vander, looking up and tensing at the sound of their footsteps until Vi came into view and he relaxed.
“Hi dad.” Vi started, approaching slowly, gently placing a hand against his forehead, “Sleep well?”
Vander grunted, huffing out a breath.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Vi kneeled, Vander pushing his face against her, Vi hugging him for a moment, “I brought someone I thought you’d like to see.”
Vander pulled back, starting to frown before Jinx took a step closer and he snapped to look at her.
Jinx stayed still, clenching her jaw as Vander inspected her with his different colored eyes.
“It’s Powder dad. You remember Powder right?” Vi had given her a heads up that she’d have to use that name since Vander knew nothing about Jinx and might get confused if she asked him to refer to her as such.
“Hi old man. Sorry it took so long to visit.” Jinx took a tentative step forwards, freezing once more when Vander moved past Vi and went to sniff at her hair.
“Pow… der.”
Jinx scrunched up her nose as she carefully placed a hand against his forehead like Vi had done, “Yep… that’s me.”
Vander proceeded to inspect her further, sniffing and prodding, “Hurt?”
“No, she’s not hurt dad.” Vi tried to assure him.
But Vander hissed when he sniffed at her waist.
Right, the stitches.
“It’s nothing,” Jinx tried to tell him as she took a step back, “I’m fine Vander, really.”
“We’re both alright.” Vi assured, going to take Jinx’s hand and stand at her side.
Vander’s gaze dropped to their joined hands and he seemed to relax a bit, perhaps being reminded of countless times they’d stood just like this before him.
Jinx was glad he wasn’t aware it’d been years since the sisters had stood in such a way, side by side, hand in hand, a united front.
But then, right when it looked like Vander was relieved to see them together, he slowly frowned, like a thought had just popped up in his mind as he glanced at the tunnel they’d emerged from, “Cla… ggor?”
Vi winced and Jinx slowly shut her eyes, letting her hand slip from Vi’s.
“Dad… do you remember what happened that night at the cannery? When we fought Silco?”
Vander backed away, his movements becoming a bit erratic as he turned towards the tunnel once more, clearly hoping to see something he would never find, “My…lo?”
Vi tried to blink back her tears, leaning her face against Vander’s neck, sniffing, “Dad… Claggor and Mylo aren’t coming.”
“No… no.”
“Dad… they’re gone. They’ve been gone for a long time.”
Vander shook his head violently, almost knocking Vi off balance, who stayed still, watching as Vander writhed, trying her best to not cry.
Vander growled, a rumbling sound that came from deep in his throat, “Silco-” he all but hissed.
“He’s gone too.” Jinx said quietly, hugging herself.
Vander growled again, pacing the cavern, shaking his head again.
They waited in silence as Vander continued pacing and occasionally shaking his head, as though trying to recall.
“Benzo… he killed Benzo first.” He managed to say after a few minutes.
“Yes. Are you… starting to remember?” Vi asked carefully.
Vander shook his head again, before looking at Vi, “Left you… Benzo’s shop…”
“Yes. You were trying to keep me safe, keep me from doing something… admittedly stupid. But Silco took you. And then me, Claggor and Mylo… we were trying to save you at the cannery.”
Vander frowned deeply, starting to shake his head as he retreated to a corner, pawing at his head.
“Dad, dad breath please.” Vi pleaded as she got closer, trying to calm him down.
Jinx could only watch, a knot in her throat slowly expanding, chocking her.
“Dad- Jinx get in here! Now!”
“But-”
“Now!”
Jinx gritted her teeth as she went to stand by Vi.
Vi grabbed her forearm and forced her forwards and down, trying to meet Vander’s gaze.
“Dad, dad look at us please, we’re still here. We’re right here, both of us and we’re not going anywhere. Dad please, we’re still here.”
Vi yanked at Jinx’s arm, clearly signaling for her to say something. Seeing the hesitation in Jinx’s eyes and trying to communicate through her own gaze that they’d find the way to tell him… just not right now.
Jinx licked her lips nervously, looking at the way Vander was nearly thrashing at that point, “Vander- Claggor and Mylo are gone but- but we’re still here. We have to stick together we- we still need you… dad. Dad breath please.”
The words felt like paste in her mouth but seemed to have the intended effect when combined with Vi’s reassurance, Vander’s breathing starting to stabilize as his gaze flickered between the two of them.
When he moved to get closer, it was only Vi’s grip on her arm that kept her from moving back, Vander’s arms surrounding them both.
Vi squeezed her forearm, trying to signal to her not to tense up.
Jinx somehow managed not to tense up, and the two sisters stood awkwardly in the half-embrace.
It was like Vander needed to reassure himself that they were really alright, grounding himself with their presence.
Jinx sighed heavily, wrapping a reluctant arm around Vi, Vi doing the same.
When Vander eventually let them go, they sat at the edge of his nest as he curled up, tiny spasms moving his back and chest as he wept in grief.
They stayed with him, Vi gently rubbing circles against his back and Jinx leaning against his arm, almost laying across his forearm.
She wasn’t sure how long it took for him to drift off into sleep, Vi nudging her with her foot, “You good?”
Jinx grimaced, “Just peachy.”
“…it wasn’t your fault. He’ll understand that. He’ll forgive you.”
“…you really think that?”
“We’re his daughters. I know you didn’t quite feel like it but… that’s what he always saw us as. Of course he’ll forgive you. Think about it… if Isha had made a mistake like that-”
“She wouldn’t.”
“But if she did. You’d forgive her, wouldn’t you? That kid could destroy you, rip your heart right out your chest and you’d still never manage to hate her. You’d never find it in yourself to not forgive her.”
Jinx stayed quiet after that.
Because Vi was right.
Isha could burn the whole city to the ground and Jinx wouldn’t even bat an eye.
One dad had forgiven her for literally killing him.
Could Vander forgive her for being the end of his first life? For being the end of her brothers?
As exhaustion started to weight on both her and Vi’s eyelids, she figured that only time would be able to tell.
Notes:
Guys, listen, I PROMISE, pinky promise, cross my heart and hope to die- we’re getting closer to The Kiss, I promise!
Just be patient with me I promise it’ll be worth it!
Chapter 25: Old Wounds
Summary:
Jinx takes shook of the first supply of trades and encounters someone
Ekko goes over the information they have from Piltover
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vi expanded the maps and blueprints over the circular table in a methodical manner, smoothing them out and pining down the corners with whatever was in her reach.
“Alright, these are all the maps I could find in Vander’s old office, the mineshaft chests and some random tables scattered about the mines that he guided me to. He seems to remember the paths down there kinda well. Anyway, I found this map,” she tapped on the map she’d placed above all the others, scribbled with notes on the margins, “In the old office, I think it might be the most accurate and the least out of date.”
Ekko and Jinx leaned forward to inspect the map, eyes quickly flying over the other blueprints and maps.
“I don’t suppose you managed to find any Piltover document with an actual map?” Jinx asked.
Vi just stared with a deadpanned expression.
Jinx clicked her tongue, “Yeah I supposed not.”
“I recognize this chamber.” Arol said as he tapped a spot on the map, eyes dark with memories, “It was one of the most used, dust so thick you could barely breath.”
The older man took a shaky breath, licking his lips as he inspected the rest of the map.
Ekko reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder, “Arol, you don’t have to help us with this-”
“The hell I don’t.” Arol grumbled, “I spent twenty years down in those mines working my ass off. If I can keep you kids from walking straight into a cavern filled with poison gas then maybe some of that bullshit was a little worth it.”
Arol continued inspecting the map, pointing out five spots he thought might be able to be stabilized while wearing gas masks while Ekko and Jinx continued working on their air filtration prototypes.
“You’ll need a canary.” Arol told them.
“A canary?” Ekko questioned, “Wouldn’t-”
“Not an actual canary. Any bird wouldn’t last down there.” Arol got ahead of Ekko’s question, “A person to watch over whoever is working on stabilizing the passages and caverns. The second someone collapses or they see them getting sluggish their job is to pull the plug and order evacuation. Same if they notice there’s too much damage to the structures and mines.”
“Maybe I could do it.” Vi proposed, though she looked a bit uncertain, “I already spend plenty of time down there.”
“We’ll see who could make a good canary.” Jinx said, shelving the subject for the time being.
They spent another hour starting to get organized, making lists of what they’d need, checking the list of Firelights, Jinxersand goons that’d volunteered to potentially go down into the mines to start stabilizing the place and trying to figure out if there was some kind of record that showed if there were specific spaces in which specific minerals and metals were more common.
After putting together a tentative schedule to clear out the safest zone in the mines, they all left the meeting room, Vi all but dragging Ekko away to visit Vander while Jinx joined Sevika to what would be the very first delivery of the supplies they’d traded Shimmer for.
***
Sevika watched the Firelights approaching on the larger Hoverboards Ekko had modified for their mugging of the ships that’d meant to bring Piltover supplies, using fog to keep themselves as hidden as possible. They were far away from Piltover but one couldn’t be too cautious of being spotted.
Sevika knew this General Ambessa would have to be insane to attack the ships currently delivering their supplies, but they wanted to keep their risk-taking to a minimum.
Maybe Piltover wouldn’t even realize they were now partnering with other nations to make trades.
“How’s the kid taking it?” She asked Jinx, who stood at her side, holding a looking glass to watch as the first Firelights and goons landed the modified Hoverboards carrying crates of meat and a few other supplies.
When they’d set off, they’d been carrying metal boxes with vials of Shimmer.
“Better than I thought if I’m being entirely honest.” Jinx said, handing the looking glass to Isha when the girl tugged at her belts, “He’s tougher than you think you know?”
Sevika rolled her eyes, “You don’t need to defend your boy to me. But we both know how seriously he takes the whole Shimmer situation.”
“Well with all the precautions and warnings and contracts and all of that he’s a bit calmer. But he’s still not exactly enthusiastic, it’ll just be for the better if you and I handle the shipments.”
“The fuck am I, chopped meat?” Gert questioned, as she arrived with a clipboard in hand.
Jinx smirked, “The clipboard makes you feel official doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, Chuck said it would, I didn’t believe him but it really does.” Gert said as she stroke a small pose with the clipboard.
Sevika rolled her eyes, spotting Scar, who was transporting a crate and a woman who was clearly the ‘representative’ their new partners had sent, “I’ll deal with the representative, settle the final details, you two can handle the check?”
“Yep.”
Jinx and Gert, and Isha, went to oversee the download of cargo, prying open the crates and making a count of everything, making sure nothing was missing and that they’d gotten everything that had been in the contracts.
“How’s Vander doing?” Gert asked as she wrote on her clipboard, “I was gonna ask Vi but I didn’t catch her after her combat lessons.”
“Well Ekko and I went down to visit two days ago, he seems to be… a bit better. Coping I guess.”
“Is he remembering a bit more?”
“Kind of. He remembers what happened to… everyone that last night, but he struggles remembering much else of that year. And he still gets a little confused at times. But I think the visits are helping.”
“That’s good, have you considered-”
Isha jumped up twice to draw attention to herself before going to gently tug at Jinx’s belts.
“What is it gumdrop?” She asked as she crouched down to match the kid’s height.
Isha pointed at herself, then made v’s with both her hands, moving them in circles in opposite directions, then made claws with her hands.
She wanted to visit Vander.
“Oh no- that-” Jinx shook her head, reaching out to gently tuck Isha’s hair behind her ear, “That’s not a good idea kid. Vander… Vander is recovering right now, and he needs things that are familiar. We don’t want to spook him or freak him out and… it just- he didn’t know you before, and I’m sorry but I don’t want you visiting him because-”
Because Vander was still dangerous, and if he got too confused or freaked out…
“It’s just not a good idea right now.”
Isha frowned, tapping her temple before making the sign for ‘when’.
“…maybe in a few weeks. You can ask Vi about it.”
Jinx was sure Vi would shut that down instantly.
Isha clearly wasn’t enthusiastic about that but didn’t argue, returning to her role as the very first to take a peak into the crates, standing on her tip toes and occasionally placing her weight on the edge of the wooden crates in order to look inside after Gert and Jinx pried them open.
Jinx felt nothing but relief.
***
The following day, Jinx stretched her arms over her head lazily as she made her way to the infirmary, ready to have her stitches finally taken out.
She went into the infirmary casually, taking off her jacket and going to hop on Kellie’s desk to wait for her.
Then one of the doors to the supply closet open and out stepped-
“It’s you.” Tobias Kiramman stood before her, eyes widening slightly.
Oh. Right.
She’d totally forgotten about him.
Jinx slowly slipped down from the desk, “It’s me…”
Tobias clenched his jaw, breathing becoming heavier as he glanced down to the clipboard he was holding, “What are you here for?”
“…Kellie told me to come in, she was gonna take out some stitches.” She said as she gestured to her waist, swinging her arms back and forth, feeling awkward.
“I see. She was doing a check of inventory at the second infirmary, going over the new stuff. She should be back soon if you want to wait for her.”
Since they still had plenty of medicine that they’d stolen from Piltover, when they’d asked Kellie what she needed, she’d requested bandages, gauze, more disinfectant and one or two things that she’d said had been suggested by Kiramman.
Jinx clicked her tongue as she nodded along, “Alright.” Then, before she could regret it- “I… I’m… sorry. About your wife. You know it may sound strange but, I never considered the families. The Council- they were always these… other worldly beings that looked down on us as if we were ants… it never even crossed my mind that they probably had families… I’m sorry.”
Tobias let out a shaky breath, setting down his clipboard before meeting her eyes, “Would it have changed anything? If you’d known you were pulling the trigger on parents and daughters and sons?”
Jinx didn’t look away, she figured she owed him that much, “No.”
Tobias looked away, Jinx chewing on the inside of her cheek, after a long moment, he took a deep breath, “I didn’t realize how bad things were down here. I don’t think… any of us did.”
“Ignorance is bliss.” Jinx muttered under her breath.
“Cassandra did her best.” He snapped in answer, perhaps taking her comment as a jab, she wasn’t sure if she’d meant it that way or not, “Trapping the Grey away… it was one of her greatest accomplishments.”
“…I’m sure it was.” And then his daughter had weaponized it, “But maybe if all those fancy businesses hadn’t dumped all their residues and shit on us, the Grey wouldn’t have existed in the first place.”
Tobias flinched away, starting to frown, “We-”
Tiny footsteps ran into the infirmary, Jinx half turning to see Isha headed straight for her, going to hand her a small note, Jinx picking her up and setting her on the desk, taking the note, which contained a simple message from Vi that said she would consider maybe letting the kid visit in a while, the underlying message clearly being that she’d have to wait a while.
While Jinx skimmed the note, Isha waved at Tobias with no hesitation.
Tobias gave her a small smile, “Hello Isha.”
That quickly caught Jinx’s attention, glancing between the two, “You know her?” She turned to Isha, “Did you get hurt and not tell me?”
“No, Kellie…” he hesitated for a moment, “She had me give all the kids a general check-up.”
Jinx tensed up slightly, a silent question in her eyes.
Tobias relaxed slightly, “She’s alright. Like… the rest of the kids she has signs of chronic malnutrition and some stunned growth but she’s already in recovery, she should be at an official healthy weight in about a month if she keeps eating well. And she’s young enough that the stunned growth still has time to be corrected. In fact I-” he turned to the supply closet, pulling out a small crate filled with bottles, taking one and showing it to her, “I told Kellie to get these in the trades if possible for the kids. Supplements. We should be distributing them later today. The effects of malnutrition should go away by themselves with a healthy diet but these will help it along and make sure the kids get everything they need.”
Jinx slowly accepted a bottle, inspecting them and- “Are these gummies?”
“There are also tablet versions but, kids tend to have an easier time taking them in gummy form. I recommend two a day at least until she’s been at a healthy weight for a few months, after that, just one a day.”
Jinx tucked the bottle into one of the inside pockets of her jacket, giving him a nod, “Thank you. Are any of the kids… should we be concerned about any of them?”
“Some have… breathing issues. Asthma if I am not mistaken, aside from that, Finn and another two kids show a lot more signs of malnutrition, but I believe they’ll be able to make a full recovery with a proper diet and supervision.” He looked down, hesitating, casting one glance at Isha, who’s eyes had widened when he’d mentioned Finn, “Kellie said… she mentioned that Ekko had done his best to take care of the kids… the orphans. But- I-” he looked down.
“Are you going to criticize Ekko’s ‘best’?” She questioned through gritted teeth.
“Of course not but… some of the kids… I could practically see their bones.”
Jinx pulled Isha into her chest. When they’d met months ago, Isha had been on the verge of being one of the kids, months of being able to eat everyday in her hideout and weeks of an actual proper diet after their robbery of Piltover had given her just glimpses of actual baby fat and chubby cheeks.
“Is that rare over there?”
Tobias shut his eyes, she could tell this particular subject was a sensitive one to him, “Yes. The worst I’d ever seen were kids that were malnourished not because they didn’t eat but because they only ate junk.”
Jinx snorted humorlessly, “Yep, that sounds like Piltover.”
“That’s the worst part… I agree.” Tobias sighed heavily, going to rub at his face, “I see what you’re fighting for. It makes sense. I- I could never oppose it. And yet-”
And yet that fight had taken his wife.
Jinx pressed her lips together for a moment, unsure of what she could even say, “You seem like a good man… those tend to suffer the most down here.” She remembered the conflict in Ekko’s eyes when discussing trading Shimmer, “I’m not sorry for attacking the Council… but I am sorry I took your wife from you… and your daughter, in a different sense.”
Tobias said nothing, his eyes slowly raising from the ground to look at Isha for a moment, who was adamantly listening to the conversation, before he finally looked at her and slowly dipped his head.
Jinx knew that was probably the best she would get, picking up Isha on her hip and going to look for Kellie in the second infirmary.
***
Ekko stood at the top of one of the buildings that stood right before the border, holding a looking glass to his eye.
“Tell me again.”
“As far as we’re able to tell, the General has mostly been focusing on beating up the Enforcers and training them properly.” Vara told him, “We set up our surveillance so someone’s always got an eye on some kind of town square she seems to be using as a training sight but Jenn is pretty sure they’re also using the boats to train more hand-to-hand combat.”
“Jenn?”
“One of Margot’s spiders, surprisingly sneaky. I like her.”
Ekko snorted, “Don’t let Caeya hear you.”
Vara grinned as she crossed her arms, “Ekko, sweetie, you really wanna go there? Really? Cause there’s only one person on this rooftop who’s had the balls to actually make a move and-”
“Alright, alright.” Ekko rolled his eyes as he raised his hands in surrender, “No need to insult me. What about Kiramman? Any sightings or rumors?”
“Nothing. Loris managed to get through to his friend again but they know nothing. From one of Jinx’s listening bugs we sent out Jenn thinks the ‘official story’ is that she was sent to Nox to await trial or something.”
“But you don’t believe that?”
“We’ve been watching their harbor like hawks. At all times we got at least one person watching the harbor, the Noxianships, the town square, the Councilor homes and the Council building. No Noxian ship has left that harbor.”
“Maybe she was taken in another ship.”
Vara just raised an eyebrow.
Ekko sighed, “Any place that has a suspicious amount of security?”
“Not really. Or at least- I mean we’re kinda watching from afar here, there are only so many details we can make out. We’d need to actually sneak in to see that.”
But they’d determined that sneaking in would be too risky at the moment and might trigger retaliation if they were found out. Better to wait until they were either absolutely ready or until they absolutely had to sneak in.
“Anything else?” He asked as he raised the looking glass to his eye, observing the destroyed Council Building, some of the rubble had been removed, but it was still very much a work in progress.
Vara considered, hesitating for a moment before speaking, “There have been a few protests.”
“Protests?”
“Civilians. Plenty of them had signs so we got that the gist of it is that they want the truth and some are protesting against Ambessa having so much control. Some want a new Council. We think… it seems like the protests are over with now but we don’t know why… might’ve been the Pilties just giving up, or-”
“Or being threatened… maybe imprisoned.” Ekko lowered the looking glass, “You think Ambessa would do that?”
“She’s a Noxian general, I have no doubt she knows how to put an end to civilian protests.”
“The other Councilors?”
“Shoola seems to be working overtime, we’ve gotten a glimpse or two of her and Ambessa together, I don’t think she trusts her at all. Salo on the other hand is absolutely in her pocket.”
Ekko took in the information, turning it over in his head.
“Do you reckon the General will call for reinforcements?”
“Noxians like to overwhelm, strike hard and fast. I’m sure she has… but even if she called for them as soon as she got rid of Kiramman we have weeks, maybe months before they get here if the weather is on our side.” She reached out, squeezing his shoulder gently, “We have time.”
“Yeah… but is it enough?”
***
Seeing Vander again had been strange to say the least.
Ekko wasn’t sure what he’d expected the first time he’d visited, following Vi, almost feeling like the small kid he’d once been as he walked behind her.
After sniffing him for a bit and seeming to fully understand that it really was him, Vander had only said two words, “Benzo… sorry.”
The second time he’d visited had been with Jinx, the two and Vi had sat in a semi circle around Vander and had eaten with him, the scenario so utterly ridiculous he could tell Jinx was struggling to not just break down in laughter.
The third time was when Jinx had broken.
He’d been helping Vi clean her gauntlets while Jinx showed Vander some of her less destructive gadgets since he’d seemed to remember that she used to tinker all the time.
At some point, Vander’s gaze had turned soft as he inspected the three of them before turning to Jinx, gently pushing his head against hers, “Sorry.”
Jinx had frowned, “What are you sorry for?”
“Failed… you.”
Jinx froze for a long moment, Ekko and Vi knew what was about to happen as soon as they saw her eyes flickering around, like she wasn’t sure exactly where to look.
“No… no you didn’t fail us Vander.”
“Cannery… didn’t keep you… safe.”
“That was my fault.” The words tumbled out of Jinx’s mouth and Ekko’s hand instinctually found the handle of his mace as he kept a careful eye on Vander’s body language, just in case, “It was my bomb that blew up the place- if I hadn’t- if I- I just wanted to help. But- Claggor and Mylo- it was my fault, I did it- I failed.”
Vi’s gauntlets closed over her arms, she didn’t dare take her eyes off Vander, she wanted to believe that he would forgive Jinx, especially given that they were pretty much the only things left from his old life.
But if she’d gotten violent after finding out… and she’d seen the flickers of illogical rage that would make his eyes flash red from time to time. She had to be ready for the worst, shifting as subtly as she could into position in case she needed to pounce to stop Vander while Ekko and Jinx got out.
“I’m sorry- I’m sorry Vander-” Jinx’s lip was wobbling, clearly trying to not cry.
“You… were… there?”
“I followed Vi and the boys. They told me not to but- I wanted to help save you-” she looked away, Ekko nearly screaming at her to keep her eyes on Vander in case she needed to put some distance between the two, they were too close, “I didn’t think- none of my bombs had worked- I wasn’t even sure it’d work- I didn’t- I didn’t mean to.”
Vander moved, Ekko couldn’t help but hold his breath as Vander leaned forwards and-
He gently pushed his face against Jinx, leaning his forehead against her, nuzzling her as though to comfort her.
“Don’t- cry… little one.”
Jinx bawled as Ekko and Vi relaxed, the tension leaving them as Jinx leaned against Vander, who leaned his chin against her shoulder when she fell against him.
Ekko watched quietly, he wasn’t entirely sure that Vander fully understood what Jinx had just confessed to, what she’d just said, maybe he’d seen her cry and everything else had faded to the back of his confused mind.
Maybe he really had understood but still couldn’t stand to see his kid crying.
Whatever reason, he simply continued to try and get Jinx to stop crying as she kept apologizing, Vi and Ekko waiting, ready in case the worst happened.
Notes:
Imma be honest, I don’t love the chapter title of this one but I couldn’t come up with anything else so I’m open to suggestions!
Also, just to build a little anticipation… next chapter, Isha gets her wish to visit Vander (yall know what that means…)
Chapter 26: The Worst of Blessings, The Most Beautiful of Curses
Summary:
Caitlyn is suffering
Isha gets her wish
Two sisters share a dinner
Jinx comes to a decision
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Caitlyn was laying on the floor, hair strewn around her as she stared up at the ceiling.
She’d determined quite early into her imprisonment that the worst part of it all was not having any way to tell the time, not being able to count the sunsets passed, having no way to know how much time had passed.
Food was delivered randomly, without any pattern that she could discern and her guards always stood beyond the hall so she couldn’t always tell when they switched, making it all the harder to determine how long it’d been.
At first, she’d tried to pass the time by trying to figure out a way to escape.
That had quickly gotten old, her meals came with no utensils that she could use to scrape at the walls, her bed had no metal frame holding it up, instead being a thin mattress on the floor that could barely even be called a mattress.
The guards came in every once in a while, again, with no discernible pattern or routine to take her waste bucket away for a bit and to refill her water bucket whenever they felt like it. And of course, they tased her if she even looked at them or if she moved an inch. Not a fun experience.
At some point they’d just started tasing her every time they went in, regardless of what she did.
The only thing that might’ve been slightly useful was the tiny tin mug floating in her water bucket that she used to drink water.
However she was quite sure that the second she applied any kind of pressure to it, it would snap in half.
After realizing she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, for some reason, she’d opted to torture herself by going over everything she’d done after her mom’s death, reflecting on every misstep and missed opportunity and stupid decision.
She forced herself to at least try to keep up her training program even if her food supply wasn’t always enough to keep her from being hungry and exhausted after two sets of her workout.
After she’d gone over every single choice a hundred times over, the betrayal on Vi’s face burned into her mind, Ekko’s anger, Jinx’s taunting, her dad’s disappointment-
She started recalling stories, fairytales from her childhood and myths she’d found in books and tales her dad told of his youth and even what little Vi had told her about growing up in Zaun.
It was probably the only thing keeping her relatively sane.
But she didn’t know how much longer she could hold on to her sanity.
It didn’t escape her notice the irony of her situation.
Before they’d met it’d been Vi who’d been in a cell and Caitlyn who’d been free and trying to fight for something she believed in.
She’d thought that Vi’s circumstances had been unfair to say the least… experiencing them first hand was on another level though.
But well- Vi hadn’t actually committed any real crime to be imprisoned, she had only been a traumatized child caught in the crossfire.
Caitlyn had made plenty of bad choices that had landed her here, even if she’d been denied the privilege of a trial.
Now… now Caitlyn was the one behind bars with no hope of getting out, and Vi was out there somewhere, fighting for Zaun. She’d chosen her sister… and Caitlyn couldn’t even blame her. She knew she’d made the right choice.
When push came to shove, Vi had the heart to do what was right.
She had a good heart, that was what Caitlyn had fallen for in the first place.
She’d give anything now for the chance to do it again, to actually listen to her before it was too late…
But regrets wouldn’t do her much good in a cell.
She could only hope her dad and Vi would be alright… maybe even- no… probably better off without her.
***
Isha was nearly vibrating in excitement as she all but skipped down the mines, Vi firmly holding her hand the only thing keeping her from running ahead, Jinx and Ekko walking a few feet behind.
When they were getting closer to the cavern Vander had made his own, Vi went to crouch in front of Isha, “Alright kid, do you remember what I told you?”
Isha nodded along excitedly.
Vi decided to go over it all one more time regardless, “Wait here with Jinx and Ekko while I talk to Vander, I already let him know yesterday that you’d be coming but he might’ve forgotten so give me a few minutes to prepare him. Stay next to Jinx and Ekko while I introduce you and if he wants to take a sniff at you, let him. Be gentle, try not to move too quickly and- I know you’re excited but try and act calm. Okay?”
Isha nodded, taking a few steps back to be in between Jinx and Ekko, looking at her expectantly.
Vi sighed heavily, looking at Jinx, “You sure about this?”
“If we keep putting it off she might try to sneak down on her own.” Jinx deadpanned.
“And you said Vander is settling down more right?” Ekko asked, “We should be fine.”
Vi agreed. But she was still a bit nervous.
Vi went to Vander, who lifted his head when he sensed her, giving her a snarl she now recognized to be a smile, she gently placed a hand against his forehead, leaning against him, “Hey dad. Do you remember what I told you yesterday about a new visitor?”
Vander frowned for a moment but quickly seemed to recall, tilting his head, “Old… friend?”
“No. No you didn’t know them at all before. But Ji- Powder would like you to meet them. If that’s alright with you?”
Vander considered for a moment, “…who?”
“You’ll see.”
Vander nodded along, taking a step back into his nest and looking to the opening of the cavern, seeming to brace himself.
Vi whistled to give Jinx the signal that they were good to go.
At the entrance, stepping in slowly came Isha, standing between Jinx and Ekko, holding their hands, for comfort or to keep her from moving too fast in excitement or fear was anyone’s guess.
Isha’s eyes widened when she saw Vander, stopping, hesitating.
Ekko squeezed her hand and Jinx crouched down, placing a hand on the kid’s back, “Hey, it’s okay.” She told her in a gentle voice, tucking her hair behind her ear, “He won’t hurt you, he’s… he’s family. You remember the tales of the Hound of the Underground right? That’s him, he protects, it’s what he does.”
Vander was watching Isha, clearly surprised that the person they wanted him to meet was a tiny kid with wide eyes.
Jinx waited for Isha to inspect Vander and slightly relax before adjusting her vest and turning to him, “…dad-” she still hesitated to call him that, but he seemed to respond better when she did, “this is Isha. Isha, this is Vander.”
Vander slowly tilted his head as he got a bit closer, inspecting Isha, his eyes narrowed as he starred at her, going to Ekko, then to Jinx, and back to Isha. Then he looked at where Ekko was still holding one of Isha’s hands and how Jinx was still crouched and had an arm around the kid.
Two tiny itty bitty little things clicked in Vi’s mind at the same time as Vander drew back in surprise.
One; it was quite clear that Vander still struggled to understand just how many years had passed, even if Vi told him exactly how long it’d been, he didn’t seem to be able to either fully accept or fully process it, thinking it’d been shorter or longer depending on the day.
Two; was just what this looked like.
Jinx had just dyed Isha’s hair again, between the blue hair that might look natural to Vander due to her roots being covered by her miner hat and the unreliable lighting of the lanterns Vi had set up around the cavern, and the way Jinx and Ekko were clearly both protective of her and comforting her and the way the kid glanced back at both of them for reassurance before stepping closer to Vander, how Jinx had said ‘he’s family’, and how the two exchanged glances, quietly communicating, how they looked like a couple presenting their chil-
Oh.
This looked like-
Vander glanced between the two one final time before fully setting his gaze on Isha, sniffing at her once before speaking, “your…dau…ghter?”
The tentative smile on Jinx’s face fell as Ekko sucked in a breath and instantly went a violent shade of red.
Vi couldn’t help but crack up, starting to laugh at the way Vander kept glancing between Jinx and Ekko in between trying to inspect Isha further, “Yes! Yes, this is their daughter, your granddaughter, Isha.” She said as she slapped Ekko’s back and doubled over in laughter.
“Vi, shut up.” He told her, clearly not seeing how exactly Vander’s confusion was amusing.
Her laughter might’ve alerted Vander under different circumstances, but he seemed entranced by Isha, who was tentatively getting closer, raising a hand for him to sniff and letting her touch his face as she examined him just as much as he did her.
“Grand…daughter?” He questioned as Isha continued patting at him, seeming fascinated by his claws as he gently raised them when she tugged, letting her inspect him, softly sniffing at her hair, Isha seeming unbothered.
Ekko went to pinch the bridge of his nose in an attempt to hide his blush, Jinx slowly stood up, refusing to look in Ekko’s direction as she made a face at Vander’s question, “…yes?”
Vander seemed to fully melt at that, pretty much trapping Isha in an embrace, the kid didn’t seem worried however, laughing at the way his fur seemed to tickle her, taking off her hat to snuggle into him.
Vi couldn’t help but smile at the sight, but still went through with the impulse to throw her arms around Jinx and Ekko’s shoulders, “Shouldn’t have trusted you around my baby sister little man. Who knew you were such a scoundrel?”
Jinx barked out a laugh as Ekko ducked out from under her arm, “You know what-”
He cut himself off to stop Isha from trying to climb all over Vander before he was done sniffing her, though it became quite clear to Vi that Vander had already accepted the kid as his granddaughter and would let her do anything she wanted.
As if the kid needed any more people wrapped around her little finger.
***
Jinx turned to Vi, frowning, “A cocoon?”
Vi shrugged, “That’s what Caitlyn said.”
“Huh.”
Jinx and Ekko finally had a few potential designs for the air-filtration system, they’d decided to take them to the Herald to see if he could help with figuring out what the final design should be and with the actual construction of it.
She’d mentioned it to Vi as they met up to have dinner together at a rooftop with a view of what was now one of the most decorated streets in Zaun, graffiti depicting their fights with Piltover and creative statues made of old copper wire and fancy Piltover shit all around.
She’d mentioned that the Herald’s real name was Viktor, to which Vi had revealed she’d heard of him during her time in Piltover and, last she’d known, he’d been in some kind of cocoon created by something to do with HexTech.
“You said he’s partially made of metal?” Vi asked as she bit into a rib, their recent tradings leaving them with all kinds of meat.
“It looks like metal, who knows what it actually is.” Jinx reached out, snatching a green grape from Vi’s plate since she’d just finished hers.
Vi rolled her eyes but let her, “Do you think he’s trust worthy?”
“…I actually have no idea. There’s something about him that just gives me the creeps. It almost feels like… like there’s… a presence around him. I don’t know how to describe it.”
“Does Ekko trust him?”
“Ha! Not one bit. You know he’s anti-HexTech so, obviously he’s not gonna like the guy that’s half machine. But he’s pretty sure he’s not a threat. At least not as long as we don’t interfere with his weird little cult.”
Vi hummed, considering everything.
She took a moment to take in the night.
It was the first time they had officially agreed to ‘meet up’ for dinner, realizing they hadn’t seen much of each other between Jinx working so hard on the prototypes and trades and Vi dedicating herself to Vander and making sure the others knew how to hold their own against the few Noxian and Enforcer tactics she’d observed while in Piltover.
Also, some of them had just been plain shit at hand-to-hand combat so she’d had her hands quite full.
Zaren had been the one who suggested it. While being dragged away from the training matts by Vi after she’d beaten him once again and he’d refused to get up for the sake of theatrics, he’d tried making small talk, asking how Jinx was, when Vi had answered they hadn’t seen too much of each other outside of their visits to Vander, Zaren had asked why not take a day of the week to agree and have dinner with each other.
Vi had thought it dumb at first. But after thinking on it, she’d decided she might as well at the very least suggest it, they were working on their relationship after all.
She’d used Isha as a messenger and the two had agreed to give it a try.
After struggling through some small talk, they’d settled into an easy chat.
It was… nice. Good even.
“Did Kiramman say anything about what he’s like? Aside from weird?” Jinx asked.
“Mmm… all I really know is that he’s smart and that he was sick. And that he and Jayce were very close. Caitlyn said he could be a bit awkward but well-meaning. Work obsessed.”
Jinx contemplated that.
“Will you go to see him tomorrow?” Vi asked, offering to exchange the grapes she had left for the small bread Jinx had only just started nibbling at.
Jinx narrowed her eyes as she considered the exchange, glancing down at her bread- muffin, that’s what Nivu had called it when he’d snuck it on to her plate. Vi was well aware anyone and everyone involved in the kitchens always snuck stuff on to Ekko and Jinx’s plates.
There wasn’t a limit on what anyone could take or how much they could eat, but everyone tried to be conscious, only encouraging the kids (and Jinx and Ekko) to eat to their hearts content.
Nivu and some of the others had started experimenting in the kitchen with their new supplies, making baked goods and some other more ‘experimental’ dishes.
Vi found she quite like the breads he made that had nuts and raisins inside.
And she knew Jinx had found a fondness for grapes, especially green ones.
Her sister relented on the trade and Vi munched on the muffin, the center still a bit warm and full of nuts and raisins while Jinx popped a grape in her mouth.
“We’ll go early morning.” Jinx answered, “We want to figure out the filtration system as soon as possible.”
“You want an escort?” Vi offered.
Jinx waved her off, “Nah, we should be good.”
They fell into silence as they respectively finished the grapes and the muffin. Taking a moment to enjoy their food was still somewhat new to them both. Having preferences or things they were especially fond of newer still. Though Vi doubted they would ever become picky when it came to food.
“How’s Isha doing in school?” Vi asked as she finished the muffin.
“She’s still struggling with her writing, getting better though, and she’s starting to read like a champ.”
“That’s good. Isaac mentioned something about using old textbooks of yours to start planning actual lessons?”
“Oh yeah, Silco wanted me to be as educated as possible. He taught me math, got Singed to teach me chemistry and a bit of biology and managed to get his hands on a few Piltover textbooks for me. Sevika found them looking for some old documents and gave them to Murod and Sira.”
Murod and Sira were in their late twenties and were the two leading the school project, Murod had often helped the gambling halls keep track of the money and the debts, while Sira had managed to study literature in Piltover for a few years before returning and eventually joining the Firelights.
Isaac and a few others helped them when they could.
“Did you like it?”
Jinx shrugged, “It was interesting, but I was always mostly interested in chemistry.”
“What about mechanics?”
“That I preferred to figure out on my own for the most part but I did have a textbook or two.”
“Mmm.”
“How’s Vander? He get over how gooey he was after seeing Isha?”
Vi chuckled, “She made his day, I think he loves the idea of having a granddaughter.”
“I can’t believe you let him assume that.”
“It was funny!” Vi laughed, “Besides, as your big sister, I am obligated to tease you from time to time. Also also, I mean… he wasn’t wrong was he?”
Jinx considered, glancing down, vulnerability and doubt coming into her eyes and posture, “Do you think… you think Isha sees me as her mom?”
Vi starred for a moment, “I think she does. I mean… she didn’t even bat an eye when Vander asked. You and Ekko… she’s yours. In all the ways that matter. Isn’t she?”
“Of course she is. It’s just… weird… having it said out loud. Actually acknowledging it.” Jinx looked away, licking her lips, “I’m uhh… I’m a bit scared I’ll mess her up.”
“Hey,” Vi reached out, gently placing a hand on her shoulder, not hesitating this time, “you’ve done a great job so far. The kid is healthy and confident and safe. She trusts you, that kid idolizes you and Ekko. She’ll be just fine.”
“You really think so?” Jinx asked as she turned to her.
Vi gave her a small smile, “I do. Besides, now she’s got a bunch of other people looking out for her. Including her grandpa-” Jinx rolled her eyes, “and me.”
Jinx grinned, “What’s it like being an aunt?”
Vi blinked.
She hadn’t stopped to consider her own connection to the kid.
“I’ll help her get in trouble when she’s a bit older.”
“You’d better fucking not-”
They both laughed.
***
A while later, Jinx sat at the tallest balcony that’d been built into the Firelight tree, her legs dangling from the edge, observing the few lights that were still on, most people (who weren’t on some kind of night watch) having already left the general area to get some sleep.
“There you are.” She turned to see Ekko floating on his hoverboard to her right, stepping on the balcony and going to join her.
“Here I am.”
He sat down slowly next to her, “You alright?”
“I’m fine, just… thinking.”
“About?”
She allowed herself a moment to just look at him, appreciating the softness in his eyes and the way he looked healthier than he had at their bridge fight. Even with their frequent late nights his eye bags were still better than they’d been months prior, skin no longer ashy.
She’d been thinking about how… not lonely she’d felt recently.
It was Sevika giving her advice and company while acting annoyed.
It was Gert pushing her out of her comfort zone and asking for help to dye her hair a golden tone and making her sit down to give her a blue eyeliner look.
It was Vi making an effort to talk and understand her and grabbing grapes to eat just because she knew she’d steal them from her plate.
It was Kellie ordering her to rest.
It was Arol sneaking her food and insisting she get some more sun.
It was Caeya and Vara and Zaren being ridiculous and helpful and company.
It was Vander letting her sleep leaning against him and lighting up every time she visited.
Of course, it was everything about Isha.
And… above it all… it was Ekko.
“I was thinking about our visit to Vander.”
Ekko chuckled, glancing down as he softly shook his head, “Oh.”
She tilted her head, “Did it bother you? What he thought?”
He met her gaze, “It… caught me off guard. But no, it didn’t bother me… Isha is… amazing. And I don’t know exactly when but at some point I started thinking of her as…”
“Yours?”
“…yeah. So no, it didn’t really bother me.”
Jinx pressed her lips together for a moment, thinking about what everyone kept saying about her and Ekko, how she knew he wanted her and how she wanted him.
How Sevika was so sure that Ekko would rather die than hurt her.
How he’d held her when she needed it and called her Blue and how he’d been clearly terrified of her blaming him for what had happened when they’d been children.
How he’d come for her all those years ago.
How gentle he was with Isha and how he understood her and trusted her even after everything.
How, as Gert had said, nothing had been able to truly break their connection.
“And… did it bother you that he assumed that… well… probably assumed that we are… together?” She asked tentatively.
His gaze didn’t waver, “No. It didn’t bother me at all. Maybe it was a bit… embarrassing given the context and the way Vi kept laughing…” Jinx chuckled and looked down at the memory of how Vi had nearly toppled over in laughter, “but it didn’t bother me.”
Jinx looked up at the leaves above them, turning over in her mind all those glances and touches and words and moments she’d been trying so hard to ignore, to twist into something else, to convince herself were nothing but impending pain and doom. She allowed herself for a moment to think about what they might be, if they weren’t all of that.
Ekko was watching her, something soft in his eyes as he bumped his shoulder against hers ever so gently, “What’s really on your mind Blue?”
Jinx closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, “That I don’t want to be scared anymore.”
“…I can relate to that.”
Her heart was starting to race.
She felt like she was standing at the edge of a precipice, about to topple over into the unknown, into everything she was still half convinced would be a mistake, a new kind of pain, a kind of scar that would never fully heal, an injury that would finish breaking her and tearing her apart limb from limb.
The sweetest of regrets.
But a single thought arose in the midst of the chaos in her mind.
What if it wasn’t any of that?
Jinx slowly dared to shift, turning to him, he was still watching her, eyes quietly shifting over her face, maybe he was observing the same things in her that she’d observed in him.
She reached out, tracing the hour-shape on his face with her fingertips as delicately as she could, Ekko dipping his head and closing his eyes, not moving, barely breathing as she went over the lines of his face-paint before letting her hand drop.
He opened his eyes slowly, meeting her gaze.
Jinx swallowed.
She was at a precipice.
There would be no turning back in whatever it was that they were if she dared to push now.
She took a shaky breath, hating how nervous she felt, how scared.
A thought occurred to her, an irrational wish, the wonder of what could have been, the memory of what Ekko had told her about the other world.
“Can we… can we act like… like nothing bad ever happened?” She asked under her breath, “Can we pretend like we’re normal?”
Ekko’s eyes somehow softened further, even as he gently shook his head, “No.”
“Why not?” She whispered, a bit surprised that he’d refuse her request.
Ekko took a deep shaky breath, his voice low and vulnerable, “Because normal isn’t us. Normal isn’t you… and I don’t want anything that isn’t you.”
Jinx kissed him. A hand cupping his face, Ekko sucking in a breath, not daring to move.
It was a press of lips more than anything, Jinx pulling back, breathing heavily and-
He pulled her back in, gently tugging her against him, a hand coming to the back of her neck, his other hand surrounding her waist, pulling her into him, into his orbit, not letting her overthink this.
His lips slid softly against her own, warm and gentle, Jinx placing a hand over his chest, feeling his thumbing heartbeat beneath her palm, still cupping his face and letting her thumb run over his cheekbone with her other hand as they settled into a rhythm, figuring out what to do, how to fit together.
And oh- was this what a kiss was? What it felt like?
Was this what she’d been running from?
She didn’t dare let him go, didn’t dare let the moment end until she had no breath left and they had to part, leaning their foreheads together, Ekko going to gently cup her face, eyes searching hers, looking for doubt, for fear, for an indication that she’d run, she wasn’t sure exactly.
“Was that… was that alright?” He asked quietly.
“Yes.” She answered breathlessly.
His eyes flickered down to her lips as he leaned in further against her, “Can I do it aga-”
She pulled him in this time, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and feeling his hands against her lower back and her waist, holding her carefully, like something precious.
Once they were out of breath, Ekko wordlessly helped her up, not letting go of her hand.
They made their way down, finding Isha playing in one of the halls, clearly sleepy, Ekko picked her up and instantly went to hold Jinx’s hand again, Isha noticing and just leaning further against his chest, hiding a smile against her hands.
She tugged at him, going straight to his room, they changed and tucked Isha in before settling into bed, Ekko fully wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against his chest with no hesitation, Isha chuckling between them.
Sleep came to Jinx easier than ever before.
Notes:
AAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
IT HAPPENED*takes deep breath*
OkayFirst off, I really wanted to write a bit about Cait in captivity, especially given how she parallels the start of Vi’s journey and just- the oh the bitter irony
Then of course, we finally get Vander confusing Isha for Jinx and Ekko’s biological daughter and just instantly melting I had so much fun writing that bit! We’ll see them together again, don’t worry
Then, I wanted another scene with the sisters just chatting and also commenting on how the situation of food security has given them the chance to actually figure out what they like and just acting like sisters, trading stuff and teasing one anther and just- ugh, I love writing their dynamic
And then… the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the kiss AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I really hope you liked it and considered it worth the wait, I had a bunch of lines (mainly the callback to ‘Can we pretend like it’s the first time’) already planned out so long ago and I am so happy to finally write it and post it!!!
Let it be known, somewhere Gert was watching with binoculars, celebrating and popping champagne, so many people are about to owe money it isn’t even funny (Sevika absolutely won all the bets)
Chapter 27: A Gathering Storm
Summary:
Jinx and Ekko visit the Herald once more
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ekko shut the door quietly, handing Jinx her plate and sitting on the bed next to her, careful not to wake Isha up, who was still curled up, hugging her bunny plushie.
Jinx pressed her forehead against his shoulder in a silent ‘thank you’ before going to dig into her plate of scrambled eggs and what Jonah had called ‘hash browns’.
“The kitchen might be getting too excited, what is that?” Jinx asked, jerking her chin to the plate Ekko was covering with a napkin, which was for Isha.
Ekko took a moment to look at the fluffy circlet on the plate next to a tiny cup of maple syrup and another bigger cup of yogurt with cut up fruit and honey.
“This was actually Kiramman, Nivu said he taught him to make pancakes for the kids?”
“Huh.”
They ate mostly in comfortable silence, Jinx leaning against his side, her head against his shoulder once they’d finished, Ekko gently playing with her hand, tracing her chipped nail polish.
Still leaning against him, she looked up at him, Ekko glancing down and being rewarded by soft lips against his own, going to cup her cheek, deepening the kiss.
They parted after a long moment, Ekko raising their intertwined hands to press a kiss against the back of her hand.
“You’re beautiful.” He told her in a quiet tone.
She rolled her eyes, “It’s too early for you to already be getting sappy.”
“Oh I’m sorry, would you like to give me a schedule so I know at what times I can get sappy?” Ekko deadpanned.
She bumped her shoulder against him, Ekko returning the bump, both chuckling.
There was some small amount of nerves under the surface, but he was glad to see they could still taunt and be playful with each other.
Isha stirred awake, rubbing her eyes as she climbed into Jinx’s lap, Jinx pulling her against her chest, Isha’s face lighting up when Ekko went to hand her her plate.
As Isha ate, they got ready for their visit to the Herald, Jinx stealing another of his shirts, tying it off at her mid-riff.
It only took a few minutes for Isha to finish her breakfast.
Ekko was helping Isha put on her shoes as Jinx made one last check that they had everything they wanted the Herald to take a look at.
She didn’t bother pulling her hair into a ponytail or French braid, knowing they (probably) wouldn’t be in a lot of danger and wouldn’t need to maneuver a lot.
Once Isha was ready to go, Ekko went to pick up a satchel with most of their model prototypes, placing a hand on Jinx’s back to move her slightly.
Just because he could now.
As they headed down the hall side by side, Isha holding Jinx’s hand, Scar and Gert joined them with reports.
“Hey, we just finished stabilizing one of the chambers in the mines.” Scar told them.
“That’s good. Any news from Piltover?” Ekko asked.
“Nothing. Well- Vara said it almost looked like another civilian protest was going to happen but Enforcers broke it up before they could go through with it.”
“Huh.”
“It looks like the Enforcers are starting to obey Ambessa more than the Councilors left.” Gert added, “And we caught something in the radios about Kiramman, we were right, she’s still in Piltover but we have no idea where.”
“Is she free or captive?” Jinx asked.
“I don’t have any official confirmation through the radios but from the way they were talking, I’m pretty sure she’s captive.”
As soon as Scar went to tell Ekko something else about the mines, Gert grabbed Jinx’s wrist, pulling her closer and lowering her voice, “You spent the night together?” She asked with a grin.
Jinx rolled her eyes, trying to push down her blush, “Isha was there, get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Hey, I just asked if you were together not if you… did anything. But something tells me you might’ve done a little thing.” She said in a teasing manner as she bumped Jinx a few times with her shoulder.
Jinx just hip-checked her.
As they left the base, Ekko took a deep breath before reaching out, slipping his hand into Jinx’s.
Jinx let it happen, grinning to herself.
At another point she might’ve felt foolish at how giddy the simple gesture made her feel. Now she was just… happy.
They made their way deeper into Zaun and it hit Ekko how much had changed in such little time.
The streets were brighter than ever, people working together, laughing and relaxed, all of them giving him and Jinx a solemn nod as they passed by.
Kids running around with their guards down, some carrying fruits or berries, sharing amongst themselves.
Groups of… Ekko could no longer tell who had started out as firelights or jinxers or goons, he could only tell they were gearing up, chatting as they prepared themselves to go down into the mines, carrying sheets of wood and toolboxes, some older folks chastising them, telling them to pay attention as they went over the maps of the mineshafts.
It was like a weight had been lifted off of the very city. Even though they were quite literally at war, they were also living under the best conditions they’d ever had.
Even when Vander had been in charge it hadn’t been this good.
Isha slipped from Jinx’s side as they came up on a couple of broken stairs, slipping between them and taking each of their hands, Ekko quickly picking up on what the kid wanted.
As they came up on the half collapsed ramp that had once been stairs, Isha jumped, letting Jinx and Ekko lift her between them over the collapsed cement and rocks, giggling and kicking her feet in the air, Jinx and Ekko periodically letting her swing from their arms.
Jinx laughed at the kid’s delight.
Once they made it to somewhat-stable ground, sliding past metal tubes and ridges, Ekko picked Isha up, placing her over his shoulders, the kid leaning against his head, Jinx slipping a hand into his once more.
Ekko could barely contain his happiness at the simple, almost domestic situation.
Sure- they were on their way to the territory of a cult to ask a man made of metal to help them create filters to keep Piltover from taking away their clean air and water in the midst of the war but-
If he ignored their final destination… it was just a walk…
A walk with his girls.
***
Maddie slowly tilted her head.
Now this… this was interesting.
Zaun’s defenses were surprisingly good, impenetrable to a big assault, the silent message was clear, they wouldn’t be getting caught off guard again.
But every defense had it’s weaknesses, and it was Maddie’s job to find them. To slip through unseen.
This would be her only shot, the machine she’d used to cause a small inconsistency in the electrical field would last another hour and she very much expected the Zaunians to have it patched up by nightfall.
But it didn’t matter, she’d needed to get any information she could get. Given their level of defense, this would be her only chance to slip in.
She hadn’t bothered with the base, knowing there was no chance she’d be able to infiltrate the place… not when she didn’t even know where it was nor where she could start looking for it.
The streets of Zaun were confusing, buildings stacked on top of each other, tunnels leading into circles and mines. It was almost like a labyrinth.
At first she’d feared her trip here would amount to nothing.
Then she’d simply decided to walk, overhearing as much as she could of the conversations taking place.
It was hard. The people somehow seemed less daunting than when she’d last been here, but then again, last time she’d been on a strike team.
Very few of them wore hats or hoods, which meant she also couldn’t at the risk of standing out too much.
She’d put on a wig, synthetic black hair providing her with a curtain to hide her face, makeup making her paler and concealing her freckles.
There were very few people who might recognize her, but she wasn’t taking any chances.
The information she’d gathered hadn’t amounted to much. Talks of fresh fruit and for some reason talkings of how to stabilize a tunnel.
That told her 1) they were making trades, which Ambessa had already suspected they might do and 2) they might be paying more attention to the infrastructure of their city or there was another reason for the talks of stabilization and restoration.
But now… now she’d stumbled upon golden information.
Because, as she slowly ate a small plum leaning against one of the many murals inside an alley, she saw them.
Jinx and Ekko, walking down the street, holding hands.
But then-
A kid.
A kid slipping between them and being lifted between the two, playing around.
Which was curious and interesting enough.
Then something clicked in Maddie’s brain.
The kid looked familiar. It was the same kid Caitlyn had refused to take hostage the kid that…
She remembered what she’d overheard when Caitlyn had spoken to her father, the strange flicker of recognition in her eyes when she’d seen this kid…
This kid clearly had some kind of connection to Jinx… and to Ekko. The way they looked at her, the way they were clearly willing to go along with her randomly putting her entire weight on them just because it made her laugh.
They were obviously familiar with one another, the kid very clearly had both their hearts.
That was… quite interesting.
She watched as the trio walked away, Ekko lifting the kid up on his shoulders and Jinx leaning against him once they were further down.
Maddie tried her best to hide her grin as she went to leave.
Maybe this trip hadn’t been as fruitless as she’d thought at first.
***
After reaching the gate that gave way to the Herald’s territory and turning in their weapons, Jinx stopped right before they entered the greenhouse, crouching to be at Isha’s level, “Alright kid, you can look around if you want to, but don’t touch anything that looks too vibrant- might be poisonous or something.”
“Also, don’t get close to the Herald.” Ekko added in a gentle tone.
Isha nodded along, she didn’t particularly care about the Herald, she wanted to see the plants and the greenhouse Jinx had told her about.
Ekko opened the door, letting Isha go in first, the kid immediately heading for one of the fountains that contained plants with gigantic leaves.
He and Jinx went deeper into the greenhouse, where Viktor stood with his back to them.
“You are back.” Viktor started, slowly turning around, “I was starting to think you wouldn’t need my help.”
Ekko exchanged a glance with Jinx before stepping forward, placing his satchel on the stone ledge of a large plant pot, “We have a few ideas. The problem is actually building them in a functional way. We hoped you might go over the blueprints, tell us what our best shot would be with stuff we already have or that we could get trading.”
Viktor half frowned, glancing at him, then to Jinx. Seeming to hesitate until his gaze became lost, looking at something non-existent behind them before slowly reaching for one of the blueprints Ekko had placed on the ledge.
As Viktor inspected the blueprints and went over the notes, scribbling over one or two of their equations, Jinx stepped closer to explain some of it and also demand details about what he was editing, Ekko quietly inspected him.
He wasn’t entirely sure if he was imagining things but the man seemed more tired. He could almost swear the purple cold metal looked… more shiny. More… alive.
It was strange.
“This filter would be the most efficient.” Viktor told them as he selected one of the blueprints, “But the materials you’d need for it to be reliable and functional would need to be different and they would have a steep price if you were to trade for them.”
“Is there any chance we might find them in Zaun?” Ekko questioned, already knowing it was quite unlikely.
Viktor shook his head, “The craftsmanship is too detailed and rare, even in Piltover these kind of materials were hard to get.”
Jinx’s eyebrow shot up, “So we could get them in Piltover? Did you have any of this in your lab?”
“We had everything in our lab.”
Jinx looked to Ekko, half grinning, “You know what this smells like to me?”
Ekko sighed, deciding to humor her, “Like what?”
“Like a heist!” She slammed a hand on the blueprint, ignoring the annoyed look Viktor sent her way, “Are these materials in your lab at the Academy?”
“If the lab hasn’t been meddled with then they should be there.”
“But even if they moved stuff around or let someone else start using your lab- we’d be able to find them someplace else in the Academy right?”
Viktor nodded along, “The Academy labs require all sorts of materials, there are also bodegas with what has been disposed of or what is needed in bulk.”
Ekko sighed, considering, “If we managed to get our materials from there, would we be able to modify them into what we need for the filters?”
“Yes, and there should be plenty that wouldn’t need modification. But-”
“We already know you don’t wanna get involved in pissing Piltover off, relax.” Jinx talked over him, waving him off, “We’ll go on our heist and come back with the materials, and you can give us a hand to make sure the construction is good.”
Viktor inspected them both, very clearly debating with himself, Ekko could tell he wasn’t a fan of the idea of a heist, but would he dislike it enough to stop helping them?
After a minute of deliberation, the Herald simply dipped his head, going over some details in the design, explaining the materials they’d need and each of their uses, Jinx and Ekko jumping in whenever they had a suggestion or questions, taking full advantage of Viktor’s knowledge and experience to get his thoughts on every single blueprint.
They both cast an occasional glance to Isha, who was exploring the greenhouse and even taking her own notes, a habit she’d picked up both from so many nights watching the two of them do so and due to her teacher gently telling her to practice her writing whenever possible.
At some point, the kid ran up to them, handing Ekko her notebook to show off some of her drawings and to spell-check some of her plant descriptions.
Once he handed it back, he didn’t miss the way Viktor watched the kid run off again.
Then he couldn’t help but-
“What exactly are your plans for this place?” He questioned, trying to sound as calm as possible, “What do you hope to accomplish?”
Viktor raised a slow eyebrow and Jinx rolled her eyes, “This is a sanctuary-”
“But what is your end goal? To get as many people here as possible?”
Viktor slowly rose to his feet to better face him, Jinx, who was sitting on the desk they’d moved to, shifted, clearly ready to move if she sensed danger, “I intend to help along the coming of the glorious evolution.”
“Glorious evolution? What is that supposed to mean?”
Viktor tilted his head, watching him with a curious look in his face, “It is time for humanity to take a step forwards, to leave behind fickle, unreliable things and take the next step in our evolution.”
“And, just out of curiosity, what are those fickle and unreliable things?” Jinx questioned, “And how do you want to get rid of said things?”
Viktor said nothing for a moment, keeping his eyes on Ekko.
He tensed up, “With HexTech. Right?”
“HexTech is the gateway to the next phase of humanity, it-”
“And we’ve crossed right into cult talk territory.” Jinx quipped, going to inspect her nails.
Viktor ignored her, “The Arcane is rare, too much so, HexTech was always meant to open doors to humanity.”
“By producing unnatural magic.” Ekko argued, “You can’t just decide that humanity needs to evolve. Who exactly do you think you are? What- what did you do for you to be like… this?” He gestured at his metal limbs.
Viktor glanced down for a moment, “A new version of HexTech… cured me. I spent my entire life sick, and not only did it cure me it also… opened my eyes. To what is necessary-”
“More like to what it wants. To consume.”
“I understand why you are frightened of this, why you don’t understand it. But these… unnecessarily big emotions and irrational thoughts… they are what is hindering humanity, what causes these wars and-”
“Wait wait wait, hold up,” Jinx hopped down from the desk, “You wanna get rid of big emotions? You know humanity’s… humanity?”
“We are not rational beings-”
“What are you on tin man?” Jinx questioned, a flabbergasted expression on her face, “No creature on this earth is ‘rational’, that’s kinda sorta how life works.”
“It’s a flaw. One that must be corrected if we hope to keep progressing.”
Jinx and Ekko traded a glance.
Ekko met Viktor’s gaze, looking at the metallic glaze in them, “And what happens to the people who disagree? Who don’t want your so called ‘glorious evolution’?”
“They will come around. Eventually.”
“How will the evolution come about?”
“The way it always has, slowly, but inevitably.” Viktor spoke with an almost alarming level of certainty.
It’d been nearly three hours since they’d arrived, Viktor tapped his staff on the dirt and turned to start walking to the deeper end of the greenhouse, clearly done with their conversation. Ekko took that as their cue to leave, tugging Jinx to him by one of her belt hoops and picking up Isha as he passed by, handing her to Jinx, who propped her up on her hip.
As soon as they made it past the gate of the sanctuary, Jinx turned to him, “Well that confirms it, he’s got a few loose screws up there. And that’s something coming from me.”
“I don’t trust him.” He looked down at some of the notes he’d taken, the blueprints seeming to almost taunt him, “But at least all of this seems to be right.”
“You reckon we’ll have to put a brake on his plans at some point?”
“…I honestly don’t know.” He risked a glance back to the so called sanctuary, “I can’t quite make up my mind on what to think about him and… all of this. But whatever HexTech thing it is that did that to him… it ought to be dangerous.”
Jinx reached out, gently squeezing his hand, “We’ll put a pin on it for now. We can always send someone down here to keep an eye on what he does after we’ve made our filters.”
“…yeah. That might be the best thing to do for now.”
“And speaking of the filters…” Jinx took a moment to set Isha down, who’d started wiggling, “we’re not sticking to just the design the tin man suggested right?”
Ekko shook his head, “If we’re going to risk a heist into Piltover it has to be worth it. What do you think?”
“We should get what we need for the main water filtration system he approved of, and then we’ll do the flower cleansing machine for the earth and we’ll also get what we need for a few single flower capsules to filter air that he seemed to kinda like. And if we manage to get the worst shit out of the ground, we should be able to plant flowers directly to help deal with the air.”
Ekko nodded along, “Alright, we’ll need to figure out who to take. We’ll have to be quick and discreet.”
“You think we should take Vi? I don’t think she ever visited the Academy but she is kinda our Piltie expert.”
“We should ask her if she knows anything… reckon we could take Loris?”
Isha jumped up at that, signing that she liked the big man.
Jinx snorted, gently ruffling her hair, “I know you like him… but even though I kinda trust him, I don’t think he is capable of stealth.”
“He was on a strike team.” Ekko advocated.
“An attack team not a spy one.” She argued right back, “Very different skill set required. Look, I think we should take Scar for sure, he’s got stealth and muscle, we’ll need muscle for all the supplies. Zaren, Jenn and Vara also fulfill those requirements.”
Ekko nodded along, “Scar, Zaren, Jenn, Vara… and maybe Loris and Vi as well?”
“Maybe… in fact,” Jinx stopped for a moment when they were midway into an alley, crouching and turning to Isha, “Could you run ahead to ask Loris and Vi if they’ve been inside the Academy? And ask Vi if she thinks they’d be useful in the heist.”
Isha nodded along, taking a moment to write on her small notebook, her writing had been getting better but-
“Oh, Academy is spelled with a ‘y’, not ‘i’ gumdrop.” Jinx gently corrected, Isha pouting for a moment before correcting her mistake and taking off running.
Ekko frowned, starting to turn to her, “Why’d you send her ahead-”
Before he could fully process the blur of her movement, she’d all but pounced him, shoving him against the wall as she kissed him hands holding the front of his jacket and pulling him closer.
It only took his brain a split second to catch up, dragging her closer by the waist, deepening the kiss as he let his hands wander up her back, beneath her jacket but staying on top of her shirt- well… his shirt that she’d borrowed.
She pushed him further against the wall, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as she experimentally licked at the seam of his lips, Ekko opening his mouth to her.
“You know…” he started as settled his hands on her hips, “if you wanted to make out you could’ve just asked.”
She quickly bit at his jawline before pulling back with a smirk, “I like to keep you on your toes.”
He spun her around, pressing her up against the wall, smug and pride expanding in his chest at the little gasp she gave when he pressed his knee gently between her thighs and started to press a line of kisses and soft bites down her neck, “Well that makes two of us.”
She snorted, probably taking that as a challenge, daring even with the light blush expanding down her cheeks as she let her head fall back against the wall, exposing more of his neck to him, pulling him closer by the nape of his neck.
He had a feeling it might take them a while to make it back to base.
He had no issue with that.
If Jinx wanted to take advantage of a desolate alleyway who was he to deny her?
Notes:
Yellow!
So, first off I would like to say we will be returning to one update a week since my spring break is over, I might sporadically post twice a week but for the most part I think I’ll only be posting on Fridays, with this being an exception since I didn’t post last weekAlso, I choose to fully lean into Maddie being a spy and made her full on an expert at that cause fun!
I’m still figuring out how to tackle Viktor’s storyline and at this point, he’s slowly being more consumed by the HexCore but is still able to acknowledge that he does want to help Zaun (and is also pushed by Sky to do so) hope you liked his cameo!
alsoyesthechaptertitleisareferencetohadestown :)
Chapter 28: The Devil Fore’ The Fall
Summary:
The planning for the heist begins
Vi ask Vander an important question
Sky knows something strange is on its way
Ekko and Jinx try to figure out what Ambessa’s plan is
Notes:
I’m not dead!
Hi guys, so sorry for not posting in 2 weeks, tbh college is getting a bit crazy yall know its the final stretch of the semester so deadlines are piling up and finals are on their way. I also had to get some paperwork done cause I’m bout to start my social service!
Posting schedule might get a bit erratic. Also, I had no time to spell-check this so apologies in advance (pls ignore any mistakes)
Hope you enjoy the chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Jinx pulled back from the wall, inspecting the list of materials and drawings she’d just finished, making sure she hadn’t forgotten anything before turning to the table, “This is what we absolutely have to get in order to finally make the filters.” She explained as she went back to the other side of the table, leaning her hip against the table.
“From what we know, I think we should be able to sneak in the same way I did before.” Ekko said as he went to point out the journey they’d take on the map he’d drawn up, “We’ll sneak in through one of the metal gates in the rock cliffs at the sides that are near the industrial section of Piltover, security should be lighter there, after that we travel through the sewers and this spot is where we can emerge to sneak into the air ducts of the Academy.”
Vi frowned as she leaned her fists into the table, leaning over the maps and blueprints, shaking her head slightly, “Are we sure the heist is worth it? According to our watches, the patrols in Piltover have gotten a whole lot more diligent, we’ll need a lot of synchronization and constant communication. Not to mention it looks like we need to get quite a few things.”
“We have to do this if we want functional filters.” Ekko told her.
“And it’s only a matter of time before they target our air and water systems.” Sevika said, “I’d say the only reason it hasn’t happened yet is because Ambessa is an outsider and the other Councilors probably don’t know much about said systems. The second she gets enough information, that’s where she’ll hit us.”
“I agree.” Scar said, “Ambessa has already gotten a glimpse at what the Grey could do, there is no way she’d pass up on weaponizing it if she had enough information about it. We need those filters.”
“Maybe we could set up some kind of distraction,” Gert proposed, “Record another message? Maybe we could record you guys demanding to speak to Kiramman, we know Ambessa won’t comply with that, maybe we could buy time that way, keep their eyes on the border and not in their own streets.”
“That could work.” Jinx contemplated, “But I don’t think Ambessa would fall for it if we tried to demand talking to Kiramman, she’d know something was up.”
“Could be another message to the civilians?” Vi said hesitantly, “We did get reports saying there’d been a few protests against Ambessa having so much power right?”
“Two birds with one stone,” Arol continued, “We have a distraction and on top of that, we could get some sense of just how against Ambessa the Pilties are, seed some chaos at the very least.”
“Now that I can get behind.” Jinx grinned.
Ekko quietly shook his head, trying to hide a grin of his own at her predictability, “We’ll take a small squad, Gert, you can set off our distraction as soon as we make it to the gates, even if it ends before we’re out we should be good, getting in will be the harder part.”
“We should wait a few days,” Vi suggested, “pay closer attention to the patrols around that area, be sure we know what to expect if we run into trouble.”
“We should also have at least three escape routes.” Scar continued, “The… improvisation that took place the last time we were in Piltover might’ve worked, but I don’t think anyone wants a repeat of that.”
Jinx and Ekko exchanged a glance, considering.
Jinx turned to the chalk before speaking, “We’ll strike in three days at sundown. That’s three days to check patrol routes, plan escapes and get any gear we’ll need for extra stealth.”
“Everyone alright with that?” Ekko asked.
They all quietly agreed.
While Ekko stayed behind to discuss possible escape routes with Scar and Vi, Jinx found herself being all but pulled out of the room by Gert, whose eyes had been shinning with mischief since Jinx had casually leaned on Ekko’s armrest while arguing about a particular mine cavern with Arol.
“So? Are you going to tell me or do I have to pry?” She questioned as she linked their arms together.
Jinx rolled her eyes, feeling herself blush, “No idea what you mean.”
“Oh come on! You two are not subtle.”
Jinx just shrugged, trying not to smile, “Things are… good.”
“Good? That’s all you’re going to give me? I think I deserve to hear that I was right.”
“That is still to be seen Gert, but I will say… I’m… happy. Things are almost the same but… easier in a sense.”
Gert smirked, leaning against her for a moment, “I’m glad. You two deserve it, Isha was ecstatic.”
“She can tell?”
“The kid was probably the first one to notice… or she would’ve been if you hadn’t decided to make out in a balcony in plain sight to anyone who looked up-”
“Alright point taken.” Jinx quipped as she rolled her eyes, “You can hardly blame me.”
“Oh we can.” Sevika grumbled from behind them, picking up speed to leave them behind, raising her voice as she looked over her shoulder, “Just keep the groping in alleys to a minimum.”
Gert burst out laughing, Jinx gave Sevika a metallic middle finger.
***
Vi sat across from Vander, who she’d gently told about the heist they were planning, hoping that maybe they could talk a bit about his own older heists, some he’d told her about a decade prior.
Instead, Vander huffed, he was laying down, Isha curled up on his back, sleeping with a tiny grip on some of his fur, “Dangerous.”
Vi sighed, “Yeah it’s dangerous. But it’s necessary. This way we won’t have to worry about Piltover coming after our air or water anymore. But don’t worry, we have a good plan, we’ll have a distraction and we’ll only take a small squad. We should be fine.”
Vander watched her for a long moment, “Careful.”
“We’ll be careful dad.”
“Take care… of Powder.”
An ache pulled at her chest at that, Vi looking down at her hands, “Of course.”
Vander frowned however, “What’s wrong?”
Vi shook her head for a moment, “Nothing I just… had deja vu I suppose.”
How many times had she heard ‘take care of Powder’. She’d even believed those to be his final words to her at one point.
She was hit by a memory all of a sudden, one that had always seemed to lurk in the back of her mind during her time in Stillwater, one she’d tried to drown in alcohol and bruises after Cait had abandoned her.
“Do you remember what you told me that last night? Not- not the one at the Cannery, the one before?” Vi found herself asking.
Vander’s frown deepened.
Vi could almost see the phantom, that long-lost version of Vander as this new Vander slowly mouthed the words that had lived under her skin back then.
‘When people look up to you, you don’t get to be selfish. You say run, they run, you say swim, they dive in, you say light a fire, they show up with oil. But whatever happens, it’s on you.’
“Do you…” Vi hesitated, “I know Powder already told you about what she did that night. But I… I was the one that led the mission. That let Claggor and Mylo come along… I led them there… so… their deaths were never on Ji- on Powder… they’re on me aren’t they?” She found her voice breaking as she tried desperately to keep her tears at bay, unable to look up at Vander, instead starring at her curled up fists.
She remembered what Ekko had told her. How this blame game they all seemed to play would never do them any good. Would never bring anyone back. Would never do anything that wasn’t merely adding salt to the wound.
But hadn’t she been the leader? Hadn’t she been the one responsible for them since Vander had taken them in? Hadn’t he told her countless times that if she was reckless they’d be the ones paying the price?
Vander shook his head, going to crawl to her, carefully removing Isha from his backs and placing her in one of the blankets littered around, “No… no Vi. Don’t… blame yourself-”
“How could I not?! You always said they were my responsibility-” Vi still didn’t look up, “Even though- even though I was a kid too! It was still on me!”
Vander shook his head again, “Didn’t- mean it… that way-”
“Didn’t you?” Vi half whispered, running her hands through her hair as she turned away, almost all the black dye had washed out by now, it was almost good to see the familiar reds at the edges of her vision, “Definitely felt like you meant it that way. I knew- I knew they looked up to me… I knew they’d do anything I asked them to do… I even tried- I tried to go alone but they refused- but even then… they were my responsibility. I should’ve kept them safe. It was- it was my fault wasn’t it?”
Vander reached her, curling up around her like a cat, fur and warmth surrounding her as he held her, letting her cry against him as the contact made her shatter.
“I’m sorry.” He said slowly,nuzzling against her, struggling to speak as his broken voice also became heavy with emotion, “They were… my responsibility. All of you were. I’m… sorry… I put that weight on your shoulders… you were a kid… you were all… kids. Silco and I… we once fought so… so no more kids… would have to bear that weight… and yet… I still gave it to you… I’m sorry.”
“You don’t- you don’t blame me?” She barely managed to get out.
“No. I don’t blame either of you. I should’ve… I should’ve done more… to keep you all safe.”
Vi sniffed, “You tried… you always gave it your all…”
“So did you.”
“But I stopped- I- I-” Vi struggled to breath, “After the Cannery, there’s something you don’t know… Powder and I got separated… I wound up in Stillwater for years- and when I got back… things had changed- she had changed and… I gave up on her for some time… it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that… that I tried again… I’m sorry dad-”
Vander squeezed her against him, “Stillwater?”
“…yeah.”
“Oh no… Vi… I should’ve… I should’ve been there… you tried again… even if it took some time… you did try again… that’s what matters.”
Vi shut her eyes tightly, hiding against him, “I missed you dad.”
“…I missed you too Violet.”
***
Sky could see the slow shift, drifting right in front of her, growing and invading both the sanctuary and Viktor’s mind. She could even see it in the astral plane sometimes.
For all their talk of the Glorious Evolution, it wasn’t really the people outside or Viktor that was doing said evolving, no, in reality, it was the HexCore that was changing.
Growing. Maybe even festering.
Sky could do little other than observe when Viktor was busy, she only had so much control in the astral plane, so instead she wandered in a fifteen foot radius around him, an invisible tether tying her to him, to the HexCore.
But her connection to the HexCore was unlike Viktor’s. For some reason, it had no influence of her.
Her assumption was that, while the HexCore had killed her, it’d never been a part of her, had never become her.
It’d never infiltrated her the way it seemingly was infiltrating Viktor.
She could see the start of a shift.
In the dirt around the sanctuary and even in the roots of a few plants of the greenhouse, markings of the HexCore slowly rising, the glaze over the people’s eyes becoming stronger, their movements more machine-like, more mechanical and automatic.
She’d pointed it out to Viktor, but he seemed almost blind to the shift.
Sky could tell he was still fighting the more aggressive side of the HexCore… consciousness within him. But she had a feeling he wouldn’t remain the dominant force there for much longer.
He was slipping, but he couldn’t quite see it, be it because the HexCore itself was making him look the other way or because of denial she didn’t know. But no matter how she told him he simply didn’t seem able to truly listen.
Sky crouched down, observing a tiny puddle, a film of purple-ish murk at its surface, she could tell this was part of it, the shift, the evolution.
Sky cautiously placed a hand over it, wondering yet again about her limits as a kind of spirit, she lowered her hand slowly, just barely allowing her fingertips to break the film.
There.
The briefest of flashes to things she could barely process before they disappeared.
People mutated by the HexCore. Purple and black veins nearly bulging out of their skin.
Creatures of white marble in a different world, almost angelical if it were not for the mechanical way in which they moved.
A man with a half-burned face holding a needle filled with purple liquid.
The boy with the hour-glass face paint, Ekko, gritting his teeth as he manipulated some kind of machine.
The girl with the gauntlets, Vi, facing down creatures with half broken Noxian armor, monstrous proportions ruining any illusion that they were normal soldiers, hair flying as she moved to fight.
The blue-haired girl, Jinx, standing at the torn bridge, fist in the air, minigun propped against her hip, gritty determination set on her face.
Caitlyn screaming, launching herself forward, a rifle with strange modifications in hand.
Mel surrounded by golden light, markings on her face glowing.
Jayce being thrown on the ground, scrambling to get a grip on his hammer- a distorted version of it.
And finally-
A strange emotionless purple mask with glowing yellow eyes, at the both sides, the halves of a human face barely visible… Viktor.
Sky came back to herself and jumped up, cradling her hand, feeling the gentle pull that let her know Viktor was thinking of her, noticing her absence and probably needed her advice for something.
She starred at the puddle, the film she’d broken through shivering up and vanishing into the earth.
She allowed herself to slip into the astral plane, unsure of what exactly she’d just seen.
Were they glimpses of a future set in stone?
An alternate reality?
A possible timeline?
Sky had no way of knowing.
And somehow she knew… she had no influence over any of it.
She was a phantom, a spirit.
Viktor still listened to her, seemed to depend on her input sometimes, but when it came to HexCore and the signs of something strange happening… he got the same glazed look in his eyes, unable to fully see it, or perhaps unable to fully admit it.
There was nothing she could do to stop whatever it was that she had seen…
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t at least try to delay it.
***
Ekko sighed as he leaned back on his chair, considering the most recent reports spread across his desk, Jinx sitting right beside them, legs crossed as she frowned at one of them.
“Why does it almost feel like Ambessa is… calming down?” She questioned, taking the words right out of his mouth.
“I have no idea… you think she’s… waiting for reinforcements or something like that?”
“No clue. I think… I think she knows what she wants to do, she’s just waiting for the right moment to do it.”
“Or for us to lower our guard.” Ekko suggested, “There has to be something more to it. This is a Noxian General we’re talking about, being weeks away from falling into some kind of stalemate… it just doesn’t make sense… I feel like we’re forgetting something.” He reached out, wrapping a gentle hand around her calf as he wracked his brain, trying to figure out what that something was.
Jinx hummed, taking his hand away from her calf and lowering herself, settling down on his lap, Ekko quickly wrapping an arm around her waist, one of her arms around his shoulders, the other fidgeting with a pen as she also tried to think.
“Could be waiting for trades, from reports we know there’s still quite a bit of chaos on that department.”
“Maybe… what about weapons? I mean they surely already have plenty but… maybe they think we have some HexTechmachinery and don’t want to attack until they know what we have in our arsenal?”
“Unlikely. If anything I’d think that if she had those suspicions she’d attack as soon as possible to keep us from making more. Not to mention, she knows we’re not fans of HexTech to begin with so…”
Ekko let his head fall against her collarbone, breathing her scent in, as they went through more ideas, “She wants to make sure the Enforcers are properly trained?”
“She’s waiting for the Councilors left to fully endorse her?”
“She wants to make us anxious to mess up our game?”
“She’s still hoping to figure out HexTech?”
“She’s looking into the Grey or our water and figuring out how to attack through those means?”
“She wants us to make the next move to villainize us to the civilians that are protesting?”
For every idea one of them proposed, the other had a counter argument that made enough sense. None of them seemed fully concrete.
They started getting ready for bed, since they’d recently dropped all pretenses and Jinx had moved nearly all of her and Isha’s stuff into his room, spending her nights there.
Isha was already asleep, the two still trading possible ideas as they went through their nightly routine, none of them convincing enough.
Jinx stopped for a moment as she dried her face after washing her face, turning to Ekko, who was gently moving Isha to a more comfortable position since the kid had a bad habit of falling asleep with her head either dangling off the edge of the bed or in a way that’d only end in her neck hurting in the morning, “What if we’re looking at this all wrong? What if we’re not missing something, but someone? Who are the key players in Piltover? Of the Councilors, we know that Shoola is seemingly against Ambessa, while Salo is pretty much eating out of her hand. Kiramman, Hoskel and Bolbokare dead thanks to yours truly. The other two are missing and we still have no news of Caitlyn. Who else in Piltover has power?”
Ekko frowned, thinking.
Then, he was hit with a memory.
When they’d been in the Kiramman estate, right before being attacked by Vander, Caitlyn had clicked some kind of button.
A button that had summoned Vander.
Who could have possibly given her that button?
Maybe the man that Vander had confirmed to be responsible for his beastly transformation.
Maybe the man Ekko and Jinx had overheard with Caitlyn and Ambessa. A moment Ekko had forgotten about with all the chaos and their confrontation with Caitlyn that had ended that eavesdropping session.
Not a key player of Piltover but of Zaun.
“Singed.” Ekko all but growled the name, “Singed has always had power, even if he stayed in the shadows… and we overheard him with-”
“Ambessa.” Jinx finished, eyes widening letting him know she’d also forgotten about that, “He was helping Ambessa… and he’s still doing it.”
“That fucker is in Piltover.”
“And who knows what the bastard has been doing.”
Their eyes met, they had no way of knowing if that was the exact reason why Ambessa was seemingly taking her time.
But even realizing that a man as vicious and devious and ingenious as Singed was seemingly their enemy…
It sent shivers down Jinx’s spine as she remembered metal tables and leather restraints and pure rage coursing through Ekko’s veins as he remembered glimpses of him as he and the Firelights tried to stop the production of Shimmer.
Anything the mad scientist might be doing in Piltover they could only be sure of one thing.
It would be horrific.
Notes:
Yellow! Kay so, some stuff to discuss
First off, I really hope yall liked the scene of Vi confronting Vander about her parentification, I wasn’t really sure how to tackle that but I’m happy with how it turned out and I hope you also liked it!
Next, I really wanted to show the slow take over of the HexCore over Viktor and chose to show it through Sky cause that’s my girls and she deserves screentime, hope you liked the tiny glimpses of some stuff I’ve got in store…
Finally, the Singed bit is set up cause I like FINALLY figured out how to do what needs to be done to get to the final part of the plot AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Chapter 29: Walk into my Open Bones, Found my Body; Welcome Home
Summary:
Ekko and Jinx spend some time together while preparing for the heist.
The heist begins
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ekko grinned as Scar flung Gert over his shoulder, managing a pin and winning the spar.
Jinx groaned and rolled her eyes, regretting betting on her friend as she handed Ekko half of her peach.
They sat at one of the more hidden balconies, watching some of the spars taking place. Vi had started getting different people to spar together to improve form and so they wouldn’t just learn how to fight her specifically but to fight in general, Scar, along with Loris, was one of her biggest helpers in that department.
“That’s what I get for having faith in a friend.” Jinx grumbled as she bit into her half of peach.
Ekko didn’t bother hiding his smugness, “Stole the words right outta my mouth.”
It was two days until their heist plan and they’d spent the day doing one final check of the blueprints, helping with surveillance of the Academy and recording their message, it felt like they hadn’t had a moment to breath all day, now as the sun went down, they sat together, Jinx’s legs draped over Ekko’s lap, Isha sitting on Jinx’s own lap, watching with interest, a small cup with steamed broccoli in hand.
She liked that they looked like tiny trees.
Isha had also bet on Scar and was laughing at Jinx’s dissapointed.
“You making fun of me gumdrop?” Jinx questioned, grinning as she carefully set the kid’s cup and her peach to the side, dragging her closer as she started mercilessly tickling the kid, “Oh you’re gonna get it now!”
Isha squealed as Jinx tickled her, wrapping her arms around her to keep the squirming kid from escaping, Isha laughing and trying to push away but managing to raise a hand to her head, tapping her forehead with the thumb of her right hand twice, fingers spread out.
The sign she’d started using for Ekko recently.
A call for help.
Ekko couldn’t help but smile, taking a single moment to take in the scene right before him before getting a hold of Jinx’s knees, dragging her further into his lap, “Alright, let’s see how you do two versus one!” He wrapped his arms around her, holding her wrists together in a mock hold they both knew she could break if she really tried, “Come on Isha, get her! Get her!”
The kid giggled, clearly delighted to attack Jinx, going to tickle her.
Jinx laughed, trying to squirm away half-heartedly, “No! This is betrayal! Mutiny!”
“Mutiny is for a ship Blue.” Ekko snorted against her ear as he propped his knees up around her, both to keep her caged in and to make sure Isha wouldn’t hit the floor if she toppled off of Jinx amongst the squirming and laughing.
“Whatever you know-it-all!”
“Try her sides, she was super ticklish there when we were little.”
Isha’s eyes glimmered with wickedness.
“You’d better sleep with one eye open you son of a- AH! I yield! I yield!”
Isha let herself drop on Jinx’s chest, giggling.
Ekko held them both against him, laughing, offering a high-five to the kid that was quickly obliged, “Good job princess, that’s how you take down a titan.”
Jinx was catching her breath, squeezing Isha against her, nuzzling against her hair as she leaned back against his chest, “I cannot believe you two would team up against me. This is so not over.”
Ekko rolled his eyes fondly, going to hand Isha her cup of broccoli and Jinx her peach, “Don’t be a sore loser Blue.”
“What, it’s a bad look on me?” She asked, looking up at him.
“Nothing is a bad look on you.”
“Even the blood of our enemies?” She questioned in a teaseful manner.
“Especially the blood of our enemies.” Ekko said without skipping a beat the two smirking to each other.
“You hear that Isha?” Jinx asked as she turned back to her, brining her close, “And they say romance is dead.”
Isha just chuckled, going to pick up another little tree of broccoli.
“You two are repulsive, I hope you know that.”
Jinx looked over Ekko’s shoulder to Vi, who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, mock disgust on her face.
Jinx stuck her tongue out at her.
“You done with sparring?” Ekko asked, mostly ignoring the previous comment.
“For today.” She half grinned when Isha finished her broccoli and pushed herself off of Jinx to run up to her and start shadow boxing her way, Vi gently correcting her form, “You’re gonna throw up if you don’t wait a bit after you eat before you start running around kid.”
Isha kept throwing punched as Vi crouched down in front of her to better correct her, “Kellie wants you two to stop by the infirmary, something about making sure your previous wounds properly healed.”
“Ugh! She took out my stitched ages ago, I’m fine!” Jinx complained.
Vi raised an unimpressed eyebrow, “Try telling her that. I’m gonna go have dinner with Zaren, Caeya, Vara and Lena, you wanna tag along kid?”
Isha nodded along, going to dangle off Vi’s arm, Vi easily carrying with her weight.
Ekko shook his head, lowering his voice as she walked away, “She just stole our kid.”
“She probably just wanted to hang out with Lena.” Jinx consoled him as she pulled herself up, “Let’s go to Kellie, get this over with.”
They passed by the kitchen before heading to the infirmary, eating dinner on their way and while Kellie officially cleared them for the mission and fussed as she made it very clear that she’d be pissed off if they were reckless during the heist.
Once they’d assured Kellie they’d be as careful as they could be, they managed their escape, reaching their room, Jinx letting herself fall against the door to close it, sighing with relief.
It’d been a long day.
She watched as Ekko himself sighed heavily and sat down on his desk chair, starring down the blueprints littered across it, likely trying to figure out which to check for the tenth time.
She made her way to him, jumping up on the desk right in front of him, blocking his view and giving him a better one.
“What are you thinking?”
“I just… I don’t know I’m a bit nervous about the heist.” Ekko quietly confessed, “From what the Professor told me, no one in Piltover knows about the passage we used to get to the Academy but… I don’t know. I feel like there’s something I’m missing but I just can’t put my finger on what that is.”
“Hey,” she gently kicked at his knee, “Scar and Vi have been scouring those blueprints and maps just as much as you, not to mention the like ten escape routes they’ve got planned. I get why you’re worried but we’re taking all the precautions we can. And if you stay too in your head you’ll just end up burning out before we even start the heist.”
“…I know, I know.” Ekko shut his eyes for a moment, leaning forwards to rest his head on her lap, Jinx gently caressing his hair, “I just can’t stop thinking about it.”
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself form smirking, cupping his face to guide him to look up at her, “Well… maybe I could help get your mind off of things.”
He chuckled darkly, tilting his head, “How will you do that?”
She gave him a one-shouldered shrug as she gave him a slow look over, “I have an idea or two.”
He surged up, pulling her to the edge of the desk by her waist and kissing her, she gladly returned the kiss, hands slipping around his shoulders as she opened her legs and pulled him into her, knees pressing at his waist, trying to bring him even closer.
Ekko groaned against her mouth at that, one hand slipping beneath her knee to better step into the cradle of her hips, the other going to cup the back of her neck, deepening the kiss.
She slipped her hands down his chest and around his waist, taking a moment to explore the muscles of his back over his shirt, his hands creeping from her knees to her thighs, pulling her even closer, not even an inch of space between them.
Then, she pushed him, shoving him back into the chair.
Ekko’s eyes widened, but before he could ask if he’d done something wrong, she was going to straddle his lap, lips pressing and nipping at his neck, his hands quickly finding the small of her back, a thumb slipping under her shirt to rub circles against her waist.
“Can I-”
“Yes.”
He fully let his hands explore the bare skin under her shirt, finding and gently tracing scars, leaning forwards, making Jinx bend backwards as he took his turn, kissing his way down her neck and biting at her collarbone.
Jinx ground her hips into his, Ekko moaning, his hands flying to grip her hips, holding her in place, “Jinx- you can’t be doing that.”
“Too much?” Jinx asked with a chuckle, not moving her hips again but moving in to lick at his neck.
“…not really but if you start that- one, Isha will be here any second and two… don’t you wanna take it slow?”
Jinx pulled back, looking down at him as she considered, his hands letting her weight fully settle in his lap again, “I don’t care about the pace, I just want you.” The words slipped out, the vulnerability a bit easier when it mixed in with the heat of the moment and the lust awakening in the pit of her stomach.
He slowly smiled, leaning his forehead against hers, “We can agree on that… but…”
“But we have a kid.”
“Yes.” Ekko snorted, “And I’m not interested in traumatizing her any further.”
Jinx sighed in an exaggerated manner, “Well alright I’ll calm down… but we don’t have to stop just yet.”
They returned to kissing, lips becoming softer, the urgency and hunger in their hands being replaced by curiosity, deep kisses and slow caresses.
He squeezed her waist before letting her go when they heard the doorknob turning, Jinx standing up as Isha stepped in.
It was a while later, laying in bed with an arm around Jinx’s waist, Isha fast asleep between them when a thought popped into his head.
“Hey… what do you think we’ll do if… if we succeed? Once all of this is over?”
Jinx, scrunched up her nose, opening her eyes, “You mean after the Revolution?”
“Yeah.”
“I… I can’t even imagine what it’ll be like after… if there’s ever an after.”
“I know. What would we even do?” Ekko questioned in a soft voice.
“Get bored out of our minds?” Jinx joked.
“…go to college?”
Jinx sobered up, turning to him, “Don’t think any Piltie college will take us even if we somehow reach some kind of peace.”
“Piltover isn’t the only place with colleges.”
Jinx couldn’t hide her surprise at that, “You think… you think you could leave Zaun?”
She’d seen how much Zaun meant to Ekko, how much passion and time he’d poured into what had once seemed like the hopeless endeavor of making it a safer place.
She knew she might be able to cut her losses and leave if she got to take Isha with her, but she couldn’t see Ekko doing the same.
Ekko considered for a moment, “I think… I think that if it was on my own terms, and I knew I was coming back… then yeah. I think I could. It wouldn’t be my first choice but… I could do it if it was for something worth it.”
“Well that’s an option then… what other ideas you got?”
“Well there’s helping with reconstruction. Even if the Revolution ends with us victorious there’ll still be a lot of work to get done.”
“And we know these dummies would be lost without us.” Jinx chuckled.
Ekko snorted, “Precisely… what about you? Any ideas for what you do?”
“You know, I’d say bomb-builder but if we’re working towards peace something tells me that might be counterproductive.”
“I’m serious Blue. There’s nothing you’d do in an ideal world?”
Jinx sighed heavily, pulling Isha on top of her to be able to lay against Ekko’s chest, staying silent for a long moment, “I… I don’t know. I’ve never really thought of it… maybe a dress-maker? I could open my own boutique. Or- or I could just be an artist… demolitions expert? A more professional version of bomb-builder…” she trailed off as she scrunched up her nose, “Take over The Last Drop?”
Ekko said nothing, letting her dwell on her answers as he traced nonsensical figures against her shoulder.
“I think… I think I might like to travel… see what’s out there… I don’t know.”
“Traveling could be nice.”
Jinx reached to take his hand, fidgeting with his knuckles, “How come you’re thinking about all that?”
He shrugged, “I don’t know, just came to mind all of a sudden. It’s… kinda nice to think about isn’t it?”
Jinx considered that, smiling at the hopeful, almost dreamy look on his face as he wondered about what they might do someday.
“It is.”
***
Vi frowned as she inspected the metal circlet, “Are you sure about this?”
Jinx rolled her eyes, “How about a little faith in me huh? I worked hard on those! If things go wrong, just throw it down or slam a hand into it and it should summon a force field around us for thirty seconds at most.”
“You see, it’s hard to have faith in you when you say ‘it should’ about half of your inventions you know?”
Jinx gave her a middle finger, “Just keep it in mind will you? And this-” she slung over her shoulder a brand new bazooka she’d just finished working on and tagging with her usual graffiti.
Vi raised an eyebrow, “Did you forget we’re not expecting a fight?”
“We’re not hoping for a fight,” she corrected, “but we should still be prepared. Besides, much to my own chagrin, it’s non-lethal, paint and glitter bombs.”
“Did Ekko talk you into that?”
“He’s wormed his way into my brain, I can barely remember the last time I made a genuinely deadly trap. It’s dreadful.”
Vi snorted at that, “And you two… I’m assuming are… what?”
Jinx grimaced, “Are we really about to talk about that?”
Vi shrugged, “You’re my sister, pretty sure I’m obligated to ask you about that whole situation.”
“Well we… I don’t know… we’re together, that’s it. We were already together most of the time so really not that much have changed, no need to pry about it.”
“Yeah but you weren’t making out and groping before. I’d say that classifies as a change even if I saw it coming from a mile away.”
“We’re together, that’s all I’m going to say about it.”
Vi watched her for a long moment before shrugging with a smile, “Alright, I’ll leave you be. Just, don’t be stupid and stay safe alright? I don’t think Isha’s ready to be a big sister and-”
“Alright! That’s enough big sister-ing out of you today.” Vi couldn’t help but laugh at Jinx’s distress and her red cheeks, “You’re too easy to fluster.”
“Shut up.”
Vi left Jinx behind to go over the new equipment they’d be carrying for the heist, inspecting everything for the dozenth time.
She was joined by Lorris, who wouldn’t be joining them but had been a big help in planning out their escape routes and putting together the patrol routes the Enforcers and Noxian soldiers seemed to be following.
“What’s with the face?” She questioned after watching him scrunching his nose up at some of the equipment for a moment.
“Just wish I was going with you kid. I know you’re all quite capable but I don’t love this idea. With Ambessa in charge… we still don’t know what exactly she’s capable of but the rumors… they’re not good.”
“We’ll be fine, if everything goes well they won’t even know we were there until we’re long gone. And if it doesn’t go well, we’re ready for that as well.”
“Just don’t get yourself killed. I’m not about to take over your fighting lessons.”
Vi snorted, “How has Kiramman been doing?”
Despite having never exchanged words before this entire ordeal, as the only Pilties around, Loris and Kiramman had formed an unspoken alliance, Loris occasionally joining him to eat.
“He’s alright. He and Kellie are setting up trauma bays in the second infirmary and a makeshift operation room.”
“Hm. How about you? How have you been doing?”
Loris sighed heavily, “I just want all of this to be over. I may not agree with most of Piltover’s bullshit… but it’s still my home. I still got people there. And I’m willing to bet quite a few of them aren’t exactly ecstatic about the changes Ambessa has been making.”
“You think they were punished for protesting?”
“I think they’ve been incentivized to not continue… I wouldn’t be surprised if one person was made an example for the rest. Heaven knows the Noxians have a bunch of… tactics for that.” He looked down, clenching his jaw.
Vi reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder, “I’m sure Ambessa won’t manage to stay in power much longer. Either the Councilors will do something or the people will… or we will. But it won’t be forever.”
Loris nodded along, sighing, “I really hope you’re right.”
***
Ekko pressed his back against the cold metal of the Academy vents.
They’d managed to sneak into Piltover successfully, dropping into the sewers to travel to the Academy unseen and then using the hidden entrance Professor Heimerdinger had shown him, slipping into the air vents to make it the rest of the way to Jayce’s lab.
So far, nothing had been amiss, everything had been going well, they’d managed to evade patrols and stay unseen, several speakers around Piltover playing out a message to the citizens and Councilors, questioning why Ambessa seemed to be the one in power now and how far they’d let the Noxian General go with her tyranny.
He carefully unscrewed the air vent that would let him into the lab, rising up to place it to the side gently, making sure he made no noise as he pushed himself up and out, going to help the others climb out of the ducts.
Looking around, he could instantly tell that the lab had been visited and sacked. Many notebooks and notes that had been previously scattered around now gone, some of the equipment too.
He had no doubt there’d been multiple people here trying to figure out the secrets of HexTech, how to make more of it… he was willing to bet not one of them had been successful.
Scar, who’d been guarding their backs, was the last one to emerge from the vent, all of them spreading out and heading directly for the materials they’d been assigned.
Scar, Zaren and Vi quickly found a closet packed with supplies, some of them had been taken but there luckily was still enough, they started taking sheets of golden metal and carbon fiber and delicate mesh material.
Jinx and Caeya raided the place for tools while Ekko and Vara filled their satchels with equipment and gears, they worked, quickly, quietly and efficiently, just as they’d planned.
But, right as he went to close his satchel, he caught sight of something.
There, in the corner of the room, just barely illuminated by the flashlight held by Caeya, was a distortion, an almost blurry effect that only took his brain a split second to understand what it was.
The edge of a force field, distorted as an effect of the refractions of what little light was in the room used to create a one-way mirror effect.
He tensed up, heart starting to race, “Guys- we have to leave.” He said under his breath, already heading towards the vent.
Caeya frowned, “But we-”
“Now!” He went to slide down into the vent only to barely contain a yelp when his foot received an electric shock from contact with another force field, one that had definitely not been there when they’d entered, “Shit- the door-”
Before they could figure out how the force field had magically appeared or what they could do to get rid of it, the force field blocking them from the door fell and the doors were kicked in, Ekko being blinded by bright light, just barely able to make out the unmistakable glint of metal from spears and guns.
Notes:
Yes, the title is a reference to Sofia Isella’s new EP that as I write this came out half an hour ago, I adore her
I’d say sorry for the cliffhanger but I can’t even lie cause I love a good cliffhanger
Chapter 30: How Much Time Can You Really Buy?
Summary:
The heist goes wrong
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Jinx only had time to see the guns being raised before Vi slammed her fist on the ground, a circlet placed on it activating their own force-field to deflect the spears being thrown.
“Can you get through the vent?!” Scar questioned, Ekko already kneeling next to said vent, seeing sensors, which had surely detected them going up and had been used to know when to activate the electric force field and to tell the Noxiansexactly where they were.
“No!”
“I got it!” Jinx loaded up her grenade launcher, going to aim, “Hold on!”
The force-field she’d designed was meant to be a one-way shield, so she was able to release two grenades filled with smoke and immobilizing crystals into the closest soldiers, knowing the shield was about to fail, she aimed at the wall to the right with one of her few truly explosive loads.
Ekko winced at the noise of the wall caving in on itself, Zaren and Caeya using their guns to give them some additional cover as they made a run for it, he knew the Noxians would only be disoriented for a moment. A single valuable moment.
Jinx set off another bomb, not bothering to stop in the adjourning lab, going straight into the next one before Vi kicked the door down, Vara using a metal sheet as a shield as they ran away from the Noxians, who’d gathered around the entrance to Jayce’s lab and were already recovering, already going to follow, along with the other Enforcers and Noxians patrolling the halls, shouting orders and trying to stop them.
Ekko grunted as his mace made contact with a spear that’d been thrown their way, the smoke Jinx had set up was starting to disperse, and the Noxians knew where they were.
Ekko couldn’t be sure whether or not Ambessa had given orders to kill them.
They were huddled together as they carefully made their way down the hall, Vara blocking their back with the make-shift shield, Zaren and Caeya still giving cover with their guns, Vi and Scar guided them, fighting off the pairs of Noxians and Enforcers that were stalking the halls.
Five doors down, Ekko kicked the door in, knowing this was the way to one of their escape routes.
Chaos was fully setting in, gunfire coming from both directions as they hurried into the room, Scar and Ekko quickly barricading the door with a bookshelf and a desk, they knew they’d only have a moment.
Jinx was already opening the window and stepping out onto the ledge, turning and aiming at the door, ready to give them cover as they others went to lower themselves, using ropes and their own strength to get two floors below, breaking the windows and jumping into the laboratory, Jinx following after releasing a bomb to try and trick the Noxians into thinking they’d continued to the laboratory to the left and closing the window behind her.
He and Scar helped Jinx through the window two floors below, they couldn’t get all the way down due to soldiers patrolling the outside of the Academy, waiting.
Ekko jumped down from the ledge just in time to see Vara do a quick check of the vent before going to pry it open.
The tiniest of ‘clicks’ raised alarms in his head as an explosion was set off and fire consumed Vara-
He pulled at the chain of the Z-Drive, “Wait! It’s a trap.”
An unburned Vara carefully removed her hand from the vent.
“They’ll be here soon.” Caeya warned, ear pressed against the wall, a hand holding her shoulder.
“Are you alright?” He asked as he and Jinx tried to disconnect the trigger hidden in the vent.
Caeya gritted her teeth, “Spear grazed me it’s fine.”
Once they’d disarmed the vent, they managed to slip through, letting themselves emerge in a large supply room.
Ekko couldn’t be sure how it happened, how the Noxians could keep track of them or find them again so quickly, but as they hurried to get past boxes and shelves, the wall to their right exploded, knocking them off balance and sending them sprawling as Noxians began to step in-
Ekko pulled on the chain.
“Watch the right wall!” They all lowered themselves, managing to not lose their balance as they ran, another pull of the chain and he was able to keep Zaren from being blasted to bits by a second set of explosions.
“Keep going!”
Vi kicked one of the walls that’d been affected by the explosions, the group shifting through debris in an attempt to mess up any trail they left behind.
And there they saw it, the floor length window that’d drop them off at a corner of the Academy, just close enough to the streets that they might be able to make it to the sewers.
But right as they approached the window, part of the roof seemed to cave in, soldiers with rifles appearing above them, one of them already taking aim, a red light glinting just over Vi’s heart before a shot rang out in his ears-
He pulled on the chain, throwing his mace, but another soldier was already aiming for Scar’s head-
He pulled on the chain, trying to get a good grenade throw- too late-
He pulled on the chain, trying to figure out what to do, too overwhelmed as the shot rang out-
***
Jinx saw the entire world seem to slow down, the Shimmer in her veins burning as she moved like never before, before she could even process what she’d seen, her instinct fully possessing her because she only had a split second.
She had seen the Noxian sharpshooter who’d raised his gun pointing it at Ekko, who was scanning the rest of the group and couldn’t see- he had the Z-Drive but did he have time- she couldn’t take that chance.
She became a blur as she threw herself, falling against Ekko as the shot rang out-
Pain erupted in between her ribs, her body sagging as streams of blood started running down her stomach.
Ekko could only wrap an arm around her waist, her arm somehow getting tangled in the chain as she clung to him, the pain erasing any rational thought other than the fact that she had to get him down. What if the sharpshooter tried again?
Ekko couldn’t go back. He’d just lost three precious seconds while his brain tried to catch up and he tried to get the chain loose.
***
Ekko felt like a fog had set over his brain, as Jinx suddenly groaned and went limp against him and Scar and Vara threw up crystal bombs and smoke grenades, Vi screaming at him to go as she jumped up to fight and Caeya and Zaren were heading to her-
He’d caught Jinx on instinct, holding her against him, he could feel something warm and sticky running down in between his fingers and wetting his clothes.
He glanced down, the noise of the battle becoming a buzz in his ears as he saw red and his brain finally clicked.
Jinx had been shot.
Jinx had been shot.
He heard more than he felt himself scream, the guttural sound of a wounded animal as Jinx’s weight fully settled on him and he couldn’t help but buck his knees, trying to lower her as gently as he could, clutching her to him.
They had to get out, he could hear the soldiers getting bolder, other shots starting to ring out, countering Caeya and Zaren’s cover fire.
He looked down at the Z-Drive, now stained with blood, trembling hands gently untangling it from Jinx’s arm, he looked up, the world coming into focus as he saw the soldiers Vi was barely managing to keep back.
He had to get Jinx out of there.
It was a bit of a blur, the way it always was when the adrenaline and terror mixed and sharpened his senses, the constant thought get Jinx to safety playing in a loop in his head as he found himself going to take her grenade launcher.
All he knew was the gun was in his hand and the smoke from the grenades wasn’t clouding his vision like it should have.
All he knew was he jumped up, staying close to the ground, appearing behind one of the soldiers and shooting him in the neck, where the tiniest sliver of skin had been left exposed.
He slammed the end of Jinx’s grenade launcher against the ankle of another soldier, shattering it on impact before aiming and shooting one of the glitter bombs straight into his eye socket.
Even non-deadly charges could kill if one was angry enough.
And Ekko was fucking pissed, clinging to his rage and to the thought of his current mission to not let the creature of terror and dread with spider legs keep climbing up her ribcage.
He had a job to do.
Vi was the main distraction, slamming down soldiers and being the visible threat, the obvious threat, she made sure as many eyes as possible stayed on her.
Ekko moved in the shadows, sneaking under the soldiers defenses with he help of his Z-Drive, stabbing and shooting with no mercy, making sure his strikes were deadly and effective, Caeya and Zaren helping take out some of the soldiers that were within both their reaches.
He slammed his mace against one of the soldier’s helmets so hard it dented, a sickening crunch ringing in his ears as the woman in armor dropped to the floor.
Scar and Vara had managed to clear the space below the window and Zaren carefully went to place Jinx’s limp body over his shoulder, ready for the descent.
“Ekko you go after Zaren!” Scar yelled out, an order, Vara was already dropping, ready to shot anyone in site, Zaren climbing on the ledge.
Ekko took a glance around, at the dead bodies around him, he could hear heavy footsteps still approaching, more enemies, more people that might keep him from getting Jinx home and-
“I’ll make sure they don’t follow you!”
“Ekko, shut the fuck up and go out the window now!” Vi grabbed his shoulder, shaking him slightly, “If Jinx wakes up do you really think we’d be able to stop her dumbass from trying to come back for you?! GO!”
Ekko felt almost dazed as she went to the window, barely glancing down before launching himself out, landing harshly and rolling to his feet, running after Vara and Zaren, eyes glued to Jinx, who was softly groaning, clearly trying to get a bearing of her surroundings.
They paused for a moment in an alleyway to provide cover-fire for Caeya and Vi, Scar setting up a trigger before hopping down. Ekko took the moment to take Jinx since she was starting to shift in Zaren’s hold.
“We need to keep moving!” Caeya said as the bombs were set off, ducking to cover her head.
“More up ahead!” Scar called out, throwing a grenade towards the soldiers attempting to block their path as they started to scale the wall, Vi helping him keep a hold of Jinx until they reached the roof and broke into a full run, jumping three rooftops to the right and two forwards as fast as they could, now knowing the Noxians were likely to be nipping at their heels.
They dropped, Scar quickly removing the cover that let them descend into the sewers, hoping their path through the rooftops would muddy their trail.
They kept running, putting as much distance as they could from the Academy, when they found a dry chamber that was far enough away, they took a moment, Ekko carefully setting Jinx down, Caeya already going to lift her jacket, trying to inspect the wound, pressing an ear against her chest and tying a make-shift bandage around the wound after letting out a string of curses, “She’s loosing too much blood and her breathing’s all wrong.”
As much as she tried, Caeya couldn’t quite hide the tilt of panic in her voice, her fingers shaking ever so slightly as Jinx moaned at the press of the bandage against her.
Ekko quickly got closer, gently cupping her neck, he could see her starting to slip into unconsciousness, he wasn’t entirely sure if she had indeed slipped under at some point while they’d been running.
“Jinx? Hey Jinx, I need you to stay awake alright love?”
She shook her head harshly, her breathing becoming even more labored as she tried to push him away, half crying at the movement, clearly out of it.
Vi quickly kneeled next to him, reaching out for one of Jinx’s wrists, “Hey hey, come on now, look at me.”
Jinx scrunched up her eyes and her nose as she tried to do it, “You’re- you’re not- here.” She managed to mumble out.
“We are here Jinx.” Ekko tried to assure her.
Vi grabbed his arm shaking her head, jaw clenched harshly, running a hand over her sister’s hair, “She might be hallucinating, or the Shimmer might be messing her up… we gotta get back to base.”
Ekko quickly scooped Jinx up, Jinx crying out in pain, he pressed a kiss against her temple, trying to soothe her, but she was shaking, eyes shinning bright pink and out of focus, what was the Shimmer in her veins making her see?
He had to keep himself in check, try to calm his rampaging heart as Vi kept a hand on his shoulder while they made their way through the labyrinth that were the sewers.
As they got closer to the tunnels were the sewers rushed into the sea far below, Ekko could hear a siren going off.
“They might be waiting for us at the border of Piltover, watching just in case.” Scar said.
Zaren took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders as he spoke, “I’ll go first, create a distraction.”
“No- no- we stick together-” Ekko started to say.
“You have to get Jinx to doctor Kiramman, there’s no time to lose. We don’t even know if they’ll be there but if they are… let me go first, make sure the coast is clear, I can take the grenade launcher, lure them away and then I’ll get right back.”
“Hold on-”
“No time to waste!” Zaren was already taking the grenade launcher, “I’ll try to reach Sevika on the radio see if I can get help but- you have to get her out of here now!”
Before Ekko could try to protest of further plan, Jinx moaned in pain, Ekko trying to adjust his grip on her to lessen her pain to no avail, Zaren pressing a quick kiss against Jinx’s temple before setting off running, exiting the sewers.
A minute later they heard an explosion go off and they knew that was their opening.
Vi and Scar lead the way in case any soldiers hadn’t been distracted by Zaren, Caeya and Vara bringing up the rear, they used their equipment to descend a few feet down the rocky cliff, where their hoverboards were waiting in static mode, dropping down on them as Caeya’s radio crackled to life.
“Caeya?” Sevika’s voice came through.
Caeya quickly unclipped it, raising it to her lips, “We’re here, did Zaren get through to you?”
“Yes, wait before you fly over, we see too many patrol officers watching the border, they expect you to come through there.”
Vi snatched the radio, “We don’t have time! Jinx is bleeding out-”
“I know that kid!” Sevika snapped, “We’re going to give you cover, but we need a minute.”
Ekko clenched his jaw for a moment, “One minute. That’s as long as we can wait.”
Seconds passed like thick honey, seemingly endless.
Then- a set of bright lights came from across the chasm, from Zaun, man-less hoverboards hurling straight towards Piltover, all of them being shot down as they got closer, the bags on board imploding with bright powders and smoke.
The cover they needed, unknowingly provided by the soldiers themselves.
They flew in a tight formation, the others surrounding him as he crouched to cover Jinx’s body with his own.
He had to use his Z-Drive seventeen times to ensure they all made it through.
Ekko didn’t dare slow down for even a second as they flew past the border, leaving the others behind as he made tight corners and dangerous turns, heart pounding as Jinx went even limper in his arms, her already labored breathing starting to be barely noticeable.
He picked Jinx up, slowing down but not daring to stop as he reached the base, half slamming his side and hoverboards against one of the walls in his hurry, flying past corridors and nearly knocking down a few of the night guards roaming the halls.
He jumped off the hoverboard, the board continuing on without him and slamming into the far end wall as he shoved the door to the infirmary open with his shoulder, dizzy and nauseous with panic and fear.
“KELLIE! KIRAMMAN!” He screamed desperately, sounding like a child.
They appeared instantly gloves already on, he wondered if Sevika had already sent them a message to be as prepared as they could be.
A vein in Doctor Kiramman’s throat throbbed for a moment and Ekko saw the split second of hesitation before his eyes landed on Jinx and he sucked in a breath, “Isaac get me the stretcher!” Isaac was already moving, helping Kellie bring out a bed with wheels, Ekko numbly moving forwards as he gently set her down, Tobias went to examine her, scissors in hand as he carefully cut through her top.
The door behind him opened, Vi, Scar and Sevika stumbling in.
The Doctor didn’t even flinch as he shifted Jinx, frowning, “It wasn’t through and through the bullet is still in there and-” he used his stethoscope for a moment, his frown deepening as he cursed, grabbing a needle with anesthesia, plunging it into Jinx’s arm, “collapsed lung, get me two units of blood and prepare a third! I need a chest tube and to move her to our surgical unit stat! I may need to perform a thoracotomy to see the full extent of the damage and…” he trailed off for a moment, glancing up at them, “Violet… get Ekko out of here.”
“WHAT?! You can’t-”
“Wait-”
The doctor cut them off, “Violet the best thing you can do for your sister right now is removing yourself and Ekko from the room so I can work. GO! NOW!”
Vi hesitated only for a moment before grabbing Ekko and getting him out of the room, Scar helping along, Sevika staying behind, keeping silent to avoid also being kicked out.
Ekko kicked and screamed against Scar and Vi as they all but dragged him out.
“WAIT WAIT- I need to stay with her! Let me stay with her!”
“Ekko we need to let them work-”
“PLEASE!” He pleaded against Scar, sobs breaking out of his throat, panic taking his breath away, barely able to take in any air as he tried and failed to wrestle them off of him, “She’ll be scared she- I need to be there!”
Vi grabbed his shoulders, shaking him violently, tears dripping down her cheeks, mirroring his own, “Listen to me Ekko! Right now we have to give Kiramman space to work- he can’t be focused on Jinx if he has to be worried about us having a breakdown!”
“But-”
“We’ll stay right here, we’re not going anywhere! But we can’t be in the room-” her voice broke as she pulled him into her arms, Ekko falling against her, gripping her back, crying against her shoulder, “We’ll be right here- and- and- and I’m sure Kiramman will fix her up. Make sure she’s- she’s alright.”
“I was supposed to take care of her-” he managed to get out against her shoulder, sobbing as his legs failed him and they went crashing down.
“…she wanted to take care of you too.”
“It’s my fault-”
“No. No absolutely not Ekko.” She pulled back, leaning their foreheads together, “Listen to me little man, you two- you take care of each other, that’s what you do- nothing was going to stop her from doing that- it’s not on you.”
Scar squeezed his shoulders as he crouched, wrapping an arm around him, Ekko trying to breath as he leaned against both of them.
It was only a few minutes later that he’d managed to somewhat catch his breath, pacing the hall, trying not to let his helplessness eat him alive as Vi sat against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest and hiding her face against her knees.
He almost didn’t hear the soft footfalls that came closer, only realizing what was about to happen as movement came from the corner and he saw Isha arriving, her smile falling as soon as she saw the blood on Ekko’s clothes and hands, eyes widening as she inspected him, instantly seeming to realize why he and Vi were outside the infirmary, eyes flying to the door of the infirmary before she was running forwards, going to burst in and-
Ekko moved before he even registered what he was doing, kneeling in front of Isha and stopping her, “Isha sweetheart- you can’t go in there-”
Isha’s eyes widened with panic as she fully took in the sheer amount of blood on Ekko, trying to push past him, hands reaching for the infirmary, “Isha- Isha. Jinx is- Jinx is a little hurt but she’s getting treated right now okay? Doctor Kiramman will make her all better but- but he needs to be able to concentrate okay?”
His desperation shifted, he couldn’t let Isha see his own panic, he had to keep her from the brutality of it all.
But how could he? She’d grown up in Zaun, had survived the streets and she knew that the blood on him wasn’t his own and that it was too much.
She cried, trying to weasel her way out of his grip, small arms desperately reaching towards the infirmary.
And then, in an unsteady, distressed tone, a scream, “MAMA!”
The first time he’d heard her voice and it was like this.
Ekko dragged her up and into his arms, keeping a tight grip on her as he stumbled back and into the wall, trying to comfort Isha through his tears, telling her over and over that it’d be alright, that Jinx was strong, that the Doctor knew what he was doing- all of it useless and meaningless when he couldn’t physically prove that there was nothing to worry about.
As he collapsed on the floor, still holding Isha against him, he even tried a clumsy copy of Jinx’s lullaby, it didn’t comfort Isha, but the kid seemed to tire herself out as she kept trying to escape his arms and kept brokenly crying for her mama, eventually either crying herself to sleep or passing out, exhausted and overwhelmed.
Ekko buried his face against her curls as he started crying again, Vi pulling him against her side, also crying.
And now to wait.
Notes:
Hey! Sorry for not updating for a bit, things got a bit crazy, last week of exams, first week of social service and just chaos all around, hopefully we’ll return to weekly updates!
Didn’t have time to grammar check this so apologies for any mistakes
I was very excited for this chapter and really look forwards to seeing your reactions
…
And now if yall excuse me Imma go into hiding (just for the week)
Chapter 31: To Love in Such a World is Nothing but a Risk (I’m Going to Take it)
Summary:
The aftermath
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ekko wasn’t sure how long it took. Minutes? An hour? He couldn’t be sure.
He just kept Isha in his arms, rocking back and forth, unsure of whether he was trying to comfort Isha or himself.
Vi scooted closer, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him against her, trying her best to not breakdown alongside him.
After hours spent in a numb confused state, Sevika peeked out the infirmary to tell them it seemed like Jinx was starting to stabilize but the Doctor wasn’t done.
It was at that point that Scar quietly managed to get Ekko to go to his room for a shower. Ekko carefully setting Isha down only after a red-eyed Gert promised to look after her while he took a quick shower, washing off Jinx’s blood, pink stained water flowing down his body.
He felt entirely numb for a few minutes, knowing he was wasting water but unable to get himself to move.
Eventually he managed to dress himself and return to his room, picking Isha up and bringing her into his arms, sitting next to Gert, who sniffed.
“Tell me she’ll be alright.” He quietly said, pressing a kiss against Isha’s curls, “I just- I need to hear it.”
Gert shut her eyes for a moment, offering her hand, which Ekko gladly took, clinging to the support, “She’ll be alright, she’ll get through this. Kiramman said- she’s stable… she’s stable.”
Ekko fell into an unsteady sleep, only managing to close his eyes for a few minutes at a time, each time jerking awake with the image of the bullet hitting Jinx and the shot ringing in his ears.
He could only stay away for a few hours, having only managed that long due to wanting Isha away from the infirmary and comfortable.
He carefully picked her up again as he went down, sitting down on the cushions that someone had placed down for him.
He knew everyone likely knew by now, but he was thankful at the privacy he’d been given. Vi was still there, but he could tell she’d also been dragged away for a shower, probably by Loris. Scar and Gert also there. He knew Sevika was probably still inside.
Isha woke up at some point, turning to the infirmary door but making no attempt, her breathing quickening, Ekko pulling her against his chest as he gently whispered to her and tried to sing for her again. Isha hid her face against his chest, staying still, clearly terrified.
He wasn’t sure what time it was, he knew it ought to be morning since Nivu and June appeared with breakfast for them, Nivu handing out sandwiches and fruit and water from a basket, telling them that Zaren had made it back with bullet wounds on his right thigh, chest and left shoulder, he was the third infirmary. The shots to his thigh and shoulder had been through and through, but the one aimed at his chest had torn through his spleen, which had needed to be removed, Kiramman talking Kellie through most of the procedure.
He was starting to stabilize, but they didn’t know if he’d make it.
Ekko felt horrible for forgetting about Zaren, who’d put his life on the line to help get them out of Piltover quicker.
June sat down next to Isha, wordlessly handing her small bits of fruit, Isha didn’t move, not eating, June giving up but not leaving, simply leaning against the wall.
When the door opened, Ekko shot up so quickly he almost got whiplash, Isha jolting and nearly falling from his arms.
Kiramman looked grim, taking a moment to look at them all, waiting, terrified.
“Jinx pulled through.”
Ekko collapsed against the wall, sobs wracking him as he held Isha against him, Vi hugging him, Scar rubbing circles against his back.
“She’s not in the best condition and she isn’t awake yet.” The doctor continued, “She had a collapsed lung and I had to perform a thoracotomy to see the extent of the damage done, I’d like to keep her on strict bed rest for at least two weeks while she starts to recover. But she will recover if all goes well.”
Ekko nodded along, not able to string together a sentence through the sheer relief flooding him, releasing the tension from his body.
Vi cleared his throat, “Can we see her?”
Kiramman sighed, “Yes. Just know it may be… a bit shocking. I’m keeping her sedated, but you can see her.”
They followed Kiramman into the infirmary, the doctor glancing back and speaking to Isha, but the words were meant for all three of them, “You’re going to see a tube in her mouth, it may look scary, but it’s okay, it’s there to help her breath, it’s not hurting her.”
Isha nodded along, her hold on Ekko’s shirt tightening.
His heart dropped when the doctor pulled back a curtain around one of the beds.
Jinx laid there, paler than ever, her blue hair spread out in a halo around her, a white tube down her throat, three different IV’s dangling from her arm, covered in white and dark blue sheets.
Vi was the first to get to her side, eyes running down and up her, as though she could see right through the sheets to inspect her wounds, gently reaching out to smooth down her hair.
Ekko approached slowly, setting Isha down when she started wiggling in his hold.
He was afraid to reach out, to touch her lest he accidentally hurt her or undo any of the doctor’s work.
Isha approached cautiously, wringing her hands together as she stepped up next to Vi, sniffing as she watched her.
Vi wordlessly picked her up, placing her as gently as she could on the bed, Isha moving as careful as ever to curl up at Jinx’s side, staying completely still.
Ekko slowly grabbed a chair, pulling it up, right next to the bed and sitting down, sighing heavily and trying to not let his emotions get the better of him.
Vi watched him for a long moment before speaking, “I know this is a very dumb question but… are you alright?”
Ekko shook his head, “I keep going over it… thinking about what I did wrong, what I should’ve done…”
“Do you remember when you told me that the blame game doesn’t do anyone any good?” She questioned quietly, eyes shifting back to Jinx, “Maybe you should remind yourself of that. We all knew the risks of the mission. And if Jinx was decided to keep you safe then nothing was going to stop her.”
Ekko just shook his head, keeping his eyes on Jinx’s chipped nail polish.
He leaned forward on his chair, covering his face with his hands as yet another wait began.
***
Ambessa stalked down the halls of one of her ships, fury pro-pulsing her every move, slamming open the door of one of the meeting rooms.
Everyone gathered around the table flinched at her entrance, she could barely keep it together as she slammed her fists on the table, glancing around expectantly,
“How? Who is going to tell me exactly how it is that we had the perfect trap and somehow there is not one prisoner to show for it?”
All the soldiers squirmed slightly in their seats, glancing at one another.
“We followed your every instruction General.” One of them said slowly, “As soon as you suspected the Zaunian might target the Academy to get more supplies, we set up the triggers and patrols and hidden guards… everyone attacked when they came.”
“And what exactly do we have to show for it?” Ambessa questioned, “Nearly twenty dead and several injured soldiers and Enforcers? You have no confirmation that the blow you managed to get on Jinx was a kill shot. We couldn’t even get one of her accomplices! They are making us a laughing stock at this point!” She half yelled as she swept a few things off the table in fury.
It didn’t make sense. It shouldn’t have been possible for the Zaunian to make an escape with all the odds stacked up against them, with the carefully placed triggers and guards and patrols.
How exactly had they managed it?
Maddie cautiously cleared her throat, “According to the reports, the shot on Jinx was in the chest… we know they can’t have many medical resources… she might be dead as we speak.”
“But we have no confirmation now do we? Where is the body?” She questioned back, “If we celebrate or announce her death and then she pops up in a few weeks, we’ll be made fools of.”
Maddie looked down.
Ambessa shook her head, “Surrounded by incompetence.” She muttered under her breath before turning to the man in charge of her research division, “How is my battering ram coming along?”
He nervously cleared his throat, “Well, we are making some progress, but we are yet to fully understand the mechanism employed by Zaun and without knowing the exact voltage they use-”
“Is it coming along yes or no?”
“…yes, with some… slight delays but yes.”
Ambessa sighed heavily.
Even with all the precautions she always took and having an airtight army, she knew that somehow, word would get out.
That the Zaunians had infiltrated yet again, that they’d been prepared this time, had set up their traps… and yet…
Ambessa had nothing to show for it.
This couldn’t stand.
They had to attack, to hit them were it hurt the most.
If Jinx had somehow survived, then she would have to make sure that she wished she hadn’t.
She quietly went over everything she knew about Jinx in her mind, everything that’d been written in the reports.
The bullet hadn’t been meant for her.
That confirmed what she’d already suspected about her and her Firelight boy… a possible weakness to be exploited if the boy hadn’t proven to be just as resourceful and capable as the blue-haired girl.
Vi was another option, but she was well-trained, hadn’t been seen around the border and, if the sisters had indeed gotten over their differences wasn’t likely to let her sister out of sight for some time.
What else what else what else?
Ambessa was struck by a thought.
It wasn’t the most practical, it’d be hard to get done, would require to disable the border for some time and would need to be led by one specific spy.
“Maddie. Tell me about the kid again.”
***
When Jinx began to regain consciousness, the first thing she became aware of was the itch in her throat, something plastic and harsh, choking her.
She tried to cough, to move, dull shouts of alarm in her ear before a calm voice came through as whatever it was choking her retrieved.
“It’s alright! It’s a good sign, it means she can breath on her own.”
Breath she could, coughing and trying to suck in some air as she tried to make sense of the vague figures around her.
She was in the infirmary, the figure above her holding the tube that’d been choking her being Doctor Kiramman, now trying to shine a light in her eyes, ignoring Jinx’s half-felt attempt to swat him away.
Somehow she managed to get her vision to come into focus as the Doctor stepped back and two figures replaced him.
Vi and Ekko, eyes filled with concern and watching her like she’d disappear at any second.
“How do you feel?” Vi asked her gently, reaching out to place a careful hand on her leg.
“…ow.” She managed to get out.
Vi weakly snorted, “Yeah, that’s to be expected.”
Jinx turned slowly to her left, where there was a weight pressed up against her side, Isha, curled up and deep asleep, a little hand clutching her shirt.
Jinx gently went to thread a hand through her hair, “What happened?” Her voice croaked.
Ekko took her other hand, joining it with his own before carefully going to press the back of hers against his lips, “We were ambushed. Ambessa must’ve suspected we might target the Academy. They were waiting for us.”
“The others?”
“Vara, Scar and Caeya were pretty much unharmed, just bumps and bruises.” Vi told her, hesitating before continuing, “Zaren needed some surgery… apparently they had to remove his spleen.”
“Huh? Isn’t the spleen an organ? Can you live without it?”
“You can.” The doctor answered, “We had to remove it due to damage done by one of the bullets. And he will be able to go on with his life, the main impact will be that he will be more vulnerable to certain infections and diseases, but as long as he takes care of himself his lack of spleen won’t impact his quality of life too much.”
“…and what’d you do to me? I feel like shit.”
“You had a collapsed lung, the bullet wasn’t through and through so I had to do a thoracotomy to see the extent of the damage and insert a chest tube to help with the lung. You’ll need to be on bed rest for at least a week and a half.”
Jinx groaned and rolled her eyes but didn’t protest since she doubted she could stand at the moment with the dull pain occupying most of her side and chest, she suspected the IV dripping what she suspected to be morphine or other pain medicine into her bloodstream was the only thing keeping the pain tolerable.
“Will you at least keep giving me the good stuff?” Jinx half joked, gently adjusting Isha so she was leaning against her arm, wincing but not caring for the shot of pain as Isha nuzzled into her in her sleep.
“Are you seriously joking right now?!” Ekko spoke for the first time since she’d woken up, eyes wide, sudden flooded with fury, “Jinx you could have died!”
“I didn’t-”
“But you nearly did! We weren’t sure that you’d make it! You were in surgery for nearly an entire fucking day!”
“Well I didn’t know that-”
“Do you think it’s okay to be joking around after you jumped in front of a bullet-”
“What did you want me to do?!” Jinx questioned loudly, propping herself up further against the pillows despite her pain, Ekko was making no sense.
“Oh I don’t know- maybe not jump in front of a fucking bullet!” Ekko bit back, the eye bags and redness in his eyes making him look almost unhinged.
“If I didn’t it would’ve gotten you in the heart!”
“Maybe I would’ve fucking preferred that!”
“That is enough!” Doctor Kiramman stepped in, voice filled with such authority that they couldn’t help but recoil, slightly embarrassed, he took a moment to look at both of them, “Jinx you are not to do anything that takes any real effort for a bit, if you two are going to be bickering or Ekko, if you’re going to be upsetting her then I’d have to ask you to leave for the day. Am I going to have to do that?”
Neither of them said anything, refusing to look at him or at each other.
The Doctor sighed, “I’m going to go check in on Zaren, Jinx I expect you to call for me if you feel anything off, don’t try to get up.” Then he turned to Ekko, “The sleep syrup I gave Isha should wear off soon, she’ll be understandably overwhelmed but try to make sure she doesn’t put too much weight on Jinx, especially on her chest. Call me if she starts slurring her words or if her vitals seem off, I’ll be sending Isaac to supervise in a bit anyway.”
Ekko nodded along, still looking at the ground.
Vi cleared her throat, squeezing Jinx’s leg before going to stand up, “You okay?”
Jinx half shrugged, “Sure.”
She glanced at Ekko and then back to her, “Okay, I’m going to step out for a bit, check on Zaren as well and go update Vander, he must be worried… you two good here?”
“…yeah.”
“Yeah sure.”
Vi took one more moment to inspect them before going to step away, quietly shaking her head.
Jinx tested her breathing, taking slow breaths and trying to figure out just at what point the dull pained intensified and became an ache.
Ekko sighed, going to gently help her prop herself up a bit more, so she could somewhat sit upright, he carefully readjusted Isha as well.
She took a moment to inspect the kid, she looked tired, running a hand through her hair, Isha leaning towards the touch in her sleep.
“…is she alright?”
Ekko sat at her bedside, pulling his chair closer, “She was scared. She didn’t see how you arrived but… she saw the blood on my clothes… she was scared.”
Jinx cursed under her breath, “Kiramman gave her something?”
“Sleeping syrup. She started getting really anxious about three hours ago since you hadn’t woken up yet and we’d already been waiting outside during the surgery… he gave her a little bit just to help her fall asleep for a while.”
She took a moment to inspect him, he didn’t look like he was doing too well.
“…I didn’t do it to worry you two.”
Ekko sighed, “I know… but you still shouldn’t have done it.” He spoke in a low tone, trying to keep calm.
Jinx gently shook her head, “I saw the bullet’s path… it would’ve gotten you straight in the heart… you wouldn’t have made it.”
Ekko stayed quiet. It was a complicated situation.
“…Ekko… I’m fine. I’ll be alright.”
His gaze wavered, vulnerability entering his face as he shot up to his feet, anger and worry and care fighting in his eyes, “I thought you were going to die. I thought- I thought I was going to lose you-”
He cut himself off, but didn’t dare look away from her, almost afraid she might vanish if he tore his gaze away for even a second.
Jinx slightly tilted her head, eyes softening, “You know it’s gonna take a lot more than a little bullet to take me away from you… you know that right?” The confession slipped out far too easily, far too casually, if she’d been awake for longer she might’ve blamed it on the pain medication dripping into her arm.
She thought for a moment how she might’ve reacted had their places been switched. If he’d taken the bullet and she’d had to wait hours to even know if he’d live and then even more hours before getting to see him awake and talking.
Oh she’d be terrified and furious and consumed by guilt-
She might’ve run away, to keep him safe from her.
She reached a hand out, Ekko quickly going to take it, she tugged at him gently, “Lay down with me.”
“No- Jinx you’re not supposed to move or-”
“Ekko.”
He watched her for a moment, inspecting her, perhaps assessing just how delicate her state really was.
He moved carefully, Jinx still hissing as the bed shifted with his weight even with his cautious movements, but she sank into him as he wrapped an arm around her and she could lay against his chest, Ekko pressing a kiss against her temple, she could hear the sniffles he was trying to hide, taking his hand and gently tracing his knuckles as they took in each other’s presence.
Took in the fact that they’d both survived.
“You’re not in a lot of pain?” He gently asked after a while, voice hoarse.
“It’s alright. I mean… kinda hurts to move but it’s whatever. I think the shimmer might be helping things along.”
“Kiramman did say something about thinking you might heal a bit quicker because of it.”
She glanced up at him, scrunching her eyebrows up, “You didn’t have to like- threaten him or anything to operate on me did you?”
“Nah. As soon as he saw the state you were in he was giving out orders… actually kicked us out so he could work.”
“You left me alone with him while he had a scalpel and a perfectly plausible death wound?!” She questioned, only half joking.
He rolled his eyes, “Sevika stayed.”
Jinx just shook her head. But it bothered her a bit, the fact that Kiramman had apparently done the selfless thing, put aside the fact that Jinx had killed his wife and had worked for hours on end to keep her alive.
Before she could muse on it for too long, Isha suddenly started stirring, Jinx’s breath catching in her throat as she gently ran a hand through the kid’s hair to get it out of the face as she slowly rubbed at her eyes, the sleeping syrup clearly still wearing off.
Then Isha finally managed to pry her eyes open and glance up as she continued adjusting her hair.
“Hi gumdrop.”
Isha instantly started crying, trying to get closer to her, Jinx trying to comfort her, gasping in pain when Isha accidentally placed some weight against her stomach, Ekko quickly reaching across to lift Isha into his lap Jinx cupping her face and making sure she could see her.
“M-mmmm- mama.” She said amongst her tears, Jinx’s heart shattering in half at that, pressing a kiss against the top of her hair.
“I’m so sorry gumdrop- it’s alright, I’m here, I’m right here baby.”
She wouldn’t apologize to Ekko for taking the bullet, she’d had to, and she didn’t regret it. But she would apologize to Isha for scaring her and for being the reason she thought for even a moment that she’d lose her mom.
It took a while for Isha to seem to realize Jinx would be alright, Ekko gently rocking her as Jinx softly spoke and sung to her, ignoring the dull pain in her chest.
Even once Isha had calmed down, she still clung to Jinx’s hand, practically melted against Ekko as the tension finally left her tiny body.
Hours passed, Sevika bringing them food at some point that Jinx managed to take a few bites out of, coaxing Isha into finishing her own plate.
She assumed that night had fallen when Ekko and Isha both fell asleep, clearly still exhausted from the high emotions and stress and fear.
Jinx just stared at the bandages wrapped around her torso, waiting for sleep to come.
Instead, a small lantern let her know there was someone else in the infirmary.
Doctor Kiramman placed the lantern at the bedside table, “How are you feeling?”
“Alright I guess. Not as bad as I would’ve imagined.”
He hummed, “That’s good. Here,” he reached out, stethoscope in hand, placing it under her ribs, “take a deep breath for me.” He repeated the request a few times as he moved the cold metal to inspect her lungs, “Sounds like your lungs are doing well, but you are still under strict bed rest, at least two weeks.”
Jinx blew a raspberry but didn’t argue, letting him finish his inspection in silence before looking down at her hands, “…thank you.”
Kiramman barely reacted, simply checking the IV bags and writing something down on his clipboard, “I merely did my job.”
“Yeah well… I don’t think anyone woulda blamed you if you didn’t do it.”
“…I would’ve. Try to get some rest.”
Jinx looked up, “Wait- how’s Zaren?”
The doctor tapped his pen against the clipboard, “As well as he can be. He has multiple wounds, but I think he is likely to make a full recovery, it will take longer than he’d probably like but… I think he will get there.”
Jinx nodded along, “Alright.”
The doctor left and Jinx allowed herself to nuzzle further against Ekko’s chest, pressing a kiss against his jawline and running her fingers through Isha’s messy curls as she resumed her wait for sleep.
Notes:
It is I! I live!
In all seriousness I’m so sorry- I had horrible writer’s block for Arcane for a hot second there and then a lot of things kinda happened and just- I’m sorry.
I’ll be trying to post every week or two, but I’m still figuring out how i wanna go about the final battle arc since Mel and Jayce should be incorporated in pretty soon and I want to figure out just how far I wanna take Viktor’s deus ex machine vibes and all of that.
Really hope you liked this chapter, might not seem like it but it will take Jinx a little while to heal even with the Shimmer and hope you liked her convo with Ekko!
Chapter 32: Let the Past be the Past ‘Til It’s Weightless
Summary:
Vi updates Vander on everything.
Caitlyn gets an unwanted visitor
Ekko and Jinx talk
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vi took a deep breath as she wandered into the mine chamber Vander had claimed as his own.
Some part of her was still tense, still waiting for the other shoe to drop even after seeing that Jinx had woken up and seemed to be doing alright all things considered.
She couldn’t help but worry.
She just hoped she and Ekko could talk things through without blowing up at each other, that was about the last thing they needed at the moment.
She shook her head for a moment, chastising herself for stalling and finally stepping into the chamber, “Dad? You up?”
Vander uncurled himself from where he slumbered in his nest of blankets and fabrics, quickly looking for her and going to lean their foreheads together, “Vi… what’s wrong?”
Vi took a moment to lean against him before stepping back, going to sit down at the edge of the nest, on the circle of fluff that surrounded it, sighing, “We’re back from the mission.”
He half frowned, “Something… happened?”
Vi sighed heavily, internally wincing at the fact that she had to be the one to deliver the news.
“Dad… everyone is alright now, we all made it out but… in Piltover… there was an ambush, a bad one, we barely made it out and… dad… Powder was shot-”
Vander shot up, tensing up, eyes flashing blood red for a moment, “What?!”
Vi quickly went to calm him down, “Dad it’s alright! It- she needed surgery but- but she’s alright now, she’s awake and talking! She’s alright!”
Vander shook his head aggressively, stumbling back and towards the opening of the chamber.
She hurried to get in front of him, “Dad- you can’t help her right now she- she is resting and she’s with Ekko she’s safe- the doctor said she’d be fine! Please dad, take a breath!”
“Take a breath?!” He snarled in her face, “Your sister is injured-” he all but hissed.
“I know that! But it won’t do her any good if you barge into the infirmary dad!”
They stared each other down for a long moment, Vi refusing to give any ground, Vander’s eyes flashing between blue and gold and the blood red of his worst moments.
He growled, “How?”
Vi sighed, “I told you we were ambushed, we were surrounded, fighting and- one of the Enforcers shot at Ekko… Powder saw the shot would’ve been a killing blow and… she shielded him… with her body…”
He grunted, frustrated as he backed down slightly, looking down, “How bad?”
Against her better judgement, she decided to be honest, “It was bad. The bullet wasn’t through and through and- it pierced and collapsed one of her lungs. Like I told you, she needed surgery but she pulled through, she’s stable, awake and talking… she’s alright dad.” Vi tried to not let through any of the panic she’d felt through the events of the previous two days show in her voice.
She wasn’t sure how successful she was.
Vander paced inside his nest, shaking his head as she processed the information, “Ekko?”
“…he was worried sick to his stomach- still is but he’d not hurt badly. Bumps and bruises.”
“I…sha?”
“Kid didn’t see Powder hurt, she was scared but she was asleep last I saw her, they gave her some sleeping syrup when she got antsy… she’ll be alright.”
She refused to mention the kid’s screams or the first word Vi had heard her utter.
Vander still paced, shaking his head harshly.
A part of Vi felt like he was holding himself back from blaming her, ‘protect Powder’ and all of that.
Vi was struggling to not blame herself.
But it was like she’d told Ekko, nothing was going to stop her sister from protecting him.
That helped her with the blame just ever so slightly. But…
“Dad… are you alright?”
He dropped his head, “Should’ve… been there…”
Vi sighed heavily as she went to sit down next to him, leaning against him, “Dad… it was supposed to be a stealth mission. And even beyond that… you’re still healing… we need you to stay safe and get better. I… I’m sorry Powder got hurt… but she’s safe.”
Vander watched her for a long moment, inspecting her.
Vi sighed, “What?”
Vander gritted his teeth together, “Were you… there?”
She contained the urge to roll her eyes, “Yes…”
He looked down, “She… took the shot… for Ekko?”
“Yes.”
“…nothing would’ve stopped her then.”
Quiet forgiveness.
When he looked up, his anger was gone, he gently bumped his forehead against her, “And you?”
Vi shook her head, “I’m fine. Bumps and bruises… I was mostly just… shocked I guess.”
Vander didn’t seem satisfied or convinced by her answer, leaning further into her as he sniffed at her, inspecting her before carefully bitting down at the back of her jacket, effortlessly picking her up and going to place her at the center of his nest.
“Wha- dad put me down! I told you I’m fine!”
Vander didn’t answer, just setting her down and curling up around her protectively, making it clear she wasn’t allowed to leave anytime soon.
She groaned in annoyance as she let her head drop back against his fur, “Are you serious right now?”
His only response was a gentle rumble from his chest.
Vi just rolled her eyes and succumbed to her fate, knowing from previous experience that if she tried to escape he’d just pick her up by the back of her jacket of the scruff of her neck and place her right back down.
If her lack of a fight was also partially because the warmth of the nest and fur comforted her and helped her finally calm down after the chaos and fear of the past two days- well that was no one’s business but her own.
***
Caitlyn was laying down on the flimsy mattresses when heavy footsteps began making their way towards her cage.
More footsteps than usual, heavier than her guards.
She didn’t bother getting up, instead just letting her head drop back from the edge of the mattress to watch as an upside-down Ambessa made her way towards the cage, fury set deep in her face.
“Ambessa,” she started lazily, slowly rolling over and sitting up, her -at this point disgusting- hair flopping over her shoulder, “to what do I owe the honor?”
Ambessa watched her, a lip curling in disgust.
Nevermind that Caitlyn had asked once or twice if she might be allowed to take a real shower and had been turned down, her only respite from the filth was sacrificing what little water she had to somewhat scrub her hair and skin with a sliver of soap.
Her requests had been shut down rather painfully.
“What do you know of the boy?”
Caitlyn just raised an eyebrow, feigning ignorance, “Boy?”
“The firelight boy. This… Ekko character.”
Caitlyn blew a raspberry, shrugging, “I know he’s probably a pain in your ass.”
“What else?”
She swallowed at the hard look in Ambessa’s eyes. If she didn’t give any information she could predict just what would come from this interaction, “Nothing important. Just that he’s loyal to Zaun and working with Jinx… but you already knew that.”
Ambessa snorted humorlessly, tilting her head, “I will give you a chance to reconsider your answer young Kiramman. I know from witness accounts that months ago the boy fought against Jinx at the bridge… whilst you and your Violet got away… you must’ve caught some other information if he was willing to fight to give you a chance to escape back then.” She used a gloved finger to wipe some of the filth from one of the iron bars, “Not to mention the snippets of conversation I caught between you two back at Singed’s lab… he seemed to take your use of the Grey quite personally for you to know nothing.”
Caitlyn gritted her teeth together as she caught movement in the shadows behind Ambessa, Maddie and a Noxian soldier waiting with clubs and knives.
Could she give anything without causing even more harm?
What did she even know about Ekko really?
Caitlyn licked her lips as she looked down, “He… he apparently founded the firelights to fight against Silco and the production of Shimmer. He had a safe haven, I don’t know where it is I was blindfolded- and…” what had Vi mentioned about him?, “apparently he’s good at building stuff.”
There. Something… but nothing of real value.
At least she hoped not.
Ambessa hummed, considering, “And what of the child?”
Caitlyn frowned, genuinely confused at that, “What child?”
“There is a child that both Jinx and Ekko seem to care for is there not? A child that was willing to die for Jinx?”
Caitlyn’s stomach dropped to the floor, her blood running cold.
No.
She didn’t allow her face to betray any emotion, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh but you do. You have seem her up close twice have you not? Tell me what you know.”
Caitlyn shook her head, heart already starting to race, “I don’t know what kid you’re talking about.”
Ambessa went to take a step back, “Maddie couldn’t get a proper look at her, has only seen her from behind… I need a proper description of this child.”
Caitlyn didn’t let her eyes falter, meeting Ambessa’s gaze even as Maddie and the Noxian soldier got closer, slowly rising up as they reached the door of her cage.
“I don’t know what child you’re talking about.”
Ambessa let out the smallest of snorts, “But you do. You merely require the right… motivation.”
She turned on her heel to leave as the key turned and the door to her cage swung open.
Caitlyn braced herself but still screamed at the first hit that knocked her to the floor.
***
Ekko worked quickly and, somehow, efficiently, throwing himself into the work of building the filters they needed.
He knew the sooner he was done with that, the sooner he could get back to Jinx and Isha.
Jinx had been moved to their room after three more days in the infirmary, thought Kiramman had been very clear that any sign of her getting worse or overdoing it and she’d be right back in the infirmary, Kellie reiterating the same message as she had helped settle Jinx into their room.
The door to the workshop opened, Scar stepping in and crossing his arms as he approached, going to inspect his work quietly before speaking, “How is it coming along?”
“Well enough… Jinx is going over some of the blueprints, but I’m hoping I can be done in a few days.”
He nodded along, leaning against the table and turning to look at him, “How are you doing?”
Ekko just sighed, “I just… I’m fine.”
Scar raised an unimpressed eyebrow, reaching out to rip a wrench from his hands, “Wanna try again?”
Ekko just continued starring at his half-built filter for a long moment, “I’m… not as bad as I could be.”
“…but not as well either I’m assuming?” He asked as he leaned against the desk.
“I feel like I’m about to spiral… like I can’t fully believe that she’s safe… that we all made it out… I’m just… tense I guess.”
“And… guilty?” Scar asked knowingly, tilting his head at him.
Ekko sighed, “She… she took a bullet for me Scar.”
“And you would’ve done the same for her…”
“But that doesn’t matter right now. She’s the one that almost died. She’s the one whose on bed rest and nearly-” he shook his head harshly, shutting his eyes tightly, “That bullet was meant for me.”
Scar glanced down for a moment, “Let’s say that, the situation was reversed, that the bullet had been meant for her and you’d stepped in. Would you be happy if she were torturing herself over your decision?”
“…no.”
“Well then there you go.” Scar sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder, “We’re in the middle of a war Ekko. The danger is constant and… you two… I think it’s pretty clear to everyone that you’d die for each other… and given that you are Piltover’s two main targets… I’d say something like this was bound to happen. Don’t let it eat at you.”
“I don’t know how to stop it.”
“Talk to her. Stay with her. Until you can convince yourself that you both pulled through and that you’re both still there for one another.”
Ekko nodded along for a moment before looking up at Scar, grinning ever so slightly, “She really won you over huh?”
He rolled his eyes, “I suppose she has her moments. I can see why you were never able to get over her even when she was in her ‘kill everything in sight’ phase-”
“Okay- that’s an exaggeration-”
“I still remember the first time we ran into her.”
“That’s not-”
“You froze when she ripped off your mask, the two just starring at one another like your worlds had come crashing down-”
He felt himself blush, going to righten up, “That is not true-”
“Just ran off with your tails between your legs, so shaken up-”
“That is-”
“I knew from the start there was some kind of history between you two.”
Ekko just groaned and rolled his eyes at Scar’s teasing smirk, “You’re unbearable. Remind me again why I made you my second-in-command?”
“Because someone in the Firelights needed to put logic before anything else. And it wasn’t going to be you.”
“Why you-”
***
Jinx knew logically that the Shimmer running through her veins had changed her irrevocably.
She knew that.
But it was still… strange to see it in such a clear way.
It was almost unsettling how it accelerated her healing, in a week, she still felt pain at certain movements, but a part of her knew she could already be up and walking- maybe even up and fighting if the two-week bed rest hadn’t still been strictly in place.
Her stitches had been removed and Kiramman seemed content with her progress, even if she was still strictly forbidden from doing anything that could be deemed as ‘overexerting herself’.
She knew her own limits, she thought with a roll of her eyes but quietly relented to take it easy.
It was the least she could do after the man had spent dozens of hours keeping her alive.
Currently, she was watching Ekko.
He sat at the foot of the bed, fidgeting with one of the last pieces of the filters.
Isha had gone to visit Vander with Vi, since he was still a bit worried about her, and Isha herself had finally settled down enough to spend time away from her, she’d likely stay the night with them…
Jinx may or may not have asked Vi to keep her away as long as she could.
She gently kicked at Ekko’s thigh, waiting until he met her gaze.
“Stop that.”
He frowned, “Stop what?”
Jinx dragged herself further down the bed, Ekko instantly reaching out to help her along, she slapped her hand away and went to tuck her legs under her, sitting next to him.
“Stop acting like I’m fragile, or like I’m going to vanish. I’m fine Ekko. I need you to get it through that thick skull of yours.”
He thought he was so slick, she’d caught the countless glances cast her way, the dozens of moments he’d simply check on her, graze her arm or her leg as if to make sure she was still there, tensing up anytime she moved more than an inch, waiting to see if she fell off the bed or winced or suddenly shriveled up and died.
She suspected he was about a second away from snapping from the worry and stress.
Ekko clenched his jaw for a moment, “You’re still recovering Blue.”
“I am. But I’m pretty much as good as new at this point… you don’t have to worry about me Ekko.”
“…I can’t help it.”
She reached out, cupping his face, “We said neither of us were going anywhere right?”
He leaned against her palm, “That we did.”
“…so try to believe it.”
He shut his eyes, covering her hand with his own and pressing a kiss against her palm, “I’m trying.”
Jinx bit the inside of her cheek, “Are you… upset?”
Ekko sighed heavily, “I’m upset that you got hurt… but I’m not mad at you.”
“Then…” she hesitated, pulling her hand away and looking down at her lap, hating the insecurity and doubt eating at her insides, “then why… why haven’t you kissed me?”
He hadn’t.
Not since before the heist.
Ekko watched her for a long moment, “You’re hurt Blue.”
“I’m not made of glass. What- why are…” she trailed off, looking away.
Ekko hesitated, going to take her hand, “Blue I- when I thought- when I wasn’t sure if you’d make… I already knew that losing you would- it would break me. But being in that moment- not, not knowing… it scared me realizing just how much… just how much I need you. And I- I don’t want it to scare you…”
Jinx titled her head, scooting closer, throwing her legs over his lap, his hand finding her knee, “You said a while back, that you wouldn’t let me pull away… well I won’t let you pull away either. Yeah this is… a lot… you think I didn’t realize that- that I’d quite literally rather die than to lose you? Than to see you get hurt? It scares me too… but I don’t… I don’t want it to stop.”
“I don’t want it to stop either.” He reached out, tugging her closer by the back of her neck and pulling her into a desperate kiss, harsher than it should’ve been given she was still healing no matter how much she insisted she was fine.
His hand moved higher up to her thigh, tugging her further into his lap, Jinx cupping his face and wrapping an arm around his shoulders, deepening the kiss, tugging at his shirt.
He drew back, leaning their foreheads together as he tried to shake his head, “Blue- you’re-”
“It’s okay. I’m okay.” She reassured in a hushed tone, want raspy in her voice, “It’s okay, I promise.”
Ekko let his head fall against her shoulder, trying to think even as he let his fingers dip under the hem of her top, “I- not yet. But I…”
“Not yet…” Jinx easily agreed, gently tugging at his hair to get another kiss, smirking into his mouth, “But…”
He kissed her again, wrapping an arm around her waist and half carrying her to lay her back against the pillow, careful to not put too much weight on her.
They let their hands roam, Ekko tracing her tattoos with his fingertips and then with his lips, over her shoulder and in the dip of her waist just barely visible below her top, Jinx let her hands slip under his shirt, finding and tracing the scars he’d accumulated of the years.
She tugged annoyed at his shirt and he rose up to his knees for a moment to take it off, going back to kissing her, to finding her own scars, always careful around her chest and stomach, Jinx passing her palms over his back and shoulder blades, sighing quietly as he pressed kisses and small bites to her neck, lapping his tongue over the bites, hands slipping under her shirt, not to take it off but just to explore her back, tracing her spine as she arched into him.
“Ekko- shit- touch me.”
He moaned into her mouth, letting his hand trail down and gently sneak beneath the boxers she’d stolen from him and had taken to wearing to bed.
“I’ve never- I’ve never done anything like this.” He quietly confessed, nuzzling against her neck as he cupped her, surprised at the warmth.
She gasped at the contact, holding on to his neck, one of her legs hiking up to hook around his waist, “Neither have I.”
She couldn’t help but chuckle at that, all they’d been through, all their work as inventors, Ekko’s founding of the Firelights, Jinx’s past reputation as one of the most feared faces in Zaun, leading a Revolution but in that moment they were just clueless teenagers fooling about.
Ekko also chuckled, just shaking his head for a moment before fully touching her, gently exploring her, fingers running through her folds, Jinx gasping.
“Just- tell me if I’m doing this wrong okay?”
Jinx nodded along, trying not to instantly unravel at his soft touches and tentative pushes, “Ye- yeah sure.”
It only took Ekko a minute or two to find a rhythm and the touches that drew sighs and moans out of her, continuing trailing kisses down her neck as she let her head drop back and fully allowed herself to just feel and enjoy his touch.
Then his fingertip caught against her entrance and she hid her face against his neck, nodding before he could ask, gasping as he slowly sunk a finger into her.
“Oh- fuck you’re warm.” He mumbled against her skin, tentatively hooking his finger.
She moved, using her legs to flip them, straddling him and rolling her hips experimentally as she drew him to sit up against her, kissing him harshly as he slowly dipped another finger into her.
She bit at his bottom lip, nearly drawing blood as she rolled her hips again before Ekko used his other arm to surround her waist, stopping her.
“Don’t- let me take care of you.”
She felt herself blush.
He currently had two fingers inside her but it was those words that made her blush.
She nodded regardless, hiding her face against his neck, biting at his skin as she complied with his request, not taking over and letting him guide this, experimenting, gently scissoring her, then his thumb found her clit and she could’ve died at the moan that escaped her.
She could feel his hardness beneath her, but he seemed perfectly willing to ignore it, focusing on her reactions as he kept going, switching between gentle thrusts, scissoring and hooking his fingers, his thumb a constant at her clit until-
She shattered, letting her head drop back as a rush of heat imploded in her, unable to help her hips rolling on instinct, seeking the feeling out, Ekko just watching her with awe as she rode out the intensity of it all, feeling boneless as she collapsed against him, threading her hands into his hair as she tried to catch her breath.
“Oh Blue… that was beautiful.”
She giggled against his neck. She felt his hardness again beneath her as she pulled back to look at him.
Jinx grinned wickedly before going to kiss him at the same time as she ground her hips down, Ekko gasping into the kiss and thrusting up against her in response, hands finding her hips and tightening.
“Blue-”
She did it again, cupping his neck, biting at his earlobe, “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
She ground her hips down, Ekko fully giving in, meeting her thrusts, moaning as she palmed at the tent in his boxers, figuring out what rhythm seemed to drag the most reactions out of him, pulling at his hair to suck bruises into his neck.
It didn’t take long for him to groan and fall apart as well, Jinx pulling back to watch him even as he pulled her closer, going to hide his face against her chest.
She felt the stickiness, boxers sticking together after his release.
She gently traced nonsense figures against his back and neck as he caught his breath, face still hidden against her.
She snorted, “Well that was a bit gross.” She said quietly after a moment.
He chuckled, shaking his head against her, “You’re everything.”
He let himself fall back before she could quip something, holding her against his chest as they both fully caught their breath.
It was nice being held like that, she settled down, listening to his heartbeat as it slowly steadied.
He pressed a kiss against the top of her hair, “You alright?”
“Yeah. Honestly I think that did me a lot of good.”
She could practically feel him roll his eyes.
A minute passed before he spoke again, squeezing at her waist, “Come on, we should clean up.”
“Noooo.” She whined, Ekko chuckling as he went to sit up, dragging her along with him.
“You’ll regret it if we don’t in the morning.”
She relented quietly, Ekko letting her take the bathroom first to clean up, it only took them a few minutes to be back in bed, Ekko pulling her against his chest.
It was the best sleep they had in a while.
Notes:
So uh- I will not say that it took my asexual loser ass two weeks to write a somewhat satisfying smut scene… but I won’t say that it didn’t take me two weeks to do just that
Chapter 33: Approaching Trouble
Summary:
Ekko checks the progress on the filters.
Jinx visits Vander.
There is a return.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ekko slowly rose up from the soil, wiping his hands against his pants, casting a slow glance to the side.
It hadn’t taken too long to install the water filters into the larger pipes that gave them their water, the complicated part had been figuring out the placement and how to install the small machines with flowers on a large patch of soil in a way that would allow both the flowers to absorb the contaminants in the ground but would also leave just enough room to start planting crops.
That had taken a little over a week.
And… Ekko had asked for Viktor’s help in figuring out the positioning and the final design of the cases for the flowers.
Viktor had taken it upon himself to supervise the installment of the devices, something about being able to tell if the flowers started absorbing contaminants the way they’d hoped they would.
Ekko couldn’t help but steal glances every few minutes.
Viktor was becoming… more Machine Herald than human every time he saw him.
He could see it in the way his movements were becoming stiffer, his skin paler, his face emoting less and less.
The effect could be seen all over the sanctuary.
It was like his followers were acting more and more like ants or bees, like they had a single mind, their eyes becoming more clouded with silver and their movements more mechanical.
It was eerie, and Ekko knew that the influence of HexTech was starting to truly sink its claws into Viktor.
The worst part? The supposed genius seemed to have no idea.
The Machine Herald inspected the space, nodding his approval, “I believe this will work. Though of course, observation will be required.”
There was a strange reverb in his voice, like there was something trying to take over Viktor’s vocal chords, to get across different words, a different message.
Ekko just nodded along. He was starting to suspect it would be sooner rather than later that they’d have to deal with Viktor, before the HexTech could fully take over and make him into a bigger threat.
“We’ll be taking notes on changes everyday, I think we’re ready to start actually planting potential crops, see how they do.”
Viktor hummed thoughtfully, “I agree. Though, you will have to keep a close eye on the produce, make sure they are safe to consume.”
Ekko nodded along, tilting his head as he inspected Viktor, “…thanks for the help.”
It was a subtle dismissal, one Viktor took, nodding his head slowly and going to leave.
Ekko watched him.
“What are you thinking?” Gert asked him, going to stand at his side.
“I’m thinking… we’re approaching trouble.”
***
Jinx sighed heavily as she let Vi all but push her down the halls.
“Be honest with me, how bad is this going to be?” She questioned.
“Bad.”
Jinx let more of her weight fall back, Vi not even blinking and all but picking her up as she kept walking.
Every single person they passed seemed to take a moment to nod or horrifyingly, salute Jinx as they continued.
It was her second day finally up and walking since Doctor Kiramman had declared she was done with bed-rest but both him and Kellie had made it very clear she wasn’t to do anything that required excessive force, her activities seemed restricted to walking, annoying Vi and tinkering.
It was far from ideal, but Jinx supposed she preferred that to being dead.
Not by much though.
“Will you at least give me a full report? I get the feeling Ekko and Sevika haven’t been telling me everything.”
“There’s not much to tell.” Vi started as they made it to the exit of the base and Jinx relented to no longer pester her into all but carrying her, “Ambessa seems to be reevaluating things, her Enforcer training got a whole lot more strict and intense. The second shipment of our new deals arrived, everything’s good on that. And the mines are finally just stable enough to start trying to collect some bronze from one of the caverns, they just installed your flower air purifying system and it seems a bit overwhelmed but it might just work the way you’d hoped. I think Ekko was going to take a look into the potential crop planting dirt today.”
“Did the tin man come around?”
“Yeah. Didn’t say much… Ekko thinks we might need to fight him soon.”
“Perfect.” Jinx rolled her eyes, letting the sarcasm drop from her voice, “Just what we needed.”
Vi didn’t answer, going to start their descent into the mines.
Jinx followed a few paces behind, nerves starting to make a home beneath her ribs as they went deeper and deeper.
Vi noticed.
“He’s just worried, not upset or anything.” She tried to assure Jinx.
“Hmm.”
That was exactly what she was worried about.
It didn’t take them too long to reach Vander’s chamber, he was curled up in his nest of blankets and pillows, Isha sleeping against his flank as he watched the entrance of the chamber.
Vander perked up the moment Jinx appeared at the entrance, quickly managing to place Isha on the cushions before standing up and approaching.
“Hey dad, sorry if I scared you I- oh!”
Vander picked Jinx up by the scruff of her jacket, dragging her into the nest with Isha and quickly curling up around her, Jinx groaning as she pulled Isha into her chest and leaned against his side, “Dad, I’m okay.”
“Powder.” He sniffed her, trying to check for injuries, Jinx’s bandages were hidden beneath her shirt and jacket, but he could probably still sense them, “Hurt.”
“I was already heckled- I mean treated by the doctors dad, I’m alright, I was already declared free from bed rest.” She tried to get him to release her from the fur prison.
He just settled in further, “Hurt.”
Jinx groaned as she rolled her eyes and resigned herself to her fate, Isha giggling at her face as she crawled to curl up against her.
She could feel Vi’s amusement as she approached to sit next to Vander, leaning back against his flank.
Jinx just rested against him, “Dad… I’m okay. Really.”
Vander grumbled, “Failed.”
“What do you mean failed?”
“I failed- again- I’ve failed since- since- the fire… no one kept you safe.”
Jinx sighed heavily, gently running her hand through Isha’s curls.
She knew she would never be able to convince Vander that he hadn’t failed… but maybe… just maybe… it might be some consolation to him to know that-
“I did have someone to keep me safe.” Jinx quietly confessed, eyes locked on her chipped nail polished as she continued, “Vander… after the cannery… Silco found me-” Vander tensed up, Jinx hurrying to continue, “He took me in… took care of me… I was his daughter for a long time… he kept me safe… and he loved me. I wasn’t alone, I had my dad...”
For a long moment, there was just silence as Vander seemed to process the revelation, Vi quietly sighing to herself as she shook her head, unsure of how he’d react to that.
“Silco… took you in?”
“Yes.”
“He… took care of you?”
Jinx pressed her lips together for a moment, “Yes… he did.”
Vander was completely still for yet another minute, Jinx about to start biting her nails from the stress when he finally seemed to exhale slowly.
“You said…. he was… you dad?”
Jinx winced, shutting her eyes for a moment, “Yes. We were… alike in a lot of ways. He taught me a lot, kept me safe, did his best to… help me. He loved me… he was my dad.”
Vander curled himself tighter around them, “…good.. you weren’t alone.”
Jinx sighed in relief, letting herself relax.
She knew he might have questions later on, and that, at best, his feelings around the entire situation were… complicated… but for now…
For now they were good. They were together… they were safe.
***
Hours later, once Vander finally released her from the fur prison, she and Vi made their way back to the base.
Walking through the halls, nearly everyone took a moment to tell Jinx they were relieved to see her well, telling her to rest up, saying it was good to see her back on her feet, or just reaching out to touch and squeeze her shoulder.
It was still odd… seeing the effect her mere presence could have on people… not instilling fear or dread like before but… hope… relief.
She doubted she’d ever get fully used to it.
Jinx made it back to her room, finding Ekko at the desk writing down something in one of their journals, setting down Isha on the bed before going to join him, hoping up on the desk.
“How’d it go?”
“It’s still a bit early to truly tell but… I think the flower are already starting to have an effect on the dirt. And down in the mines we did a test or two and, the air is still filth but, it’s starting to get better, just a bit but… it’s progress.”
Jinx smiled to herself, “Hmm. Well that’s good to know. Anything else?”
He hesitated, glancing down, “I think we should start forming a plan for what to do about Viktor. He’s… less human every time we see him. And I have a feeling that… whatever it is that HexTech is doing to him… it’s accelerating now. It’s not good.”
Jinx rolled her eyes as she groaned, letting her head fall back, “Ugh- it’s always something. Any thoughts?”
Ekko shrugged helplessly, “I honestly don’t know. Our only real theory on what can truly go up against HexTech is a pure version of the Arcane but- we obviously have no way to access that. And I get the feelings that if we try fighting HexTech with HexTech-”
“It might only make things worse.” Jinx finished, “Especially considering we’d be going up against a man that’s living walking HexTechnology… if we catch him off guard do you reckon we could knock him out? Not give him a chance to fight back?”
“Maybe. But Blue we need a proper plan- and a backup plan. We can’t underestimate the threat he poses.”
“I know… I know…” she tilted her head, inspecting him as he finished his notes and set aside the journal, leaning back as he let a tiny fraction of the tension in his body dissipate, just a fraction, she gently kicked at his legs, “Hey, come here.”
He went easily, going to wrap his arms around her waist, Isha quickly climbing off the bed and going to hang off his back, Ekko laughing before going to place his hands under Jinx’s thighs, standing up with Isha hanging off his back and carrying Jinx, going to carefully lay down in bed.
He grabbed Isha’s arm, jokingly wrestling her off his back to place her between the two before drawing both of them closer against his chest, fully relaxing as they settled down.
Jinx smiled to herself at Isha’s giggles as she nuzzled against them both, giving Ekko a quick gentle kiss.
***
“Wait wait wait- I need you to take it from the top. What’s going on?” Jinx interrupted Vara’s frantic report.
She and Ekko were in the war room with the others, Vara had burst in in the middle of their meeting with important news.
Vara took a moment to catch her breath, “We managed to intercept a letter that was being sent in and- one of the spiders spotted something- I- I asked her if she was sure but she keeps insisting she knows what she saw and that-”
“Okay alright, first things first, what did the letter say?”
Vara sighed, stepping forward, placing the letter down in front of Sevika, “More of Ambessa’s troops from Nox are on their way here to offer backup. The letter doesn’t say how many and it’s not very specific on how soon they think they’ll arrive but… it probably won’t be very long now.”
Scar cursed under his breath, Arol going to take the letter as soon as Sevika was done with it.
“Any chance it was a decoy sent by Ambessa to try and make us nervous? Get us to act brashly?” Ekko quickly questioned.
Vara shrugged, “I’ll be honest I don’t know.”
“It seems…. out of character for her to just send a letter out like that or allow anyone from her troops to send information that carelessly.” Vi offered, “But I can’t be sure. Maybe her troops got sloppy with her time away, maybe they didn’t think we’d be watching the skies so closely.”
That did nothing to comfort Jinx, who bit the inside of her cheek for a long moment, exchanging a troubled glance with Ekko before turning back to Vara, “What’s the other thing?”
Vara hesitated, “The spiders reported… I asked them- fucking drilled them about it, whether or not they were absolutely sure- so did Caeya cause you know- at first we were sure they had to be mistaken or that it might be some kind of trick or-”
“Vara.” Ekko rose up from his seat slowly, “What did they see?”
Vara sighed, shrugging helplessly, “They said Councilor Medarda and Councilor Talis are back.”
***
Jayce felt sick to his core as he emerged from darkness, waking up on the floor.
He quickly shot up to his feet, only wincing slightly as he put weight on his braced leg, he glanced around, trying to make sense of his bearings.
…he was home.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed or if the times would even match up with how long he believed he’d spent in that strange alternate reality, but the first thing he needed to do was to take a long shower, take care of his leg and eat.
In that order.
It was surreal, to be once more surrounded by luxuries and everything he could possibly need after so long fighting for sheer survival, his stomach nearly turned at a full meal, the water of the shower felt like knives against his skin.
He couldn’t. Fully understand that he was back in Piltover.
The moment he had somewhat composed himself (and had accidentally wound up falling asleep at the kitchen table after eating) he pulled on a cloak with a hood and headed to Mel’s estate.
He knew the moment he stepped out on the streets that things had most certainly taken a turn for the worse.
Broken signs for protests filled dumpsters, there were very few people actively out on the streets, people whispered amongst themselves, too cautious and tense for Piltover.
There was a weight in the air Jayce couldn’t quite explain.
Well… until he spotted Noxian soldiers making rounds, patrolling along with Enforcers that now had the stance of Noxian trained fighters.
He felt himself tense further as he fully understood that Ambessa seemed to have taken over Piltover.
Where were Shoola and Salo?
Where was Caitlyn?
He picked up a few newspapers he saw peeking out of dumpsters or flying down the street as he stayed close to the shadows.
News of attacks, of Caitlyn encouraging violence and then vanishing, drawings of Jinx and Ekko side by side, making them targets.
Another drawing, this one of Vi and a few other Zaunian fighters Jayce didn’t recognize.
A picture of the Bridge of Progress blown to bits, separating Piltover and Zaun in a way that felt too permanent.
Needless to say, he was more than a bit relieved when he finally reached Mel’s estate.
He didn’t know how, but he could sense that she’d also been… missing during this entire mess.
He went in through a window, not shocked to see that there were no servants or guards around.
Jayce made his way towards the outdoor patio where she liked to paint, a part of him afraid she wouldn’t be there.
He didn’t think he’d be able to do this on his own.
Mel stood with her back to him, before a blank canvas, starring at it, a white hood covering her entirely.
He felt it then… the change.
Jayce wasn’t quite sure how… connected he was to HexTech at the moment… but he could sense it… and he could sense that… something was different.
“…Mel?”
Mel turned around slowly, face half hidden in shadows beneath the hood, “Jayce… oh… what happened to you?”
Jayce pressed his lips together, “I uh… it’s a long story. What about… what about you?”
Mel carefully let her hood fall, revealing beautiful golden markings that decorated her skin, looking down at her hands, that held similar markings, “…I’m not entirely sure that I can even explain.”
“That…” Jayce took a step back, disbelief punching him in the stomach, “you’re… you’re connected to the Arcane?”
Mel turned away, “I did not know it. All my life-” she hugged herself, shaking her head harshly, “I did not know…”
“That’s how we survived the bombing… isn’t it?”
Mel turned to him, head tilted, “I do not know how I did it… it just… I did not realize what I’d done… until… until recently. But what I do know… is that something is calling me… something dangerous…” she titled her head further as she inspected him, “you can feel it too can’t you?”
Jayce tensed up, slowly nodding, “It’s Viktor. The HexTech… it’s behind all of this. It’s getting stronger.”
Mel stepped closer, a light frown appearing between her eyebrows, “I managed to reach out to Shoola… my mother has taken over Piltover… she has called reinforcements from Nox to take Zaun by force… she wants accessibility to HexTech, she does not care what she has to do to get it.”
“You think she’ll go after Viktor?”
“I do.”
Jayce cursed under his breath.
His eyes were drawn to her hands.
He reached out carefully, taking her hand, slowly tracing the markings, he could feel the power resting beneath her skin.
Mel’s eyes found the abnormalities decorating his own skin, tears filling her eyes but not dropping as her thumb traced over them, she was too stubborn for that.
Something in him cracked and he surged forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her tight against him, Mel wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he hid his face against her neck, drinking in the warmth and closeness after so long in the cold.
Mel sighed in relief at the contact as well.
Jayce had a feeling that, whatever had happened, had changed both of them irrevocably.
But at least they could still find comfort in each other.
He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that before he slowly set her back down on her feet and drew back slightly, pressing their foreheads together and taking her hands.
“Mel… what I say… what I know now… I have to stop Viktor. Before it’s too late… he has to be stopped. HexTech must be destroyed.”
Mel watched him, eyes thinking, processing and calculating, “We must also stop my mother. She will stop at nothing to gain access to HexTech… I will help you stop Viktor.”
“Mel this is my fight-”
“Not anymore.” Mel reached up, gently cupping his jaw, “This power… it calls to me… I do not understand it fully yet… but I can tell it also wants HexTech to be stopped. I can feel Viktor. His… corruption… I think I could help.”
Jayce watched her for a long moment.
He sighed, “Okay… we’ll face him together… maybe… maybe we can stop him without…” he trailed off, clenching his jaw.
He could see the understanding in Mel’s gaze, looked down, taking a deep breath.
“Maybe we can help him.” She offered quietly.
They both knew that to be unlikely.
“What’s the plan?” Jayce asked.
Mel drew away, walking towards the edge of the balcony, Jayce following quietly as she studied the harbor, the water and the outline of Piltover, “The other Councilors estates were blown up.”
Jayce raised an eyebrow, he hadn’t expected the conversation to go that way, “Caitlyn is missing.”
“I believe my mother may be behind that… the priority is Viktor but also… Jayce we still have a duty as Councilors. This is our city… we must fight for it, we cannot allow my mother to get away with her takeover.”
Jayce sighed heavily.
Stopping HexTech had been the only thing on his mind… but Mel was right.
“You want to go up against her?”
“Not yet. But if we want to stop Viktor and turn the tides against my mother… the course of action we must take has the same first step.”
“And what is that?”
Mel turned to him, determination setting deep in her eyes, “I do not think we can do this alone Jayce. And my mother has Piltover under her thumb… which means… we must go to Zaun. Find Viktor… and figure out a way to get help there.”
“You want to get help from Jinx?!” Jayce questioned, already feeling blind anger burning at the pit of his stomach.
Jinx had been the catalyst for everything. If she hadn’t stolen the HexSpheres-
“She’s is the leader of the Revolution in Zaun.” Mel quickly cut him off, “Her and… Shoola said there’s a boy, Ekko.”
“…I know him. Him I could maybe see us working with.” He begrudgingly admitted. Ekko must’ve made it back from their unconventional travels early, “Vi is also with them… maybe we could talk to her first… I don’t know… do you have any idea what your mother might’ve done to Cait?”
He didn’t look at her as he asked.
Caitlyn was the closest thing he had to a sister… he was terrified to think that Ambessa might’ve done something to her. He was supposed to take care of her.
Mel reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder, “My mother wouldn’t have killed her. That much I am sure off.”
Jayce sighed slowly in relief, shutting his eyes for a moment before straightening up to his full height, getting closer to the edge of the balcony as he looked out in the distance to where Zaun could be seen through the mist of the sea.
“Alright then… let’s head to Zaun.”
Notes:
Mel and Jayce finally finished their silent hill speedrun! Yay!
I really wanted to try my hand at a proper reunion scene between the two since I really liked their dynamic and I feel like even if the writers didn’t want them ending up together, they still threw their previous relationship under the bus cause like- teh way Jayce yelled at her- my boy would NEVER!
Anyway, hope you liked my take on them, super excited to write them interacting with Ekko and Jinx!
We’re approaching the final conflicts!
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