Chapter Text
Jinx lost consciousness for a few seconds, because just as she was about to actually faint, the air returned to her lungs. She coughed and spat, gasping for air with difficulty, bringing her hand to her throat, desperately gasping for oxygen.
She cleared her throat, feeling her body tremble violently with the sudden change, her head was spinning, and Jinx needed a few minutes to stabilize her vision without feeling like she was walking on a tightrope.
Somewhat irritated, mainly with herself, Jinx glared angrily at Sevika, seeing the woman leaning against the wall, losing strength and sliding to the floor, looking as weak as she was.
Despite being irritated, Jinx couldn't help but worry when she saw Sevika tilt her face upwards, pressing her hand against her bloody nose. The blood loss must have weakened her, so Jinx was lucky that Sevika hadn't broken her neck.
"Do you accept help now?" she asked, unable to contain the venom in her voice.
Sevika glared at her, but couldn't resist when Jinx crawled over to the woman and pressed the fabric against her face, searching for the source of the bleeding. The two remained silent, listening only to each other's breathing while avoiding eye contact. Although Sevika showed distrust, her body gradually relaxed until she realized that Jinx posed no threat to her.
"Vander doesn't know I'm following you" Jinx murmured after minutes of silence, lowering her hand when Sevika pushed it away. "In fact, he doesn't even know where I am right now. He's probably worried sick."
Jinx looked at the dark, pollution-covered Zaun sky, not quite sure if it was day or night; she should have been watching Jayce Talis now, but she ended up saving Sevika's skin — even though she knew the woman could handle herself, her damn impulse won out.
"And what's a brat your size doing walking alone in the alleys?" Sevika questioned, giving her a dirty look. "You're not very subtle, you know that, do you? You'll get into trouble easily that way, even with those little bombs of yours. Vander won't take long to find you."
Jinx smiled.
"I have my schemes. Besides, I was after you anyway" Jinx took a deep breath before speaking. "I need to know where Silco is hiding.'
Sevika tensed completely, causing Jinx to unconsciously back away. The woman tightened the fabric pressing against her nose, pushing it away from her face and staring at Jinx, her gaze becoming dark.
"You…"
"I guarantee you that Vander doesn't know anything!" Jinx interrupted her, raising her hands. She knew that now, alone and being so small, she wouldn't stand a chance against Sevika, especially being unarmed; besides, she didn't want to use her explosives on the woman and risk hurting her. "I'm doing this for myself, I swear."
Sevika laughed.
"And why should I believe your words, child? Do you think I'm an idiot?" she growled, clutching the fabric. "You'd better tell me what you're hiding, otherwise you won't like what I'm about to do next."
Jinx grimaced; she knew what Sevika was capable of.
"I want to work for him."
Near the Last Drop, Jinx glanced to her side, seeing Sevika walking beside her, both in silence. It was a little difficult to convince Sevika, but Jinx knew how to outsmart her. She knew that the simple words: "I want Zaun's independence" would tip the scales.
When they stopped at the corner of the bar, Sevika sighed and scratched an eyebrow.
"Look, brat, if you…"
"If you're up to something, I'll finish you off. Yeah, I know, you've repeated that about fifteen times in the last few minutes. Relax a little," Jinx winked at the woman, seeing her glare at her. "See you next week at the same place?"
"I still need to confirm a few things, don't think it's easy," Sevika murmured, somewhat annoyed. "Especially when it comes to a child."
Jinx rolled her eyes; Sevika didn't know how donning Silco was so easy, having that man in the palm of her hand was so simple. All it took was a wink, a mischievous smile, a tilt of the head, and a sly "please?" and he would give in.
Suddenly, Jinx felt a click in her mind. That Silco was no longer her Silco.
That made her smile die.
"Okay." She forced a cough, looking away. "Oh, before you go, I have something that might help you."
Whipping her fingers quickly, Jinx released one of her chompers from her belt. She twirled it in her hands and quickly examined it before understanding the bomb for Sevika. The woman raised an eyebrow, looking uncertain and doubtful.
"Is it one of your smoke bombs from back then?" she questioned, reaching out to take the chomper.
Jinx's eyes widened.
"No!" she almost shouted, quickly pulling the bomb out of Sevika's reach. The woman frowned, her hand outstretched in the air, almost within Chomper's reach. "This isn't a smoke bomb, it's an explosive! Can't you see the design is different? Its range is large, you could end up seriously hurting yourself," she warned, staring directly into her eyes.
After all, it was one of these that almost killed her when she was fighting with Ekko; she only survived because Silco wouldn't allow her to leave — in this case, yet another of her failed suicide attempts, but that wasn't the point.
"I know…" Sevika tilted her head, retracting her fingers. "And why are you giving me this?"
"To help you, idiot, what else would it be for?" Jinx sighed; sometimes she forgot how slow Sevika was to follow her train of thought. She had learned her rhythm after weeks of being around her. "Show him my work, maybe he'll be interested."
Jinx extended the bomb again. Sevika stared at her for a few seconds and reached out again, but just as she was about to grab the object, Jinx pulled it away again.
"Seriously! You…!"
"Watch out for the pin!" she reminded her, indicating the pin. "Throw it away when you pull the pin. I call them chompers because they bite and grab on. It's hard to get rid of them if you don't know the right way. Be careful."
Sevika crossed her arms, huffing in annoyance.
"Any more warnings?"
Jinx paused, lost in thought. She had already covered the main points, so in part there was nothing to worry about; the rest was up to Sevika. Her choppers weren't that complex to build, unlike the assembly; the gears were difficult to understand for an outsider.
"No, I don't think so." She shrugged, finally handing the bomb to Sevika. The woman murmured a few things, eliciting a smile from Jinx. "I just want to ask you one more thing before I go."
Sevika, who was about to turn to leave, stopped her movement and stared at Jinx, definitely annoyed.
"You ask for so many things, why don't you just say everything at once?" Sevika showed her teeth, making Jinx smile even wider. "What is it? My patience has limits."
"Yeah, I noticed," Jinx teased, seeing Sevika's eyebrow twitch. Seriously, how she missed that. She walked to the back door of The Last Drop and cast one last glance at Sevika. "Next time we meet, call me Jinx."
Just like last time, Jinx didn't wait to see Sevika's reaction. She quickly entered the bar, closing the door and leaning against the wood, taking a deep breath.
This was the first time since she went back in time that she had asked someone to call her by her name.
While it comforted her, it also scared her. The name Jinx started with a reason, but over time, thanks to Silco, Sevika, thanks to Isha… Jinx took on a different meaning; it almost made her feel that maybe… she wasn't such a bad person after all.
It reminded her of when she was Powder, and sometimes, just sometimes…
She felt that Jinx and Powder might not be so different after all.
When Jinx entered the bar, Vander was leaning against a stool, his head in his hands, his elbows resting on the counter. I saw that she was facing him, pacing back and forth, looking terribly anxious, watching the way her sister was biting her nails; they both had this terrible habit.
When the two heard the sounds of their footsteps as they entered the bar, Jinx shrugged as Vander abruptly stood up from the stool, causing a loud noise in the silent bar.
"Powder! Where have you been? Do you know what time it is?" Vander scolded her, grabbing her by the shoulders and giving her a tight hug. Jinx let out a low complaint at the squeeze. "What was that idea you had, leaving like that and disappearing for hours?!"
Jinx pulled away from Vander and looked down, insecure. In part, she had been avoiding this all day; she knew that at some point she would have to face Vander's reprimand and her siblings' anger. And the way Vi looked at her, relieved but without daring to approach, meant she was still hurt, or angry.
"Sorry"
Vander sighed, looking terribly relieved. He hugged her again, this time more gently, and Jinx snuggled into the affection in his arms; she had forgotten how much she loved the feeling of his embrace. At first she had found the lack of excess fur strange, but then she got used to the warmth of his skin again.
"Never do that again, understand?" Vander said, pulling her away to look her in the eyes.
— I was afraid of the boys, they were going to yell at me — Jinx murmured, using her best younger sister acting. — I ratted them out.
Vander sighed.
"You did well, Pow-Pow. You were aware that what they were planning wasn't right, but you don't need to worry about it, okay? I already talked to them."
Jinx nodded and peeked over Vander's shoulder, seeing Vi leaning against the counter with her arms crossed, looking at them out of the corner of her eye.
"Okay," she nodded. "Where are Mylo and Claggor?"
"They're in their room, just as worried as we are. But first, go talk to your sister, she was super worried about you too." Vander stood up, ruffling Jinx's hair. "I'll let your brothers know you're okay."
Jinx nodded again, and as Vander walked to the stairs, he glanced at Violet, a look that didn't go unnoticed by her; when the man left the room, the sisters fell silent.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Jinx became irritated.
"Sorry, okay?" she said, raising her hands in surrender. "Sorry."
Vi sighed and rubbed her eyes.
"Seriously! I trusted you!" Violet exclaimed, exasperated. "You always insisted so much on going with me and the boys, and now you backed out like this? And you even told Vander? Damn, I was so angry! And I still am! This job was excellent for us"
Jinx held back the urge to roll her eyes. Vi from that time worried about such trivial things.
"I know, Vi, I just… wasn't ready yet!" Jinx explained, crossing her arms. She had enough time to think of the arguments she could use to explain why she did what she did, and for little Powder, this was the most plausible. It wasn't like she could say everything, was it? "I didn't know how to tell you guys this!"
"But did you have to tell Vander?!" Violet raised her voice, making Jinx take a step back. A flash of memory flooded her vision, her surroundings engulfed in chaos and fire, with Violet screaming to herself; she could hear her own voice begging her sister to stay. "You should have just told us!"
"You were going anyway!" she shouted, hitting her head with her hand, trying to push the image away from her eyes. It was a memory, just a memory, it wasn't real. The Vi in front of her wasn't the Vi who abandoned her in her alternate future. "I needed to stop this!"
Violet seemed surprised for a moment, she blinked, stunned. Jinx put her hands to her head and took a deep breath, murmuring to herself that this wasn't real, and gradually, her mind and her breathing calmed down. When she raised her face, her sister was staring at her worried and confused.
"Why… why shouldn't we go?"
Jinx sighed, somewhat relieved to have won the battle with her head this time.
"Just… they shouldn’t have. It wouldn’t have worked."
Vi shook her head.
"I don’t understand, Pow. You were scared, is that it? Nothing was going to happen! We were just going to go into the apartment and rob it, nothing serious was going to happen" Violet tried to reassure her. "We know how to do a proper robbery."
"That’s not it, Vi!" Jinx sighed, stamping her foot. "It’s not about whether you’re capable or not, I know you are. It just wouldn’t have worked! The man you were going to rob is the protected one of the Kiramman house, if you had been caught, things would have gotten ugly for Vander. You know, I would hate to have our father in stillwater."
Vi frowned.
"He's under the protection of the Kiramman house…? Wow, how did you find that out?" Violet questioned, and Jinx mentally cursed herself for her slip-up.
"It doesn't matter! It's just that…"
"Oh, it does matter!" Vi interrupted her, making Jinx bite her cheek in anger. "How do you know that? Did you go after him? Is that why you disappeared all day?"
Jinx sighed and scratched her head, things were going off-plan. First Sevika, now Violet, who else was left? Jayce?
"Maybe, and does that matter?" she shrugged, crossing her arms. "What matters now is that you shouldn't have gone, period. Don't you trust me?"
Violet seemed indignant.
"What's gotten into you, Powder? You've never spoken like that before" Vi observed. She approached, making Jinx step back. "And I trust you, but since when have you been doing things without telling me?"
Jinx pressed her lips together. She hated pretending to be a child, why did she have to be so pathetic at that age?
"I do lots of things without telling you, you know, I'm already twelve years old," she scoffed.
Vi laughed, shaking her head.
"Wow, you're so grown-up!" Vi rolled her eyes, not understanding the irony behind Jinx's voice. "Seriously, Powder. Did something happen?"
"Vi, I'm fine" Jinx sighed, scratching her head. "Yes, I went after him, okay? Along with the little man; I already knew about the robbery, he told me before he told you… but he didn't realize that the apartment belonged to the Kiramman's protégé, but I did. That's why I told Vander, I knew that only he couldn't let you go."
Ekko, I think it's best if you don't show up in front of Vi before I find you, Jinx thought, making a mental note to go after Ekko as soon as possible the next day.
"You two have been doing a lot of things without telling me, haven't you?" Violet commented, crossing her arms. "I don't know if I like that, you're still too young."
"We know how to handle ourselves" Jinx commented, shrugging. She was somewhat relieved; Vi's posture was more relaxed, which meant she had managed to outsmart her sister. "You worried me, you know?"
Vi sighed again, messing with her hair.
"What got into you to disappear all day like that? I was super worried, Vander and the boys too. We even went looking for Benzo; we thought you were there. Do you know the panic I felt when Ekko told me you hadn't shown up?"
Jinx suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Vi hadn't changed at all in terms of being an overprotective older sister.
"I just went to buy some parts for my bombs." She gave Vi a half-truth, showing her some parts she had kept in her pocket. "You're not angry anymore, are you?"
"No, I'm not. But I'm still upset with you; it wouldn't have hurt to talk to me," Violet said, shaking her head. "I would have listened to you."
"Yeah, I know," Jinx shrugged.
But I don't know, I just didn't think about it much. Actually, I just needed you to be angry with me long enough for me to get out of your sight, he thought, scratching his cheek.
"I'm sleepy, can we go to sleep?" she said, trying to change the subject. In part it wasn't a lie, she really was tired, that child's body wasn't adapted to spending the whole day going from one place to another.
"Okay, but first you'll also have to explain yourself to Claggor and Mylo."
Jinx whimpered. She had forgotten about that part; dealing with Violet had almost cost her all her energy, and she still had two more siblings to argue with.
"Okay."
Vi smiled, which was Jinx's cue to move on. She was almost reaching the stairs when Violet grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her face, exposing her neck. Specifically, the bruise that was forming there from when Sevika attacked her.
"Powder, what is this?!"
Oh, shit.