Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Repeat it back to me,” Vi demanded, pacing the darkened corridor they had chosen to skulk in the pleasure house. 

Ekko rolled his eyes. “Repeating it back isn’t going to make it go to plan.” Vi’s stormy eyes narrowed on him and he sighed. “Vi, we’ve been over this about 100 times.” And probably more since that was just the most recent iteration of the plan. Four years was a long time. Things changed. 

“Again,” she said. 

Ekko gave a greatly put upon sigh. “There's five of us,” he said.  We have three enforcer uniforms. We’re playing escort to the gates.” He began swinging his pocket watch back and forth. “At 12:30 lunch starts. Our insiders start the riot at 45.” 

“And during the riot?” 

“The other four will break off, the designated prisoners meet our insiders and ideally, lead both the recently arrested chem barons and the hostages Silco has against the others out. The two dressed as guards volunteer to go deeper into the prison to make sure nothing is amiss . They place the lock bombs on whatever cells they find and blow the doors on whoever is lucky enough to get freed. Chaos ensues.” 

“And you?” 

“Heading up to the top floors. We’ve got the cell number, Vi. I’ll find it.” 

“I wish I could go with you.” 

“We both know you can’t,” Ekko said. He swung the watch up into his hand with finality. “But if she’s there, I’ll find her. Promise.” 

Vi gave a stiff nod. He knew she hated this– hated the idea of sending him into danger. He knocked her shoulder with his fist. 

“Hey, worst comes to worst, I’ll just be stuck in there. Then you can have your turn to come break us both out.” 

It was not actually the worst outcome he could imagine– though it was still pretty far down there on the list. The worst outcome would destroy them, he knew– and not in the way where they both died at the end– though maybe that would be the eventual outcome. 

“Don’t let it happen,” Vi said. “I don’t have time to plan another prison break.”

“What, you wouldn’t make time for me?” Ekko said. “I see how it is. Favoritism at its finest.” 

Ekko immediately regretted the joke as soon as he’d made it. There’d been perhaps too much truth in it– a little too much bitterness. Vi looked like he’d shot her in the foot for a second before her face hardened and she reached out and pulled him into a hug. 

“I’d come for you too,” she promised. “No matter how long it would take.” 

He believed her. If he was taken, another piece held against her, she’d come for him. She’d take every responsibility and weight of the guilt that came with it– just like she always had. He didn’t take a lot of comfort in it. Still he leaned into the embrace. It might be the last one he ever got. 

“Things change today,” he said into her shoulder. 

He wouldn’t be held against her. He wouldn’t be an excuse. For the better or for the worse, today things changed. 

For the worse, he decided, staring into the empty cell. Today things changed for the worse. 

He’d run through every cell on the level, even on the levels above. He’d asked prisoners in the din– called her name into every corner he could find small enough to hide her– beat a solitary guard till he was a bloody sobbing mess, scrabbling on the ground telling Ekko he didn’t know the prisoner he was looking for– that they didn’t have a prisoner matching the description anywhere on the premises .

Ekko believed him, staring into that empty cell. He believed they didn’t have her. If he was honest with himself, he believed that they’d never had her. The only reason he’d ever thought they might was hope. He’d hoped Vi was right– that she really did remember small hands holding her– tending her wounds– the night she’d been beaten. He’d hoped it hadn’t all been the desperate hallucination of someone who had lost almost everyone she’d ever loved all over again. 

But it had been. He knew it– had known it all along. Powder had only been useful to Silco in so far as she could be used to control Vi– who he wanted. But Powder would work best for that out of sight. She’d be an idea– a visceral, hopeful dream.

He knew Powder didn’t have to be alive for that. 

Silco hated loose ends and he had no mercy for children. 

Ekko squeezed his eyes shut against the grief. Not for Powder. He’d known. He hadn’t wanted to believe it but he’d known. He’d mourned her regardless of Vi’s refusal to. He’d already accepted that he and Vi were the only ones left. 

No, this grief was new because now that he was sure, there was no going back. He mourned the loss of a dream because it meant something more tangible– that he was done with Silco and everything he stood for.

That he was done with Vi.

There would be no convincing her. He would try, but she wouldn’t believe him. He couldn’t blame her for it. It was all she had left.

The truth would tear them apart. It was as simple as that.

Chapter Text

Today was a bad day and despite Jinx’s best attempts to salvage it, she had the feeling it wasn’t going to get any better.

She was whistling. It was an innocent whistle, in her opinion. One that made her look natural as she meandered down the hallway towards the Academy presentation room. She dusted her blue powder covered fingers on her pants as she did so, making sure it stuck and didn’t trail after her. She didn’t want Viktor to have a lead on where she had gone though she knew Jayce was already on her tail. She turned the corner– double braids trailing behind her at the quick motion– and caught sight of Mel. She sauntered up to her side as casually as she could. 

Mel– dressed in her usual white and gold regalia– took one look at her and then fixed her with her most unimpressed stare. Jinx clasped her hands behind her back and tried to make herself look as endearing as possible.

Mel sighed. “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Jinx said, tilting her head and widening her eyes. It never worked on Mel, especially since she’d gotten taller but it was worth a shot– and Mel couldn’t prove anything not until–

“Jinx!” 

Jinx grabbed Mel’s hand and pulled her into the presentation room. Mel fell in seamlessly next to Jinx’s quick steps looking a combination of exasperated and amused. 

“What’s Jayce presenting today?” Jinx asked as they filed in with the other sponsors. Jayce couldn’t yell at her in front of people. She was betting on him having to play at respectable.

“Shouldn’t you know?” Mel asked, playing along with Jinx’s game. “Since you’ve done nothing you must be here to help him present. He certainly seemed to know you would be coming this way.” 

“Oh, I just wanted to see if there was anything I wasn’t supposed to mention,” Jinx said– letting Mel lead them further into the room by their now joined arms to the semi circle of seats. “Top secret science and all that. Sometimes you forget what people are supposed to know and what's still in development.” 

“Mhmm,” Mel said. “And it has nothing to do with hiding from…” she paused as a red faced Jayce came barreling through the door, head swiveling around the room until he caught sight of Jinx on Mel’s arm and glowered. “That,” Mel finished. “My, I haven’t seen his face that red in a long time. What did you do?”

Jinx didn’t answer, instead retreating from Mel’s side to Heimerdinger’s.

“Hi Cecil,” she said as she sidled up to him and then jumped up to sit on a desk. He smiled up at her in his genial way, mustache twitching with his lips. 

“Jinx,” he greeted her. “You seem to be wanted at the front of the presentation hall.” 

“Oh, Jayce won’t mind me saying hi,” she said swinging her legs so that her black heels clicked together as she watched Jayce straighten under the gaze of his sponsors. The scowl that darkened his face was still prominent though it looked like he was trying to squirrel it away. 

“Is Mel not good enough protection for you today?” he asked, eyes twinkling. 

“I’m just here to help Jayce present,” she dismissed. It was a feasible lie– fortunately she had dressed like she would for a presentation. A standard white blouse and blue vest paired black pants and shoes. The red cravat was a given too. The only thing that didn’t quite work was the asymmetrical tool belt she wore and the blue jacket Caitlyn had gifted her. The jacket was nice enough but she’d decorated it with patches of striped fabric with Viktor’s help. It wasn’t exactly eloquent but she could always take it off. That’s what she usually did if Jayce started muttering about being presentable . 

“Jayce is always complaining about how he has to do it all by himself so I thought I’d help out today.” 

If Hemerdinger knew she was lying, which he almost certainly did, he didn’t say anything about it– just chuckled to himself as Jayce stomped his way over. Jayce had managed to regain his composure in front of the audience though Jinx noticed his cravat was still askew. 

“Jinx,” he said through gritted teeth and something almost akin to a smile but sharper. 

“Your cravat is sideways,” she said and reached out and straightened it. “You should be more careful. Looks are important when you’re presenting.” 

Jayce gave her a tight lipped smile. “Thank you. Professor Heimerdinger, if you’ll excuse us I need to speak to Jinx outside for a moment.” 

“But the presentation is about to start!” Jinx exclaimed. “You can’t leave Jayce! Not when everyone's waiting on you!” 

“They wouldn’t be waiting on me if–” 

“Oh! Did you forget something?” she said loudly to make sure that the sponsors heard. She leapt down from the desk. This was her chance.  “I’ll run back to the lab and get it for you. Cecil if you’ll excuse me–” 

“ Professor Heimerdinger, Jinx! Respect! We’ve talked about this–” Jayce started to say at the same time that Heimerdinger said, “I thought you were going to help with the presentation.” Jinx tried to side step but Heimerdinger had moved up and taken a lofted seat behind her which made him just tall enough to lay a hand on her shoulder– preventing her from running out the room without rudely breaking away. “I do so love to see young minds invested in works like this. You said you’d be helping Jayce today, no? I’m sure whatever it is that he’s forgotten can be presented another time or perhaps summarized. After all, you seem to know what it is.” 

Traitor, Jinx thought as she scowled. But then she brightened under his gaze as well as the rest of the sponsors who appeared to be listening with avid attention despite not looking at them at all. 

“Of course, Cecil! I just thought it might go better with the–”

“You’re not leaving this room,” Jayce said through gritted teeth. 

“Well, yeah. I said I’d help with the presentation,” Jinx said– slipping herself under Jayce’s arm– wrapping it around her shoulders and making sure the sponsors saw her give him her most adoring look. Jayce looked down at her and then pressed the bridge of his nose between his fingers. 

“We are talking about this. After.” 

Jinx beamed up at him, only slightly annoyed that she’d been roped into actually helping because it meant that Jayce wasn’t telling her off. Hopefully, she would be able to escape as soon as the presentation was over. 

Today was a bad day. She did not manage to escape. 

The moment the presentation was done she darted for the door hoping the flood of sponsors wanting to speak to Jayce would slow him down. It almost worked. Would have if she hadn’t opened the door to find Viktor on the other side. 

The worst part of it was that he didn’t say anything, just crossed his arms and looked disappointed. She shrunk back. Maybe there was a window she could jump from instead.

“Jinx,” Jayce said from behind her. That was always easier to deal with. A scolding she could handle. Disappointment? That, well– she turned away from Viktor to look at Jayce. He opened his mouth then shut it again. 

“You’re blocking the door. Move please,” he settled on. Viktor turned, striding away. Jinx thought for a moment about darting down the hall. They couldn’t catch her if she did. But Viktor looked over his shoulder at her, the way he did when he knew what she was thinking, and Jinx gave a resigned sigh.  Accepting that she was caught, she slunk after him. 

Once they were a good ways away from the door, Viktor stopped and leaned up against the wall and waited. Jinx wasn’t sure if it was for her or for Jayce but she stopped in front of him, head down and waiting. The waiting was always the worst. 

It took Viktor a moment before he asked, “Why did you do it?” 

Why had she done it? Because she should have done it sooner– then maybe this thing could have been avoided entirely. Jinx sulked, crossing her arms and twisting her fingers in her sleeves.

“Don’t know,” she said. Viktor gave her a look. She shrunk back again.

“Not good enough. Try harder.” 

“I really don’t! I just…” She tried to find the words, a way to communicate the visceral, turbulent emotions that held her like a vice while she’d set the trigger on the door handle. “I don’t like her.” 

“Don’t like who?” Mel asked. Jinx looked up from her scolding to find the Councilor approaching with her usual grace and a meddlesome smile. 

Nosy , Jinx thought sourly. 

Viktor fixed her with a look like she’d said the insult out loud. “Do you want to tell her or should I?” he asked. When Jinx continued to sulk in silence he answered, “Jinx has taken it upon herself to ruin two interviews so far, all with the same young woman.” 

Mel blinked– smile transforming into a tentative frown. “Your new assistant?” 

“She’s not their assistant!” Jinx immediately objected.

“Not yet,” Viktor said, giving her a look. “But we’ve discussed this. With the Hexgates implemented, a research assistant is needed to keep things running smoothly. I know Sky Young personally. She is capable and qualified. The interviews have just been a formality.” 

Jinx glowered at the floor. 

“So what exactly did she do?”

“Booby trapped the door with a powder bomb. It turned everything in the vicinity blue including the paperwork Sky had filled out– probably stained her clothing beyond repair as well. I sent her to get cleaned up and asked her to bring me the bill for anything that was ruined.” 

There was a pause. Then Mel let out an exasperated, “Jinx.”

Jinx glared harder. The dust smidgeons in the caulking between the tiles were toast.  

“You’re going to apologize,” Viktor said. 

Jinx recoiled. Apologize? When she was the one who was wronged? She’d tried to tell them. They hadn’t listened. She shook her head vigorously. 

“You are. It’s going to be as sincere as you can make it regardless of whether or not you are sorry. Then you are going to clean up the mess you made.” 

It was another waiting game. Both Mel and Viktor were quiet while Jinx’s roiling emotions batted at the inside of her brain. She glared, then squeezed her eyes shut, then her fists– opened her eyes and glared again until she was full to bursting. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore. 

“It’s not fair!” she exclaimed. 

“Yes it is,” Viktor replied immediately. 

“Especially since you damn well know better,” Jayce’s voice said from behind her. She whirled on him, already sneering in his direction.

“Jayce,” Viktor admonished.

“Don’t Jayce me. We had this conversation the first time she did this. And now she’s done it again.”

“You are escalating,” he said. But it was too late.

Jinx rounded on Jayce as he said “Well maybe it needs to be escalated because talking about it calmly didn’t work!” 

“Maybe if you’d listened to me the first time we wouldn’t be in this situation!” Or if Sky had taken the hint the first time when Jinx had snatched her employment papers from her hands and made eye contact as she’d shredded them. She should have left with her tail between her legs. 

“Maybe if you gave me something to listen to I would! But you didn’t give me a reason– just said you didn’t like her and insisted we not hire her.” 

“It's time to get your ears checked because that sounds pretty clear to me! I don’t know what to tell you if you didn’t understand that! ” 

Jayce went to hurl another frustrated retort but Mel raised a hand and he quieted. 

“I think that's enough, children,” she drawled– giving Jayce an exceptionally scathing glance. “I’m not sure what the solution is but I can assure you it's not getting into a shouting match in the hallway.” 

“I wasn’t shouting,” Jayce said. “I barely raised my voice.” 

“It’s enough,” Mel said and Viktor nodded his agreement. 

“I’m sorry,” Jayce said testily, “Jinx blew up our assistant. Why am I in trouble?” 

“You are an adult,” Viktor said. “Please act like one. It was a powder bomb and Jinx is in trouble.” He turned to her again and without Jayce’s ire to rally against Jinx felt herself pinned under his stare. “I have already assigned her a punishment. But a punishment means nothing if we don’t understand why .” 

“ I already told you why,” Jinx hissed. 

“And I already told you it was insufficient. Jayce is right on that particular front.” Viktor sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “You are coming back to the lab. You are cleaning the mess you have made and then you will apologize to Ms. Young.” 

Jinx wanted to kick and scream. She wanted to run down the hallways. It wasn’t fair . Instead she ducked her head and continued to stare angrily at the ground, pushing past both Jayce and Mel as she stalked back to the lab. 

The blue powder was hard to get up– Jinx had designed it like that but right now she was wishing she had been less successful. Cleaning up the meeting room where Sky Young’s paperwork had met its untimely, aqua demise was proving difficult. There had been other casualties as well– a couple of extra lab coats and some papers that Jinx hadn’t been inclined to file away. They weren’t important– she’d made sure of that. She didn’t want Jayce and Viktor any more mad at her than they had to be. They weren’t her targets. 

Her actual target appeared to have not gotten the message. 

“Oh– I– sorry,” Sky Young said when she opened the door to see Jinx scraping away at the blue caked floors on her hands and knees. She stood in the door, glasses askew and coat draped awkwardly across her shoulders. Jinx didn’t bother to acknowledge her– just kept scraping with vengeful prejudice. 

“Ahhh–” Sky stuttered. “I’m sorry about the… misunderstanding,” she said. “I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot. So I…” 

Jinx favored her with a glare. 

“I thought… maybe I could… help you clean?” she mumbled. 

Jinx stopped scraping.

There was silence. 

“Out,” Jinx said. 

“I–” 

“Out!” Jinx said more forcefully– only not throwing her scraping tool out of sheer force of will. 

Sky didn’t quite squeal on as she shut the door but Jinx thought it was a close thing. She snarled grimly to herself and got back to work with more vigor than ever. 

She could hear muffled voices from outside the door. 

Jayce. “You’re back… weren't expecting you to… see you close that door?”

Viktor. “Did she… you shouldn’t have… We are sorry about…” 

Sky was too soft spoken to make out. Too mild. Too pathetic. Too weak. 

Jinx scraped harder. 

When she emerged hours later, much to her dismay, Sky Young had not left. Jinx came out the door, fingers raw and stained blue along with the rest of the old outfit Viktor had seen fit to let her ruin while cleaning. She knew she looked a mess in the hand me down lab coat over a too long pair of work pants and a ruined shirt rolled up to her elbows– she felt it too. The simmering anger lay just beneath the surface but it was for now, still down. She could feel it start to boil when she saw the three adults sitting in a tight circle drawn close together over a series of papers that Jayce and Viktor looked to be explaining. It was lab work. The secret kind. Jinx was not pleased. 

Viktor looked up at her just as she was about to say something. She snapped her mouth closed and instead just gave him a scathing look. He responded with a coolly raised eyebrow and a tilt of his head towards Sky Young. His meaning was clear. 

Apologize . 

Jinx felt her already sour face darken even more. 

Apologize. She wasn’t sorry– not even a little bit. Viktor and Jayce told her not to lie too. So which was it: Apologize or tell the truth? Which was the greater crime in their eyes? 

Jinx already knew. 

She could just say the words. They didn’t have to mean anything. And the next time maybe Sky would finally get a clue and fuck off. She’d leave them alone like she should have the first time. 

Jinx stood there. Jayce and Sky had noticed her as well. The silence was heavy. 

“It's okay,” Sky said. “She really doesn’t have to.” 

Great. They’d already told her. Wonderful. She loved this so much. 

“She does have to,” Viktor said. “What she did was unacceptable. She knows it. You deserve a sincere apology . It is basic respect.” 

Jinx gritted her teeth. She should just do it. Just get it over with. She held back. She looked at Jayce, hoping for something she could fight against. 

He didn’t say anything– just nodded along with what Viktor said. He didn’t even give her a cold look. She bit her lip then let her shoulders slump miserably. 

“It really can wait,” Sky said, looking between them all like a nervous puppy. Jinx hated her for it. 

She walked forward. When she stood in front of Sky she straightened herself up, rising to her full height. She had grown in the past year– not much but she was taller. She was taller than Sky sitting down which made her feel a little better about the whole thing. Now that she was closer she could see that clutched in Sky’s hands was a newspaper. Jayce and Viktor were explaining their work, their work – the three of them together– and she was what? Busy reading about the inanities of the city? Barely paying attention. How could Jayce and Viktor not see it? 

She gave the paper a scathing look. 

Then she stopped. 

She starred. 

“Jinx?” That was Jayce. She could barely hear him. She snatched the paper from Sky Young’s hands. She could hear noises of protest from both Jayce and Viktor but she didn’t give them any mind. 

A break in at Stillwater prison…. Organized attack on the system to free… multiple escaped prisoners from as deep as the solitary… investigation underway… 

Jinx stared. She knew. She knew. She felt it in her soul and in her hands and in her heart. 

Vi had come for her. 

Jayce and Viktor were still talking at her. Gone was the reprimand and in with the concern. She couldn't hear them.

She hadn’t been there. 

She turned on her heel and fled. 

Today was a bad day.

Chapter Text

It isn’t fair , Vi thought. 

She was pacing– the wafting scents of Madame Babette's brothel curling around her feet as she stalked back and forth along the back hallway. She needed to move when she was deeply considering a problem. She used to do it other times, like when she was nervous or angry– but she’d learned quickly that any tell of weakness in front of Silco or his underlings was unacceptable. 

Confidence , he’d told her. If you do not appear confident in me, they will not be. If they do not conform, they die. Your sister dies. Stand straight. Stand still. Speak clearly. 

So she did. She allowed herself the room to pace and think only when she knew she was safe– only in the confines of Madame Babette’s brothel and then only in front of Ekko. She had been careful. She had planned. She’d done everything right. 

It wasn’t fair.

“If you keep prowling around like that, you’re going to scare away the customers and Babette’s gonna yell at us,” Ekko said. 

“I’m thinking ,” Vi growled. 

“I can see the steam.” 

Vi didn’t bother responding to that. 

Powder was gone. Ekko said her cell was empty– that there’d been no sign of her. But that didn’t mean anything.

“We had good intel,” she said. All that planning, the countless nights going over who they could trust– who they couldn’t– who else they might be able to release to cover their tracks. Who else might damage Silco’s cause.

“We had intel we paid too much money for that we couldn’t prove was true.” 

“Why would they lie?” 

Ekko shrugged. “Because you had money, were desperate, and they were recently released.” 

Vi considered it only for a second. “She was there. Just because she isn’t now doesn’t mean she wasn’t.” 

So then the question was: where had she gone? Where was Powder? 

“Vi–” Ekko started. Vi didn’t let him finish. 

“The way I see it, there's two options,” she said– reaching the end of the hallway and turning on her heel. “Silco found out we knew where she was. Possible. Those dealers could have sold him the information just as easily as they sold it to us. Added bonus: they’d already given it away. Silco would pay to know to who.” 

“Violet–” 

“Option two,” Vi said– stopping mid pace. “She escaped.” 

A weary sigh. “Not this again.” 

“She was always smart,” Vi said– starting her pacing back up again. Powder had always been brilliant. She’d just needed time– time to learn– time to grow. She was going places . Her inventions were going to work. Without them, she only would have had time to scheme. “She figured out a way. She tricked the guards. She ran.” 

Ekko was quiet.

“I told you I saw the flare that night we fought the Crowns,” Vi said. “It was blue– like the one I gave her. She made another one because that's what she does. She was calling for me. She broke out–” 

“You were hallucinating,” Ekko said gently– with genuine regret. Vi tried not to be mad at him for it– he wanted to believe her. “You had a head wound. You saw what you needed to survive the night and stay awake.”

“It was gone when you got there,” she said stubbornly. “I saw it fizzle out. That's why you didn’t see it. She was there.” 

“She wasn’t.” 

“She escaped.” 

“She was never in that cell, Vi.” 

“How do you know ?” 

Ekko was quiet then he said softly. “She’s dead. You need to accept that. She was never there. You never saw her after you woke up. Powder is dead.” 

Vi shook her head. “She isn’t.” 

“Silco killed her and he’s using the threat of her to force you to work for him,” Ekko said more firmly, but not without sympathy. “You need to accept that she’s gone.” 

Ekko could stuff his sympathy. “That’s not true.” 

He shook his head. 

Vi gritted her teeth. “It’s not .” 

“The sooner you accept that the sooner we can leave and do something about it.” 

“But she’s not dead,” Vi shouted, finally losing her cool. 

They lapsed into silence. She immediately felt bad. It wasn’t Ekkos fault. She couldn’t blame him for thinking what he did. It was logical. Vi didn’t have any proof. All the signs pointed to him being right. 

But she wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be. 

“Look at what he’s done to us,” Ekko muttered. 

“We’re doing fine. It’s not the best that it could be but the Lanes–” 

“Not them,” he said. “Us.” 

“We’re okay,” Vi said. They were okay. She had only yelled a little bit. So what if the plan had failed? There was time. There would be more to come. They had stuck together so far– they would see this , whatever it might be, through. They would find Powder and they would leave. 

“No,” Ekko said. “We’re not. I can’t do this anymore.” 

Vi felt her heart stutter– body going cold in an instant.

“What do you mean?”  

“I’m leaving.” 

Vi fumbled, breath leaving her. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t . “Why?” 

“You know why.” 

“But we’re doing good!” she exclaimed, trying not to let hysteria peak her voice. She’d already raised her voice with Ekko today. She didn’t want to do it again. He didn’t deserve that. He was her responsibility. He was all she had left. “I– I’m protecting people.”

“From what?” Ekko’s voice raised– apparently not sharing in her restraint. “People are forced to work in the chem plants, in the shimmer factories. They’re being exposed to toxic shit to try to feed their families. The streets are filled with Silco’s thugs– everyone fighting– We’re not any closer to independence than we were–” 

“It’s better than what it could be! I stopped Silco from punching down.” And she’d sacrificed so much for it. “I stopped him from killing so many people– from releasing shimmer into the streets. Is that what you want? You want him to flood the Lanes with a drug that would make addicts out of anyone who opposed him? Our friends? Vander’s people? Our people?” 

Ekko didn’t have a response to that other than to look away from her. He was listening. He knew she was right. It didn’t have to come to this. Things were okay. “It’s better this way. I can– he trusts me.” 

“He killed Enzo,” Ekko said, still not looking at her. “He killed Vander, Claggor and Mylo.”

“I know.” She knew. Oh, how she knew. But he wasn’t the only one blame. 

“I just don’t get it. Don’t they matter to you? Don’t I?” 

“Of course they do. Of course you do.” 

Vi reached for him but he recoiled, spitting, “Just not as much as your dead sister.” 

Vi flinched. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair. Powder wasn’t dead . But she couldn’t prove it and she shouldn’t have to choose. It shouldn’t be this way .

“I can’t stay.” 

“Ekko–” 

“Don’t ask me to.” 

Vi fell silent. She wanted to scream. It wasn’t fair . But she knew it was. Ekko was seventeen. It might feel like he was still just a kid but he was nearly an adult and he had spent all this time at her side– never leaving– never complaining– always just behind her– doing anything and everything she asked while she appeased a murderer and handed him their home on a silver platter. Of course he resented her. Of course he wanted to leave.

She couldn’t blame him. She didn’t blame him. It didn’t make it hurt any less.  

When he finally looked at her again she could see tears welling in his eyes. She wanted to brush them away– fold him up in a hug. That was her fault– her responsibility– just like everything else. 

“I can’t. I won’t do this anymore,” he said. It was like a resolution. Vi ached. She ached more when he said,  “Come with me.” 

 She almost cried then and there. All that and he still wanted her to come with him– still was the sweet kid he’d been the day she first me him.  “I can’t,” she whispered. 

“You can,” he said. He held out his hand. “You don’t have to do this. It’s not your responsibility. None of them would want this for you.” 

Vi shook her head. It was her responsibility. It was her fault.

“We could have a life– a real one,” he persisted. “One that Silco doesn’t control.” 

Vi rubbed at her eyes. “Where would we go?” 

“Somewhere else. Somewhere safe.” 

“There’s nowhere like that here.” 

“There has to be,” Ekko insisted. “And if there’s not we can make it. The two of us. Please.” He held out his arms– all but begging. She wanted so badly to say yes.

Vi looked away. “I’m sorry,” she said instead. 

There was a heavy silence then–

Ekkos arms, wrapping her in a hug so tight she thought he might break her ribcage– or maybe that was just the tightness in her chest that hadn’t gone away since the moment he’d said he was leaving. Regardless, it was warm and tight and Vi threw her arms around him as well, thinking deliriously When did you grow up? When did you get so strong? How did it come to this and why didn’t I notice?

“I love you,” Ekko said, squeezing her tighter.

“I love you too,” Vi choked out. Why did it have to be a goodbye? Why now? “What are you gonna do?” 

Another squeeze and then he released her. “I’ll figure it out.”

Vi almost pulled him back in– almost locked him in a vice so that he couldn’t leave– so she wouldn’t have to do what he’d asked her not to and get on her knees and beg him to stay. But she didn’t. She let him pull back and tried not to sound like was drowning when she said, “Don’t get into trouble, okay? Don’t–” She stuttered to a stop. Breathed. It wasn’t fair. It was okay. She tried to recover her composure– tried to make light of the situation and punched him lightly in the chest. “Don’t make me fight you, Little Man.” 

Ekko at least didn’t look like he was faring much better. “I’ll be careful,” he said, wiping his eyes. Then he paused, her words sinking in. “Would you really fight me?” 

“Never,” she swore.

He smiled, brittle and sad. “Liar.” 

She didn’t respond. Just pulled him back in for another hug.

Early the next morning Vi managed to drag herself out of bed. 

She knew that Ekko was gone. He’d left the night before, grabbed some of the things he still had laying around in The Last Drop (he didn’t live there but Vi’s room had become like a second home) and taken off. Vi hadn’t slept since then. She had gone straight to bed just as the sun had set and then stared at her wall all night. 

It wasn’t fair. 

But it was what it was. At sunrise she let herself roll out of bed feeling numb and cold. She hadn’t bothered to change last night when she’d crawled under the covers and she didn’t see much point in changing them this morning either. It would take effort that was beyond her right now. She had to be up. She had things she had to do. Silco would expect her for her daily meeting for her assignments. She could not show weakness. She could not lay on the floor and stare listlessly at the wall no matter how much she wanted to. She had to keep moving. She had to press on. If not, it was all for nothing. 

When she stumbled up into the mostly deserted bar she felt a bit of relief. At least she wouldn’t have to deal with anyone this morning. She could get herself some kind of drink and food and gulp it down without tasting and go back to feeling like there was a wall of static between her and the world. 

But of course the world had other plans. 

“Morning Violet.” 

“Piss off and die, Sevika,” Vi replied on instinct while lifting her middle finger. It was natural at this point. 

Or maybe not because Sevika replied with a hum. “Mmm. Rough morning,” the older woman said, taking a sip from her mug of coffee while she sat at the bar. “What's got you all worked up?”

“None of your business.” She didn’t want to have this conversation. She didn’t want to be a person. She wanted to eat just enough so that she wouldn’t feel the hunger pains drawing her back into her body while she did whatever Silco wanted her to do today. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to punch a wall. She wanted to go lay back in her bed and stare at  the wall. She wanted Ekko. She wanted Powder. She wanted her family.

There were lots of things she couldn’t have.

“I’m starting to think it is,” Sevika said slowly and Vi realized that she must have been staring for a bit. She wasn’t sure what her face looked like right now. She tried to muster up the energy to at least get Sevika off her back.

“What part of fuck off and die didn’t you understand?”

“The part where you thought I’d listen to it,” she replied immediately. She leaned back in her chair, arms folded while she looked Vi up and down. “Your little boyfriend break up with you or something?”

Vi blinked.

“It was a joke,” Sevika said. Then when Vi didn’t reply, she raised a brow. “Huh? Really?” 

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Vi said. What else could she say?

Sevika snorted. “Yeah. That was part of the joke. Where’d he go?” 

“Away.” 

“Is he gonna be trouble?” 

Vi kicked at the ground before replying, “No.” 

Sevika looked at her– looked at her hard– then turned back to her coffee. “Okay.” 

“Okay?” 

“You don’t think he’ll be trouble, fine. If he is, we'll deal with him. Won’t we?” 

Vi stared at her– brain sluggishly trying to make sense of the mercy that had been given to her. “Silco won’t like it,” she said– making sure she hadn’t misunderstood. 

“He doesn’t need to know,” Sevika replied. “As long as he’s not a problem, I don’t see the need to tell him.” And with that she turned away from Vi completely. 

It was simultaneously a relief and a blow. If Sevika had been terrible about it– if she’d given Vi something to fight– that would have made sense. That would have been good. That would have given her somewhere to direct the rage she knew was coming and that lay just beneath the surface of the static wall of her emotions. Instead, Sevika had been merciful. Instead she hadn’t pushed. She was letting Vi make the decisions surrounding this. She was giving her space. 

She hated Sevika. She hated her mercy. She would have preferred anything else– preferably something that would remind Vi of what she’d done because reminding herself wasn’t working and the feeling of gratitude wasn’t going away. Somehow, she was thankful. Thankful that Sevika wasn’t pushing and wasn’t going to tell Silco. So so so thankful. And of all the things she hated most in that moment, herself was at the top of the list.

Silco watched Vi’s back as she exited his office. 

Something was going on with that girl.

He had given her the tasks he had planned for her for the day. Usually, there was at least one complaint about the Chembarons if she was sent to check in with them. She disliked them all– not that he could blame her. They were all together dreadful– though his opinions on why differed from Vi’s by a great deal. 

Vi should be used to being in depraved company by now and Silco thought that for the most part, she was. She was used to them but she still complained about the sacrifices that must be made because, ultimately, she was Vander’s daughter and she hated the thought of it on principal. This was fine with Silco. He didn’t mind arguing with Vi. In fact, sometimes he enjoyed it. Sometimes it was even useful. She had good opinions if she took the time to articulate them. 

But there was no argument today. He’d even added an extra task from Finn, her least favorite of the bunch, onto the list. 

Nothing. 

It was slightly concerning but as long as she accomplished what he needed her to, he would not press the issue.

Vi was useful for now and he had to admit, he even liked the girl. She was dedicated and quick. Ruthless when she needed to be but still approachable A natural leader– like Vander. She had pulled the people of The Lanes together for him. She’d minimized the damage he’d thought he’d had to cause. She was bull headed and occasionally impulsive, but he tempered that in her the same way she tempered his tendency to punch down. 

It was almost like working with Vander again– which perhaps made him harsher than need be. Of course, he didn’t need to be too heavy handed with her. She knew her place– knew what she had to lose. 

Of course she also didn’t know what she was holding so close was already gone. That was a problem. He suspected that the break in to Stillwater had been her doing– he couldn’t prove it but it made a great deal of sense. Perhaps that was what was wrong with her. But that had been days ago and he would have expected whatever emotional fall out to have occurred right after she’d discovered that her precious Powder wasn’t in there anymore.

But Violet hadn’t said anything. She hadn’t burst into his office with righteous fury. She hadn’t silently defected and left. If it had been her, she must have assumed he still had Powder in captivity somewhere. 

He wished that were the case. 

When Marcus had come to him and explained her escape and subsequent disappearance, Silco had almost killed the man on the spot. What was the purpose of having the Sheriff in his pocket if he couldn’t keep one little girl in the cage of all cages for him? And he’d been so close to earning her trust too. She was such a sharp and angry little girl. Brilliant and destructive. He’d made progress. Her discoveries could have been his. That bomb would have been useful. 

But spilt milk and all that.

As long as Violet did not discover that Powder was not in his possession, he had no reason to fear. She was his– even on an off day like today. And despite their… differences, she loved the caused. It was what Vander had been missing– the metal that guided her was cold and tough as steel. She had lost everything all over again but still she was angry– still she wanted to fight to be seen as people– for Zuan’s independence. It might have been for her sister at the start but it was Vi’s cause as much as his now. He saw how she looked after the people of the Lanes. She loved them. She wanted more for them– for herself– for what family she had left. 

He would gladly use it. They all would. It was what Zuan needed. They were what Zuan needed.

Chapter Text

“You have a visitor,” was the greeting Elora gave her as Mel entered her office.

“Jinx?” Mel asked.

“No. Caitlyn Kiramman.” 

Mel did not sigh and she did not allow the disappointment to show on her face. 

It was the day after the sponsor meeting and if Mel was being honest with herself, she’d been expecting Jinx to reappear at any point. She’d intended to have this conversation with her yesterday but the timing had seemed unfortunate given the trouble she seemed to be having with Ms. Young. She had hoped to give her a day to calm down about that before rocking her with this news. 

Of course, it hadn’t turned out that way.

Jayce had appeared frantic on her doorstep the night before asking if she’d seen her. Mel had replied with an honest no and a sinking feeling in her gut. When Jayce told her what had happened, Mel knew that she should have just pulled her aside regardless of the situation with Jayce and Viktor. 

She wasn’t worried per se– much to Jayce’s chagrin. Jinx was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and likely was somewhere they just couldn’t see her– in the rafters of the lab, in a spare room in Mel’s manor, maybe even wallowing at Ximena’s. She would emerge eventually. It wasn’t the first time she had pulled a short disappearing act. Despite Jayce’s fretting, she had no doubt that Jinx was safe. 

It was just a matter of whether or not she was well. 

Mel had known what the break in at Stillwater had meant as soon as she had received the news. Jinx would too. She would want answers which meant that she would appear to Mel soon looking for them. It was a shame that she had found out this way instead of Mel being allowed to gentle the blow. It was a shame she was already having one apparent crisis while piling this on top.

But it was what it was and Mel couldn’t change it. All she could do was answer Jinx’s questions when they inevitably came. Until then, she had another guest. 

When Mel walked into her office she found Ms. Kiramman studying a few papers on her desk in a not exactly innocent way. When she cleared her throat the enforcer girl did not flinch and merely stepped away like she hadn’t been on the verge of a breach of privacy. Mel’s lips twitched. Despite her attempts to distance herself from her family– she was far bolder than she had any right to be. The safety net of the Kiramman name had long reaching consequences in regards to Caitlyn Kiramman’s willingness to step outside the bounds of protocol– which was fine with Mel. After all, she was not foolish enough to keep anything incriminating in her office– unlike some people that she knew. Though hopefully Jayce had been made a little wiser by the experience.

“Ms. Kiramman,” she greeted. “This is a surprise.” 

“Councilor Medarda,” Caitlyn Kiramman replied with a nod of her head. Confident. Professional. She was in uniform today too– the standard boots and hat making her tower over Mel. 

Mel, of course, was not intimidated in the slightest. 

“How may I assist you today?” she asked, making her way over to the throne like chair behind her desk. As she sat, she noted a light dusting of plaster– just a few miniscule pieces. She looked at it for a moment before sweeping it aside with a brush of her hand.

She did not look up. She did not have to. 

Jinx sulking in the decorative ledges of her office had become a long established norm at this point. She wondered if there might be a way to ask Elora to inform Jayce and Viktor that she had sights on the girl without letting her know that she had been found out. First, she would have to deal with Ms. Kiramman though. 

Once she had taken her seat, Caitlyn stood at attention.

“I'm investigating the break in at Stillwater Hold.” 

“Are you?” Mel said. She did not remember Caitlyn’s name in the list of officers actually running the investigation. No, that list had been filled with names that she considered Marcus’s most loyal followers. “I was under the impression that the matter had already been handled.”  According to the discrepancy filled reports that had been handed to Mel, the matter, of course, was closed.

“I’m doing follow up work.” 

Mel considered her for a moment then called her bluff. “Do not lie to me, Ms. Kiramman. It will turn out well for neither of us.”

Caitlyn was silent for a few seconds before she crossed her arms petulantly and said, “I am doing follow up.” 

“But not under orders from the Sheriff.” 

“No.” 

Mel leaned in closer. What was she after? “Why are you interested?” 

“I believe there’s something bigger going on,” Caitlyn replied immediately. Mel hoped she was not this open with other people. It could put her in danger– especially if she shared such theories with the Sheriff.

“Elaborate,” Mel ordered. 

Caitlyn paused– looking for the first time unsure. “I don’t have my evidence yet.” 

“But you have a theory,” Mel pressed.

Caitlyn nodded. “They were looking for someone. That someone must have been important. But they didn’t find them. The guard said they were looking for a prisoner that wasn’t there.” 

“Indeed.” 

“Did you know there was a breakout from Stillwater a few years ago?” 

Mel did not allow her surprise to show. It made sense Caitlyn would be able to access the records and that she would if she had reason to believe there was something important within. It was inconvenient but workable so she answered honestly, “Yes.” 

“Who was the prisoner?” 

“Why do you want to know?” 

“I think that’s who they were looking for. Whoever it was, is the key.” 

Caitlyn had no idea how right she was. Mel deflected. “You still haven’t given me a reason as to what you are looking into.” 

“I don’t know yet. I told you, there’s something bigger going on. I just haven’t put it together yet. This could break this case for me.” 

“And what will you do when you break it?” There was a right answer to this question.

“Report it to the Sheriff.” 

And that was not it. Mel sat back in her chair. She doubted she could persuade Ms. Kiramman away from this line of investigation. But maybe she could plant doubts. And she could always be less than helpful. 

“You are a novice– only recently graduated. What makes you think he will take you seriously?”

“They have to. If I can find the prisoner, I’ll have more leads and then I’ll have more evidence.” 

Mel pretended to consider it. “No.” 

“No?” 

“You haven’t given me enough to reveal this information to you. This is a sealed record and the Council has dealt with it accordingly. I will not tell you the name of the prisoner.” 

“They blew up the Academy hospital,” Caitlyn protested. “They could be dangerous!” 

“Yes.” 

“They’re still out there!” 

“Yes. And as cordial as my relationship with your mother is, if I intentionally put you in harm's way I believe that she would be more than displeased with me.” 

Caitlyn gave her a frustrated look. “This isn’t about my Mother. Don’t pretend you’re scared of her. I know you aren’t.” 

Smart girl. Cassandra Kiramman was one of the council members that Mel did genuinely respect. She was good at the game she played– shrewd, calculating, and not without mercy. But Caitlyn was correct to say that Mel was not afraid of her. 

“I have given you my answer, Ms. Kiramman. Perhaps another council member will share the information with you, but it will not be me.” 

Caitlyn stared at her and then made a frustrated noise. “I thought you were different.” 

Mel raised a brow. “Excuse me?” 

“Jayce likes you. Viktor and Jinx like you. It must mean that somewhere in there you’re honest. You have a heart.” 

“I do. And it is telling me now to turn you away,” she said. Then added more gently. “Let this rest, Ms. Kiramman, or you may regret the answers you find and the position they put you in.” 

Caitlyn looked like she wanted to argue. Then she straightened and gave a stiff nod. “Thank you for your time, Councilor.” 

She did not look back on her way out. Once she was gone Mel looked up towards the ceiling.

“Would you like to come down from there?” She asked the empty air.

There was no reply. Mel sighed. She then proceeded to pull out her paperwork and began working. Jinx could sit in her rafters all she wanted– Mel had things to do and eventually Jinx would feel like talking.  

About 15 minutes later, Mel heard a thunk on the floor behind her. She did not look up. She very carefully had not watched as Jinx silently slunk down and dropped from the ceiling beams. Mel didn’t turn her attention on her until she was sure she wanted to be seen- I.E. when she perched on the end of Mel’s desk and wrapped her arms around her knees and glared sullenly out the window.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Mel asked, continuing to write.

“She said they were looking for me.” 

“They were there for you,” she said and answered the unasked question. “One of the guards was beaten badly and described his attacker and who he was looking for.” 

“He?” 

“Yes.” 

“Ekko,” was all she said. 

“He was apparently very upset when he couldn’t find you. He made a ruckus with the other prisoners.”

Jinx didn’t answer that. Just stared out the window some more. Mel let her. 

After a few minutes Jinx whispered. “They came for me and I wasn’t there.” 

“Yes,” Mel said– because it was the truth and as much sympathy as she had for Jinx, she did not think a lie would make her feel better. “But I think they would be happy to know you aren’t still rotting in there waiting for them to come for you.” 

That was also the truth. For as much as Jinx loved the people she’d been taken from in the Undercity– they must have loved her just as much. She could not dream of them breaking into Stillwater of all places if they didn’t. They would be happy that she was safe.

“But now they don’t know where I am at all.” 

“We could try to send a message,” Mel offered, knowing what Jinx’s answer would be.

“No. It’s dangerous. What if he decides they aren’t useful anymore without me and kills them?” 

Mel didn’t point out that there was a higher chance of that now. He would likely know that her family had been behind the infiltration and the riots. If it was going to happen, now would be the time. There was no need to tell Jinx that though. It would only distress her. 

“I’m sorry,” she said instead.

Jinx pressed her face into her knees miserably and then threw herself down on the table. Luckily Mel was also used to this and was able to shift her papers out of the way just in time so that Jinx would not lay across them. Jinx looked up at her with her big sad eyes and Mel sighed. She put her hand on the table and Jinx lifted her head and immediately pressed the side of her face into it. 

“Do you think Caitlyn will find out about me?” she asked.

“I will do what I can to keep her from doing so.” 

“Do you think she’d turn me in to the Sheriff?” 

Mel paused– then answered, “No. I don’t think so.” Caitlyn Kiramman was a good investigator with a good heart. And that heart had grown to love Jinx in the past few years just as Jinx had reluctantly grown to love her– though she would likely never admit it out loud. But would love stall Ms. Kiramman’s sense of duty? She thought it would– especially in the case of Jinx. But if it didn’t…  “If she tried we wouldn’t let it happen,” Mel decided. 

She felt Jinx hum and press down harder into her hand.

Well, this conversation was going about as well as she could expect it to. Perhaps it was time to deal with the other problem Jinx seemed to be having. 

“Can I ask what is going on with you and Ms. Young?” Mel asked. “Do you know something about her that we don’t?” 

Jinx immediately tensed up. “Only that she’s awful.” 

“And did she do something for you to come to that conclusion that we should know about?” 

Jinx was quiet, considering for a second, before she said, “If I said yes would you get rid of her?”

Mel snorted and withdrew her hand from under Jinx’s head. Those sad eyes turned on her again with a special pleading look that really only worked on Jayce. Mel patted her other cheek. “I might have if you had come to me with it at the start. Now I don’t know if I can trust you.” 

Jinx sat up with a start, legs suddenly dangling off the edge of the table and anger in her eyes. “You can trust me! I’m trustworthy! I’ve done everything they ever asked of me!” 

Everything they ever asked of her. 

“Ahh,” Mel said– a clearer picture of the issue forming in her mind.  

Jinx crossed her arms. “Don’t ahhh me.” 

“The only thing that they have ever asked of you is that you told them the truth and that you be happy,” Mel said. “Have you done those things?” 

“Yes,” Jinx said. Then, “No. Sometimes. And sometimes they ask me to help them in the lab too. You don’t know everything.” 

“I know that they want nothing else,” Mel said. “Well, that and they’d like you to stop harassing their employee. They love you very much.” 

“Then why bring her in at all?” Jinx exclaimed, kicking her legs hard. “I’ve worked so hard. They don’t need her. My work is just as good and I’ve been helping them longer!” 

“Your studies mean you can’t be there all the time. They need the assistance. It is not about the quality of your work. It is not about you .” It wasn’t about her and yet Jinx was still upset. Mel could see it now that this wasn’t about Ms. Young personally– but instead about a stranger being invited into their space– what Jinx considered her home. This was about someone she saw as an intruder. Someone she saw as taking her place. It couldn’t be further from the truth but telling Jinx how she felt was almost never productive. She had to get there on her own. All Mel could do was encourage her and perhaps bring the issue to Viktor’s attention at a later date. Viktor would then tell Jayce and be the one who would have to talk him down to understanding.

“They love you very much, Jinx. They are not trying to replace you. Unless you can bring a legitimate complaint to them, they will not dismiss her. And it sounds to me like the issue you have is not with Ms. Young.” 

“Yes it is,” Jinx said petulantly.

Mel sighed. “Then you will need to find a way to work with your emotions on it.” 

“You always say things like that.” 

“And they often work, do they not?” 

Jinx had an almost identical look to Ms. Kiramman earlier– the one that said she wanted to argue. But then she deflated and just flopped forward. Mel didn’t flinch at all when Jinx pressed her head into her shoulder. 

“You just don’t get it.” 

“I think that I do.” Mel said. “I know the feeling of not being good enough and being desperate to prove that you are.” She patted the back of Jinx’s head. 

Jinx let out an incredulous laugh. “You have never been not good enough.” 

“And neither have you,” Mel countered. “And regardless, I still felt it.” 

“It’s not the same,” Jinx whispered.

“It never is. But you must work through it regardless.” Jinx wrapped her arms around Mel’s shoulders. It was a ridiculous facsimile of a hug with her still sitting on the desk in front of Mel. Mel shook her head. At 15, Jinx should have grown out of this. Mel had been exiled by 15 and her family had stopped coddling her long before. Her instinct was to push Jinx back and let her deal with what she needed to. 

For that reason Mel pulled Jinx closer and allowed it. Because if it was something her family would have hesitated to do then perhaps it was braver to let it happen. Perhaps it was what normal people did. Most importantly– it might be what Jinx needed. Mel wrapped her own arms over Jinx’s shoulders. 

“Jayce and Viktor are not like the people I tried to impress. They will love you regardless of what you do.” 

“Wrong.” 

“Right,” she corrected. Then added, “And if they don’t, there is always me.” 

Jinx didn’t respond to that, just pressed her face harder into Mel’s shoulder. When she eventually pulled back she looked less sad– less tired– less miserable. Mel smiled at her.

“You may go back to the rafters if you want. I will not tell anyone if they come looking for you.” 

Jinx didn’t do that. Instead she took a seat on the floor next to Mel’s chair and laid her head against her thigh while Mel did paperwork. Mel once again allowed this. If it was what Jinx needed, it was what she would get. 

Mel had never considered herself a particularly caring person– merciful and conscientious? Yes. Caring? No. She had resolved quite early on that her part of the Medarda line ended with herself and that it would be better that way. After her own upbringing she’d never gotten the hang of nurturing. She didn’t think it would be particularly fair to inflict that on a child. 

But Mel had had little say in the matter with Jinx. Jinx had seemed to take to her naturally after enough time. Mel had never intended it that way. She hadn’t meant to keep her at bay but likewise, she had not imagined that offering the girl a little kindness would mean she would permanently be moving into her rafters. She couldn’t say she didn’t like it. She couldn’t say she didn’t make mistakes. But she could say one thing. 

Mel was certain she was a better caretaker than her mother ever was.

Chapter Text

“Maybe it will no longer be a problem,” Viktor said from the chair opposite Jayce.

Jayce sighed. “Somehow I doubt that.”

They were in the lab together sitting across from each other after another long day– one made longer by Jinx having still been missing for part of it. Elora had come with a message around noon from Mel that she had Jinx– which was at least somewhat of a relief.  

“So do I but we can hope,” Viktor said. Then added. “This will be a big blow.” 

Jayce sighed again. 

When things were bad they only got worse. It was one thing after another. Jayce had taken a look at the article after Jinx had run off and extrapolated exactly what she had. Mel had filled him in on the details when he’d come to her doorstep the night before. 

“It’s going to make her more volatile.” It wasn’t something Jayce could say he looked forward to.

“It does not have to,” Viktor protested. “It might push her towards us. We need to be gentle.” 

“I don’t have a problem with being gentle about the break-in.” 

“Yes. You will have a problem with being gentle about everything else.”

“And you won’t?” He grumbled.

“She will need grace.”

This felt a bit like it was becoming Viktor’s favorite saying. It was always have patience with her or be gentle or give her time and never there are boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed and sometimes raising your voice about them, while a tad immature, is understandable .

Jayce couldn’t help it. He was frustrated. He was frustrated because a few weeks ago things had been good– great even. Jinx had been excelling with her tutoring. She had been helping them in the lab. She had been equal parts playful and mischievous– or at least she was with Viktor and Mel. She seemed to reserve her more hurtful teasing for Jayce. Still, though, her outbursts and bad days had been becoming less and less frequent. Even if he was often the target of her frustrations on those days even Jayce could see that Jinx had been doing good. She had almost seemed happy. 

And then one little thing had set it all back. 

The problem of Sky Young. 

Or– more accurately– the entirely unproblematic Sky Young. Sky seemed nice. Viktor had vouched for her over and over– had made a case for hiring her as an assistant to Jayce again and again. With the first of the Hexgates now up and running, it was only natural that they found their time split between duties. Sky Young was a researcher who could handle the little things that they’d need her too. Ideally, between her work and Jinx's, it would free up Jayce and Viktor’s responsibilities while they oversaw the implementation of more of the gates throughout the city. 

But of course, it hadn’t turned out that way. He couldn’t understand why the announcement had upset Jinx so. He couldn’t even begin to fathom how she had transformed from upset into malicious. Two cursory interviews sabotaged for no apparent reason and with no sign of remorse or plans to stop.

“She can’t keep doing this, Viktor,” he said.

“Give her time.” There it was– that phrase again.

“Time to what?”

“She just needs to adjust.” 

“And you’re going to let Sky be the victim until she does?” It was a rather inflammatory accusation. Jayce was not in the particular mood to care.

“Of course not.” The reply was sharp and Jayce could finally see Viktor’s patience with him wearing thin. “Jinx has been punished. When she realizes acting this way will not dissuade us, she will stop.” 

“Have you ever known Jinx to give up on anything?” 

“I have known her to have reason .” 

The problem with that was he was right. Jinx was, as a general rule, reasonable– or at least able to be reasoned with. She’d reasoned (I.E. argued) her way into helping with their lab research. He would easily say she was an asset to their work. She was sharp, intuitive, and enthusiastic. 

What had changed? 

“I felt like she was getting better,” Jayce said miserably. He leaned back in his chair, rocking it up on the back legs even though he knew that was a habit Viktor greatly disapproved of (“If you dash your brains on the lab floor, I will not save you,” Viktor would say. And Jayce would reply “Liar. You’d be bereft without my big brain.” And Viktor would say, “I only married you for your body.” And Jayce would scoff and pretend to be hurt while Jinx pretended not to be giggling over her work.).  

“She is better. She gets better every day.” 

“Doesn’t feel like it.” He imagined that if she had been here right now, Jinx would see his leaned-back chair as an opportunity to push him over.

“Progress is not linear. You of all people should know that.” 

He did know that. It was just hard. He was frustrated. He let out his umpteenth sigh and he rubbed the palms of his hand into his eyes. 

“I just don’t understand. You’re sure there’s nothing? They’ve never met before?” 

Viktor matched his sigh this time and even though Jayce couldn’t see him, he knew he was also leaning back in his chair (just not so much as to raise it from the ground). “Never. I have known Ms. Young for a long time and I trust her word. Jinx has confirmed as much as well.” 

“If only she’d confirm why.” 

“She dislikes change.” 

“But enough to harass her this much?” It didn’t make sense. 

“Apparently.” 

“What do we do?” 

“What can we do?” He heard the resignation in Viktor’s voice– probably because they’d had this conversation about 20 times since yesterday. “It is what it is. If she misbehaves, we will give her an appropriate punishment if we cannot stop her first.” 

“But it's not working. It’s not preventative.” 

“I know.” 

The conversation paused there and Jayce knew they were both not speaking of one thing– waiting for the other to bring it up as it inevitably had been in every past iteration of the conversation. There was one solution. 

“We should at least consider it,” Jayce said. 

Viktor gave him a sharp look. “I do not know what you are talking about,” he said even though he definitely did by the tension that he now carried in his shoulders. 

Jayce was doing a lot of sighing today. 

He was hesitant to put it forward the first time he’d suggested it but realistically he knew it was the only thing that could work. Maybe it wouldn't have to be forever– just for a time until Jinx could work through whatever it was she was working through. 

“We need to ban her from the lab.” 

Viktor immediately replied with a terse, “No.” 

“Viktor.” 

“It will set her back– especially with the break-in,” he said. “She needs to feel safe– to feel wanted. It is her space too.” 

“But we can’t trust her,” Jayce pleaded. He didn’t like the idea any more than Viktor did but what else could they do? “I know it's awful but Sky doesn’t deserve this and we need her. Maybe just making the threat will work.” 

“I have never known Jinx to respond well to threats,” Viktor said. Jayce winced. That was also true. Then Viktor added more softly, “We cannot threaten her. She trusts us.” 

“Give me another solution,” Jayce invited like they hadn’t been through everything in the last few hours. They’d had this conversation over and over. 

“Sky could be here only during the hours when Jinx is away.” A suggestion they’d already visited.

“We offered her something full-time. We need her full-time. She might walk away if it's not.” 

Viktor let out another frustrated noise. “I know.” 

“You’re the one who wanted to hire her. You made the argument for a full-time position.” 

“She needs the money. She is intelligent, hardworking, and loyal. She would be a good fit.” 

“If she could be here full time,” Jayce concluded. “A ban from the lab is the only thing I can think of, Viktor.” 

Viktor stayed silent. Jayce decided to let him think on it again. He was close to breaking Viktor down about it. He had already made up his mind on the topic but Viktor was always more inclined towards spending intensive time considering when it came to Jinx. But Jayce was sure that Viktor would agree no matter how long or how hard he thought about it. He would reach the same conclusion that Jayce had. Unfortunately, it was their only one. 

“Give her one more chance. Let us talk to her,” Viktor said quietly. 

Jayce nodded. “Okay.” He really didn’t want to do it– neither of them did. He wasn’t excited to hurt her nor for the response that he would inevitably be on the receiving end of. It was never Viktor Jinx turned her anger towards. 

Viktor sighed. “I will tell her she is banned from the lab if it comes down to it.” 

“You don’t have to,” Jayce protested on principle. “I’m used to her yelling at me.” 

“She takes her frustrations out on you. It is not fair.” At least Viktor was aware of it. He gave Jayce a sympathetic smile. “I have to be the bad guy sometimes.” 

Something about the phrasing struck a nerve with Jayce and he furrowed his brow. “I’m not the bad guy.”

“No, you are not.” 

“Then why does it feel like I am?” 

It was just that– Jinx was so terribly mean sometimes. Jayce did his best– he tried not to raise his voice or lash out. He tried so hard to have patience but she knew exactly what to do to get under his skin– to ferret out the insecurities– to find a way to make him react and then go running to Mel or Viktor acting like he’d kicked a puppy or maybe even her (a worse transgression) and then they’d both do the thing where they’d give him a silent, judgmental look like Jayce should have been the adult– like he should have been the one to grow out of this by now. But it wasn’t fair . When she was horrible to him, she was horrible . What could he do? Especially when she turned on him so quickly. 

“She is a teenager and you are an easy target,” Viktor said sympathetically. “She will grow out of it.” 

“But why did she grow into it? Why does it feel like she’s testing me?” 

She never treated Viktor the way she treated Jayce. She never treated Mel that way either. It was always him– like every time he got close she had to toss a grenade in their relationship to reestablish the chasm. 

Jayce couldn’t say it didn’t hurt. He couldn’t say it didn’t bother him. If she had been neutral or cold– maybe he could have dealt with that. It would have been clear. But it felt like Jinx called for his attention, relied on him, desired the affection and closeness that they were so close to building and the second he tried to give it to her she recoiled with explosive force. He just didn’t know what to do. 

He didn’t expect Viktor to have an answer– he hadn’t in the many times they’d had this conversation. No amount of relating Jinx’s experiences to his own had explained this particular hangup of hers. 

He answered as Jayce expected him to. “Let us deal with what we can. We will take it as it comes.” 

Deal with what they could. So back to the most pressing problem. “What do you think the fallout from the break-in will be?” 

“She will be angry,” Viktor replied immediately. “She will be sad. She will feel guilty.” 

“Because?”

“It will be horrible for her to know that she has left them behind.” 

Jayce knew after many conversations now that Viktor had left no one behind in the Undercity– not the way Jinx had at least. But he also knew the cadence of Viktor’s voice when he was translating Jinx’s emotions through his own. He hadn’t left anyone behind– he’d left the whole of his home behind.

Did he still feel that guilt? 

Viktor continued, “She is going to snap at you more than usual.” 

Jayce blinked– refocusing– then groaned and threw an arm over his face in a way that was too dramatic of a reaction but he knew would amuse Viktor. “Why’s it always me?” he grumbled.

He could hear his success in the amused huff Viktor gave before, “You are easy to rile up.” 

“So when we tell her that Sky starts on Monday?” 

“I expect it will not go well.” He was resigned but at least he still sounded amused.

“Do you want to do that for me too?” Jayce secretly hoped he’d say yes.

“We will do it together,” Viktor said because he was a coward. “Partners,” he reminded Jayce who immediately forgave him. 

“Partners,” he agreed and dismissed the fanciful tingle the word gave him every time he’d spoken it in the last two years. 

“Jinx,” Jayce greeted about halfway through the next day when she’d suddenly landed on the lab table in front of him. How long had she been hiding in those rafters? He and Viktor had been in this room since the start of their day. Had she slept there? “I was worried about you,” he said into her silence while she kept her arms crossed over her knees and stared at the ground. If she wasn’t here to talk to him why had she bothered to come down at all.  Jayce perserevered. “The silent treatment doesn’t work on me,” he said– reaching out and tweaking her nose. “I’m annoying.” 

Jinx immediately scowled at him and Jayce grinned when she muttered, “You are.” 

“See?” he said triumphantly.

“What do you want?” she asked– still sulking.

“What do you want?” he countered. “You’re the one who came out of hiding. Any particular reason?” 

She could have gone to Viktor. Instead, she’d come to him. Although he could see Viktor on the other side of the lab trying far too hard to look like he wasn’t paying attention. 

When Jinx didn’t answer him he acquiesced. If she didn’t want to say what she was thinking out loud, he couldn’t make her. “I want to make sure you’re okay,” he said answering her previous question.

“I’m fine,” she replied promptly–which indicated to Jayce that she was, in fact, not fine.

Viktor apparently agreed with him. “Sounds like what someone who is not fine would say,” he said as he came up behind Jayce.

“No one asked you, Viktor,” Jinx said– but it carried none of the usual malice she reserved for Jayce in it.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jayce asked.

“No.”

He nodded– as did Viktor– and they both turned back to their work. If Jinx wanted to sulk quietly with them– well, at least she had let them know she was there. He thought about bringing up Sky but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He shared a glance with Viktor who shook his head as well. 

He’d give it a few hours. They would need to have the conversation soon– by the end of the day at least. Jinx would probably need all three days before Monday to work through her emotions on the matter if she even could– but for now, they would grant her what little peace they could offer. 

By late afternoon Jinx seemed to be back in somewhat good spirits– which Jayce could only find himself thankful for. She, of course, hadn’t apologized to Viktor and himself for the prank on Sky Young nor for worrying them by disappearing for a few days but he wasn’t upset about it– nor would he be bringing it up because for a few hours it almost felt like it had been just a few weeks before. 

“See?” he said. “She agrees with me.” 

“I do not disagree with you,” Viktor muttered. “A smooth surface is ultimately the implementation of hundreds of thousands of facets on a level indiscernible to the human eye.” 

“Now he backtracks,” Jayce said, nudging Jinx with his elbow. 

“He’s right,” Jinx said and Jayce placed a hand to his chest, gasping theatrically. 

“Traitor,” he accused and grinned when it got a giggle out of Jinx. 

“I told you the math lends itself towards more facets– it's just that you were also right in that these facets need to not have corners to make it the most stable and equal energy output it could be,” Viktor said and Jinx nodded along. 

“Exactly,” she said. “It needs to have no corners.” 

“That’s what I’ve been saying for years!” Jayce exclaimed. “Viktor just admit you were wrong.” 

“Never.” 

“Jinx,” Jayce beseeched.

“I stand by him,” she said– then relented. “You can both be right. It would have led you both here eventually.” 

Jayce smiled. She was probably right. He reached out and ruffled her hair and she fixed him with a deadpan stare.

“Not without you to check the math though.” 

“What can I say?” Jinx ducked out of range. “I’m a genius.” The way she said it was almost sardonic– self-deprecating. 

Jayce frowned. “You are,” he assured her. He always assured her of that. He believed it. “Now, if we can just find a way to actually get it down to a spherical shape.” 

“I told you I designed a way–” 

Jayce cut her off. “And I told you we can try it out when Viktor and I have more time to go over it and make sure it's safe.” 

Jinx narrowed her eyes at him. “I can do it.” 

“I know you can. I want to make sure you’re safe before anything else.” 

Jinx scowled but Jayce could tell it was surface level. 

Then, of course, Viktor felt the need to add, “Perhaps we could have Ms. Young take a look at it. It might let us move forward faster with your idea, Jinx.” 

This time the scowl was not surface level. The half snarl that Jinx had on her face was deep and malicious and Jayce didn’t know how she could go from giggling to growling in the span of a minute.

 “I don’t want her to look at it,” Jinx spat. 

Viktor pressed on and Jayce mentally commended him for it in the face of Jinx’s anger. “It might be helpful. It is the reason we hired her.” 

Jinx’s eyes sparkled maliciously– triumphantly. “You haven’t hired her.” 

Jayce winced and then met Viktor’s eyes. Viktor had a look of resigned determination on his face. Jayce decided he would make the first move. 

“We need to talk.” When Jinx crossed her arms and gave him a glare he missed the joviality of literal moments ago. “Viktor and I were having a conversation.” 

“What kind of conversation?” 

“A conversation about Sky Young.” 

Viktor interjected, “If you have any legitimate reason for us not to bring her onto the team, Jinx, now is the time.” 

They both waited. Jayce almost wished she did have something– some horrible secret that she’d been too afraid to tell them. Sky Young worked for whoever had her sister. Sky Young had turned her in to the enforcers. Sky Young had personally slighted Jinx in a bullying incident when she was nine. He’d take anything at this point.

But Jinx remained silent– staring at the floor again. Jayce sighed. 

“I’m going to take that silence as you haven’t miraculously found one.” 

“Why does it matter?” 

Jayce looked to Viktor. Viktor nodded and said, “She is starting Monday.” 

Jinx was quiet and then, “I blew up her paperwork.” It was almost desperate. 

“The paperwork was a formality. We took care of everything.” 

Jayce tried to alleviate the coming storm. “I know this is hard but–” 

“You don’t know anything!” Jinx hissed.

“Jinx–” Jayce tried again.

“Don’t Jinx me–” 

“Enough,” Viktor said. It was the tone of voice that usually brought these kinds of altercations to an immediate halt. Jayce stopped. Jinx did not. 

“No!” 

Viktor turned on her. “It is,” he said calmly. 

“No, it's not! It’s not it's not it's not–” 

Jinx was shaking now and Jayce couldn’t help himself. He reached out. “Jinx–” 

“Don’t touch me!” She slapped his hand away with force and Jayce withdrew trying not to look as hurt as he felt. “It's not fair!” she said “It’s not fair! It’s not fair–”

And then she was dissolving into panicked–shuttering sobs. 

Fortunately, or unfortunately, this was something Jayce was familiar with and as she crumpled down to the floor hugging her knees– he went with her. He kept back– not touching. 

“Breathe,” Jayce instructed. He sat down next to her– the way he had many times before. “We inhale now. We exhale. In. Out–” and on he went. It was slow going at first. He saw Viktor drag a chair just to the side of them– watching them. Looking on with a sadness in his eyes that Jayce always hated to see there. Jinx continued in the rhythm of half breaths and wails that left whatever progress she made undone– but Jayce kept on– kept breathing for her– speaking softly– encouraging her to match his pace. Jinx’s sobbing erratic breaths ever so slowly evened to begin to follow his own– though they still stuttered and wavered. He didn’t touch her– just made sure she knew he was there. 

“I can’t feel my hands.” Jinx’s sentence was halted and stuttering but the fact that she had enough breath to talk at all was a good sign.

“That’s okay,” Jayce said. “That’s happened before, remember? When you don’t breathe you don’t get oxygen to your blood and your extremities go numb. It's normal. Nothing to worry about. We keep breathing.” 

Jinx undid some of her progress with another great shuddering sob. “What is wrong with me?” 

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” he said. “Come on. Keep following me.”

Jinx quieted and did as he asked. 

When the attack was over Jinx remained huddled on the floor and Jayce remained next to her while Viktor sat in his chair. They remained silent till Viktor broke it. 

“You are so much better at that than I am,” he said.

“Yeah, well–” Jayce stuttered. “It’s all about personal experience I guess.” 

Viktor hummed. Jayce let the conversation falter again but then decided it might be better for Jinx if they allowed her some sense of normalcy. 

“I’m also better at crystallography and understanding energy dispersion,” Jayce said. “Since I was right about it being a sphere.” 

Viktor immediately picked up on what he was doing. “I cannot believe I have to explain this concept to you again but–” 

The light-hearted squabble ensued again while they waited for Jinx– watching her with a careful eye in case she lapsed back into panic. 

It kept going till–

“I’m going to Mel’s,” Jinx cracked out as she stood with a start. She was halfway to the door by the time Jayce had scrambled to his feet.

“Jinx–” 

“Don’t!” her voice cracked. “Just don’t.”

“Okay,” Viktor said, cutting off Jayce's protest. Jayce fell silent. “Let me know if you decide to spend the night there or if you will be home for dinner.” 

He saw Jinx pause, then give a slight nod. 

Viktor said his final send-off while she was walking out the door. “Come back when you are ready. You are always welcome here, Jinx.” 

As Jayce watched her go, knowing Viktor had made a good call not to push her, he tried not to think about how the last part might soon be a lie. He hoped it wouldn’t be.

Chapter Text

It took a few days for Vi to drag herself out of her grief. If you asked her how many– she couldn’t really say. She measured it in that one day life had been normal– Ekko had been there– then Ekko had left and there was a blank space– then she’d woken up again another day with no real sense of how much time had passed but with the static receding enough for the anger to set in. 

It then took another few days for her to formulate her plan. Ekko was wrong. Powder was alive. Powder had escaped and Vi knew she had been there the night they’d fought the Crowns. Powder had saved her. All Vi had to do to get Ekko back was prove it.

So she started asking questions.

People liked Vi. The Lanes had rallied around her when she’d asked them too. Allies of Vander’s had seen her as the de facto leader when Silco took hold. Silco had allowed that. He hadn’t stopped Vi from voicing her arguments– from making her complaints. He had made sure that whenever they were seen together, Vander’s allies saw them as equals. 

She knew it was a smart move but she hated illusion of freedom she was granted. She could say whatever she wished as long as it didn’t undermine Silco’s authority. She could do whatever she wished as long as it wasn’t to his detriment. She couldn’t step out of line or she might lose the last piece of her life that she had left. 

She thought it wasn’t fair that he presented her like she was free. If she had been obviously trapped, obviously under duress and mistreated, Vander’s friends might have tried to save her. She might have been a martyr. Instead she was looked to for guidance. Vi made sure that the offers that were made to Vander’s supporters were overtures of peace. She made sure there was as little damage as possible. There were still some who fought back– there were still people who disagreed with what Silco was doing– but they weren’t strong. They weren’t organized for the most part. The Crowns had been the last real threat and they had ultimately been quelled. 

But just because there wasn’t obvious resistance didn’t mean there was none at all. There were plenty of people who had relied on Vander for protection– to mediate trade– to make sure everyone was treated equally. With him gone it was Vi who was asked to stand in on deals– to enforce fair payments– to mediate disagreements– and to be the one to throw the first punch when things went wrong. It was Vi they put their loyalty in. It was Vi who they told their secrets to. Silco could control their words and their lives but it was Vi who had their trust– who had their hearts. 

The ways in which she rebelled– and therefore they rebelled– were small. Insignificant in the scope of things but enough that it brought comfort to Vi. When she did find Powder– they would follow her. They would be free of Silco together. They would all do their part. 

And the part she was currently looking for was information. There was only one safe place for her to get it. 

Madame Babbette was a saint in Vi’s opinion. 

The brothel had become a safe haven for Vi and Ekko whenever they needed to plan. Madame Babbette had welcomed them in and done all she could. She’d fed them information and given them privacy. She’d never asked what they were up to. She had made space for them. Whatever Vi was looking for, Madame Babette always had the answer or at least a lead. She was hoping that this would be the same. 

Now that she was sure that Powder had escaped she had a few things she knew she needed to confirm. Someone else out there had seen the blue flare. If she hadn’t imagined, which she hadn’t, someone else had seen it and taken note. She just needed confirmation. 

She needed someone who had seen the smoke bomb and the person that had thrown it that had saved her life. Someone out there had seen Powder. It must have been her– it couldn’t have been anyone else. She’d been trying to come back for Vi but something had happened and she’d gone and set off the flare while Vi had been too out of it to make it to her. It must be what happened. 

There were witnesses. There had been five people surrounding Vi. That night was a hazy mess thanks to the head wound but she remembered that much. She’d knocked at least one of them out before they had really had the chance to surround her. She’d sent him flying down the alley– the way that the smoke bomb had come from. If he’d woken up, maybe he’d seen something– the others had all been caught in the fog with her. It seemed like her best bet. She’d still talk to the rest of them but the likelihood of them knowing something was less. Assuming they were still alive and that Silco hadn’t had them dealt with– there was a good chance they were still skulking around. 

One of them had to have seen her. Or someone else had. There was someone out there who had seen Powder and Babette could tell her who.

It wasn’t until later in the evening that Vi was able to sneak away to the brothel. It was another long day of doing groundwork for Silco. Today she’d had to facilitate a territory trade between the Chem-Barons– Finn and Renni. She hated those two. Hated that she had to talk to them and hated that she couldn’t just lay them out with her fists even more. 

But what Silco wanted Silco got– and Silco wanted the Chem-Barons content. She supposed it was better this way. When the Chem-Barons fought– people died. Renni probably had some awful chemtech enhancements that she wasn’t sharing with the rest of them yet and would wipe the floor with everyone but Silco’s militia– and even that would be bloody and hard. Keeping the peace between them and brokering deals was the least violent outcome. 

It didn’t mean she had to like it. 

She bypassed the stained glass windows and the workers that haunted the front entrance. They didn’t wave to her as she passed by– used to not drawing attention to her as she made her way down the side alley. Once there– she was greeted by the bouncer at the side entrance with a quick nod and she opened the door. Immediately a nauseating eddy of smoke and perfume engulfed her– the swirls grasping at her legs as she entered and walked quickly through the shadows and low lying fog. She made her way to Babette’s office.

“I’m looking for a man,” she said as she swung the door open to the dimly lit red room without knocking.

Babbette looked up from her chair with a raised brow then snorted. “I must say, that's a surprise.” 

Vi wrinkled her nose. “I’m trying to find a man,” Vi corrected. “I need to talk to him. I’ll take his friends too if you can find them.” 

Babette gestured for Vi to shut the door behind her and Vi did so– then she stood at attention in front of the old painted-up yordle. Babette took a drag from her cigarette holder before slowly exhaling. 

Vi was impatient but she wasn’t stupid. Madame Babette ran this place for a reason. If Vi was rude she would turn her away. She didn’t interrupt and waited till Babette made another waving motion. 

“Go on.” 

“There's a group of them. Was five. Now four. Used to be part of the Crowns.” 

Babette made an expression of surprise and leaned back in her chair. “Not a whole lot of people willing to say they were a part of the Crowns still kicking around.” 

“I’m looking for them anyways.” 

“Do you have any specifics?” 

Vi thought. Her fuzzy memory of that night failed her when she tried to picture what they had looked like– but she knew where they were and what they had done. They must have been the group to get the closest to their goal before she had violently halted them. 

“They would have almost breached to The Last Drop the night they tried to burn shit to the ground.”

“I remember both sides doing a lot of burning.” Babette remarked wryly. “Anything else?” 

“They were fighting me. One of the men was the first to go down. The rest got caught in a smoke bomb and knocked out.” 

“That’s not much to go on.” 

Vi shrugged. “It’s what I’ve got.” 

Babette considered her for a moment then nodded. “What do you need them for?”

“They saw something that night. I need to talk to them.” 

Again Babette nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.” 

Vi gave her her most thankful smile. “Thanks,” she said and turned to leave.

“But you do know where most of them ended up, don’t you?” 

Vi was pulled to a halt with her hand on the door handle. She did know where most of them had ended up. She preferred not to think about it.

“They might not have been captured,” Vi said. 

“Have you even checked the Chemtanks’ barracks?” At Vi’s silence Babette sighed. “If you have a good lead you should follow it. Don’t waste my resources.” 

“I don’t want to draw any suspicion. I’d rather be sure before I go digging around there.” 

“You don’t have to lie about it. It’s okay that it makes you uncomfortable.” 

It didn’t make Vi uncomfortable. It made her incandescently angry which sometimes burned low enough to reveal the heart wrenching grief underneath. The Chemtanks represented the worst compromise she’d had to make with Silco. She hated even thinking about them. 

Vi clenched her fist then let it go. “If you don’t want to look for me, it's fine.”

“No,” Babette replied. “I will look into it for you.” Then she hesitated before asking, “Does this have anything to do with Ekko?” 

Vi tensed. “Why would it have anything to do with Ekko?” 

Babette gave her a sympathetic look. “I wish I’d have told you.” 

“You knew?” 

“There’s been whispers of him associating with a few of Silco’s more outspoken opponents.” 

Since when? He hadn’t told Vi that. Ekko told her everything. 

Or he used to. 

How had she not seen it? 

Vi knew her face must be twisting into something unpleasant because Babette assured her, “I assumed he was doing it on your orders. I should have known better. That would have been too underhanded for the two of you.” 

“So he’s with people?” At least he had someone to look after him. At least he wasn’t alone.

“Yes.” 

“Is he safe?” Please. Please let the answer be yes. Of the many things Vi wanted from the world– Ekko’s safety was near the top of the list.

“I don’t know. But, Violet, I think you might need to prepare yourself for the worst.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I told you already– he’s keeping dangerous company.” 

Vi immediately protested. “Ekko wouldn’t do anything. He just wanted to leave. He just wanted to find somewhere he could be happy.” 

“That boy takes a bit too much after you. He’s stubborn,” Babette said. “He won’t give up on the Undercity, Vi. He will want to make it what he dreams it can be.” She paused then asked, “What will you do if you have to fight him?” 

“It won’t come to that.” It wouldn’t come to that because if it did Vi would– Vi would–

Vi would. 

If it came down to it. If it was between fighting Ekko and risking Powder by betraying Silco– she would fight. She knew it was the truth. Ekko knew it was the truth. It was why he had called her a liar. She didn’t want to fight him though– didn’t want to hurt him. If it came down to it– she would pull her punches as much as she could. 

But it wouldn’t come down to it. Ekko was smarter than that. He wouldn’t make her fight him. He knew better. He wouldn’t want to fight her either.

“I’ll look for your Crowns group. I’ll let you know what I find out.” 

The way she said it was so sympathetic it grated at the part of Vi that had always hated pity. But the anger that sparked died quickly. She had so few friends– so few people who cared enough to feel bad for her. 

“Thank you,” she said. 

“Of course.” 

Vi would not consider the last few days to have gone well. Her information gathering was, so far, proving fruitless. 

She, of course, trusted Babette completely. However that didn’t mean that she wasn’t also going to do some searching. Babette could handle finding the Crowns. Vi was on the search for something else.

She remembered the blue smoke so clearly. It was so vivid in her mind– it didn’t make sense that nobody else seemed to have taken notice of it– unless of course Ekko was right and it had never been there at all. But that was not something Vi was willing to accept. It was there. Powder was there. Someone out there had seen it.

It wasn’t like she had been too hopeful to begin with. The events of the battle with the Crowns had been a few years ago. Even if she hadn’t sustained a head injury, she wasn’t convinced she would remember the details.

But still she had hoped that her line of questioning with people in the Lanes might provide more information than it had. She hadn’t managed to locate any ex-members of the Crowns that weren’t part of Silco’s crowd. She also hadn’t managed to find anyone who could confirm seeing the flare that night. It didn’t make sense to her. It had been so clear. But people just weren't looking up. They’d had other things closer to the ground to worry about and anyone who wasn’t fighting was locked away in their homes and shops waiting for the end of the fighting.

She’d talked to dozens of people so far– people she knew would be hesitant to mention she came asking if Silco’s other goons came around. Her people in the Lanes were loyal. Surely word of Vi’s strange line of questioning would get to Silco eventually but she could minimize the risks for now. Subterfuge was not Vi’s strong point but she was capable of it when she needed to be– and for now she needed to be even if she hadn’t found any answers.

When Violet began to drag herself back to The Last Drop after another failure of a night (or very early morning. The bar was always loud and kept bad company after dark now) she was exhausted. And yet when a hand landed on her shoulder as she picked her way through the quiet streets she did not hesitate to turn around and prepare to deck whoever it was who was looking to pick a fight with her.

“Violet!” a shaky voice protested.

She immediately lowered her fists. 

Huck stood before her– small and scrawny as he had always been and a nervous shaking to his hands as he wrung them wide eyed in front of him. His glasses were a bit on the cracked side but when he saw her lower her fists he greeted her with a bright– albeit shaky– smile. 

“Huck,” Vi said, relaxing. Then she smiled. It had been a while since she’d seen the scrawny inventor who had been one of Vander’s many friends. He didn’t come to the Last Drop anymore (not that she could blame him) and her duties kept her away from being able to individually check in with people. They usually came to her when they were in need. 

Huck looked like he might be in need– or his nerves were just a result of almost getting decked in the face. This might be a social calling. She liked it when people just wanted to talk to her. It was a nice change of pace.

“It’s good to see you. How have you been?” She clapped him on the back in a friendly manner despite her exhaustion and let the small talk take over. If he needed something from her– she’d let him get to it naturally.

“Oh, well, I–” He stumbled under the force of her hand and only barely managed to grab his glasses before they fell off his face. “I suppose I’m doing well, all things considered.” 

“That’s fantastic!”

She waited for a response but it seemed slow coming and the conversation fizzled while Huck continued to wring his hands. She nearly groaned. She was too tired to try to carry on an awkward conversation. However, she rallied herself. He had always been a bit socially inept– Vander had helped him with that. Vi could help him with that. He had been Vander’s friend and now he was her responsibility. She owed him that much.

“Did you come by just to say hi?” she asked. 

“Oh, well, not exactly.” He was obviously relieved that Vi had prompted him. “I’ve been having– there's been a few people who have been giving me problems recently.” 

“How bad?” 

“Not terribly– not so bad– I’m sure I could handle it myself but–” 

“If you need me you can always come ask for me,” she said. “Be better if it was at night but I can slip out during the day sometimes.”

“Thank you,” he said, sounding relieved and grateful.

Vi playfully raised her fists– grinning. “Who do you need me to rough up?” 

“Oh I don’t– I’d like to try to take care of it myself first.” He smiled at her and she considered knocking him in the shoulder but was afraid it might push him over. “It lends me a great deal of confidence to know that I have you in my corner if I need you.” 

“Always,” Vi said. “Need anything else?” 

“I– No. I think that’s–” He paused then asked, “Do you need anything Violet?” 

Vi blinked. “Me?” 

“You are always checking on people– always hard at work. I worry that we– those of us who rely on you– with all that work– no one ever checks on you.” 

Vi felt her smile fade. How long had it been since someone asked her that? Ekko surely had but not in a while. They were too busy planning and now Ekko had left. She forced the smile back to her face though she knew it was plastic. “That’s sweet of you but all I really need is to get home and get some sleep.”

The smile seemed to put Huck at ease though he didn’t look entirely convinced. He nodded. 

“Goodnight then, Violet.” 

“Yeah, you too, Huck.” Vi turned to go then whirled back around– remembering suddenly that there was something she needed. “Wait– actually. Huck, were you around the night of the Crowns fight?” 

“Yes. I was holed away but–” 

“Did you ever have the chance to look at the sky?” It was too much to hope for. It would be too convenient. She tried anyway. 

“I did peak my head out in the morning when I thought the fighting had ended.” 

“Did you see a blue smoke streak– like one you’d see from a flare?” 

Huck paused and Vi waited, holding her breath. She waited as he adjusted his glasses– his brow furrowed. Then he said slowly, “Why yes. Yes I think I did.”

Vi stared. She couldn’t believe it. 

“Describe it,” she demanded. 

“It was a bright teal blue,” he said. “It was coming from the Lanes– was billowing up with the rest of the smoke but it was clear and bright as day.”

“Did you see the direction it was coming from?” 

“I was in my home and I think I remember it being due east– I was worried as it was near the Last Drop but not so close.” 

She stared at him and then threw her arms around him while he let out a surprised squawk. 

“Thank you so much!” she rushed out– spinning him around once before setting him back down and turning on her heel. “Somewhere you could see it from both locations… somewhere– it would have to be high up and near the alleyway. She would go somewhere tall to be seen the best–” Vi continued to mutter to herself. Someone had seen. Someone else had seen the flare. Powder had been there. She hadn’t been hallucinating after all. Ekko was wrong. She needed to find the place Powder had been. Maybe she’d left a sign. As she took off, exhaustion gone and replaced with elation, Huck spluttered behind her. She tossed a final good bye over her shoulder. 

“You are my favorite person right now!” she said. “Tell anyone who bullies you that they’ll get what's coming to them.” 

“Alright Violet. I–” 

“Thank you!” 

When Vi sprinted between both spots– between Huck’s home and the alleyway behind The Last Drop– there was only really one place that she thought had potential. She went to the alleyway where she had fought the Crown goons and looked up from there too. 

“She could get up from this,” she said– leaping to the rusted out ladder that hung halfway down at  the alley. She grabbed it by one hand and it creaked ominously as she swung herself onto the roof with the momentum instead of climbing. 

“Good job, Pow,” she said. Even if her sister had grown some in the time she’d been away– it was still an impressive jump. One she might have had to help Powder with before. But Powder must have made this one on her own after saving Vi’s life. Vi began to pick her way over the rooftops towards the large sign structure. It was the tallest place visible from all three points. Powder would have picked it. 

When she got to the rigging she took the stairs two at a time. It had been a long time but if Powder had been here maybe she’d left a sign. Maybe there was something here that could prove it to Vi and then Vi could prove it to Ekko. She reached the platform at the top. There had to be something here. 

She scoured the metal looking for signs– maybe Powder had written something or carved something into the metal for her to find. Vi combed over it but found nothing like what she’d hoped. There was no carving. No graffiti that Vi could say was Powder’s. She couldn’t find the remnants of a flare or a smoke bomb or anything that would have shown that Powder was here. 

It didn’t mean anything. 

It was fine. There were explanations. Maybe she had left a message but Vi had been too late to find it– it was picked up by someone else or maybe the acid rains had washed it away over the years. Just because it wasn’t here now didn’t mean it hadn’t been. Or maybe Powder hadn’t had time to leave her a message. Maybe she’d had to leave because someone had come to investigate the blue smoke that wasn’t Vi. But Vi was here now and a lack of evidence didn’t mean that Powder hadn’t been– because she had. Vi knew she had. She didn’t need proof she had faith . She knew her sister could get out of prison. She knew her sister was the only one who could have rescued her. She knew she had to be alive no matter what Ekko had said. 

Maybe she’d been recaptured. Maybe she’d waited all that time for Vi to come and Silco had come instead and taken her away again and put her somewhere else so that Vi wouldn’t find her and Powder would have to escape all over again. She hoped that wasn’t true but she accepted it as a possibility. It would make sense seeing as after that night Powder hadn’t tried to find her again. Or maybe she had and Vi just wasn’t paying attention. Powder would try to find her if she could. Vi would try to find Powder if their roles had been reversed. She’d never give up no matter what. It didn’t matter if Vi had said horrible things. It didn’t matter if Powder had done something terrible by accident. They were sisters. They’d come back for each other. 

Vi sat on the platform– letting the vertical metal slats dig into her legs. Had Powder done this? Had she sat here and waited for Vi to come get her? When had she realized Vi wasn’t coming? Did she know she’d saved Vi’s life that day? 

She hoped so. She hoped Powder knew that if she found a way to send Vi a message now Vi would be there in an instant– the same way she was when any of Vander’s people needed her except this was for her. This wasn’t because Vi was their leader. It wasn’t because she was responsible. It was because it was Powder and she loved her. 

Vi stared out over the Lanes from her perch. She could see lots from here. It wasn’t the highest point but it was good enough. The night was lit with neon and people walking and trading and doing the unsavory things people did at night. Powder would have seen a different scene. She would have seen people fighting. She would have seen her home burning. She would have seen horrible things. 

It wasn’t always like that though. Vi was doing a good job. She wished she could show Powder– show her that they hadn’t lost everything. That Vi was doing her best. Tell her she was sorry she couldn’t convince herself to get off the alley floor that night and go look. Sorry that she forgot. Sorry for what she’d said the last time they’d seen each other– that she hadn’t meant it and she’d been angry and heartbroken and that it wasn’t Powder’s fault. It never had been. It was Vi’s fault. She’d led Mylo and Claggor in. She’d let Vander get captured. She’d started it all when she’d decided to pull that heist on that topsider’s lab. 

It was her fault. She was sorry. Sorry she’d failed everyone. Sorry she’d failed Powder. Sorry that she’d let Ekko go– that she’d let him drift so far away without noticing how unhappy he was– that she couldn’t prove to him that Powder was alive. Sorry that she was alone. 

Vi felt a prickling at the corners of her eyes and rubbed at them furiously. She wasn’t going to cry. Crying was useless. She’d done enough of that in her life. She scrambled up– feeling like she was going to burst at the seams of skin and gripped the railing. She let the metal dig into her hands and then she leaned over the edge and screamed. 

When she was done the air felt eerily quiet. 

She screamed again. 

It wasn’t fair. There was rage and grief coursing hot in her veins. She had been so close all those nights ago. Powder had been right here and Vi had been too busy being the perfect little soldier to notice– too busy laying on the ground and being useless to come when she was called. 

When she was done, her throat was raw and her breaths were ragged. She huffed in and out and then took a deep breath in and held it. 

At least she didn’t feel like crying anymore. 

Chapter Text

“Are you going to go to the lab today?” Mel asked. Jinx steadfastly did not look up from where she was perched at the edge of Mel’s desk. She was busy. She swung her legs back and forth while she wrote furiously in her notebook. She heard Mel sigh. “Jinx.” 

Jinx stopped for a second, not because she was listening to Mel, but because she had come upon a problem with the design. She deigned to respond while she thought about it.  

“She’s going to be there.” She wasn’t bitter. She was busy. She added another potential circuit board solution to Fishbone’s plan. It was proving to be more of a problem than she’d anticipated. 

“That doesn’t mean you cannot go.” 

Jinx held her pen over the paper and imagined the day that Fishbone would work and wondered exactly what part of the city Sky Young lived in. It wasn’t malicious she just thought enough street damage to make Sky late enough to get fired might be the perfect testing round.

When she looked up Mel was frowning at her– and not in the I’m displeased with you way but more in the I’m simultaneously worried for your health and also whatever you’re planning way . They were very distinct looks. Jinx scowled. It wasn’t like it was a real plan. 

She looked back down at her data collection and experiment book. (“A journal,” Jayce said when she’d told him what she was writing in it. “Journals are for babies,” Jinx had said. “A journal,” Jayce had insisted and Jinx had thrown it at his head while he ducked away laughing.)  

“Maybe they’ll realize they miss me,” she said. “Maybe they’ll realize they need me and they’ll come crawling back.” She imagined that– imagined them realizing that Sky Young was incompetent when she failed to understand the magic and the math the Jinx was now so familiar with. She wanted to see the look in their eyes when they realized that there were only three people in the world capable of understanding what they did and that their new assistant was not one of them. She didn’t think she could stand being in the same room long enough to see that happen so she’d settle for making Jayce get on his knees when the two of them came begging for her to come back.

“They wouldn’t normally have the option to have you. I sent a message to your tutor that her services won’t be needed for a few days.” 

Jinx had been planning on skipping her lessons entirely. They were also partially at fault for her predicament– just not as much as Sky Young.

When Mel received no response to this she sighed again. “There are going to be many people in your life that you don’t like. You can’t treat them all like this.” 

Jinx begged to differ. “I can try.” 

“I remember that not working out so well with Ms. Kiramman.”

“That’s different.” 

“How?”

Jinx scowled. It was different. Caitlyn was wrong. She was stupid for being an enforcer and she was bad for it– but Jinx was bad too so maybe it evened out. Caitlyn didn’t mean to cause her harm. If Caitlyn thought she was upsetting Jinx she stopped.  

“She’s nice,” Jinx said instead of all the rest of it.

“I’m sure that Ms. Young is also nice.” 

If Sky Young was nice she would have left the first time Jinx had confronted her. She would have left when she saw Jinx was upset. She would never have tried to insert herself somewhere she didn’t belong.  

But maybe Mel had a point. Jinx returned to the fantasy of earlier. She returned to the moment in the future where Viktor and Jayce would realize that Sky Young had fooled them and that nobody was as competent as Jinx was in the lab. It was taking far too long. Maybe Mel had a point. Maybe the key to this wasn’t to treat Sky like she deserved to be treated but to play the game. Maybe there was a way to make it go faster and make Jayce and Viktor less mad at her. 

It would require her to be nice. That would be a challenge but not an insurmountable one. She liked to think she was good at pretending to be nice– at playing the game. Lots of Jayce’s sponsors liked her even though she couldn’t stand them. Mel said she was decent at it– good at knowing what to say.

So maybe if she was nice and she went back to the lab she could figure something out. She’d figure out what it was that Sky couldn’t do and she’d point it out or she’d find a way to make it obvious and then they’d get rid of her. That could work. It was a good plan.

She hummed quietly, jotting down a note. 

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Mel said because she was awful and always knew when Jinx was plotting something.

“I didn’t even say anything!” 

“You didn’t have to. What are you scheming?” 

“Nothing.” Jinx snapped her journal closed after making a one last note on Fishbone’s circuit board. “I think I will go into the lab today. Thanks Mel! You helped a lot!” 

She didn’t hear whatever Mel’s reply was– she was already rushing out the door and passing Elora with a small wave.

Jinx didn’t need to hear what Mel was saying to her. She’d probably heard it all before. She would start with trying to weasel her plan out of her (which would work more often than not because Mel was good at things like that) and then she would say something like can you explain why you feel that way? Even though she already thought she knew what the problem was. And then Jinx would have to deny deny deny because Mel was convinced she knew everything.

But Mel didn’t know everything. Mel thought that she understood Jinx. Mel thought that if she could assure her enough that Jinx wouldn’t lash out. Mel thought that Jinx was scared Viktor and Jayce would turn on her. Mel thought these fears were irrational.

Mel was wrong. If Jayce or Viktor knew who Jinx really was they would hate her– she was sure of it. Viktor had basically told her as much from the day they’d met. 

He’d told her to keep quiet about Jayce’s lab– the one she’d accidentally blown up. He knew that Jayce would never forgive her. Jinx also knew that Jayce would never forgive her for it. The only reason Jayce loved her right now was because he didn’t know and that meant that his love was conditional. If she hadn’t done it Jayce would love her for real. But she had done it which meant that when Jayce found out someday he would hate her– and not the way some people did where they hated you and loved you too. No, his love would be entirely revoked when he discovered he’d been fooled into it.

Viktor might be different. She wasn’t sure. She knew he would hate her too but he might also still love her in spite of it. She’d heard his spiels. She’d heard him talk about what their inventions would do for the Undercity someday. She knew he wanted to help– that he hated the thought of using hextech to hurt people.

But that was what Jinx was going to do. She had Fishbone in her journal. She had other things in her journal too. Viktor and Jayce trusted her. They never read what she wrote or invaded her privacy and someday when Jinx built her weapons and she went down to the Undercity and she rescued Vi– Viktor would learn to hate her. He would see the things he helped create used for destruction and he would turn on her. Maybe he would still love her– maybe he would even feel bad about it when he told Jayce what she had done to his lab. Maybe he would feel bad when they turned Mel against her too.

Vi would be safe though. That was what mattered. Maybe she’d stay with Jinx if she didn’t hate her for what she had done (killing Vander, Mylo, and Claggor– causing Vi to get captured– failing to save her– failing to be rescued). Probably not though. She’d be like Viktor. Vi would love her and hate her in equal measure. 

Jinx dreaded the day she would be all alone again. 

It was sad but that was in the future– hopefully far in the future. She would put it off as long as she could for now. Maybe it was a lie– maybe Jinx didn’t deserve it– but this was her home. This was her family. She would defend it for as long as it lasted.

The door to the lab opened before Jinx had the chance to open it herself. Viktor greeted her with a frown and a weighty stare.

“Elora has been here,” he said instead of something normal like Hello or how are you or I missed you or We kicked Sky out and we want you to come back which should have been what he said to her. Instead he crossed his arms and gave her a suspicious look. Not a great start. Jinx would have to be careful. She would have to be subtle.

“How? I left before her.” 

“She has her ways. Mel says you are scheming.” 

“I am not!” she denied. The suspicion was already staunch. Mel was a traitor for sending Elora and tipping Viktor off. But it wasn’t like they could prove anything. Not yet. She wasn’t going to give them the chance to. She decided to play to Viktor’s sympathy. “Are you going to make me sit out here or can I come in? I thought I was always welcome .” 

He stared at her and she made sure to meet his eyes without flinching. She considered widening her eyes and looking sad but that only ever worked on Jayce– Viktor was more often unmoved by the show unless it was real. It was a momentary standoff that Jinx was determined to win. Eventually she did. Viktor broke eye contact and let out a deep sigh. 

“Promise me that you are not going to cause trouble.” 

“I promise I won’t cause trouble.” Today, she mentally added. She wouldn’t cause trouble today. Ideally the trouble would actually never be linked to her in the first place. She was just going to speed up the trouble that they would already have. 

Viktor sighed again and Jinx knew he didn’t believe her. Still, he said “Come on then. You still need to apologize to Ms. Young.” 

Jinx scrambled in after him and made no promises. 

Jinx liked problem solving. She liked being in control. Her favorite thing that Viktor and Jayce did was when they presented her with a problem and then they marveled at how quick she was to solve it. 

Today they couldn’t see their problem. They were blind to Sky Young. That was okay. Jinx wasn’t. She wasn’t blind to most of her problems. 

Her current list of problems– of big problems at least– wasn’t too long. There were the constants: She could never go home. She had killed her family and could never be forgiven for it. One day Jayce would hate her. One day Viktor hate her. Then one day after they hated her they would very easily convince everyone else to hate her.

Nothing she could do about those. It had already happened or it was inevitable. 

And there were the new ones: Vi and Ekko had tried to rescue her and she’d screwed it all up because she wasn’t there to be rescued. (She hadn’t had faith. She’d failed them.) (She was trying hard not to think about that one.) Caitlyn was investigating and was trying to unknowingly find Jinx. (Another one she was trying not to think about.) Sky Young was trying to destroy her life. 

All in all that was only like less than ten problems that she had– that was manageable. Most of them were things that she couldn’t do anything about anyways but at least Sky Young was someone that could be dealt with. 

But first she was going to have to do what Viktor asked if she really wanted this to work. 

She had followed Viktor in and Jayce had immediately started watching her like a hawk. Viktor had done the same but at least he was more subtle about it. 

“If you’re going to be here, you’re with me,” Jayce had said, handing off a wrench. “We’re on assembly.” 

And so it had gone– Jinx holding Jayce’s tools or the gears he was assembling or attaching wires or whatever else he needed her help with to get the hexcrystal cells ready for use for the new Hexgate. It was boring work. She had done it before. She didn’t hate it. 

If she was being honest, which she wouldn’t be if Jayce ever asked, she liked helping him work. Particularly, she liked the kind of work where the two of them slotted pieces together and did so without having to speak to each other– work where they stepped seamlessly together to get to the end. She liked the methodicalness of it– it was so rare for both of them. Viktor was supposed to be the methodical one but she liked it when it was the two of them. 

“Hold the light higher,” he said even after she had already started moving to keep his shadow from covering the final screws he was putting in. 

Jinx rolled her eyes and let her gaze fall to the corner desk where Sky Young sat, looking over a series of papers. 

As soon as her attention drifted she felt eyes on her. 

“What’s she doing?” Jinx asked. 

“That isn’t any of your business,” Jayce said, finishing the cell with a final twirl of the screwdriver. 

Jinx narrowed her eyes. Already they were keeping secrets from her. Already she was being made the outsider.

With Jayce done she hopped down from the workbench and started meandering towards Sky while Jayce let out a noise of protest from behind. 

“What are you working on?” she asked as she approached. It was neutral. It was good. She was doing good. She could gain their trust, Viktor’s and Jayce’s and Sky’s. She was in control.

Sky Young started at her voice and looked up at her nervously. Jinx put her arms behind her back and tried to look as small as possible– glancing at the woman through the curtain of her bangs. 

She opened her mouth to reply but then glanced over Jinx’s shoulder. Obviously Jayce was saying or doing something but Jinx let it go. She wasn’t going to do anything. Not yet. This would work.

“Just some preliminary work,” Sky Young eventually said. “There is ground work I need to understand first before I can really start the work Jayce and Viktor want me to do.” 

Jinx knew ground work. She’d gotten the ground work fast. Jinx moved– hopping up from the floor to sit cross legged on the worktable. 

“What part?” she asked glancing over the papers the woman was holding in her hands. Sky Young annoyingly pulled the papers closer to her chest. Jinx did not allow her brow to furrow and caught movement from the corner of her eye. Viktor was on his way. She’d need to work at least semi quickly before they tried to usher her away again.

That meant doing the thing that she didn’t really want to do. The thing that it pained her to do because it was a lie and she didn’t want to say it. But she needed to. It was for the greater good.

“I’m sorry,” she said. She saw the blur that was Viktor stop moving. She didn’t look at him– looked at Sky Young instead. She tucked her shoulders into her body and made herself look small. It wouldn’t work on Viktor or Jayce or Mel– but it would work on someone who didn’t know her. “I’m really sorry,” she said softly.

“Oh. I– thank you,” Sky Young said, looking flustered. The papers were pressed to her chest now but with her other hand she nervously adjusted her glasses and gave Jinx a tentative smile. “I know we got off to a rocky start but I’m happy to work with you,” she said. “Thank you for the apology.” 

“Yeah,” Jinx replied– not really knowing what else to say. Then she refocused. “So what do they have you learning?” 

Sky seemed to consider her for a moment and Jinx started rocking back and forth. She’d apologized. She’d made herself look as unintimidating as possible. She’d done what she could for now. If Sky chose to share that would be ideal– that would be a starting point for Jinx. 

Sky appeared to think so too, though Jinx suspected it was for different reasons. She smiled at Jinx and laid out the papers in front of her. Jinx rocked forward to get a closer look. “Viktor and Jayce have me learning the basics of the rune system. It’s quite complicated.” 

“It’s not.” Jinx said– then back tracked because she was doing her best not to seem rude and her plan relied on that for it to work. “I mean– once you get used to it.” 

Sky gave her a smile again– this time wider yet somehow more nervous. “I’m afraid it will take me some time.” 

Sky Young wasn’t sure of herself. Jinx knew that– had known that from the second she walked in. She was tentative– weak– easily led– which made her ideal for the position of peon lab assistant (which must be the only reason Jayce and Viktor wanted her). It also made her an easy mark. 

“Maybe I can help.” Jinx offered and hoped that Viktor– who she could tell was pretending not to listen– wouldn’t find it suspicious.

“Really?” 

“Yeah. Viktor has a thing that he wants you to help me look over.” 

“Me?” 

“Yep,” she said– popping the P. “He seems like he likes you a lot.” 

“Oh.” 

Viktor seemed to take that as his invitation. Jinx looked up as he finally approached. “Is she bothering you, Ms. Young?” 

Well that was interesting. Not his interruption– she’d expected one of them to intervene eventually. No, what was interesting was the way Sky Young blushed and looked down and began to fidget with her papers. Jinx narrowed in on the way her pitch shot up while she replied with, “Not at all! She’s actually being quite helpful!” 

Viktor, of course, looked suspicious. Jinx didn’t bother trying to look innocent. She was too busy watching the way Sky Young’s fingers fiddled over her papers and the annoyingly nervous smile that came over her face.

She’d noticed something similar the first time Sky Young had entered their space. She’d chalked it up to nerves at the time but now? Now when she was close to having everything she wanted and taking everything from Jinx? This wasn’t nerves. This was something else.

“You’re sure?” Viktor asked.

“Yes! Of c-course. Thank you for being worried but we’re doing okay over here.” 

Viktor nodded reluctantly and gave Jinx a look that said behave . Jinx was behaving. She was behaving so well. She was barely even angry at this discovery.

Once he had walked away, Jinx waited till Sky was looking down at her papers again before saying, “That’s a nice crush on Viktor you have.” 

Sky squeaked and Jinx watched while she grabbed at the edges of the papers like it might give her some control of the situation. “That’s not–” 

That was enough confirmation for Jinx. She did not let the venom inundate her voice. “He’s married, you know?” 

“Of course! I’m not– I just admire him! I admire Jayce too! They’re both so impressive!”

It was clearly a lie to Jinx. But she’d been told to behave even if it infuriated her. How could they not see it? How could Viktor and Jayce not see that Sky Young was trying to tear what they’d built together apart? It didn’t matter. Even if they couldn’t see it– Jinx was perfectly capable of protecting what was hers.

 It was in her plan that she needed to behave and play nice. She needed to gain trust. She needed not to be the one to blame at the end of this. So, even though she was mentally adding homewrecker to the list of Sky’s crimes against her, she said “Whatever. You want to learn the runes right? Let’s work on that.” 

She made her next move during dinner. She was behaving– sowing the seeds of doubt at home wasn’t necessarily not behaving. It was just part of the plan. 

It was their usual routine– close up at the lab, squabble over who was making dinner that night (Jinx was allowed to do so under supervision and the promise that she wouldn’t muck up the spices too much just for fun), and then sit down to eat. Mel wasn’t going to make an appearance which Jinx was simultaneously disappointed and happy about. She hadn’t forgiven her for warning Jayce and Viktor but she also liked it when all of them were together. Sometimes Caitlyn came too. She liked it when Caitlyn came. 

She liked it when it was all of them. She liked it when it was the three of them. She liked being at the lab together. She liked being at home together. She liked the little spot she had made for herself. 

She hated the fact that she liked it so much. She hated that sometimes she forgot that it reminded her of back home in the Undercity. Except it didn’t always remind her of that because even back then sometimes she had gone hungry and sometimes Mylo would say something horrible that made her upset and sometimes no matter what Vi did to make her feel better Jinx was just so terribly sad . 

And here there was no hunger. Even when she was upset there was no one to call her useless and terrible except herself. Sometimes it was hard to remember that if she wasn’t both those things– Mylo would still be alive to say that to her. She wished he was. But some days– her worst days– her best days– when she felt like she was worth something and she felt like she belonged and she felt like she was safe and warm– she didn’t wish for him. She didn’t wish for anything but for this to be real and something that she deserved that would last forever. 

Sometimes she hated Viktor and Jayce for making it so easy to want to be here. 

But those were abstractions. Those weren’t things she could do anything about. Today the thing she hated most was the shadow of Sky Young that hung over them like a cloud. She hadn’t been there a day and she was already ruining things– just like Jinx had told Jayce and Viktor she would. 

“So have you noticed Sky’s huge crush on you?” she said to Viktor while she spun her fork between her fingers. She tried to look innocent while she watched across the table as Jayce choked on his bite of roast and turned an interesting shade of red.

Viktor for his part just furrowed his brow while Jayce managed to grind out a, “Jinx!” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“I’m talking about how she stutters and blushes every time you talk to her like–” Jinx clapped her hands together and then pressed them to her cheek in the mockery of a swoon, “Oooo thank you Viktor! You’re so helpful! No, Jinx isn’t bothering me I like her so much I hope it impresses you~”

There was more coughing from Jayce. Jinx considered continuing but Viktor’s dry, “Jinx,” stopped her.

Jinx scowled, stabbing at the meat on her plate. “It’s weird, right? You’re married .” 

Viktor sighed while Jayce finally got his coughing fit under control. 

“We have had this conversation so many times,” Viktor said.

Jinx pointed at them with her now full fork. “Someday you guys are going to admit that you're in love and I am going to win so much money.”

“Are you betting on us?” Jayce stuttered out– bewildered– as Viktor replied with a much more sensible, “From who?”

“I would be if anybody else knew. I’m going to steal it from Caitlyn on principle.” Caitlyn would make bets with her if she was allowed to tell her. Caitlyn would also bet wrong– maybe just to please Jinx but maybe also she listened to Jayce when he talked instead of using her eyes like Jinx did. It wasn’t like they were subtle. There was a reason no one had questioned them. Jinx was right in this. She’d always been right. 

“No stealing,” Viktor chided because he was no fun and too wrapped up in Jayce’s incessant goodness to be proper Undercity.

“She can afford it,” she complained. “But back to the fact that Sky Young is trying to break up your marriage.”

Viktor snorted. “Sky Young has been nothing but professional. The only thing she is trying to do is learn the arcane script.” 

“Which you seemed keen to help her with today,” Jayce added and gave her a meaningful look.

Jinx batted her eyelashes at him. “Are you proud of me?” 

“That depends, did you do it out of the goodness of your heart?” 

Jinx didn’t answer that– just stabbed at the meat on her plate again with a hum. She had come to the conclusion long ago that there was no good in her heart– only the pantomime of it. She wouldn’t lie to Jayce and Viktor about something like that.

Jayce pointed his fork at her (which was rude). “What are you scheming?”

“Nothing.”

“You always say that when you’re up to something.”

“Maybe you just think I’m always up to something when I’m not.” Jinx pulled her fork back with her finger and took aim at Jayce’s face. He immediately started swearing and scrambling out of his chair.

“You two are exhausting,” Viktor said– swatting Jinx’s fork with his own and causing her ammunition to fall back to her plate. Jinx huffed. 

“I’m not planning anything,” she denied. “I’m gonna teach her the runes and then I’ll have her look over my work. Just like you wanted.” These were not strictly lies. They were true. Jinx was going to teach Sky the runes– just not the right ones and not in the way Jayce and Viktor wanted her to. But they didn’t need to know that. Ideally they would never know and by the time Sky Young made the realization– it would be far too late.

Chapter Text

“I don't know why you bothered requesting my help if you were just going to go out and ask questions on your own,” Babette said when Vi let herself into the red perfume filled room again.

“I was careful,” Vi protested. She had questioned only people she trusted not to go straight to Silco and she’d been careful about the types of questions she asked too. So much so that even with a few days passed, Huck had been the only one to give her a lead. Babette just had too many informants– it was her job to know secrets so she wouldn’t know if Vi was being secretive or not.

Babette snorted. “You and I have very different definitions of careful.” 

“I was asking about something entirely different,” Vi said. She’d confirmed the existence of the flare. She’d confirmed Powder’s escape.

Babette gave her a withering stare and Vi let it drop. There was no point in arguing this. “Did you find anything?” 

“Of course.” 

There was a moment of silence before Vi prompted, “And?” 

Babette sighed. “You already know what I’m going to tell you. You knew when you asked me to look into it.”

Vi was quiet for a moment. She had known. She’d just hoped she’d been wrong. “Tell me anyways.” 

 “The survivors are in with the Chemtanks. You’re going have to bite the bullet if you want answers.”

Vi grimaced then made her way to the chair that sat across from Babette and let herself fall miserably into it. Babette did not shoo her out of it like Vi thought she might. It had been a long day of standing and it was simply too hard to keep going. Mercifully, Babette did not comment on it.

“It’s disgusting,” Vi said at last. 

Babette took a deep breath from her cigarette and let out a long exhale. “It’s a good way to keep an army,” she mused quietly. “Make them swear loyalty– give them a dose of shimmer– and use the fighters who would have been your enemies to beat down anyone who would stand to take their place.” Another drag from her cigarette. “It is disgusting.” 

“They probably won’t talk to me.”

“They will if you have the right kind of bribe.” 

Vi blinked. A bribe? Things like money didn’t matter to the Chemtanks. The only thing that mattered was– 

“No.”

“You want them to talk?” Babette pressed.

Vi felt bile rise in her throat. “I’m not going to give anybody shimmer.” She repressed the urge to hunch in on herself. She couldn’t. Not that. 

Babette sighed– leaning back. “What harm would it do, Vi? They’re already addicted.” 

Vi growled. Babette didn’t understand. Vi couldn’t do that. She couldn’t offer it to them– not when she had already failed them. 

She’d seen what Shimmer could do. She understood its effects better than anyone. When Silco had brought the first of the Chemtanks in– she’d been appalled. She’d screamed at him. He’d had her beaten and tossed in her rooms till she could form an actual thought that wasn’t incoherent rage on the matter. 

“You promised,” was what she’d eventually said, incandescent when he’d allowed her to speak to him again. 

“I did not give it to them,” Silco said. “They asked for it. You were not enough to assure them of their safety.” 

That had stuck with her. She had not been enough to make them not want to turn to Silco’s drugs. She had not been enough to save her family. She had not been enough to make Ekko stay. 

But at least it wasn’t an epidemic– she reasoned. At least it wasn’t flooding the streets. It was only those who swore loyalty to Silco– only those who were willing to become his soldiers. They had free reign of the Undercity and the destruction they caused was her mess sometimes too– but they mostly stayed in the shelter that Silco had assigned them. 

They were her most horrible failure and Silco’s biggest asset. Nobody could stand against them with their shimmer enhanced bodies.

She’d already failed them so much. How could she go from passive to active in their destruction?

“Consider it,” Babette said sympathetically and took another drag. “It might be the best chance you have at getting the answers you want. You’re right that they probably won’t talk to you otherwise.” 

Vi wanted to argue but instead she nodded. She had already made up her mind. It wasn’t an option.

But of course, a few days later, she found herself walking into Silco’s office. 

“Where do I get shimmer?” she asked without preamble– because what else could she do? Her line of questioning had run dry. Ekko was gone. Powder was missing. Babette had nothing left to give her. There were no other options. No one left to turn to. Nobody else could help her. She would have to do it herself.

She’s spent countless hours agonizing over the decision already. She’d not slept at all last night and barely any the night before that. She was exhausted and ragged. She needed to make a decision so she had.

Her hands were already so dirty, what was one more failure?

Silco was standing in front of the stained glass window that looked down over the streets again. Vi came to rest in front of Vander's desk, waiting for him to deign to answer. He stayed where he was, tapping his fingers against his wrist in thought.

“Are you going to use it?” Silco asked without looking at Vi– silhouetted against the stained glass window. It was dramatic and Vi rolled her eyes. Par the course for Silco.

“No.” Then: “Would you let me if I wanted to?” She would never put herself so far under Silco’s influence– not unless it meant she’d get Powder back. Would that be such a bad trade? He’d get what he’d want from her and Powder could be free if he had her. But no. Powder had escaped. Powder was out there somewhere. She had to have hope.

“We could make an applicator for you– like the one they’re working on for Sevika,” Silco offered. He turned around, stalking around the desk to walk around Vi– observing her.

“I wouldn’t want it,” she said. 

“Maybe not now, but you would. You would be a true force of nature with shimmer.” 

The admiration with which he murmured it made Vi uncomfortable. “It’s not for me,” she denied again. 

Silco stared at her then backed off. He returned to his desk– still standing. 

“I have been hearing an odd rumor,” he said instead of answering the question.

Vi didn’t fidget. “Yeah? What about?” 

“About you,” he said. “What are you up to, Violet?” 

“Personal project,” Vi replied immediately. She did not know what rumor he'd heard and she didn’t care to find out. Let him think she was up to something if he wanted. She was.

“Care to elaborate?” 

“No.” 

Silco tilted his head in a bird-like gesture. “That was a question because I was being polite.” 

“I thought you didn’t care about what I did in my down time as long as it did undermine you?” she threw back at him.

That was one thing she could rely on Silco for. He was for the most part, a man of his word. He didn’t sugarcoat nor was he exceptionally cruel unless you pissed him off. He said what he believed was the truth and expected you to take it at face value. Vi appreciated that about him at times when she forgot that she hated him. 

That said, she always made sure to take note of what he had said to her. The best way to argue with him was to throw his own words back in his face. It was a comment he’d made not long after he’d started to loosen up on his grip with her. When he’d been sure that Violet wouldn’t rebel and Violet had been sure her sister would be the one to suffer the consequences if she did. She supposed he saw it as a reward– a way to keep her happy about her situation as if she could ever be.

And just as Vi had been hoping, those words did make Silco sit down and think for a moment. He took his chair slowly, leveling her with a calculating look. She stood stone faced beneath it and hoped he could not sense her nerves. She knew it was a futile effort. He could sense weakness and he circled her like the vulture he was– waiting for her to slip up and expose her belly.

“Is it anything I should be worried about?” he finally asked.

“No.” 

“What was the blue flare the night we put down the Crowns?” 

Vi froze despite herself. She tried not to let the building dread show on her face. Babette had been right. She hadn’t been careful enough. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied. 

“Don’t bother with that,” Silco said with an impatient wave. “We both have ears in this city. Perhaps if you had sent your friend to ask for you it would have worked but your presence draws attention– especially when you are so clearly after something. Now, what was it?” 

 It was the tone of voice he took when he expected an answer. Vi tried to come up with a lie but couldn’t. She just stood there– tension filled and shoulders raised as Silco stared her down.

Then Silco let out a sigh.

“You cannot keep doing this, Violet.” 

Vi didn’t answer. Silence had seemed to work so far.

“I need to be able to trust you,” he said.

Vi snorted. “You can trust me. You’ve made sure of that.” 

Silco paused again and Vi could tell he was considering his words carefully. “It doesn’t have to be like this,” he eventually said. “We could make such a difference together. If you would only apply yourself fully.”

“This is as fully as you’ll ever have me,” Violet bit out. She glared at him– she knew it was one of the small acts of resistance she was allowed. 

He did not argue, just nodded in his seat as if he hadn’t expected any less– which he shouldn’t have.

“I assume you need the shimmer to talk to the Chemtanks?” he asked. Vi blinked as the return to her original question threw her off balance. 

Silco continued, “Whatever you are looking for, they are the most likely to have seen it, yes? I can’t think of another reason you would come barging into my office making demands for shimmer.” 

Vi resisted the urge to nod. She did not like the idea of Silco knowing anything about her plans. The silent treatment was working wonders for her– and it worked one more. 

“Speak to Singed. I will let him know to provide you with a few vials.” 

This time Vi could not hold back her incredulous response. “Why?”

It made no sense. Silco had no good reason to help her. He had no good reason to do her favors– especially for something like this with no answers on her part. 

“In the interest of good will,” he said, drumming his fingers on Vander’s desk.

“There will never be good will between us.” 

“Perhaps,” he conceded. “You have proved your worth several times over. I reward such behavior.” 

Then why don’t I have my sister back? Vi wanted to ask but didn’t. Because she knew the answer. This was a show, just like every calculated show of trust Silco had ever made to her– it was a way to manipulate her into believing that he might not be as bad as she thought– a way to indebt her to him. Still, she would take every boon he would give her. She never promised to repay them. If he would give her the inch she would take the mile.

“I hate Singed,” she grumbled. 

Silco raised a brow. “If you do not want it, I will not ask him to prepare it for you.” 

“Never said that,” Vi said. “I’ll pick it up later.”

“Good.” He nodded in satisfaction. “Now then, back to business. I have heard rumors of a new potential resistance.” 

Vi blinked– head still spinning. She refocused. “A new resistance?” she asked. 

Silco nodded and added wriley, “You’d think they’d learn. You heard nothing while gathering information for your… personal project?”

“I–” Vi was about to say no. Then she was hit unbidden by the memory of Babette. Ekko had been associating with Silco’s more outspoken opponents. Babette had said she suspected Ekko wouldn’t stop at leaving. Vi swallowed. That couldn’t be it. It had to be someone else. Ekko knew better. “No,” she said, trying to make it sound final. “I didn’t hear anything about that.” 

Silco was watching her closely and if he had caught Vi’s hesitation he made no mention of it.

“Stay wary,” he said. “You are an asset. If this comes to fruition, you will be a target.” 

Vi bristled. “I can take care of myself, thanks.” 

Silco didn’t respond to her hostility, just nodded again. “If you hear anything, report back to me.” 

“Understood.”

“I want you to do a numbers and maintenance check on the barracks soon. If there is going to be trouble, I want to be prepared for it.”

Vi narrowed her eyes. A barracks check? Right after Silco had called her on her desire to bribe the Chemtanks. “Sevika could do it on her own,” she said. “Why do I need to be there?” What if it was some kind of test? Some way to determine how desperate for the information she was looking for she might be? 

“Do not turn down the gift I am giving you,” Silco said condescendingly. “And do not let this get in the way of your duties.” 

Vi only hesitated a second before she agreed. “I won’t.” It wouldn’t. Not until she had Powder and was far far away. “What’s on the schedule for today?” she asked. She wasn’t eager to please but who knew if Silco might take lack of initiative as her personal project getting in the way of her duties. It was better not to risk the opportunity he had given her. 

Silco settled back into Vander’s chair with a pleased smile that Vi didn’t like at all. “Here are your assignments for the day,” he said pushing a pile of paperwork towards Vi.

Vi’s nose crinkled in distaste as she looked down at the assignments. “The Chem-Barons again?” 

“We are expecting to send out the next round of shimmer through the Hexgate in a few days. Our contacts have been pleased with the product. I want you on guard duty again.” 

Vi’s brow furrowed. “We haven’t had any problems with any of the previous shipments.” So far, getting the shimmer to the ships and on board had been easy. Silco had his moles in Piltover. With the sheriff’s assistance and willingness to turn a blind eye, finding bribable crew had been relatively easy– especially as security laxed and the profits of the hexgates came rolling in. 

“I want you there regardless,” Silco insisted.

Violet shrugged. She didn’t want to deal with the Chembarons but she would do what she was told– just like she always had. “Understood.”

That night as Vi laid in her bed– the never ending noise of Silco’s crowd that invaded the Last Drop every night permeating the din of her room– she considered the vial of glowing purple-pink liquid in her hand. She rolled the vial above her head and stared into the depths trying to convince herself to throw it out. 

Making her decisions had not helped her. She had come to her room with the intention of catching up on the past few nights of sleeplessness. That was not what had happened. Instead she had picked up one of the vials Singed had given her and begun to think herself in circles. 

The reasons to toss the shimmer were compelling. There were first and foremost the moral implications. She was finding less and less of those these days with the work she did but she had to hold true to what she could. She was the protector of the Lanes– Vander had made her so. These were her people. Silco may be destroying them but she should refrain from partaking where she could. 

The next was that it had been far too easy. Silco had been so willing to give her exactly what she wanted. Singed had passed over three vials with almost no creepy conversation. Sevika had arranged a date for a barracks review with Vi that afternoon when she’d returned from supervising talks between the Chembarons. Silco wanted Vi to have this. He was giving her every opportunity. That made her suspicious. Despite what Silco said about trusting her and wanting to work together with her she didn’t believe him for a second. He only ever did things for his own gain. This was some kind of play. 

Of course, her being indebted to him– her feeling thankful for his help might be the prize he was after. If his desire to pull her in completely was true then these could be his opening volleys. Vi wouldn’t fall for that though. She remembered what Silco had done. Maybe she had made the situation but he had been the one to take advantage of it. He had been planning to kill them all. Maybe he hadn’t been the one to pull the trigger but the results were the same. He and Vi had killed them. In a way, they already had been working together. 

Vi shook her head. Those were not the thoughts she wanted to be having. It wasn’t productive. There was nothing she could do about that. The facts remained though that she knew it was wrong to move forward with this plan and that Silco wanted her to and for those reasons alone she should have thrown them out.

And yet she didn’t. The vial remained in her hand. 

Vander had told her to look after Powder too. The people of the Lanes weren’t the only ones she had a responsibility to. 

“What are you doing?” 

Vi shot out of bed. 

“Ekko?” she said, shoving the vial down into her sheets in hopes that if that hadn’t been a waking dream that she might hide it from him. 

It wasn’t a waking dream though. Ekko was staring at her, at her hand that she had shoved into the covers from where he was perched in her open window. 

She should have locked it. She’d simply forgotten to. She’d left it open for him the past few nights in the futile hopes that he’d return. Of course he would choose now of all times to do so. She knew he had seen. She tried for normalcy. 

“Good to see you, Little Man. Didn’t think you’d be back.” She did not sound bitter. At least she hoped she didn’t. She didn’t want to even if she could feel the tinges of it seeping in. She couldn’t resent him for this– for leaving her. He shouldn’t have to stay if he didn’t want to. But he really couldn’t have picked a worse time to drop in.

“What is that?” Ekko said, still perched in the sill. 

Vi didn’t answer, just clenched her fist harder around the vial. 

Ekko dropped down from the windowsill in a single smooth motion. He stalked up to Vi’s bed and held his hand out like he expected Vi to give into the silent demand like a petulant child. She snorted. If anyone was the petulant child here, it was Ekko. 

“Give it to me,” he demanded, voice harsh. 

“Give what to you?”

“I saw it. I know what it is. Give it to me.” 

“Why?” she asked, knowing that playing dumb wasn’t going to work. She would keep this out of Ekko’s hands though. She would be willing to give it just about anyone else– but never him. She didn’t want to know what he might do with it. It was too much of a risk to take. 

“Why do you have that?” Ekko shot back– hand still out stretched like he thought if he held it long enough Vi might give in. But Vi never gave in.

“To get answers,” she said and lightly knocked his hand out of the air. 

She could hear Ekko’s teeth grinding when he asked, “What kind of answers do you need shimmer for?” 

“What's it matter to you? I thought you left.” Ah. That had not been what she’d meant to say. That had been more bitter than she’d meant it to be– more angry than she’d intended. She tried to get a handle on it but she kept coming back to the rage that had been bubbling just below the surface these last few days. There was no place for it to go– not with Silco watching her for a sign of weakness– not to the chem barons or the patrons or anyone else who might have deserved it. Instead it had festered and Vi found it ripping her from her mattress– brushing roughly by Ekko and pushing her to pace the length of the floor of her room. 

Ekko watched warily and Vi found that irritated her too. He was nervous– nervous of her when she’d done everything to protect him– when he knew she wouldn’t ever hurt him. Except that she would if it came down to it and they both knew it. 

“Vi.” He started, placating, pleading. “I came back. I found–” 

“Found people who still want to fight Silco,” she finished. Because why else would he have come back?

Another wary look. “That’s–” 

“I heard all about it,” she said. She hadn’t heard all about it. Just the vague details that Babette had given her. Still it was enough. Maybe that would be enough to scare Ekko into being halfway reasonable. “It won’t be long before Silco hears all about it.” 

“Did you…” he trailed off, the accusation dying on his lips. Vi stopped in her tracks– staring at him. They locked eyes and Vi saw the doubt there and felt her temper flare. He really believed that didn’t he? Believed that she would have told Silco what she’d found out– would have betrayed him like that. He thought her capable of it. 

“Do you really think I’m his only source of information? You really think I would snitch on you if I was?” She started to pace again when Ekko was silent. Why? She wanted to ask him. Why are you doing this? To us? To me? Things had been okay. Things had been good. 

“I don’t know what to think, Vi,” he growled and Vi could see his temper rising to match hers. “I came to try to talk to you and found you tossing around a vial of shimmer in your bed.”

Vi realized she still had said bottle squeezed too tightly in her fists. She stalked to her desk and tried not to slam it down too hard. 

“It’s none of your business! You left.” 

“I tried to get you to come with me!” 

“And I told you I can’t! And you still went! And you still formed whatever this faction is–” Vi stopped. She took a deep breath and breathed out. This wasn’t what she wanted from this conversation. She’d hoped for days that Ekko would come back– that they could actually talk and maybe sort something out and now it was here and all she could do was rage at him. “They’re gonna make me fight you,” she said looking at the ground. There was grief under that rage. She still felt it keening in her chest. “Does that mean nothing to you?” 

There was silence. Then, softly, “You said you wouldn’t fight me.”

“Yeah, well,” Vi said, not bothering to hide the bitterness this time. “I didn’t know you’d be throwing yourself in front of my fists.” 

There was another pause. “So that’s it then?” Ekko asked. Vi looked up at him. He was shaking– from rage or grief Vi couldn’t say. Maybe like her it was a bit of both. “I leave and you start– what? Being the perfect little soldier? Get yourself addicted to shimmer?” 

Vi went to protest but Ekko didn’t let her get a word in edgewise. 

“Did you even wait till I’d left? Is that why you really can’t leave? Because of this?” He swept by her before she could stop him and swiped the vial from the desk. He held it up to the dim lights of her room– letting the yellow glow shine through its natural luminescence. 

“Don’t be stupid. The shimmer isn’t for me.” 

“Who are you giving it to?” Ekko said sharply.

Vi hesitated. If she thought she had been agonizing over the decision– Ekko would be apoplectic at her consideration. He’s better than me , she thought. But it’s my decision . It has to be. “It’s none of your business.” 

“I think it is.” 

Vi gritted her teeth. “Suck it up, Little Man.” 

Silence reigned again as Ekko ground his teeth. Vi prepared for a fight but saw Ekko’s shoulder’s slump. “This didn’t go how I wanted this to go,” he muttered.

“And how did you want it to go?” 

“I wanted to have a nice conversation that ended with you coming with me.” 

Vi snorted and didn’t say anything more– just crossed her arms and looked away.

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” he said quietly. 

She felt him tug on the sleeve of her jacket and for a moment Vi was sixteen again and Ekko was vying for her attention so he could show her the invention he and Powder had been working on together. She missed that– missed the days when things had been so much more simple even if they’d never felt like it. They weren’t those kids anymore. She couldn’t protect Ekko– not if he insisted on being her way.

“I’m starting to think it does,” she said. She could try one last time to convince him. Maybe now that they were done yelling at each other he would listen. “The shimmer is for a couple of the Chemtanks.” 

“Why?” 

“They used to be Crowns. They’re the ones that attacked me that night.”

She could see the gears turning in Ekko’s brain as he dropped his hand from her sleeve. “Vi–” he started, warning in his voice.

“They saw something,” she cut him off. “They just don’t know it.” 

“They’ll do anything to get it, can’t you see that?” he growled. The frustration was back. “They’ll tell you whatever it is you want to hear.” 

“I’m not stupid. I’m going to ask them a question. I won’t lead them to the answer that I’m looking for.” 

“It won’t work.” 

“Huck saw the flare that night,” Vi said. If she could just prove it to him– if he would just believe her they could make this work somehow.

“What?” 

“I talked to him recently. He swore to me he saw the flare the night of the fight with the Crowns.” 

It was Ekko’s turn to pace and Vi felt a surge of triumph as his boots wore the length of her floor. He was considering it– he wouldn’t be pacing if he wasn’t. He’d picked up that habit from her. Someone else could confirm her story. That had weight. If he would just listen–

Then he stopped. He turned to face her. “It doesn’t mean anything.” 

“It does,” Vi said. 

Ekko shook his head and Vi felt a surge of anger. 

“It does! Why won’t you accept that?”

“So what if there was  blue flare Vi?” he said. “The one you gave Powder wasn’t unique. It wasn’t special . It was just a flare. It could have been anyone that night calling out to someone.” 

“It was her,” Vi ground out. 

Ekko didn’t even shake his head. He just looked sad and that made everything all the worse.  

“You don’t have to believe me,” Vi growled. She’d known he wouldn’t listen. She stomped up to him and snatched the vial he was still holding. “I’m going to prove it. I’ll do whatever I have to.” And when she did, she’d come get Ekko and the three of them could– they could fight. They could run away. They could disappear. It didn’t matter to Vi anymore– if it was the three of them they could figure out what to do together and that was the important part. She just had to prove it. She just had to find Powder.

Ekko didn’t fight her– just stared at the vial in her hands. 

“Fine,” he replied quietly. It was almost as bad as if he would have yelled it at her. She flinched from it like he had. But he didn’t reach out to assure her– he made no motion that he even felt bad about it. Instead he just walked to the window and hoisted himself up. 

“So that’s it then?” Vi asked– only a little bit desperate– only a little bit hysterical. Once again Ekko was leaving. Once again he was walking away from her when she didn’t want him to. She gripped the vial tightly. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. 

Ekko didn’t respond– not until he was halfway out the window. He turned to look back at her and he looked more tired than she’d ever seen him.

“Do you understand what you're doing?” 

Vi went to defend herself but he cut her off.

“You are going to lose everything,” he said. “You are going to bribe people– people who you agreed with at the time even if you had to fight on Silco’s side– with a drug that kills and mutates them. They are addicts made out of people who would have been our friends. You are going to do that to them.” 

Vi’s mouth snapped shut. There wasn’t a reply she could give to that. He was right. She knew he was right. And yet– the vial stayed tightly clenched in her fists. 

He waited for her response and when she didn’t give one he turned from her. “That’s not the Vi I knew. And if she’s gone– if Silco killed her too– then there’s really no reason for me to be here, is there?” 

“You know it’s not like that,” Vi protested. She was here. She was the same. But there were things that had to be done– decisions she had to make. They were awful and she hated them but if she didn’t, what was it all for?

Ekko remained with his back to her but Vi could see his shoulders shaking. “You are going to lose me. All for a dead girl,” he said quietly. 

Powder isn’t dead, Vi wanted to say. You don’t have to go. Stay with me, she almost pleaded. We can figure it out together, was what she would have said just a few weeks ago.  

“I’m sorry,” was all she could muster. 

Ekko dropped out of sight and Vi nearly flung the vial of shimmer into her wall. But she didn’t. She kept her cool long enough to place it on the top of the dresser just to the side of the window. She waited for a minute before she reached out and pulled it shut– pressing her forehead against the cool glass.

 “Goodbye Ekko,” she said quietly. “I love you.” 

There was no response from the other side of the glass.

Vi remained pressed against the pane– letting the cold sink into her forehead and tried to soothe the burning in her head and her throat and all the places grief had never left. She knew that she needed to turn the lock. Ekko could come back in the night if she didn’t. Who knew what he would do if he did? Not hurt her– never hurt her. But the shimmer was a different story. 

She couldn’t let him destroy it– or worse take it. She knew he was angry and hurt and rash decisions were always bad where shimmer was involved. To protect him she should lock him out. 

But she couldn’t make herself move. She couldn’t pull the latch. It felt so final. If she locked him out he would know he wasn’t welcome and despite everything Vi wanted him to come back through the window almost as much as she wanted Powder to walk through the door. She wanted to feel the barely there vibrations of the floor as Powder padded her way down the hall. She wanted to hear the slightly out of tune whistle and then the door would open and– 

There was a knock at the door. Vi felt herself stir. How long had that been happening? Had she been ignoring it in her stupor?

The knock sounded again– light but urgent. Vi struggled for a moment and then peeled herself away from the glass. Someone needed her. Someone wanted her. She would lock it later. She stumbled to the door of her room and only tripped over a few things in the blur. 

When she swung the heavy thing open she almost didn’t recognize the man on the other side. 

“Huck?” she said in disbelief. His face was swollen from several bruises and the already cracked lens of his glasses was entirely gone now. The other was in such bad shape that she suspected it was hindering more than it was helping him as he leaned against her door frame. 

“Hello, Violet,” he stammered out. Violet could still see fresh blood marring his teeth. 

She straightened. It was difficult but she hardened herself to her own anguish and stood up. 

“You’re hurt,” she said and ushered him into her room– sitting him down at Powder’s chair at her desk. Vi stumbled around looking for a cloth or fabric or anything to stop the bleeding with while Huck mumbled something to her. She needed to take care of him– she needed– 

She took a deep breath and recollected herself. She had a medical kit. She tended her own wounds all the time. She just needed to refocus. She needed to think . 

She had to pull herself together. 

When she found her med kit (Right where it always was. Right where it should be.) she pulled out the supplies she needed and knelt beside Huck. When she started to dab at his cheek with the alcohol soaked cloth he only winced a little bit– which shouldn’t have bothered her but still made her flinch. 

“Sorry,” she murmured. 

Huck, who was far too nice for someone who had been made to wait on her having a breakdown, smiled at her with his split lips and bruised up face. “It’s not so bad Violet,” he said in what was an obvious lie. 

“Who did this to you?” she asked– trying to maintain her composure each time he ducked slightly from her hands. She hated that. She hated to feel like she was hurting when all she wanted to do was help. Hadn’t she done enough damage tonight?

“There is a group that are– they wanted the invention I’ve been working on,” he stumbled out.

“Did they get it from you?” 

“Yes.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

Vi was paying more attention to cleaning his face than to looking at the rest of him but she could still feel him fidgeting with his hands. “Would you be able to help me get it back?” he asked quietly. 

Vi stopped. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to. Vi had promised and Vi kept her promises. But the thought of having to go out tonight– to track down thieves– to think and process and fight what was probably more than a few people by the state of Huck’s injuries was just– 

It was too much. It was all too much.

“I’m sorry, Huck. I can’t. I just can’t. Not tonight,” she said– choking the words out around the lump in her throat. Here Huck was all but begging for her help and she couldn’t even keep it together long enough to do what she promised. Because what? Because Ekko had left again? He’d already been gone. She’d been through this once before. But the thought of doing anything but collapsing into bed after this was impossible. To go out in the streets? After a day like this– after a night like this– she– 

“Violet?” 

Vi realized he must have been saying something to her. He had her hands collapsed between his and was giving her a worried look through his broken glasses and swollen eye. She tried to smile reassuringly and when it failed she gave up and just let her head fall. She pressed her forehead to where his hands were wrapped around hers. “I’m sorry,” she choked out. “I really am.” 

Vi tried to say more but faltered. She could hear Huck speaking to her but understanding the words was proving too difficult for her right now. How was she meant to protect him– to protect him all when a simple thing like this left her wrecked? She was failing him– like she had failed Ekko– like she had failed Powder– like she had failed–

Suddenly she was being pulled to her feet. Vi stood without even realizing she still could. She looked down at their still joined hands in disbelief until the shorter man pulled away and started herding her towards her bed. 

“-- should have told me something was wrong Violet I would have–” Huck was saying. 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Vi protested despite the fact that the man was almost effortlessly pushing her towards her bed. He grabbed her by the shoulders when he got her to the edge and forced her to sit on the mattress. She only allowed it because she didn’t want him to strain himself. She could have resisted the call of her bed if she’d wanted to. 

Once he had her down, he stood in front of her, hands on his hips and stared down at her. Vi hadn’t really heard most of what he’d been saying so she wasn’t sure what he expected her to do. She searched for something to say.

“Are you okay?” she asked. 

Huck let out a bone weary sigh. It had been the wrong thing to say. Clearly. Of course he wasn’t okay. Vi should have–

“Do not worry over me, Violet.” he said, cutting off her line of thinking. He gestured for her to lay back. Vi wanted to protest but more than that she didn’t want to upset him again and her bed was warm and familiar. She fell back into it without complaint and tossed her arm over her eyes to block out the light. 

There was the sound of shuffling above her. Then, quietly, “Sometimes I forget that you are still yet a child.” 

Vi peaked out from under her arm. “I’m not.” 

Huck heaved a great sigh and then stood. “You are young. It should not fall on you to protect me. The responsibilities we put on you are too great.”

“It’s not. Everything is fine. You need someone to clean your injuries.” That someone should have been her but Huck pointed at the bed, clearly intending her to stay where she was so she covered her eyes again when she heard him walking back to the first aid kit.

“My problems should not be part of your burden. I know it wears on you. It wears on me.” 

“You’re not a burden.” She could hear him walking around the room. It sounded like he was neatening things up. That was nice of him. He shouldn’t have to do that.

“You do not have to lie to me. I know that I am weak. I’m just as tired of being unable to protect myself as you are to have to take care of me.” 

“That’s my job,” Vi protested again. She could hear him packing up the first aid kit and putting it away. Hopefully he had taken what he’d needed from it. She wished she could have kept helping him.  

“And it shouldn’t be,” Huck said with some finality from across the room. Then, so quietly Vi was almost sure she wasn’t meant to hear, “I am so tired of being powerless.” 

“Me too,” Vi said just as quietly. It was silent for a moment after that. Huck was fumbling around her room and Vi felt too boneless and fragile to look up. It was too much effort. Everything was too much right now. 

“Violet, what is–” Huck’s voice cut off and that more than anything tempted Vi to move but she couldn’t gather the energy. 

“What’s what?” she asked. 

“Nothing,” he said. He was closer now and Vi did move her arm just a tad before a blanket was thrown over her. 

“So you don’t have to try to get under the one you’re on top of,” Huck said by way of explanation. It was such a small gesture. Vi was deeply touched by it. She was touched by all of this at the moment, but maybe that was because of everything. Maybe tomorrow she would realize that this was a simple, normal thing to do for someone. Maybe tomorrow she wouldn’t even feel the need to feel bad about putting him through the trouble of it. It would have to be a tomorrow Vi problem because tonight was quickly coming to an end as she felt the fog of exhaustion setting in. 

“Thank you,” she managed to slur out. 

“Of course,” Huck said and she could hear the small, nervous smile in his voice. “Take care of yourself Violet. I’ll see you later.”

She barely heard him slip out the door before exhaustion overwhelmed her and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

In the morning, Vi realized three things. 

First, she had been so exhausted she was going to be late for her morning meeting with Silco. Already she was failing in keeping her personal project from interfering with her duties. 

Second, and more importantly, the vial of shimmer she had left on the cabinet near the windowsill was gone which led her to– 

Third, she had not returned to lock the window before collapsing the night before. 

She should have asked Huck to do it but she’d been so out of it– the compiling stressors leading her to forget that along with all of her sense. Truly, Vi was embarrassed that Huck had seen her like that last night– furthermore she felt guilty that she hadn’t been able to help him. 

But most pressing was the missing vial. Ekko had certainly come back in the night and taken it. He could easily have done so without waking her. He was trying to take the decision from her. 

She found her belt pouch where she had left it on the desk and pulled out the other vials.  She could get an empty vial and split it up. Then she’d have more to pass around to the people she needed to talk to. 

If she was going to do that. 

She still had a choice to make. 

But she’d already come so far. She’d already lost Vander. She’d lost Mylo and Claggor. She’d lost Ekko last night. He’d made his opinion clear. She just had to hope he wouldn’t do something stupid with that vial. She hoped he destroyed it. He most likely would. She didn’t see what else he might do with it.

She knew what she would have used it for. With grim determination she stuffed the other vials back into her bag. She would do what she had to do to get answers.

If she was the final thing she lost, at least she would have her sister back.

Chapter Text

The boat ride to Stillwater Hold was cold despite the warmth of the afternoon sun that hung in the clear blue skies. She repressed the shiver that threatened to overtake her as another gust of the coastal wind raked over her. She silently admitted to herself that Jinx was right when she had called the dress uniforms impractical and ostentatious. 

She didn’t often admit Jinx was right about these kinds of things. Jinx had a horrible bias that she’d take an excuse to affirm– but she had to be right sometimes. 

Another gust of wind whipped down the length of the small boat and Caitlyn felt goosebumps rise on her bare arms. She did not ask the ferryman how much longer it would take. She was not going to show weakness over something as minimal as being a little bit cold– even if it was annoying. She’d had to wear the uniform today. She was off duty but she needed the authority it lent her– even if it was miserable. When the boat finally touched down at the docks of Stillwater Hold (how anyone had been brave enough to plan a break in on this place was a mystery to Caitlyn) she hopped off in a quick movement. She was on her way to intake before the ferry had been tied off. 

“I need to see the records of the facility,” she said without bothering to greet the guard sitting at the desk who had been silently picking at his nails. Not that she didn’t want to be civil– it rankled the manners that had all but been beaten into her– but she found that people best responded to authority when she pretended she had it. 

It still took the guard a moment to bother looking up– which did not bode well for Caitlyn’s mission. 

“Name, rank, paperwork,” he said lazily. 

“Caitlyn Kiramman. Officer,” she replied shortly– passing over her badge. The attendant looked it over– his attention more focused than it had been before she’d given her name. When he was done looking it over he glanced back to her. 

“You don’t have clearance.” 

“I’m not looking to visit anyone,” she said. “I’m here to review records only.” 

“Records are in the library. You need clearance to enter from Sheriff Marcus.” 

“I’m on special orders,” Caitlyn said, slipping the letter from her bag. She’d been hoping she wouldn’t have to use it. 

The guard took the plain envelope and his bushy eyebrows rose when he broke the seal to find the stationary inside. 

“Medarda?” he said. Caitlyn nodded and did not let her nerves show. 

Councilor Medarda had almost caught her slipping one of the papers with her letterhead from her desk when she’d come into the office. Caitlyn hadn’t been sure what had moved her to take it, but she’d been willing to take the risk to lift it. She hadn’t had an exact purpose in mind at the time but she’d been determined that one way or another– Mel Medarda was going to help her. 

She just hoped this wouldn’t get back to her. It shouldn’t. It wasn’t like Caitlyn planned to cause trouble. She was just here to look at the prison logs and see if there might be any clues about the identity of the escapee. There was a chance that a visitor’s name might lead her to someone who knew the prisoner– maybe the prisoner themselves. She was willing to take the chance. As long as she didn’t cause a stir Mel Medarda and Sheriff Marcus would likely be none the wiser. 

If the guard let her through of course. He was still scrutinizing the letter. Caitlyn hoped he wasn’t somehow intimately familiar with Councilor Medarda’s writing. She’d done her best attempt at the penmanship she’d found on document’s in her mother’s office with the councilor’s signature or writings on them. She thought it was passable though she was sure it wouldn’t hold up under an intense comparison. She had been hoping not to need it at all and, if she did find herself having to use it, that the reader wouldn’t have reason to be suspicious or know the work of Mel Medarda’s hand. She didn’t think she’d really have to worry about it but the longer it took the more Caitlyn had to repress her fidgeting. Surely it shouldn’t take this long? 

The guard’s eyes raised to her. Caitlyn stood stock still and stone faced. She would not falter in her bluff.

“Approved,” the guard said seconds later and Caitlyn exhaled. He pulled a large log book from somewhere underneath the desk. “Sign in here,” he said and Caitlyn did as instructed. “I’ll have someone escort you up.” He gestured to the doors and Caitlyn made her way to them to meet the guard beyond. 

So far this plan ( Heist a voice that sounded suspiciously like Jinx’s supplied in the back of her mind) had gone worse than she hoped but better than anticipated. There would be a record of her entrance and if anyone really looked into it she would be in trouble. Mel Medarda did not seem the kind of person who might take this lightly but Caitlyn couldn’t stomach using her own name to get information for the investigation. She reasoned it would make her look more suspicious– like she was actively using her status to get what she needed. She couldn’t have that making its way back to Marcus. This was a better, more inconspicuous cover for her not-heist. 

It really wasn’t one, Caitlyn reasoned. She wasn’t going to bring anything out of the prison. She was only going to look to see what she could find on the prisoner that had escaped. Her conversation with Mel Medarda had all but confirmed that there was something worth knowing there– if only to potentially use as leverage. Caitlyn had the feeling it was something more though. She knew it was an important piece of the puzzle she was trying to solve– though the shape of that puzzle and its contents were still frustratingly vague to her.

From her short time in training and as an enforcer alone she could tell the difference. The attitude of the Undercity hadn’t necessarily changed but the basic number of outbursts and crimes that appeared to be happening on the lower and mid levels of Piltover had increased. There was something going on and she was fairly sure there was organization to it. If there was one thing Caitlyn Kiramman was familiar with– it was the influence of politics on a population. It had been what she had been raised on for as long as she could remember. Whatever was happening in the Undercity was almost certainly due to shifting power. There was little that had changed in the upper levels of Piltover that could have caused such a subtle, yet somehow drastic change. 

But of course, Sheriff Marcus wouldn’t hear of it. Caitlyn had been raised to respect authority but even she could admit he was conceited. He was convinced of his own rightness and he wasn’t interested in hearing out any of what she had to say unless she had proof. After the first few attempts she had backed down. There was no need to put herself on the Sheriff’s bad side– not when all it would do was further ostracize her. What she needed was proof– a clearer picture of what was happening. A cohesive and precise presentation of the facts that the Sheriff couldn’t deny and then he would listen to her and work with her. Rising crime and unproven theories were simply insufficient. She needed more. 

She had been gathering more. She analyzed all the data she could collect– secreted away evidence where she could. She’d been keeping track of not just recent events, but past ones too and the ones that she knew the general populace would rather forget. 

Viktor had been quite helpful on that front. She found herself more than a bit taken with his company in the last few years. She appreciated his frankness and disregard for her status more than he could possibly know. He was willing to educate and argue and didn’t seem to take any offense when she disagreed– unlike Jinx who could turn on a dime. She could see why Jayce loved him as much as he did. Yes, Viktor had been very helpful in her search for answers though he probably didn’t know it. 

Viktor had walked her through a great deal of the incidents that caused the decline in the relationship between the lower levels of the city and the upper. And, of course, she was personally familiar with the latest– the explosion, subsequent crack down, and the death of Sheriff Grayson. It still stung– still hurt Caitlyn’s heart like the day she had first learned the news. If there was anything to gain from her search– answers to what had caused the civil unrest that had resulted in the previous Sheriff’s death was more than enough for her.

But she had to deal with this first. She knew that this prisoner– this person that had been important enough to try to pull a breakout operation on Stillwater Hold for– a person the council was willing to erase the escape and existence of–  was some kind of key. They knew something. Or maybe they were important to someone. Maybe they would have the information that Caitlyn was looking for that would make it all make sense. She hoped so. She was risking a lot by coming here. It had to be worth finding them.

The guard at the next area led her up the stairs of the hold with barely a word. The library and records room were on the highest floors of the towers. She knew her search would start there. There would be something to find and if she was going to make any progress without being caught it was going to have to be found today. She couldn’t use Medarda’s name again– she couldn’t risk being noticed by her own superiors let alone the councilwoman herself. 

It was with these worries that she carried herself through the double doors of Stillwater Hold’s library and records room. She fashioned them into determination as the guard turned to return to his post and left her alone amongst the many shelves and aisles with no further direction on how to find anything. She sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Or so she thought. But truly the longest part of the day so far had been demanding her way up the ladder of Stillwater’s bureaucracy till she could find someone to explain to her what she’d found in the log books. 

“Why was he here?” she demanded, pointing to the name Jayce Talis in the sign in sheet just a few days after her the date of the breakout. 

“I’ve already told you,” the latest guard said. He’d been brought to her once she had found Jayce’s name and flagged down a patrol. Of course, they’d said they couldn’t help her since they hadn’t been there that night and that she’d have to speak to an intake officer. But then of course they didn’t know which of the intake officers had been there and they’d been busy so it was up to Caitlyn to wade through the scheduling records to find the name of exactly who she needed to speak to. Luckily he had been on shift though no longer working intake and it had only taken Caitlyn ordering several separate patrols to bring him to her before eventually someone had bothered to track him down and send him her way. 

“Jayce Talis doesn’t do security. He’s an inventor. He invents things .” 

The guard shrugged. “He was on orders of Mel Medarda to do an inspection for potential new security measures. That’s what the records say. That’s what he told me. You’re lucky I even remember him.”

“And you don’t find it suspicious that nothing ever came of that inspection? What did he end up doing for your security measures?” 

The guard shrugged again and Caitlyn felt her blood boil. The inconsistencies of the records were already bordering on incompetence. The apathy her investigation was being met with was only lowering her opinion of the organization of this prison. Perhaps planning a jailbreak would not have been so hard after all if all the staff was this lazy.

Caitlyn resisted the urge to shake the man by his ever shrugging shoulders as he said, “Maybe his funding got cut. Maybe the council didn’t care anymore. It’s not my job to know.” 

“But it is your job to know what he did. He investigated a cell. What did he find?”  

“I only worked intake. I didn’t escort him. I don’t know.” 

“Well surely somebody does. I need to talk to them. Who was it?” 

The man hesitated for a few seconds. “The records from that day aren’t the best.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“The Council was scrutinizing everything we had from that time frame. It's not the most organized anymore.” 

With the state of this place Caitlyn was starting to doubt it was ever organized at all. She did her best not to let her frustration show beyond the sigh that escaped her lips. 

“Is there any way at all to make this more expeditious?” she asked. The guard looked appropriately apologetic as he shook his head which made Caitlyn feel at least a little more sure that this wasn’t weaponized incompetence against her. It was just the general state of the prison apparently. 

“Thank you for your help,” Caitlyn said and tried to make it as sincere as she could while she let him return to his duties. Being rude wouldn’t help her situation. This wasn’t his fault. Probably. 

She returned to the book at hand. The sign-in book where Jayce had scrawled his name brought up many questions. Mainly: What had Jayce been doing? What did he know? Why had he been here?

Surely it couldn’t be as simple as the log made it look. She’d never heard of Jayce taking on a project like this as embedded in his hextech research as he was. He had come on the orders of Councilor Medarda which might mean that had only been an excuse. Perhaps the council had wanted an outside opinion? What had he been doing? What had he found? She would get her answers from him another time. For now, she had to figure out what else there might be to uncover here while she still had time. 

The entry listed the cell he had gone to visit. From there she managed to track down a misdated log book from 6 months prior that listed the prisoner number for the corresponding cell. 

516. She had to assume that was the number of the escapee. She didn’t remember stumbling across the number at all in her searches yet. With the chaos of the records she wasn’t sure it would be of much use to her at all. Still, it was her first real lead besides perhaps Jayce. 

As she scoured the log books (how could there be so many and yet so few among the mess that was the archives) she narrowed it down. The records she needed could be within a year of the escape. She didn’t know when 516 had entered the facility but she knew when they had escaped. She could start from the dates she knew they had been in the prison and work backwards if need be. 

Or that’s how she would have liked it to go. Caitlyn quickly found that even when she managed to find a log from the correct timeframe– there were very few mentions of 516. From what little she had gleaned– the cell they had been kept in had been one of the solitaries– reserved for the most dangerous. 516’s only logged visitor (so far) was Jayce and that had been after the escape. Occasionally she found schedules that marked out which guards had delivered food to the cell. That could be useful. She laid that aside. Those guards might be worth questioning. 

The breakthrough was a library record. She was surprised to find it where she did though the guard did say that the information from her time frame was disorganized. Perhaps it shouldn’t have surprised her that their library records pertaining to the criminal were mixed among the mess that was their archives. Caitlyn did several flip throughs of the checkout history. 

The record wasn’t dated too long before the breakout. 516 showed up more often in this log than in any of the others. Clearly they had been very well read. Caitlyn did find it odd that a prisoner in solitary had library privileges. She knew it was reserved for those serving a more lenient punishment which 516 clearly hadn’t been. Still she would take what she would get. It was a better lead than anything else she had. She began writing down the names of the books. Perhaps that was something. Maybe there was evidence within the copies of Stillwater’s library. She might have to take one if there was. This might be a heist after all. Hopefully not though. 

Caitlyn, knowing she had only a few hours left, decided that this lead had more potential than flipping uselessly through more improperly filed and mislabeled record books that might mention 516. She had the names of guards she could speak to later. She needed to accomplish the tasks for the inside of the prison immediately. Other objectives could wait for another day. She started with the most recent book logged for 516. There might be a pattern. There might be evidence in the books themselves. That would be her starting point. She would work backwards from there.

She would have, if, of course, the book hadn’t been gone . A History of Piltover’s Founders had clearly not been missed by anyone in recent years with the exception of Caitlyn. She had scoured the library for it– found several of the other books along the way– but found it entirely vanished. Perhaps 516 had found a way to take it with them when they’d escaped. Perhaps it had simply been lost at another date. Whatever the case– it wasn’t here. And the other books didn’t seem to have any true pattern to them beyond the fact that they were scientific in nature. 516 must have been keen to broaden their horizons. History, math, science– it was all in their checkout history. They had a curious mind– whoever they were. 

Caitlyn wondered if she might be able to confiscate some of the books. Sure she had a list of the titles but perhaps she was missing something within the ones 516 had handled. She hoped she was because at this point she was starting to think she wasn’t going to find anymore leads in the time she had left. Jayce and the guards were going to be the only information she walked away with here– which was entirely frustrating and borderline unacceptable. There had to be more. There must be. 

She cracked open the next book on 516’s check out history. There was.

It was not a heist, she reassured herself again as she made her way to Viktor’s home. The books that weighed down the lining in her uniform were not a part of her original goal so it didn’t count. Spontaneous borrowing from a library in a heavily secured facility was not something she had expected to do. It was just part of the investigation. It was not a heist . 

She had managed to secure two of the smallest of the books in the lining of her skirt and once again begrudgingly admitted that Jinx might be right about the impracticality of the required dress. The important thing was that she had managed to sneak a few out. A few that had notes in them. 

The books had been only partially enlightening. Most had been too dense for Caitlyn to really dig into and the sparse notes written in the margins hadn’t necessarily been meant for anyone but prisoner 516 (she was sure it was the same prisoner. The hand writing had been the same) but it didn’t matter that much to Caitlyn. The two small paperbacks she had found that had scribbles and notes that she had managed to sneak out weren’t necessarily going to be useful in the form of information. She expected 516 had been appropriately cautious with their escape plan. But the notes were important for another reason: they were insight into who 516 was. Their reading choices alone gave Caitlyn an idea of their interests but their thought process was just as important if not more. Seeing the hand of the escapee would help her. She knew it would. 

She had other leads too in the form of the guards and Jayce. Jayce was more accessible and far less likely to talk than the guards were. She’d decided to start with him first and with the high of the success at Stillwater she figured now was as good a time as any. She just had to find him. Which meant checking the lab first at this time of night. She had made her way there as quickly as she could and found it shut down already. It was only slightly odd– they usually stayed later but it wasn’t entirely unusual for them to leave before dusk these days. Jinx had done a wonder for both Jayce and Viktor’s schedules. 

The next place to check was Viktor’s home. Jayce would likely be there for dinner– his own home rarely saw gatherings of their little family. She supposed it was much easier for Viktor to make the short walk to his apartments rather than the Talis estate. Caitlyn wasn’t sure why Jayce even bothered to go back to his estate at all. In her opinion they should find a bigger apartment just as close to the lab as Viktor’s was (if not closer) and move in together there. She’d tried to call Jayce on it a few times but everytime she did there was a litany of excuses about them all needing their own space and Viktor considering it a waste of money etcetera etcetera. Caitlyn thought Viktor was simply too attached to the home he’d carved out of his cheap apartment to consider moving unless it was dire. He seemed to be a creature of habit. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t seen Jayce stay the night quite a few times. She had to assume that Jayce had at least insisted on a bed big enough for two if Viktor didn’t already have one. 

Perhaps she was a little too nosy about their personal lives but they were private and eccentric. She was a detective. What better unimportant mystery could she ask for to take her mind off work when she needed it? 

She finally reached the door to Viktor’s apartment and knocked three times in quick succession. She heard Jinx yell “coming!” before there was a sound of scrambling and the door flew open. 

Jinx stood staring up at her– long braids still coming to rest from the motion of her nearly taking the door off its hinges. When she looked up at Caitlyn, she scowled. 

“You’re not Jayce,” she said. 

“Hello to you too,” Caitlyn replied. Then, “Why would Jayce knock?”

“He’s like that sometimes,” Jinx said and scowled harder. 

Caitlyn was a bit taken aback. Jinx must be in a mood. Usually she was much more cordial with Caitlyn. They’d made a lot of progress. Caitlyn would consider her a close friend– one of her closest. Just behind Jayce. Maybe. There were things you just couldn’t talk about with a man who’d seen you teetering and wild on the edge of puberty– still trying to learn how best to be a person. Jinx was still on that edge and Caitlyn knew it was the same for her. There were just things you couldn’t tell your dad– no matter if he was your real dad or not– and Caitlyn took pride in being her confidant– especially when they’d had such a rocky start. 

“Who is at the door?” Viktor’s voice called from further into the apartment. 

“Just Caitlyn,” Jinx dismissed and skittered back from the frame. Caitlyn took that as her open invitation to come in.

As she stepped into the apartment she was hit with soft aroma of cooking food. That must be where Viktor was.

“I guess since you’re waiting for him, Jayce isn’t here?” Caitlyn asked. Jinx looked back over her shoulder and somehow scowled even harder than before. She vaulted the back of the couch to land with her face in the cushions. 

“He’s abandoned us,” she muttered. 

“He is doing Hexgate installation and maintenance training with Ms. Young,” Viktor translated from the kitchen as he poked his head around the corner. “Is there something we can do for you Ms. Kiramman?” 

Caitlyn, for some unknown reason, liked the way Viktor so rarely used her first name. Caitlyn thought it would have been awkward had he called her anything else and the way he called her Kiramman didn’t grate in the way it so often did when other’s called her by it. Perhaps it was the lack of respect the name garnered from him. To Viktor, Kiramman was just a name. She appreciated it. 

“I was looking for Jayce,” she replied. “I had some questions to ask him.” 

“Anything we might be able to answer?” 

“Probably not.” 

Viktor nodded and turned back to the kitchen. “He is meant to return once he is done with the maintenance. I do not know when we should be expecting him. It can take a great deal of time and Ms. Young is inquisitive by nature. He may be busy quite a while yet. He may just go home.” 

That was disappointing. 

Viktor continued. “You are, of course, welcome to stay for dinner.” 

Caitlyn grinned at the invitation and even saw Jinx perk up enough to give her a pleading look. 

“Want me to stay?” she asked. She liked making Jinx say it. 

“I need a piltie to throw food at,” Jinx replied. Then, a bit too casually added, “Who knows? Maybe he’ll show up.” 

“Is something wrong?” Caitlyn asked her. Jinx could be moody but usually wasn’t this sulky. 

Jinx shoved her head back into the pillow with an abrupt, “No.” which Caitlyn correctly translated to mean yes. But Jinx clearly wasn’t in the mood for talking so she let it be. She reached over the back of the sofa to pat Jinx gently on the top of her head. 

“I’ve got another day soon,” she said. “We can go shooting.” 

“We were supposed to go today,” Jinx grumbled. 

“I’m sorry I was busy. I told you I would be.” 

“It’s fine,” Jinx said and then rolled over to stuff her face between the seat and back cushions. Caitlyn rolled her eyes. There was nothing to be done when Jinx was in a mood like this. She decided to retreat to the book shelves. 

She knew it was a long shot but Viktor had a very extensive library for having such a quaint apartment. She was more likely to find A History of Piltover’s Founders in Jayce’s library or even more likely than that, the actual library. It didn’t seem like the kind of reading material that might interest either of them– especially these days. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check while she waited to see if Jayce would make an appearance. She truly didn’t expect to find anything. 

Which made it all the more surprising when she did. 

The title of the book felt like it might brand her hand as she pulled it from the shelf she had found it on. It was on a lower shelf closer to Jinx’s room– dusty and clearly unread in a while. Caitlyn glanced behind her. Jinx was still pressed into the cushions of the couch and Viktor remained in the kitchen. She honestly couldn’t believe what she was seeing. What were the chances that Viktor would have the exact book she was looking for in her investigation? She tucked it under her arm in excited preparation to ask Viktor if she could borrow it. Then she stopped. 

Viktor would let her borrow it if she asked. He would almost certainly have no issues with it. But Viktor, being Viktor, would ask her why. Even she would be hard pressed to pretend this was a book she was interested in. She’d have to tell him about the investigation. Inevitably the fact that she had been at Stillwater Hold would come up and she simply couldn’t see that going well. He’d ask how she got in. He’d ask for details. He’d argue with her about everything she was doing. He might tell Jayce– who could let it slip to Mel Medarda either by accident or misplaced concern. She couldn’t let that happen. If he asked, she would have to lie to him about why she needed it. But what good lie could she come up with that he wouldn’t immediately see through? Viktor was not as easily fooled as he’d have people believe. 

Perhaps the best answer was the path of least resistance. Viktor would have let her borrow it anyways and clearly no one was reading it. They wouldn’t even notice it was gone until she brought it back. Caitlyn glanced around the room again and then slipped the book under her skirt above the petticoat. She made sure to secure it under her belt before she turned and made her way to the door. 

Jinx popped up from the couch as she made her way to escape. 

“Where are you going?” she asked. “I thought you were staying for dinner?” 

She looked up at Caitlyn with eyes that were wide and pitiful. Caitlyn did not falter. 

“I have a prior engagement,” she said. “I forgot I needed to be in attendance.” 

Jinx narrowed her eyes. “Viktor! Caitlyn’s abandoning us!” 

Caitlyn heard a shuffling as Viktor made his way to the seeable corner again. He gave her a questioning glance. 

“Sorry,” she said, not trusting her ability to lie to him. “Got to go. I’ll be back later.” 

Viktor stared at her for a moment then nodded. 

“Goodnight Ms. Kiramman. I will let Jayce know that you were looking to speak to him.” 

“Thanks,” she said. “Night Jinx.” 

Jinx huffed and threw herself back down on the couch (really what was wrong with her tonight). She smashed a pillow into her face but Caitlyn did hear her mutter a quiet “Night,” in return. Caitlyn smiled as she all but ran out the door, another book tucked under her skirts and patting herself on the back for an important step in an investigation that was well underway.  

Chapter Text

Viktor had bad days and worse days. He used to have good days when he was a child. Before his leg had atrophied to the point where they’d fused his spine and drilled bolts into his back. 

Today, thankfully, was only a bad day. 

“She’s up to something,” Jayce muttered. Viktor nodded his head the way he had the last twenty times Jayce had uttered this over the past week. Viktor couldn’t help but agree. 

Jinx was not prone to changing her mind and certainly she was not prone to do so with no provocation around people she didn’t like. Even watching from across the lab as she and Sky seemed to be getting along while Jinx guided her through the runes on the oscillator he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.

The problem was that he did very much want to believe that Jinx had changed her mind. He wanted to believe the lies she told him that she had no plans. He wanted that to be true even though he knew it wasn’t. It made predicting her next move inevitably more difficult. 

“Maybe Ms. Young will get through to her,” he said. “Maybe she will be able to ingratiate herself before the problem arises.” 

Jayce grunted his disagreement as they worked on one of the larger circuit boards of the hexgates together. Truly, it would be a boon when Ms. Young was done memorizing the runes and had finished her orientation. He did not enjoy the menial work that was constructing the pieces they had designed. Maybe Jayce and Jinx did, but he had always found his talents to lie elsewhere. Still– he handed Jayce the screwdriver when he saw him reaching for it. 

“What do you think her plan is?” Jayce asked. 

“I have no idea.” 

“None at all?” 

“Do not act surprised. I know nothing more than you do and I do not see you giving suggestions.” 

“Maybe Mel might know.” 

Viktor tilted his head in acknowledgement. “I was planning to visit her soon. I would like her thoughts,” he said. He resisted the urge to pop Jayce with his cane when he saw the grin that split his face at the words. “Stop smiling.” 

“I’m not smiling,” Jayce lied, looking entirely too pleased.

“You are.” 

Jayce only shrugged his shoulders unapologetically. “I like it when you two get along.” 

Viktor sniffed. “She has been an asset.” 

“She’s been a friend,” Jayce corrected. Then, conspiratorially, “You can say that you like her. I won’t tell anyone.” 

Viktor rolled his eyes. 

“I will admit that she is not what I first imagined her to be.” That might as well have been an admission– especially since it was true. Mel Medarda had not been what he expected. He had expected her to be privileged and entitled– which she was. He had expected callous– which she could be. He had expected her to use every bit of power she had to her own gains– and she did. And for some reason he found himself respecting it. The ambition, the wit, the good intentions that she hid behind calculated words– the genuine warmth he saw awkwardly rear its head when Jinx had started to attach herself to her hip– it was all unexpected. He could admit when he was wrong– to himself at least– especially if the results were far more pleasant than what he had expected.

Admitting it to Jayce, or god forbid, Mel was another matter. Mel was smug enough without his explicit approval. Besides, she almost certainly already knew. Their arguments had deescalated in tone to simple debate. Viktor might go so far as to say they were cordial.

“Babysteps,” Jayce said fondly– not looking at all displeased as he turned back to his work. He began twisting his wrench again to tighten another bolt. “You and Jinx and your inability to say you enjoy someone’s company.” 

Viktor snorted again and just to be contrary said, “I enjoy your company.” 

Jayce's movement stuttered for a split second before it started back up again. 

“I would sure hope so,” he said as his fingers flexed and Viktor had to wonder if he was purposefully flashing the blue stones of the wedding ring before he dismissed it.  

“You would know if I didn’t,” Viktor replied and passed Jayce the next set of bolts.

“So you’ll talk to Mel and figure out what’s going on upstairs and hopefully find a way to circumvent whatever she’s inevitably going to do.” Jayce said, bringing the topic back around. Viktor almost sighed. He’d liked the lighter tone. Too many of their conversations surrounding Jinx these days were heavy. He longed for the peace they’d almost had before they had brought in Ms. Young for her first interview.

It seemed Jayce agreed. Viktor heard him mutter, “Why does it have to be this hard?” 

“I did warn you,” Viktor said. 

“I know.” 

Viktor felt a prick of disquiet in his gut. He asked a question he felt he’d asked a hundred times. “If you had the chance to go back, would you still have said yes?” 

Jayce gave him a withering look over his shoulder and Viktor didn’t fidget, just placed his hands on the head of his cane and waited for the answer– the one Jayce always gave. 

“Of course,” he said– twirling the wrench in his hands. “I knew what I was getting into. It’ll get better again.” He looked at Jinx who was smiling sweetly at Sky Young in a way that the other woman could not have known was ill intentioned. Jayce faltered. “Right?” he asked. 

“Yes,” Viktor said. “Once she has settled again it will go back to normal.” 

“Normal. Right.”

“Something wrong with normal?” 

“No. It’ll be fine. Everything is going to work out.”  He paused again. “I know I complain but you know this–” Jayce gestured vaguely with the wrench and Viktor surmised he meant the stilted awkward family they’d built out of scientific endeavor and necessity, “means the world to me, right?”  

Viktor cast his eyes towards Jinx again. “I am sure she feels the same way.” He certainly felt the same way– though he would never admit it aloud. 

Jayce snorted– also glancing in Jinx’s direction. “Funny way of showing it.” 

“Deep down,” Viktor replied.

 As if feeling the eyes on her, Jinx looked up and caught them both staring. She scowled and blew a raspberry their way while making a rude gesture before turning back to Sky’s lesson. Viktor winced. “Deep, deep down.” 

Jayce sighed, returning to his work. “I always did like a challenge.” 

“Viktor. What a pleasant surprise,” Mel Medarda greeted him as he entered her office.

“Mel,” he replied. He had managed to find a moment to himself while Jayce supervised Jinx’s attempts to introduce Sky into the assembly of a hexcrystal power cell. While 2 sets of eyes on them would have been nice– Jinx would certainly have taken it as a slight against her competence and Viktor did not want to deal with the fallout when she was already teetering on the edge of some rather large feelings. It was the perfect time for him to make his quiet escape. Jinx had probably noticed but Jayce had certainly not– he would not notice for some time. 

Viktor had found recently that he could make a bit of a game out of escaping from Jayce’s presence unnoticed. The man was by no means inattentive but slipping away always earned him worried grumbles upon his return and on one memorable occasion– a prolonged comparison to a stray cat. It was amusing and, loath as Viktor was to admit it, the attention was somewhat gratifying. 

“Are you going to stand by the door for the foreseeable future?” Mel asked. 

“You have not invited me in yet.” 

Mel rolled her eyes. “Please come in.” Viktor grinned and briskly walked into the room and stood in front of the seat Mel gestured for him to take. When she saw that he was not going to sit down she repressed another eye roll. Instead she asked him, “What can I help you with?” 

“You assume I need something.” 

“Rare for you to make courtesy calls. To my office at least.” 

Fair enough. “I have to admit, you make me feel as if I am taking advantage of your kindness.” 

Mel tilted her head. “Does it make you feel guilty?” 

“Never,” Viktor replied immediately. “I consider whatever debts I owe you cancelled out the moment Jinx starts rubbing elbows with gentry.” 

Mel laughed a little and Viktor repressed a smile. It was not a laughing matter. He hated that Jinx still went to those parties with Jayce but she seemed to like them– seemed to like being showboated around and complimented– no matter how sincere they were. Viktor eagerly awaited the day she bit someone and he could tell Jayce I told you so. 

“She’s getting quite good at it. Even the Heimerdinger has commented on it.” 

“You are ruining her.” 

“Naturally,” Mel said goodnaturedly. “On to the problem at hand then?” 

Viktor sighed and once again wished for the peaceful days of before. “Do you have any idea what she’s scheming?” 

“None at all. Something to do with Ms. Young and something that I’m sure you won’t like.” 

Viktor sighed. “Not as helpful as I’d hoped.” 

“There’s only so much I can do,” Mel said. “But I do think I know what the issue is.” 

“Oh?” 

“Yes. I believe she is feeling… displaced.” 

“Displaced?” 

“She perceives the lab as a home– not just a place that you and Jayce work in– but somewhere that belongs to the three of you as a unit.” 

“I see.” 

Mel tapped her fingers against her desk. “No, you don’t.” 

“No,” Viktor admitted.

“You have invited a stranger into what she perceives as her home, Viktor,” Mel explained patiently. “She thinks you are trying to replace her.” 

Viktor considered that for a moment. Replace? Jinx? The thought alone was preposterous. First off, Ms. Young was a full grown adult and Jinx was a child. Second, Jinx was not an employee– she had no true position that could be replaced. Lastly, the idea that there was anyone in the world as charmingly brilliant and volatile as Jinx was laughable. It was statistically unlikely at the very least and Viktor would never in a million years seek them out for fear that bringing two people of Jinx’s talent together might put him out of business as well as blow up his lab. Jinx was not replaceable and even if she was he would never abandon her. She surely knew that. 

“That’s nonsensical,” he said. 

Mel sighed again. “Of course it is. This is Jinx.” 

“She knows better.” 

“Obviously not,” Mel said, her voice verging on clipped. “Or at least, her heart doesn’t. Whatever she’s been through– it's been enough to make her afraid, Viktor. No matter how many times you have assured her, her fear lingers.” 

“She’s not usually this bad.”

“She’s not had reason to feel threatened before.” 

Viktor ran a rough hand through his hair. “She does not have reason to feel threatened now.” 

“Have you never experienced something like this? When you came topside, did you never feel your position might be threatened by someone who intruded?” 

Viktor snorted. “No. I was good at my job.” If anyone had been the intruder, it had been him and he had fought tooth and nail to keep what he had managed to claw out for himself. He paused at the thought. Maybe he did understand after all.

He settled his hands on his cane and asked, “What do we do?” 

“I have no idea.” 

He was getting very tired of that answer. “If I had been taking advantage of your kindness there would not be much to take today,” he said dryly.

Mel rolled her eyes. “I am not a medical professional.”

This again. “You and Jayce,” Viktor muttered.

“I don’t think a doctor would be a bad idea.” 

“With the amount of information she couldn’t give, would it even be of any help?” 

Mel shrugged. “There’s no harm in trying.” 

“Oh I doubt that. Ailments of the mind are a highly theoretical field.” 

“ You work in a highly theoretical field.” 

“And because of that I know how dangerous experimental treatment can be.” He met Mel’s stare. Jayce and he had gone back and forth on this as well. Jayce was of the opinion that the medical doctors of Piltover were of the highest tier and could be trusted. The only thing Viktor trusted them to do was look at a child who had grown up in circumstances beyond her control and judge her for it. “She will not be a casualty of a young field. Just because she has had a hard life doesn’t mean that she is broken.” 

Mel held his gaze for a moment then tilted her head and shrugged. “As you wish.” 

“Giving up?” He was almost surprised. 

“This is a conversation you and Jayce should be having. I know you’ve had it before. I have my recommendations ready for the day you see reason.” 

“We will figure it out on our own.”

“Then stop asking me what you should do about the emotions of the volatile teenager you let near your explosives.” 

He supposed even he had to admit she had a point there. “You make it sound so bad.” 

“I don’t think it’s the greatest idea the two of you have ever had.” 

And their last great idea had resulted in them breaking into Heimerdinger’s lab in the dead of night. Another point. Viktor rallied to Jinx’s defense regardless. “She’s fine. She knows the dangers. She would not do anything on purpose.” 

Mel (judgmentally) picked up a pen from her paperwork and tapped in on her desk. “I suppose we will see about that.” 

It was a clear dismissal– an out of the conversation that they both knew would become debate if it ventured much further. Viktor did not sigh again. Sighing was going on the list of things he was tired of. 

“Thank you for your help,” he said instead. Maybe the insight was all Mel could provide but he would take whatever he could get– helpful or not. 

Mel tilted her head in acknowledgment and turned back to the paperwork that littered her desk. “Best of luck,” she replied and Viktor took his leave.

“Can you stop doing that to me?” Jayce whined the moment he spotted him. Viktor had only just slipped in the door of his apartment when Jayce’s head popped around the corner of the kitchen with a put upon expression.

“Doing what?” he returned as he slipped his shoes off and made his way inside. Jayce’s stare turned sullen and the edge of Viktor’s lip quirked. Jayce mumbled something about disappearing acts and strays as he stalked back into the kitchen. Viktor let the grin split his face and followed him. 

“You were busy and I had already told you I planned to speak with Mel,” Viktor said as he came around the corner. It was as close to an apology as Jayce was going to get. He did not promise not to do it again.

Jayce was on his own in the kitchen, not a completely uncommon occurrence and one more frequent with Jinx’s recent mood. Viktor was grateful for it. It gave them a chance to talk.

“What did Mel have to say?” Jayce asked, while he worked. Viktor pulled up one of the many stools he had stashed in the corners of the space and took a seat.

“Nothing concrete,” he replied.

Jayce scowled as he pulled seasonings from a cabinet. “Nothing?” 

Viktor gave a tired nod. Jayce’s frown deepened. 

“Not what I was hoping for.” 

“Me either.” 

“So what do we do?” 

Viktor shrugged. They were back at square one. “We wait.” 

Jayce groaned and Viktor agreed. He hated waiting. He just hoped that whatever was coming, it wouldn’t be too bad.

Chapter Text

“You sure you want to do this today?” Caitlyn asked for the third time. Jinx huffed in annoyance while she snapped the rifle into place.

“Why wouldn’t I?” She asked, lining it up with her view to make sure nothing had gone askew while she assembled and safety checked the rifle under Caitlyn’s watchful eye. 

Jinx had decided to forgo the lab today in favor of the far less unpleasant experience of the shooting range. Not that the lab was usually bad (and ideally it would be wonderful again soon) but playing nice was exhausting and even now that Jayce and Viktor’s scrutiny was fading it still stung. Jinx would usually have lessons on a day like this but luckily Viktor hadn’t insisted she get back to them yet so she was still free.

She was biding her time. Let them think that everything was going well. She was behaving. She was doing things that she usually did– like going to the range with Caitlyn. She liked the range– occasionally annoying and stuck up company aside. Caitlyn had the day off as promised and Jinx was willing to completely take advantage of any and all guilt she might have felt for previously canceling. 

But then Caitlyn had to start acting weird– like she thought something might be wrong with Jinx as she assembled the gun with jerky movements– like her eagerness to get in the field wasn’t normal. And then instead of taking her to shoot she had to be concerned . 

She had the gall to let Jinx sit and stew in the silence after questioning her. Jinx tried not to let it get under her skin but she couldn’t help it. She lowered the rifle and glared at the woman. Cait just cooly raised a brow at her like she wasn’t baiting Jinx and any of her temper flares were her doing alone. 

“You don’t seem like you’re in the right headspace,” was all she said. 

“I’m fine .” 

“You’re upset,” Cait corrected. 

Jinx tried to stand with her rifle so she could escape the conversation but Caitlyn surprised her by shoving her down to sit again. Jinx fell back on her ass with a huff and before she knew it, Cait had lifted her rifle out of reach– one hand holding it high in the sky in a way that Jinx knew from experience she would not be able to safely thwart. She let out a growl and prepared to bite.

“That’s not the face you make when there’s nothing wrong,” Cait said and, in an infuriating move, flicked her nose . 

Jinx let out an affronted sound and covered her nose with both her hands to protect it. “You stole my gun!” Her voice came out muffled and whiny and not nearly as intimidating as she meant it to be.

“Did you get in trouble with Jayce again? I’ve told you to stop antagonizing him.” 

“Why do you always think it's my fault?”

“I don’t but I do think you’re mean to him,” Cait said, stern expression in place. Then she relaxed a bit and offered Jinx a conspiratorial grin. “I don’t blame you. It’s a little bit fun.” 

Jinx gave her a glower. She wasn’t going to commiserate with Caitlyn after she’d shoved her, stolen her gun, and assaulted her. 

“So?” Cait pressed after a couple of minutes.

“It’s fine,” Jinx muttered, still rubbing at the tip of her nose. “I’m taking care of it.” 

There was what Jinx considered to be a deeply judgmental silence. Jinx scowled. She was taking care of it. 

“Give me my gun back,” she demanded as she stood, holding her hand out to Cait. Caitlyn stared at her a moment longer before she lowered her hand and offered Jinx the rifle– which she carefully snatched. 

“You’re sure?” Cait asked. 

“Yeah. I want to shoot.” She stared at the woman defiantly, daring her to push.

Cait relented. “Target practice only.” 

“Fine.” Jinx slung the gun onto her back. Target practice was fine. It wasn’t as fun as racing through the forest to compete with Cait’s sharpshooting but it was okay. The other might frustrate her anyways. She still hadn’t managed to beat Cait at a course run yet. Soon though. Soon she would know the sweet taste of victory, against Cait and Sky Young. And then she would move on to bigger and meaner fish. “Get your gun,” she said and petulantly kicked Cait’s bag from where she had placed it on the bench. 

She heard the expected noises of the clattering metal of the disassembled rifle sliding to the ground but something caught her eye. A soft thump followed as something hand sized and leather bound slid out and fell open, yellowing pages fluttering, exposed to the soft breeze of the gun range. A book.

A book whose notes in the margins and torn cover she recognized. Jinx felt herself go cold and the horrifying pit in her stomach that was always there opened wider.

 “What is this?” She asked and tried not to be suspicious as she toed it with her boot. Maybe she could fake an angry fit and kick it into the woods to never be seen again. However before she could act on the plan, Cait snatched up the eerily familiar copy of A History of Piltover’s Founders.

“Evidence.”

“Evidence?” 

“I’m doing an investigation into a prisoner that escaped from Stillwater Hold.” 

The cold feeling that wasn’t fear seeped deeper into Jinx’s bones. She had known she was looking. She had just– She was hoping–

“Where did you find this?” she asked, numb. She knew the answer to the question. It bore too many resemblances to the one Jayce had pulled from her cell to not be it. “I thought you were against stealing?”

“You recognize it?” Cait’s voice was sharp and interested and Jinx felt a sudden jolt as the adrenaline hit her all at once. She was acting incredibly suspicious. Cait would know. Cait would figure it out and Sky Young wouldn’t matter anymore because Jayce and Viktor would be in trouble and Jinx would be back in her cell in Stillwater– her chances of escape gone and the people who came to rescue her none the wiser that she had returned. Jinx thought fast. She let the horror and the not-fear slide by. She stood straight and did the best impression of Mel she could muster. Calm. Cool. Clear like water.

Jinx changed her expression to the slightly disdainful but casually interested expression Mel wore when she talked politics. Jinx breathed in. Never afraid. Never ruffled. And out. Eternally poised. If Jinx could achieve a fraction of Mel’s collection she’d be okay. She had to believe that.

“It’s from Viktor’s bookshelf,” she said, giving nothing away. 

“You’ve read it?” Cait pushed. No evidence of that but Jinx read everything in Viktor’s library.

“Maybe once,” she admitted. “When I was sick and bored. Why do you have it? It’s a book. What kind of evidence could it be?” 

How had Cait even found it? Better yet, how had she known to look for it? The cold in her bones wouldn’t dissipate. Jinx refused to give in to the urge to wrap her arms around herself.

Cait’s silence in answer to the question was telling. Jinx tried to stay focused. Caitlyn was feeling guilty. If she told her why, maybe she could use it against her somehow. 

“Promise you won’t tell anyone,” Cait demanded. 

“Promise,” Jinx lied. Then Cait stuck out her hand, pinky finger raised. Jinx wrinkled her nose. “What are you, five?”

Caitlyn grinned and wiggled her pinky finger tauntingly. “Swear it,” she said. “Not even Viktor.” 

Jinx stared at the offered appendage and she somehow felt a lot worse when she took it with her own and said, “Swear. Not even Viktor.” It was a blatant falsehood. She’d be running to him the second this was over. 

“I snuck into the hold to investigate,” she said softly– like it was a life altering secret that little Caitlyn Kirramman was a rule breaker who went against orders– like her life would somehow be affected if she was found out– like she couldn’t throw money at the problem and make it disappear. “The prisoner that escaped had library access and this is one of or possibly the last book they had checked out. When I stopped by to see Jayce the other night I nabbed this from Viktor’s bookshelf.” 

“So you have a copy of the same book,” Jinx said. A slight relief. She didn’t know.

“No,” Cait said excitedly. “It is specifically this one.” Caitlyn flipped open the book to the torn pages where Viktor had ripped out the Stillwater library seal before he’d said she could keep it. “The library mark is gone but –” she flipped further in, “the notes in the margins of the book match the handwriting of the notes I’ve found in the other books I was able to pull. So this is it. This is the book that they had last.” 

“Then why was it on Viktor’s bookshelf? It can’t be the same book. You must be wrong.” 

“Jayce investigated the breakout on behalf of Councilor Medarda.” Cait said, snapping the book closed. Jinx opened her mouth to protest but Cait held up a hand. “I’m not accusing him of anything, I think he took this home for a reason– that it's some kind of clue– and he never returned it. He probably left it at Viktor’s at some point. That’s why I needed to talk to him the other night– why I still need to.” 

The protest died on her lips. “Oh.” 

“Has he been avoiding me?” Cait asked– ever suspicious.

“No. He’s just busy with… stuff .” 

“Right.”

Cait looked frustrated at that answer but it was the truth. Jayce didn’t know he needed to be avoiding her. He would soon. Jinx worried her lip. Would it be suspicious to dig? She wanted to know. She needed to know. 

“Do you think you have a lead? Did the book get you anywhere?”

“Hopefully. I don’t know for sure yet. Do you…” Cait stopped and looked unsure. 

Jinx hesitated. “Do I what?” 

Caityln pulled herself back together from her moment of doubt. She raised herself to her full height, pinning Jinx under her gaze. (Calm. Cool. Clear like water. Like Mel– Jinx repeated in her mind.) She held her own and tried not to fidget. 

 “Like I said, Jayce visited the prison around the time of the breakout on orders from Councilor Medarda.” 

“Yeah?” 

“You were living with Viktor around that time,” Cait said. Jinx was sure the next thing that came out of her mouth would be an accusation but instead– “Know anything about it? Do you remember anything?” 

“No.”

“You’re sure?” 

“Yes,” Jinx replied– curt and tired. She found she could no longer resist the urge to wrap her arms around herself– which was awful because she knew it made her look small and miserable. She didn’t want to look pathetic. She wanted to look like Mel. She wanted to say that was interesting and move on with her day like it didn’t matter. She wanted to be unaffected. Instead she said,  “I want to go home.” 

Cait looked taken aback. “I thought you wanted to shoot.” 

“Changed my mind.” Jinx looked at the ground. She heard Caitlyn shuffling in front of her. 

“Sorry,” she said and Jinx felt her hand land on her shoulder and squeeze. It was very Jayce like– something she had undoubtedly picked up from him. “I know you don’t like anything to do with my work. I shouldn’t have asked.” 

Jinx just shrugged and pulled away. She forced herself to start packing up slowly. She really didn’t want to shoot anymore. She needed to tell Viktor and Jayce what was going on. She needed to plan. She needed to keep the panic at bay. 

“You’re sure you’re okay?” 

There were only so many times she could lie in one interaction so Jinx didn’t bother to respond. She just kept her back turned and disassembled her rifle. She found herself asking against her better judgment, “What are you gonna do if you find that prisoner?” 

Caitlyn seemed hesitant to answer but Jinx slung her bag onto her back and faced her. She needed to know. 

“Try to recapture them probably.” 

Figured. “Why?”

Caitlyn sighed again. Jinx could see that she thought this was turning into a debate. She thought she had to defend herself. “Because they are a criminal,” she said. “Because they escaped the punishment handed down from the court. They killed an enforcer.” 

Jinx paused. It was risky. It was an opportunity. But maybe– maybe– 

“Which one?” 

“Jinx!” 

“No, I mean–” Jinx protested. Cait was getting defensive and upset. That wouldn’t do. That wouldn’t work. “Maybe I did hear something.”

There was a tense silence before Caitlyn begrudgingly asked, “What do you mean?” 

“What was the name of the enforcer who got killed?” Jinx pressed.

“What does that have anything to do with anything?” 

It had everything to do with it. Viktor told her. She hadn’t killed that enforcer. Cait was smart. Cait was looking for a mystery. Toss her a different one and it might buy Jinx more time. But she couldn’t solve it for her or give her too much. She could only give her a hint. “I don’t know,” she said, pushing past Cait. “Go find out.” 

She scurried away as she heard Cait let out a frustrated noise behind her. She was already out the gates of the range by the time Cait had called out a “Wait! Jinx!” Jinx did not wait. She was on her way to break her promise. Viktor needed to know– at least so he could protect himself and Jayce. There probably wasn’t anything they could do for her. The panic rose now that she broke into a run. The surface had broken and Jinx stumbled as she dashed back to the lab, trying to blame the heavy, quick breaths on physical strain rather than the prelude to another fit. She’d had enough of those lately. She couldn’t take another. 

“Viktor!” Jinx all but yelled as she skidded into the lab, chest heaving, eyes darting around the empty room. It took her longer than it should have to realize the lights were off. She stood, shaking in the doorway as it bounced slowly back from where she had hit it against the wall from the force of opening it. She glanced around, wary and confused. It was a work day. Viktor and Jayce should be here but they weren’t. The more she looked the more she knew that there was nobody in the lab. Not the two of them and not Sky Young. She took in a deep breath and walked in– letting the door swing closed behind her. If they weren’t here– if they weren’t here then–

Then they must be with Sky Young somewhere. In the new hexgate probably. Far above the city looking down. Jinx gritted her teeth and stalked to her work bench. No invitation. No note to say where they’d gone. Nothing. Jinx wrapped her shaking hands around the edge of her desk and wanted nothing more than to flip it. She tried but the damn thing was too heavy and when it didn’t budge despite the strain in her muscles she struck out with her arm. The sweeping motion knocked her tools and papers to the ground in a satisfying clatter. Metal struck metal and Jinx breathed deep as the deafening ring faded. 

They were up there. Without her. They didn’t even know that Jinx was in danger. They didn’t even care that she could be. They were too busy to spare her a thought. She pressed her forehead into the cool steel of her work table– letting the indents of the metal leave red marks on her face from the pressure. 

What would be the point in telling them? What could they do anyways– distracted as they were by work and their new favorite charity case? They probably wouldn’t believe her anyways.They’d just think it another scheme to get rid of Sky Young– to get their attention. Jinx could feel the walls closing in from all sides and knew she’d made them herself. Nobody trusted her. Nobody would protect her. Nobody would come for her in the end when the truth came out.

But she’d already known that. She had to keep going anyways. That was the difference between who she was and who she used to be. She could not freeze. She would do what she had to.

She lifted her head from the desk and looked at the mess she’d made. She’d need to clean it up before Jayce and Viktor got back. She couldn’t let them think something was wrong. They couldn’t return to find her hiding under her desk like a little kid– no matter how tempting the thought was.

She needed to move up her plans. Sky Young still needed to go. It would be riskier and she had a higher chance of getting caught but she didn’t have time anymore. She needed to go as soon as possible and then Viktor and Jayce would trust her again. She could tell them what Caitlyn was doing. They could figure something out together like they always did– like they were supposed to. There was no room for intruders– for people trying to work their way inside their confidences. No room for silly Undercity girls who were too weak and soft spoken to make it on their own. Jinx had been like that once– a victim. She remembered what it was like. But there was a core difference between her and Sky Young– Jinx hadn’t broken. Sky Young would. She hadn’t been hardened like Jinx– who had too much to lose. Not today. Someday. But not today.

“You’re back early,” Jayce said in surprise– paused at the front door to the lab. 

Jinx didn’t look up. “I didn’t know you’d be gone.” 

She continued to write in her notebook. She couldn’t see but she heard the clicking of Viktor’s cane as he pushed past into the lab.

“We did not know you would be here,” Viktor said. It wasn’t an apology but it wasn’t not one. 

“Whatever,” she muttered– crouching further over her notes. Her plans to not be bitter were going less well than she hoped. She heard Viktor snort and Jayce sigh at her response. She did look up then if only to give Viktor a mean look for laughing at her. He only smiled his crooked smile, raising a hand in apology as he made his way across the lab. It made her stomach churn. He acted like nothing was wrong. She guessed for him nothing was. 

She caught a flash of Sky Young coming through the door behind Jayce who seemed to have finally decided to move. Jinx moved her eyes back to her notebook but then hesitated. She lifted a hand and waved in the direction she knew they were. She didn’t want to look at her right now but she still wanted Viktor and Jayce to not suspect anything. 

Even with her eyes on her notes, she felt it when Jayce came up behind her. His heavy steps on the lab floor were more than enough warning but she thought that even without them, she would feel his large presence in the room. She wondered sometimes if he genuinely was that loud when he was walking or if it was something he did for her benefit– to prevent from startling her when he walked up behind her. She felt his hand land on her shoulder and squeeze, the same gesture Cait had made early today. 

“Did you have fun at the range?” he asked. 

“It was okay,” she lied. 

“Just okay?” Another squeeze. She tilted her head back all the way and then fell backwards. She felt his hand immediately shift to make sure she didn’t fall to the ground and instead her head was resting against his side. She stared up at him while he gave her an amused look from above. The noncommittal wave to Sky had apparently worked. He looked pleased with her. She blew a raspberry at him. 

Jayce rolled his eyes before sliding his other hand to her shoulder and tilting her back into place at her bench. 

“What are you working on?” he asked since she hadn’t answered his other question. Jinx blinked. He’d given her a good in. She took it. 

“I was thinking…” she said. Jayce came in closer behind her and made a questioning noise. 

“I was thinking that Sky’s learned enough to run through the oscillator experiment.” 

She felt Jayce shift behind her. 

“It's still fairly early,” Jayce said. 

“She’s passing the rune knowledge tests I’m giving her.” With just enough inconsistencies that Viktor and Jayce would hopefully think them mistakes, not Jinx intentionally misleading her. She could tell Jayce was thinking about it. 

“Viktor and I should review with her first.” 

“No!” Jinx quickly added, “I mean. I’ve already worked with her a ton. Way more than you and Viktor worked with me. If she doesn’t have it by now then…” 

Jayce sighed and suddenly he was sitting next to her on the bench. Jinx snapped her notes closed and turned to face him, legs brought up and crisscrossed. She would get her way. Sky Young would attempt the experiment and fail. Jayce and Viktor would begin to see that she wasn’t worth their time. Better yet, Sky Young would start to realize she shouldn’t have been so confident in the first place. Jinx had wanted to start smaller– slower– really chip away at both their trust in Sky and Sky’s trust in herself. But desperate times called for desperate measures. A large failing now would set the tone for the rest of Sky’s stint in the lab. She wondered which would be the first to give.

“Not everyone is you,” Jayce said and tweaked her nose. Jinx resisted the urge to bite his hand while he grinned. What was it with everyone and her nose today?  “Sky is progressing at her own pace. She’ll be ready for it soon.” 

Jinx took a breath, preparing to argue while also trying to figure out how to make it still seem like she didn’t care when– 

“I agree with Jinx,” Viktor chimed in from across the room. He was standing at his own desk rifling through the papers that were spread across it.

“You do?” Jayce asked in surprise.

Viktor absentmindedly pressed his fingers into the muscle of his bad leg. Jinx zeroed in on it. He only did that when it was bothering him more than normal. “The oscillator experiment is a good test. Set up properly, it poses no danger. It will be a good practical application.” 

Jayce gave his words more consideration than he’d given Jinx’s– which she knew was fair but still stung. He looked across the room to where Sky was at her own work space. Jinx eagerly turned to look too. 

“Sky?” Jayce prompted.

Caught under both their gazes, Sky fidgeted for a moment then gave a nervous smile. “I’d like to try,” she said to Jayce. Then turned her gaze towards Jinx. The smile became less nervous. “Jinx has been helpful. I’m sure she just wants to prove she’s taught me well.” 

Jinx scowled. Both at Sky smiling at her and the implication. “I won’t have anything to do with your success,” she said. “It’s all you. I’m not helping you through it. If you fail, you failed. Not me.” 

She expected Sky to falter at the hostility but instead she just smiled bigger. “I want to try,” she said. Jinx heard Jayce make a noise of affirmation and grinned. She hopped off the bench in single quick movement.

“We can do it now–”

Jayce’s hand landed on her shoulder and pulled her to a stop. “We’re not doing it now,”  he said and pulled Jinx back to the bench despite her struggling. “She needs the details of the experiment so she can work on her plan for it.” 

“I didn’t get to plan for it,” Jinx protested.

“That’s because you didn’t ask for permission. If you had, we would have given you time to plan and reviewed your work. Which is what we should do with Sky.” Jayce had turned to look at Viktor for confirmation. Jinx couldn’t let them review Sky’s work for the experiment. Sky needed to fail and she needed to fail all on her own. 

“No,” Jinx said and turned on Jayce. “You did it under pressure,” She pressed her finger into his chest hard then turned her finger to point at herself. “I did it under pressure. She does it under pressure.” 

Jayce paid her no mind and instead looked to Viktor again with a raised brow. Jinx scowled and also turned to look at Viktor. He was the deciding factor here, she knew that. Whether her plan would sink or swim would depend on his response. Viktor was hard. He valued independence. If she had swayed him at all it would have been with the argument to test Sky– to see what she could do under her own power. 

Viktor seemed to be considering. He had stopped messing with the papers at his desk– leaving them in a much neater pile than before. He paused then turned to lean against his desk to look at the two of them. Eventually he tilted his head. “Copy the experiment worksheet I gave to you after your attempt, Jinx. Ms. Young may have that much information at least and she will have an hour to prepare her approach.” 

“But–”

“You may supervise the experiment. You had been in the lab with us much longer than Ms. Young has and had seen the experiment done before. This will give her an equal advantage.” 

Jinx scowled. She probably couldn’t push anymore without being suspicious. She thought about it a little bit. It wasn’t the worst compromise. She could make that work. “Fine. I’ll write it out for her,” she said begrudgingly. 

“I can copy it,” Sky said from almost right next to her. Jinx jumped. She hadn’t even noticed her approaching. Sky Young was looking down at her, wide doe eyes earnest. She was looking towards Jinx’s lab book. Jinx snatched it up, clutched it to her chest and glared. Sky faltered. 

Jayce snorted and Jinx squawked as he ruined her intimidation tactics by ruffling her hair. “Don’t bother. Jinx is very protective of her journal.” 

Sky Young blinked. “Journal?” 

“It’s an experiment log.”

“Just for work then?” Sky eyed the book curiously.

“Yes,” Jinx said at the same time as Jayce said,  “No.” 

She turned to glare at him . “Can you shut up?”

“No.” He grinned. Then laughed in her face when she tried to glare harder. “I keep a journal too.” 

“Journals are for babies.” 

“Log books can be read by anyone,” Jayce fired back. “Journals are more personal. It’s okay to keep both.” 

“Well I don’t.” 

Jayce looked amused. “Uh-huh.” 

Jinx decided she wasn’t going to waste anymore time today. She snapped open her book and turned her back on Jayce pointedly. “When I’m done I’ll set up the oscillator room.” 

“You want to run it today?” 

“Yes?” Jinx blinked. “It’s only 3 pm.” 

There was a short silence before Viktor said, “That’s a bit of a rush.” 

“You don’t think she can do it?” she challenged. He had argued the most for her skill. He wanted to test her. His faith would be the hardest to break. 

“Not at all,” he said– though if it was meant to placate her or Sky she wasn’t sure. “You’re usually more tired from the range though.” 

“I’m fine,” Jinx muttered. Where had that concern been when she needed it earlier? When she’d come running in only to find the lab empty and no one there for her to turn to. 

“Well, I was thinking of going home early,” Viktor said. 

Jinx blinked. “But you never go home early,” she said. Then turned to look at him again– to reassess. Now that she looked closer, he was subtly pushing his worse leg harder into the metal of the desk– probably hoping the pressure would release tension. She narrowed her eyes. Viktor was rarely in enough pain that he let physical ticks get the better of him. He rarely let it affect his work either. 

“We got plenty done today,” Viktor said. “I am leaving.” Jinx narrowed her eyes. He hadn’t said There was too much walking. I don’t want to stand much longer but she knew that it was true if he was doing something as drastic as going home early. She spun on Jayce. 

“You aren’t going to take care of him?” This was Sky’s fault, clearly, but Jayce was also to blame. He was usually more vigilant about accommodating Viktor in ways that wouldn’t hurt his pride. If he’d been negligent it was only because of Sky Young’s presence. Still, she shouldn’t have to be the one to tell him. 

Jayce looked at Viktor over her shoulder. She didn’t know what the exchange between the two of them was but he raised his hands in apology. “I still have things to get done.”

“I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Viktor said lightly. 

“No,” Jinx said, quickly sweeping her logbook and papers into her arms. “You’re right. I am tired from the range.” It was an obvious lie. Viktor rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. He pushed himself from his desk and walked to the door of the lab– likely fixing to leave without her just to prove a point. Jinx rushed up next to him still scrambling to make sure she had everything. She slotted herself in at his side and looked up to find a secret, crooked smile on his face.

“You can finish copying the pages for Ms. Young at home,” he said, brushing his free hand across her shoulders.  “We will see you tonight?” He tossed back to Jayce.

“My turn to cook.” 

“I can start it,” Jinx said then felt two separate doubtful gazes on her. “If I don’t you know Viktor will. He’s stubborn,” she defended.

Jayce sighed. “Fine. I’m trusting you.” 

Jinx grinned despite herself– feeling a tiny bit better at the words. 

Viktor opened the door and gestured for Jinx to step through. “Come on.”

Jinx had the feeling she’d been played. She scowled as she sat across from Viktor in the kitchen while she peeled potatoes.

“You’re not really in pain, are you?” she said. 

The walk home had only taken a little longer than normal. Viktor, despite having made his pain more obvious than usual, did not seem to be struggling. And unlike a day with real pain, he had not retreated to his room when they’d arrived home. Instead he had perched himself on a stool at the kitchen counter with a book and begun to read while he lightly supervised Jinx’s dinner preparations. 

He hummed quietly in response to Jinx’s question, looking up from his book. She scowled at him and the corner of his lip ticked up again. 

“Only as much as I ever am,” he admitted. “There is perhaps more today than most.”

“But not enough that you would usually stop,” Jinx said. She knew it was true. “Why did we go home?” 

“I wasn’t lying. I had gotten enough done today. This way we do not keep Ms. Young past her scheduled time so early in her work and…” Viktor trailed off.

“What?” 

“You seemed unhappy.” 

Jinx’s scowl returned with full force. She was unhappy but it was rude of Viktor to notice. Jayce hadn’t.

Or maybe he had? Perhaps the closeness, the affection he had given her had not been in response to her manufactured wave to Sky Young. Jinx faltered. 

Viktor put his book down and Jinx knew that somehow she had stepped wrong. She prepared for an inquisition. Instead he said, quietly, genuinely: “It has been a little while since we spent the day together.” 

“We could be spending more time together if you’d let me work with you in the lab like Sky,” Jinx pointed out.

“Your education comes first. You will be ready soon. I promise.” Jinx forced her eyes back down to the potato she was peeling in an effort not to stab it through. It was the same tired response he kept giving her. She was tired of hearing it. When Sky Young was finally gone again Viktor would see. He’d come around. Things would be okay again. 

She expected the conversation to dwindle off since she wasn’t going to argue. It did for a moment but she could feel Viktor’s golden eyes tracking her every movement, pinning her like a slide under a microscope– dissecting her like maybe if he cut deep enough and hard enough all her secrets would come crawling out like worms from inside the rot of an apple. 

“Are you happy?” 

Jinx’s knife slipped. A long red gash split the muscle of her palm up the side of her thumb. She stared down at it and felt it when Viktor jumped from his stool with enough force to knock it backwards. 

“Jinx!” 

“What do you mean?” she asked. But Viktor wasn’t paying attention to her– too busy grabbing a towel and rushing over to her to wrap it around her bleeding hand with none too gentle pressure. Jinx hissed at the pain and made to jerk her hand out of his grasp but Viktor held tight– keeping even pressure on the wound.

“Careful,” he said.

“I can do it myself,” she growled, trying to get him to let go. 

“I know,” he said and instead wrapped the towel tighter and herded her towards the bathroom. Once there he sat her on the toilet and grabbed the first aid kit he kept under the sink. Jinx had been through this several times before. She kept her hand wrapped while Viktor perched himself on the edge of the tub and held his hand out for her. She considered it. 

Viktor sighed. “Things would be easier if you let me help,” he said. Jinx wondered if this conversation was still just about her cut. She relented with great hesitance. Viktor reached out and began to peel back the bloody towel to wash the wound. 

It wasn’t even that bad. Jinx had had far worse and surely Viktor had too. It wasn’t even that deep– just long. It wouldn’t need stitches. Why fuss over something so small? 

“What did you mean?” she asked again while she let Viktor finish cleaning the cut. He didn’t answer at first. Then–

“I spoke to Mel.” 

“Oh. Great.” 

Viktor let out a short, hard laugh. Jinx could see him grinning even as he looked down to  rub ointment into her hand. “You sound like me.” 

“Learned from the best,” she grumbled. Viktor hummed.

“She cares for you a great deal, you know?”

“She thinks she knows everything.”

“She does know a great many things,” he admitted. At least he sounded chagrined about it. Hopefully he would still be willing to put aside whatever nonsense Mel was filling his head with. “But that does not answer my original question.”

“I forgot what you asked,” Jinx lied as he finished applying the medicine and began to wrap her hand up in gauze.

“Are you happy?” Viktor repeated– softer this time. His hands were burningly gentle in contrast to how he had held the towel firm against her bleeding skin earlier.

Jinx swallowed. “I’m fine.” 

“I would prefer if you were more than fine.” 

You could get rid of Sky Young, she wanted to say. That would make her happy. But she didn’t say it. She’d worked hard to patch things so far. And, when she thought about it, she had been fine before Sky came along too. Just fine. Happy? Sometimes. Maybe. When she was working or when she was busy. When she forgot she wasn’t supposed to be. She knew the answer that Viktor wanted. She didn’t think she could bring herself to lie to him about it so she remained silent. 

The nice thing about Viktor was that, for the most part, he didn’t push. When she didn’t answer him he just kept wrapping till her hand was covered. He tisked as he turned it over in his palm– making sure it was secure. At last, he dropped her hand.

“I know that change is hard, but sometimes it is necessary,” he said. Jinx pulled her hand to her chest while she stared at the ground. “Things will be alright.”

Things wouldn’t be alright. But that was the way things were. 

“What happens if Sky fails the experiment tomorrow?” Jinx asked, still looking at the floor.

“She will not. Ms.Young is smart. She will pass with flying colors.” 

“I passed with flying colors first and faster and without time to prepare.” 

“You very rarely do things unprepared,” Viktor said. He picked up his cane from where he had rested it against the tub and stood. He waited for Jinx to stand as well. He didn’t offer her a hand up. He knew she didn’t need it. He was so good at knowing when she did and didn’t need things.  “It is not a competition,” he said. “You do not need to prove yourself.” 

Jinx almost believed him. Viktor didn’t lie. Not to her. If there was anyone in the world she could trust to help her it was Viktor. Viktor who saved her from the enforcers. Viktor who protected her from Jayce and Mel. Viktor who followed her into the war zone that was the Lanes without even being sure she’d been there. Viktor who brought her home.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. She wished for a second it had been on her head– brushing her hair out like when she was smaller and before she was made of glass shards and needles. 

“I wish you wouldn’t do this,” he said. Though what this was, Jinx wasn’t sure. “I wish you would let me help.” 

And for a moment Jinx considered it. She considered slicing herself open and spilling out the truth with her guts onto the floor. That she was in trouble– that she was trouble. That Cait was looking for her. That things were going to go wrong. That he should just give up now. That she needed him. That the only thing loving her had ever done was hurt people. 

But she couldn’t. She couldn’t ask him to love her still after that and she still needed him.

She brushed past Viktor and marched out of the bathroom in silence. She heard Viktor sigh as she did so and then the click of his cane as he followed. Jinx stalked back to the potatoes and determinedly picked up the knife again. The wrapping around her hand made the potato hard to hold. The pain was there– bright and sharp– but secondary to the annoyance of it. Still, she started to peel again and ignored the soft way that Viktor warned that she was going to make the injury worse by moving it– by not giving it the time and attention to heal. He eventually seemed to give up and stopped commenting on it as she continued to work. In return she didn’t comment on the way that when she did look up he looked so very sad.

“Tell me more about the experiment?” Even though Jinx thought it was meant to be a demand, the lilt at the end made it more of a question. She snorted while Sky Young flipped through the papers that Jinx had written out for her..

“It’s easy,” she replied.

“More than that please?” 

“Can you not read?” Jinx huffed. She pointed at the papers. She’d spent all that time writing out the experiment worksheet only for Sky to soundly ignore it and start questioning her instead. “It's the first thing Jayce and Viktor ever did with the crystals– when they negated gravity.” 

“I see. It sounds fascinating,” Sky said as she skimmed the notes. 

“It is. And with all the extra information you have it should be simple.”

Sky didn’t respond to that– seeming to become engrossed in the papers at last. Jinx swung her legs back and forth from her perch on Sky’s work table and fidgeted with the new bandage on her hand. 

When Jayce had arrived at Viktor’s home the night before he had immediately begun fretting over her cut. Jinx had tried to shake him off but she’d been promptly ousted from dinner preparations and then fussed over to an excessive amount. Viktor had been chided for letting her continue to work but had soundly defended himself as having no ability to stop Jinx– who had been dead-set on finishing the task. Jayce had re-wrapped it again later in the evening and then again this morning when she’d arrived at the lab. It was annoying but Jinx tolerated it and let him fret.

Being kicked off of dinner preparations had given her time to plot as well as finish the experiment notes. She had decided the best way to go about this was to be as accurate as possible. The failure at foundation would be enough for Sky to flunk this experiment. Jinx didn’t need to do much else besides sit, watch, and remind her that only an idiot could possibly fail.

“It’s really easy,” Jinx said looking over Sky’s shoulder to see where she was. “You’d have to be pretty incompetent to do this wrong. But Jayce and Viktor say you’re smart. So there’s no way you can screw this up.”

Sky was approaching the end of the worksheet. “Your confidence in me is inspiring,” she said and somehow didn’t sound sarcastic at all. She really was good, Jinx thought. It was no wonder she had Jayce and Viktor under her thumb. Sky smiled at her and Jinx cocked her head. She couldn’t find it in herself to smile back but she could at least not be outright hostile. The gesture seemed to put Sky at ease and her smile grew. “I appreciate you taking the time to teach me. I know we got off on the wrong foot but I’m really thankful you’re giving me a chance.” 

It was said so earnestly that it made Jinx grit her teeth. She crossed her arms and looked away.

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Just finish reading so we can run this.” 

Jinx closed the door to the oscillator room with finality. The first blow to Sky Young was almost complete. She left the door unlocked. There was no danger of Viktor and Jayce entering and suspecting her now. Even if they did come to check, all they’d see was Sky Young struggling. In fact, she hoped they came to check. Jinx would be out of range “supervising”. They’d see she had nothing to do with Sky’s failure. Jinx almost smiled but quelled it. She was so close. 

“How do you feel?” she asked Sky as she turned from the door and made her way to the wall opposite the oscillator and began to input the code for the safe that held the hexcrystals safely inside. 

“Confident,” Sky said and Jinx paused. She almost did sound confident. Then, of course, Sky followed it up with, “I can do this?”

Jinx snorted again and continued with the pass code. “Was that a question?” 

“I’m nervous.” 

“You’ll be fine,” she lied and opened one of the compartments– removing a single hexcrystal and holding it up against the artificial light of the room. “Like I said, you’d have to be stupid not to get this right.” 

She turned and brought the crystal to Sky, holding it tightly till the other woman extended her hand. Jinx clutched it nervously. 

“Careful,” she said, then gently handed it to Sky. She might want her to fail but she didn’t feel like getting blown up. 

Sky nodded and took it from Jinx with great care. She was at least smart enough to do that. She stared at the gem held in both hands and mimicked Jinx’s actions– holding it up to the light just as she had and staring at the opaque luminescent core. 

“It’s beautiful,” she said with reverence. Jinx shifted uncomfortably. They were beautiful. They had also ruined her life. But who was she to hold her own actions against Jayce and Viktor’s life work? She moved back to her observation desk and sat down. She folded her arms and watched Sky expectantly. 

Sky looked at her once she was done looking over the crystal. Jinx raised an eyebrow and gestured to the machine. She wouldn’t get anymore out of Jinx. This was all her now. 

“Right,” Sky said– then squared her shoulders and smiled nervously. “Well. Here I go.” 

And go she did. Jinx watched as she properly inserted the crystal (Jinx had made sure that she’d at least seen that before. Again, she didn’t want to be blown up) and then began the oscillator speed inputs. There were multiple Jinx knew– had known from the moment she’d decided to do the experiment herself. The crystal needed to be worked up to the right frequency. You couldn’t just jump to it– the mechanism itself would destabilize from the energy output. Unlike the first iterations of the machine, now it was geared to stop if it became overwhelmed instead of letting the crystal destabilize. Jinx watched it like a hawk regardless– just in case. 

She had to admit, even if it was only to herself, that Sky wasn’t as useless as she would have liked to believe. There was a reason Viktor had wanted to work with her, pity aside. Sky hit the marks on the head for shifting the speeds at just the right time frames. She didn’t fumble but moved with confidence as she brought the oscillator to its peak. Blue lightning arched inside the spinning rings and the glow lit Sky’s brilliant smile as she read the numbers and compared them to her own notes. 

Jinx remembered that feeling– the exhilaration of seeing it for the first time and knowing she’d gotten it right. That there, right there, was an immense power at her fingertips– waiting for direction. And she’d known, just like Sky, that she could harness it. That she would be successful. Except, of course, unlike Sky she’d learned correctly. She’d stolen Jayce and Viktor’s notes on the runes and backwards engineered it on her own. Sky was not so lucky. Though maybe if she’d been a little more thorough in her work instead of relying on someone else she wouldn’t be in this mess. Yes. It really was Sky’s fault. Jinx would never have relied on another person to get what she wanted. It was all her. 

She wondered what it would be like for Sky to make it so far– to have all this at her fingertips only to fail at the very last step. She didn’t have to wonder for long. Sky made for the rune device and began to input the symbols. Jinx watched closely and felt a small surge of contempt. She could see what exactly Sky was putting in and she knew that if Sky Young had been taught correctly, her assumptions about the runes would have worked. She would have been floating in the midst of electric blue– arcane energy arcing from her fingertips as she hung weightlessly in the air. 

Instead she heard the sound of the oscillator shutting down. Sky let out a small alarmed noise as she watched the rings slow down and pull to a stop. The excitement in her eyes died and Jinx tried not to smile. 

“That should have worked,” she said. Then less confidently, “Why didn’t it work?” 

The doubt was already setting in. Jinx shook her head when Sky looked to her with a wounded expression. “I can’t help you,” she said. “I’m only allowed to supervise. You have to figure it out yourself.” 

“Why–” Sky cut herself off. She turned back to the machine and Jinx was surprised to see a small flicker of determination in her eyes. “No. I know it’s right,” she said, starting up the oscillator again. “I must have pressed the wrong rune. I’ll try again.” 

“Take as much time as you need,” Jinx said. It wasn’t a problem. That determination would die a little more with each attempt and soon Sky Young would be left with no doubt that she had failed. The first large chip in her confidence that Jinx would widen and exploit till Sky Young knew she wasn’t where she belonged.

Sky’s second attempt failed. 

So did her third. 

Jinx watched her dive back into her notes desperately. 

“If it’s not that, it's this one…No. That contradicts with this one…” she was muttering to herself. Jinx laid back in her chair, watching the oscillator spin. The trick of it was that there really was only one way to go about it– only one way that made sense if you knew the right meaning of the runes. But Sky didn’t. With harmless ones switched in, the oscillator wouldn’t fire and without a coherent channel, the mechanism would turn itself off in error. Sky could try as hard as she liked but it wouldn’t work.

And yet the woman wouldn't stop. Again and again she tried. Jinx leaned forward in begrudging respect. She had been so sure that failure would break Sky Young’s confidence. Yet there in her expression that spark of determination had become a true flame. She wasn’t giving up and, somehow, against all of what Jinx had thought of her, she was railing against her failings. 

But it still wouldn’t matter. She was still failing and when she eventually stopped it would come crashing down around her. It was time to put an end to this farce.

“It’s okay if you want to call it,” Jinx said, standing from her chair. “We can go over it and–” 

“No,” Sky snapped.

Jinx blinked in surprise. “No?”

“I can do it.” 

“Listen,” she tried to reason. “I’m sure Jayce and Viktor–” 

“The frameworks bad. I need to reassess,” she muttered, deep in her notes– eyes fevered and frantic.

“It’s okay to give up–” Jinx tried to sooth. This was getting hard to watch. Then Sky Young looked up from her notes and grinned blindingly at her. Before she could stop her, her hands were back on the runes. Jinx felt a wave of apprehension overtake her. “What are you–” 

“I am not stupid,” Sky said with fever. She slammed her hands down on a series of runes that Jinx followed with wide eyes.

She realized quite suddenly that there was more than one way to input the directions for this arcane channel. As Sky’s fingers swiftly moved over them, pressing each rune Jinx had to admit that she was witnessing a stroke of true, desperate, Undercity genius. It was intuitive, unexpected, and insolent. It was a solution she hadn’t thought of– one she hadn’t considered since she’d passed the initial experiment the easy way and moved on to bigger and brighter things. She would have been impressed if she hadn’t been hurling herself to Sky’s side in alarm. 

Because, yes, the runes Sky picked would have worked– if they’d meant what she thought they meant. Which they didn’t. Because of Jinx. Who could only watch in horror as the oscillator pulsed with light and the rings began to make a strange groaning noise as they spun faster and faster– far beyond the limits of the machine. 

Jinx had a split second to react. She grabbed Sky by the shoulders and shoved her to the floor. 

“Down!” She yelled and threw herself down beside her as there was a high pitched wheezing sound, a horrid screech, and an explosion of blue light.

Chapter Text

The first of the oscillator rings that ripped from the mechanism was the largest. It went spinning above Jinx’s head as she let out a sobbing breath. If she hadn’t dropped– if she hadn’t pushed Sky down– but there was another eruption of light and Jinx heard the screeching of rent metal as another ring was ripped away and flung into the wall opposite. 

But that wouldn’t be the end of it. It was never the end of it. Jinx knew that. More sounds of metal on metal and Jinx felt something in the ceiling give way as it crashed to the ground not far from her. Debris went flying and metal shrapnel and twisted pipes came rolling towards her. She couldn’t move quick enough, even scrambling. A pipe collided with her side– not enough to injure but enough to hurt and she felt the burn of hot metal shavings as they dug into her arms.

She counted. Two rings so far. Four left. And one incredibly volatile crystal that could go flying at any moment and bring the lab down on their heads if the arcane burst didn’t incinerate them first. 

Jinx suddenly noticed tiny pin pricks of pain in her hand and remembered she was not alone. She looked up from her spot on the floor and met Sky Young’s terrified eyes. Jinx cursed. This was her fault. Her fault. Jinx grabbed her arm and dragged her up to where she was. 

“You–” she started but then there was another flash of blue light and Jinx cursed. Her ears rang and her eyes saw static as it faded. When she refocused all she could see was goggles and dark eyes. She took a sharp breath. 

“Powder,” Claggor said– quiet. Resigned. “What did you do?” he asked and Jinx tried to shake the vision away. 

“I didn’t–” she started but then there was another crack as the third ring went flying. Powder flinched. She felt nails digging into her shoulders. 

“Jinx!” It was Sky Young’s lab goggles she was staring into now. Her face was her own– panicked breaths mixing with Powder’s. “Jinx, the hexcrystal! What do we–” Another screeching of metal. Jinx shoved Sky away from her. 

“Under the desk!” was all she said as she began to scramble for cover. Three rings down. Three left. Two dead brothers. One crying lab assistant. And Powder– panicking, hallucinating, and not much better off. Jinx tried to breathe deep but another flash of blue stole her calm again. She tried to repeat a mantra to herself. Claggor wasn’t real. Neither was Mylo cowering against the wall– a metal pipe through his chest while he stared accusingly at Powder as she crawled to safety. She couldn’t let it distract her. She couldn’t let it stop her. But she couldn’t think. She couldn’t and they would all die. She and Sky. Jayce and Viktor. Her already frantic heart skipped a beat. They were going to try to do something stupid like save her and she was going to get them killed. Just like she always did. She let out an involuntary sob and dug her nails into the beds of her palms.

And then gravity went weird. 

She felt it as soon as it happened. The shifting of the pull that kept her grounded to the floor. She felt lighter– less connected. Sky young’s nails were digging into her arm again and she realized after a split second that it wasn’t in fear but that she was trying to move her. She was shoving Jinx further back into the safety of the steel desk.

Sky Young was trying to protect her– trying to protect her after all this. 

Gravity righted itself, both in and outside of Jinx. She quit her sniveling– or at least tried. She wiped at her eyes and nose which she only now realized had been wet with tears and snot. Mylo laughed at her pathetic state from across the room now floating in the air– metal pipe and blood spinning with him dizzyingly. Jinx closed her eyes. He wasn’t real. She needed to concentrate. 

There was another flash. Gravity pulsed. She heard the crash of a flying ring. Four down. Two left. Jinx kept her eyes closed. If she couldn’t see Mylo and she couldn’t see Claggor she could pretend they’d never existed at all and just concentrate. Breath. 

There was something– some plan forming. The pipe in Mylo’s stomach. Like the one that had rolled into her earlier. Metal strong enough to hold against the oscillating rings just for a moment. And the gravity– if she timed it right. 

Another flash of blue. Another ring collided with one of the walls. The building shook and Jinx hunkered down a little more. One left. Then the hexcrystal. Not much time to plan.

Over the commotion and groaning of the room she heard a door open.

“Jinx!” Jayce called into the room– voice panicked. 

No time to plan. Jinx shot into action.

She darted out from under the desk while Sky clutched at her arms in protest. Her eyes opened. She skidded to the pipe from earlier and began to hoist it– the idea and trajectory forming in her head. She waited– barely able to hear Jayce and now Viktor and Sky too yelling over the roaring of her heart. She breathed in. There was a dazzling pulse of blue light. Jinx hefted the pipe and flung herself backwards as gravity went weird again. 

It was enough. Just enough. Her momentum pushed her backwards and she landed against the cool steel wall feet first, the pipe’s weight becoming nothing in her hands. She grinned and launched herself into the air– pipe first. 

Mylo was there for a second– unharmed, floating. Smiling at Jinx. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to pretend she couldn’t feel the weight of the pipe going through his sternum– tried to remember that the noise of pain he made and the squelch of his flesh was just her brain playing tricks on her. She couldn’t falter. Not now. She stayed straight. 

Metal collided with metal as the end of the steel pipe directly hit the final ring of the oscillator. Jinx let go before impact– hoping it would do just what she needed it to under the strange effects of the Hexcrystals gravity. For once, things went to plan. The ring– just for a second– stopped. It was enough. The interruption to the oscillation caused the wave length to change. Jinx could feel it. The resonance was waning– but not fast enough. The Hexcrystal still floated in the remains of the oscillator. But luckily Jinx had expected that. Her momentum carried her through where the pipe had stopped– with the ring frozen– just for a couple of seconds she reached her hand in and jerked the scorching crystal from its copper bindings. She felt gravity shift again– snapping back into place as she hit the ground and immediately rolled. The pipe and final ring crashed to the floor just to the side of her head but she didn’t let that distract her. She clutched the crystal between her palms and did not let the force of her back hitting the metal floor jar her grip in anyway. She tucked it safely to her side and kept rolling till she felt she was a safe distance away. The floor had stopped shaking. The room was silent. She held it aloft– breathing heavy. The crystal was undamaged. Jinx was alive. 

“Got it,” she said, the adrenaline rushing through her veins. Victory and triumph.

Jayce and Viktor appeared in her line of sight both looking equally panicked. 

 “I got it.” she repeated to them. 

They both stared down at her. Viktor reached out and grabbed the crystal– tucking it safely into his breast pocket as Jayce grabbed her under her armpits and lifted her into a bear hug. Jinx didn’t even struggle– just curled into the embrace. From the corner of her eye she could see Sky Young crawling out from underneath the desk shaky as a leaf–  tight curls disheveled and dust filled– but, most importantly, not dead. Everything was okay. She had done it. They were alive. 

Then Viktor– Viktor who protected her– Viktor who saved her– Viktor who loved her– broke the silence. 

“Oh Jinx,” he whispered. “What have you done?”

Claggor and Mylo laughed.

“What the hell happened?” Jayce asked after the dust had settled. He had lifted Jinx and pulled her away from the destroyed oscillator room. He had helped Sky Young too and Jinx couldn’t find it in herself to resent her for it. The drags of Sky’s fingernails down her arms still stung– along with everything else of course. Jinx felt shaky and needy and Claggor stood behind Jayce looking bored while he wiped blood from his goggles. Jinx averted her eyes.

Jayce had dragged them into the front hall of the lab and dusted them down– fretting over both of them to make sure they were unhurt– which they, miraculously, were except for a few small scrapes and bruises. Sky Young hadn’t stopped crying for the past half hour and every time she managed to calm herself Jayce would pose a question and she would burst into tears again. Jinx was quiet– letting Jayce fuss over her and wipe the blood and dust from her face. She let him keep wrapping her in tight hugs. She knew it made him feel better. She indulged him. 

Mostly, she kept an eye on Viktor, who stood just outside the chaos– occasionally giving Sky Young’s shoulder a comforting squeeze while he gave her a new tissue and a bottle of water. 

Every once in a while he would glance her way and then avert his eyes. There was a trepidatious twist to lips– like he’d swallowed something sour but was still trying to fight against inevitably spitting it back up. 

She shrunk down smaller every time he looked at her. He knew. He’d known for a while now probably– known she was planning something but didn’t know what. This wasn’t her plan, she wanted to say. She hadn’t done it on purpose.

“It was an accident.” Jinx’s head snapped to look at Sky Young. She was still sniffling but despite the waver in her voice– she didn’t look like she was going to begin sobbing again. Jayce breathed out in relief and Jinx brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around them– waiting for the end. 

“I know that,” he said. “But how? This experiment should have been completely safe– especially supervised.” He turned to look at Jinx again while she tried to will her body to become so small that she would simply cease to exist. “Did you notice anything?” he asked her gently. “Jinx, I know you know how to check the calibration of the oscillator. It had to have been something mechanical. Was anything even the slightest bit off?” 

It was nice to know that Jayce didn’t think she’d do something so stupid as to sabotage the oscillator itself. Judging by Viktor’s slight expression of relief when she shook her head no– he hadn’t had as much faith.

“The oscillator was fine,” Jinx said. 

“Then what–” 

“It was the runes,” said Sky. “It was after I put in the round of commands– I thought– I was so sure–” 

Viktor put his hand on her shoulder again, squeezed, and then walked into the destroyed inner lab. Jinx felt her stomach flip.

“Viktor, what–” Jayce said. 

“A moment,” he called back. Then appeared with the destroyed rune input in hand. “Ms. Young,” he said seriously. “If you could show us exactly what you entered.” 

Sky Young looked like she might cry again.

“If you are not comfortable perhaps Jinx might be willing to–” 

Sky shook her head no– taking a deep shaky breath as Jinx sunk further into her chair. 

“I tried this first,” Sky said and showed Viktor the beginning of the end. “I was sure I had it right,” she pleaded. “But then it didn’t work so I tried again. And then again. And then I realized that the framework was wrong and I–” Sky made the new input under Jayce and Viktor’s watchful eyes. Jayce looked entirely bewildered by it but Jinx watched Viktor pin point exactly what she hadn’t wanted him to. 

“These runes,” he said, pointing to each of the initially harmless mistakes that Jinx had made sure that Sky had made. “Why did you use them?” 

“I thought– they were part–” Sky Young nervously hiccuped and Viktor raised his hand in a calming gesture. 

“This is not an interrogation,” he said. “I do not think you did something wrong.” 

“But I–” 

He pointed at a rune. “What does this mean?” 

“It's a channel for air,” Sky whispered. “It’s meant to affect density–” 

“No,” Jayce stopped her. “It’s air but it’s meant to affect friction. And the way you used it in that final equation was—” he stopped and looked again. “If it meant what you thought it had then–” he murmured. He was starting to see the vision. She had a few mistakes in there– all Jinx’s fault but still– even with that Jinx knew that Jayce was putting the pieces of the new solution together. 

“It would have worked,” Viktor said, “But you were wrong. It was not the framework that was faulty but the foundation. And that, Ms. Young, is not your fault.” He turned to look at Jinx– eyes sad.

Jinx wished the hexcrystal had evaporated her on contact. 

“But I  thought– the runes meant for gravity negation were–” Sky’s sentence halted. Her eyes flicked to Jinx and she saw them widen in surprise. She had realized– just as Viktor had. This was it. This was the moment she’d been waiting for– the moment when she ruined Jinx. 

Jinx couldn’t look away from her– met her eyes. She supposed she deserved that at least. She watched the emotions play out. Shock first then disbelief. Betrayal. Anger. Anger Jinx knew. Anger Jinx understood. She’d almost gotten them all killed after all– her with her half-assed plan and stupid self confidence. Yes, anger was reasonable.

But then Sky’s expression shuttered and she turned to face Viktor again. She sat straighter– a determined set to her shoulders. Jinx tucked her head down while Sky pressed a loose curl behind her ear and said, “I must have remembered it wrong. I’m sorry.” 

Jinx froze. What?

“Ms. Young.” 

Why?

“It was my mistake,” she said and Jinx lifted her head because what the fuck was she doing? Jinx met her gaze just for a second. Sky gave her a wobbly smile as her eyes filled with pity . 

Jinx burned. Pity. Sky Young pitied her. Sky Young thought her attempts were pathetic– and they were. They were the scared, desperate, attempts of a child with a mind ripping itself to pieces from the inside out. Because when it came down to it Jinx was an idiot . 

Jinx should have stood up then– should have told Viktor and Jayce the truth. She should have railed against the pity. She should have been brave– should have done the right thing. Instead, she put her head back down while Mylo laughed in her ear.

It was quiet for a moment, except for Mylo’s giggles of course. But Jinx knew no one else could hear those. 

“You do not need to lie for her,” said Viktor.

“No. I really must have–” 

“Jinx,” Viktor said and Jinx tried and failed not to start shaking. He was so resigned– not disappointed– not angry– resigned. Like he’d known she’d do something like this. Like he’d never bothered to expect anything less than devastation from her. “Why?” 

“Why what?” she mustered.

“We let you take over this task. We thought you were doing well. Why did you lie to Ms. Young?” 

Jinx gritted her teeth and hunkered down further. “She misremembered. I taught her right.” Jinx lied because what else could she do? Sky had given her an out. She tried desperately to take it.

But Viktor did not let it go. “No, you didn’t,” Viktor insisted quietly. “Why?” 

Jinx felt movement and knew Jayce had moved to her side. He was too close. “Jinx?” he asked quietly. Somehow it hurt more than Viktor. Because Viktor knew. Viktor suspected it. But Jayce sounded as bewildered as he had when he’d first asked what had happened– like he couldn’t believe it was real. Like it had never occurred to him that Jinx was the one behind it all. 

She couldn’t take it.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” she burst out and threw herself from the chair to get away from Jayce– leaving the hand he’d had hovering above her head hanging empty in the air. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She pointed at Sky. “She wasn’t supposed to go and make up her own stuff! She was supposed to do it the obvious way!” 

“And what would those have done?” asked Viktor. Calm. Cool.

“Nothing! They just would have failed! And then she would have–” 

“Would have what?” 

Jinx lapsed into silence. She stared at the ground and squeezed her eyes shut. “She would have failed. Over and over. She would have– would have realized she wasn’t ever meant to be here in the first place and– and she would have left. Because you’re too nice to make her leave.”

Her admission was met with silence. 

Then: “What the fuck?” 

Jinx shrunk back at the venom in Jayce’s voice. She had never heard him so angry. 

“Jayce,” Viktor warned but Jayce did not back down. Instead he stepped up looking angrily at Viktor for the admonishment. 

“Don’t Jayce me. What the actual fuck were you thinking?” 

“Yelling will not help.”

“Not only did she try to sabotage Sky, but look what she did . The lab is a wreck and she– she–” he cut himself off and ran a hand down his face. “She almost got herself and Sky killed.” 

“It wasn’t supposed to be like that!” Jinx protested.

He rounded on her. “No, it was just supposed to be another little revenge fantasy against Sky– who has done nothing to you. You, on the other hand–”

“I didn’t mean to!”

“You never mean to,” he snapped and Jinx flinched like he’d hit her. It almost felt like he had. She curled in on herself. 

She didn’t mean to. She never meant to. Not here. Not now. Not then and there. She hadn’t meant to kill Vander and Mylo and Claggor. She hadn’t meant to get Vi captured. She hadn’t meant sabotage the mission meant to rescue her. She hadn’t meant to destroy the lab. 

She hadn’t meant to. 

“You can’t keep doing this,” Jayce said and it was softer now– like all of a sudden he cared. But it was too late. Jinx felt the pain and the misery dragging at her insides until there was a sudden snap and everything slotted into sharp and shining glass. She halted her shaking through sheer force of will and felt the cold fire that burned in her sear its way to the surface.

They wanted to treat her like she’d done it on purpose? Like she was guilty when she hadn’t meant to? Fine. But she knew who the real culprit was. She stood up straight and met Sky Young’s eyes.

“You ruined everything,” she said in the coldest voice she could manage. Sky Young flinched back and Jinx felt a surge of pride as her lip curled back in a snarl. 

“Jinx!” Jayce hissed.

“No.” Jinx said. “You don’t listen! You never listen! I told you what would happen if you hired her and now look! I was right!”

She was expecting Jayce to yell back. She was expecting him to rise to the fight like he usually did. She was expecting him to rally at her tone. 

But he didn’t. Instead he got quiet and the part of Jinx that wasn’t consumed in the white fire of anger recoiled at the way his face fell. 

“You are done,” he said. 

Viktor flinched. Jinx stilled. 

“You are banned from the lab,” he stated.

Jinx froze. Her lungs stopped working. “What?” she strangled out. 

“You heard me,” Jayce said. “You can’t come here anymore. Not until you’ve learned your lesson. Not until I can be sure I can trust you.” 

Jinx stared at him. She stared hard. But he didn’t flinch. Didn’t flash his hands and say he was joking– just looked on sadly. She turned to Viktor.

Viktor looked grim and heartbroken all at the same time. When he saw her look at him, he closed his eyes for a moment then stepped up next to Jayce. 

“He is right,” he said softly. “If we cannot trust you, you cannot be here. Ms. Young– No. All of us deserve better than that.” 

“That’s– that’s not–” Jinx stuttered out. She faltered. The fire was gone when she reached for it– fizzled out under the iciness of the rejection. She felt cold– so so so cold. Colder than the night she’d escaped from the hospital and Viktor had dragged her home. It wasn’t– she hadn’t meant to. “It’s not fair!” she sobbed hysterically. “You’re taking her side!” 

“There are no sides, Jinx,” Jayce said.

“Yes there are! Why are you–” 

“Why am I what?” 

“Why are you choosing her!” Jinx said– she dove past the misery that clouded her mind and tried to stoke the flames. It wasn’t fair– she needed the fire. She was drowning. “It's supposed to be just us! And she’s turning you against me–” 

“The only person turning us against you is you,” he said again– far too calm. She needed something– needed him to give her anything to rally against. “You have made up this problem in your head. You have made up this narrative that everyone here is against you–”

“I’m not replaceable! You can’t just pick someone else– I’ve done everything you’ve ever asked! I did everything right–” 

“We’re not replacing–” Jayce cracked. The barest hint of frustration on his face. Jinx clung to it like a lifeline.

“Shut up!” The anger lit her bitter and bright, coursing through her veins and igniting all the spite she’d carried in the depths of her awful bitter heart. She gave a hysterical laugh of relief as she let it consume her. How dare he? How dare he oust her from this lab? From what she thought was their place. What was their home . The place they all came to no matter the day. The place where they were always together and Jayce didn’t leave when he finished dinner or just go home without them. The place where he didn’t abandon the commitments he had made. “You don’t care! You never cared. Don’t pretend.” 

“You can’t– you always do this!” 

“Do what?” Jinx taunted. 

“You start a fight and then act like you’re the victim! What you did was wrong! If it's with me– fine.” Jayce pressed a hand to his heart. “I signed up for this. I signed up for you to treat me like shit and to still take care of you. That I could handle. But this?” He gestured to the ruined lab– to Sky Young– to Viktor. “You can’t treat other people the way you treat me and then try to make them feel sorry for you. That’s not how it works.” 

Jinx snarled. “Oh don’t pretend to be the victim here.” 

“I am the victim! I don’t know what you want from me Jinx but this ends here. You are banned from the lab and I won’t change my mind.” 

“Fine!” she hissed. “Replace me. You never mattered to me anyways.” 

Jayce cringed at the words. Jinx dove in for the kill at the first sign of weakness. 

“What?” she mocked. “Did that hurt your heart? Does it hurt your feelings to know that I was always just using you? That I liked you because you fed me and gave me things?” She saw another minor flinch. She dug deeper. “You felt it didn’t you? You know it's true. You did everything you could but there's always going to be this distance because I won’t be your thing . That’s what you want right? You want me to be like Viktor and you want to own me.” 

Jayce made a noise of protest. “I don’t–”

“Don’t what? Don’t own Viktor?” Jinx said sticky sweet. “Don’t make me laugh. You do and everyone in this fucking city knows it. They all think he’s using you too. That he sticks around because you have money and give him a good time.” 

She sauntered up to Jayce then– making him look down at her– the way he always had– the way he always would. “They think he’s your plaything and they’re right. One day he’s going to say something wrong and you’re gonna throw him out just like you’re throwing me out. Because I wasn’t good enough. Because I won’t be a thing. Because I’m never going to love you just because.” She was shaking by the end of her rant. It was anger. It had to be anger.

Jayce didn’t respond. Just kept looking down at her like she was some stranger– like he’d never known her at all. She supposed he didn’t. She almost faltered. Almost.

“I’ll keep going,” she said and danced away from him, hopping up on one of the work desks. She teetered on the edge of it. “Oh, Jayce, I just love being your partner so much. I love it when you buy us groceries or when you cook for me and I love it when you pay–” 

“Jinx,” Viktor said in the tone of voice that usually put an end to things.

Not this time.

“What?” she asked, pausing with her arms thrown wide. “You told me. You told me to play the game and to let him teach me and you told me what to say and what not to say and now you don’t want me to say it out loud?” She spun again– sardonic and pointedly thoughtful. “You don’t want him to know how you did the same thing? That you’re just like everyone else who's using him?” 

“That’s not–” 

“Fair?” she finished. “But it is. You did. You coached me.” 

“True,” Viktor supplied. “That is not true.” 

Jinx laughed and bared her teeth. “Now look who's the liar.” 

To his credit. Viktor didn’t protest this time. Just made a distressed noise while looking between Jinx and Jayce– an argument and an explanation warring on his lips. Jayce was staring at him with a look of hurt that grew and grew the longer Viktor stayed silent. 

Jinx smiled. 

“Does it hurt to know that?” she asked– all mock sympathy. Hopping down from the desk and doing an elaborate twirl as she did so. “Does it hurt to know that the family you built always valued what you could give them more than they valued you? It’s like that for everyone isn’t it?” She pressed a thoughtful finger to the side of her mouth and slowly padded up to Jayce again. “The Council only tolerates you because of what you could give them. Mel only ever started talking to you because she thought your ideas had potential. And I only ever talked to you because I was desperate for anything that could help me.” She paused. “And you were just so fucking eager to please. So easy to lie to.” 

She arrived just in front of him. She looked up at him– blinking guilelessly. She wanted him to hear. Wanted him to feel. Wanted him to be just as miserable as her. “And that’s what everyone does,” she said, pressing a finger to the middle of his chest. “Your whole fucking life is a lie. They never liked you. They only love you for what you can do for them. And I think you already knew that, didn’t you?” 

Silence greeted the end of her rant. That didn’t bother her. What could they say in response to that? 

“Out,” Viktor said quietly. She turned to him.

Somehow it felt more significant coming from him– felt more real– felt almost like she had actually screwed this up when she looked at him– all disappointment and hurt. She couldn’t stand to see it long. 

She turned back to Jayce– meeting his eyes. She did not feel bad about the hurt she saw there– the anger wouldn’t let her. It was good she thought desperately. It was what he deserved . She considered saying more.

“You have said your piece,” Viktor spoke again. Interrupting Jinx before she could think about what to say next. He really had an uncanny knack for that. “It is time to go.” 

Jinx didn’t look at Viktor. Just kept eye contact with Jayce. 

“I hate you,” she said– voice steady as she turned on her heel and walked out the door of the lab. 

And then she was gone.

Chapter Text

Jinx was running. She could feel the heaving of her chest, the sticky sweat dripping down her brow as she sprinted through streets filled with people. People she hated. People who sometimes tried to grab her and ask her something. People she would deftly shake off with a garbled cry. Sometimes those people had faces she recognized. Mylo and Claggor. Vander and Ekko. Violet. Sometimes they were just the twisted face of a stranger, eyes dripping with venom– face distorted in a way she knew couldn’t be real but didn’t make it any less terrifying. She tried to get away from them. Trying to keep in the alleys but she kept waking up in seas of faces. Places she knew. Places she didn’t. Places she thought she should but couldn’t recall being. She was only eleven. She’d only been topside once. She’d been running then too. 

Powder breathed in. Jinx breathed out. She stumbled. She wanted to be somewhere safe. Somewhere there wasn’t anyone else. Somewhere high. She wanted–

Jayce was pacing and where it might have annoyed Viktor on a different occasion, he couldn’t fault him for it. Not after today. Honestly, he was impressed that Jayce had managed to keep it together this long. Viktor had managed to very gently insist that Ms. Young go to the hospital, just to be sure that she was unhurt, and then take the rest of the day off. Viktor had wanted to walk her there but Jayce had shaken himself from his stupor and taken over as soon as he’d gone to make the suggestion. Viktor couldn’t argue that he wouldn’t slow the two of them down so he allowed Jayce his heroism and hoped that it would make all involved feel better. 

Of course, Viktor wasn’t sure they could make Sky Young feel better. He’d seen the lingering tear trails on her face. The woman felt terrible. She was as easy to read as she had ever been. He had done his best to console her– which he knew was subpar– his naturally dry disposition meant his bedside manner left much to be desired– but he’d tried. And, thankfully, Jayce had as well once he’d snapped back to himself. He was much more suited to the task– for walking her to the hospital– for sitting with her in the waiting room– making sure that all was well with her– and then for walking her home. Viktor’s talents had been put to use in attempting to salvage what he could out of the destroyed inner lab. 

But there was only so much he could do. The damage was extensive though not irreparable. He’d made sure that the safe the hexcrystals were stored in was untouched and to his relief, the structure seemed sound. Much of the clean up would require people with more physical strength than himself but he was at least able to access the oscillator and begin a repair plan. 

Unfortunately, it was more than the lab that was going to need repairs. 

“I don’t get it. How could she say that to me?”

“Because she was angry. She said it to hurt you.” He’d been waiting for this since the pacing began. Damage control was not his strong suit– especially when he was not particularly pleased with Jinx either. She had hurt more than Jayce– Ms. Young and Viktor too– but most damningly, herself.

Jayce stewed on this another moment. The intensity of his pacing did not falter. His steps were heavy and his footsteps echoed ominously in the empty front room of the lab. Then he stopped. He pulled to a halt in front of the chair Viktor was perched in. 

“You saw her,” he said. “You saw that look. She meant every word.”

Viktor opened his mouth to protest but Jayce turned on him– hazel eyes pinning him to his chair.  “What did she mean when she said you coached her?”

Viktor faltered. He had been prepared to defend Jinx. He had not been prepared to defend himself. Still, he did owe Jayce an explanation since Jinx had so oh so helpfully dropped that in with the rest of her little speech. It was only fair. “When she first arrived with us I tried to make her transition smoother and gave her direction on how to talk to you.”

“You coached her on how to play me.” Jayce couldn’t have hid the flash of hurt that crossed his face if he tried. “She was telling the truth.” 

Viktor winced. “I–,” he was not ready for this. “I will not lie. I told her how best I thought to endear herself to you. It was not to play you. It was protection. I did what I thought at the time was right.” 

“So you didn’t trust me.” 

The flare of his temper was immediate. Viktor snapped his cane on the ground and saw Jayce flinch. 

“I did,” he said, sharp and firm. He would not allow Jayce to catastrophize on this of all things. “And it is ludicrous– bordering on idiotic– of you to imply otherwise. Against all of my instincts, I brought you into the apartment and entrusted you with our secret. I invited you in.” It was monumental that he had done it at all. Jayce didn’t seem to appreciate how hard that had been.

Jayce crossed his arms and stared down at Viktor. “And then you told her how to manipulate me.” 

Viktor scowled. “She didn’t listen to me.”

“Yeah she figured out how to do it all on her own.” Jayce began to pace again, turning away from Viktor. “What else was she telling the truth about?” 

“I do not see how this is productive.” 

“Of course you don’t.” 

Viktor could only lean back in his chair and watch as Jayce’s dismay built. He wished for a moment that he was better with words– that working with Jayce had given him the insight and the tact the other man had (at least when he put his mind to it). He wished he could wipe the anger and hurt from the other man’s face. He hated to see it there. He hated to see him doubt himself the way he was– the way he was because Jinx had dug into each of his weak points with lethal precision and left Viktor to clean up the mess. 

“She’s right,” Jayce said after a moment. “The council only accepted me once I’d proved that I could be useful to them. Mel only bothered to talk to me because she thought I had potential– hell, that’s the only reason you started talking to me.” 

“I did not know you before,” Viktor said. “You cannot blame me for something I couldn’t have known.” 

“So you’re saying if we had met in some other circumstance you would have given me the time of day?” 

“Of course.” 

“Don’t lie to me,” Jayce said– turning on him again. “You would have dismissed me like you do to everyone else around you. You would have taken one look at me and thought I was too posh to waste your time on.” 

“That is simply not true,” Viktor felt his temper flaring again but managed to push down the urge to snap at the other man. It wouldn’t do either of them any good. But still the frustration leaked into his voice as he tried to be as firm as possible. “I will not allow you to hurt your own feelings with meaningless hypotheticals. Yes, I came to you first because of your research but it is not what made me stay.” He stood then, approaching Jayce with as much gravity as he could muster. He wanted this to work. He wanted Jayce to hear him– to believe him– because if nothing else, this was true. “I stayed because of your mind– your passion– your desire to help people. I have come to know you as a friend– you are far more than what you could give to me and may I remind you that multiple times I have offered to give it up and you have been the one to decline. Do not do me the disservice of assuming my intent.”

He locked eyes with Jayce. He did not back down despite the other man’s silence. Then Jayce’s shoulders slumped and his gaze slid to the ground.

“Sorry,” he said.

Viktor reached out– a gesture that was more Jayce than it was himself– but it felt right. It felt like a motion Jayce would understand– a way to reach him the way that Viktor wanted to but so often found himself faltering on. He laid his hand at the junction of Jayce’s neck and shoulder and squeezed lightly. 

“You are more than what you give to other people,” he said. “Just because Jinx’s ramblings had highly biased truths sprinkled in didn’t mean the rest had merit. And may I remind you that unsavory things were said about me as well.” 

Jayce snorted. “They’re only unsavory if they’re true.”

“I’m sorry,” he said caustically, “But I do not enjoy being implied to be your whore no matter the truth of the statement.” Viktor lightly pressed his nails to Jayce’s skin– as obvious a sign of his displeasure as he could make without digging his fingers in– which he almost did. He intended to let go then, to slip his hand back down to his side but before he could Jayce’s own came up to cover it and squeezed. It threw Viktor. He remained stubborn for a moment but softened– accepting the silent apology. Jayce was not the only one on edge. He took a deep breath and sighed. He wished this were easier. “I am sorry,” he said, “for what I did. And I am sorry for the things Jinx said even though I do not believe she meant them.” 

“That’s easy for you to say. She never says those things to you. She never turns on you like that. She doesn’t–” 

Viktor wasn’t thinking. It was probably the distress in Jayce’s voice. He slid his hand out from under Jayce’s and up the side of his neck to his cheek. 

Both of them froze for a moment. Then Jayce pressed his face into Viktor’s hand and Viktor was forced to assume that meant the impulse had been well received. He immediately regretted it. Yes, it stopped Jayce in his tracks– calmed him and made him take a breath but Viktor knew it was an over step– one he’d never make on a less terrible day.

Jacye’s eyes closed and Viktor was stuck there– not sure what to do with the position he had put himself into. When Jayce spoke it was heavy and sad. 

“I don’t care about the council,” he said. “I don’t care if Mel only started being my friend because of what I could give her. I don’t care that you did either. It’s true. That’s fine.” 

It was not fine. Clearly it bothered him but Jayce pressed on. 

“What matters is that it was true. She didn’t lie– not a thing she said wasn’t true. So it’s not the same. She loves you. But not…”       

Me , Viktor finished for him.

Jacye looked so truly heartbroken. Viktor scowled. He believed Jayce. He believed that he thought the rest didn’t matter– that none of it was as damning as Jinx’s hatred– that her willingness to tear him apart was proof that what she said was true. Viktor knew it wasn’t. 

“She loves you,” was all he could say even if he knew Jayce wouldn’t believe him. 

And he didn’t. Jayce shook off Viktor’s hand, stepping away and Viktor let it linger before he dropped his hand back to his side with a sigh. The moment was over. Jayce was off to pacing once again. Viktor didn’t bother to sit down. 

“Does she need to love you?” he asked. He could not convince Jayce. Fine. But he could not allow him to tear himself apart over it. “Is like not enough? Is care not enough? You cannot tell me you think she does not hold some affection for you. If she did not care, she would not have lashed out as she did.”

“And that makes it all better?” 

“I believe she loves you. But even if she didn’t, you crumble at angry words said by a vicious little girl? Is it not enough that you have done something kind? You have never struck me before as a man who does things for his own gain.” It was not who he was.

“I–” Jayce seemed to draw a blank. He raked his hand through his hair and gave Viktor an accusatory glare. “You were being much nicer about 30 seconds ago.”

Viktor shrugged. “It didn’t seem to be working. I’m trying a different tactic.”

“You don’t treat people you love the way she’s treated me.” 

“You’re not supposed to, no,” Viktor conceded. “But it doesn’t mean you never do. We all make mistakes.”

“Can you really call all of this a mistake?” 

Viktor didn’t reply– how could he? He understood but he didn’t know how to talk about it– how to explain it in a way that someone like Jayce would understand– not in a way that would not lay some piece of himself bare. 

“I love her,” Jayce said. It rolled off his tongue easy and free. Impossibly vulnerable. Viktor found himself jealous of it. “And I know that doesn’t entitle me to anything. If it was anyone else, fine. But I just– We–” Jayce took a deep breath and covered his face in his hands. He rubbed his eyes and then let his hands drag slowly down. “Is it so bad to want this to be real?” 

“This?”

“This family. Me and Jinx. You and–” Jayce cut himself off. He was staring at the floor. “Us. I want us to be real.”

Ahh. It made sense now. 

The idea that Jayce would be a family man had never surprised Viktor. It was one of his concerns heading into this. He knew Jayce had lost his father young though he had never asked for the details the same way Jayce had never asked about his own parents. It was enough to know that they were gone. His mother had cared for him, loved him, would have done anything for him despite the hardships it brought. Jayce emulated that example in his own way in this thing they had made– in this family they’d built out of necessity. 

But all the Jayce had brought to the table wasn’t enough. Love wasn’t enough. Jinx wasn’t a working class boy experiencing the loss of a parent and clinging to the one she had left. Jinx was a child whose entire short life had been defined by loss. The unit they built was never going to be perfect. It was never going to be what a family should be. But if there was one thing that it was…

“It is real ,” Viktor affirmed and Jayce’s head shot up– hope and disbelief etched in his face. “It is as real as it’s ever going to be.” Real life was messy. Real life was complicated. Real life took work. Viktor knew that. Jayce knew that. 

He saw Jayce’s expression fall and the hurt that saturated the lines of his face were tenfold what they had been before.

“Okay,” Jayce said quietly. He looked like he’d been slapped. Then his expression shuttered and Viktor furrowed his brow. Jayce stopped moving. He locked his limbs and muscles in place. He tried to shut down.

Something was wrong. It was not a reaction he’d ever seen before. 

“I don’t understand.” He didn’t know what he’d said wrong.

“It’s fine. You’re right. This is as real as it's ever going to be. I just– I just need to accept that.” It was stilted and hurt. Viktor didn’t know what to do. It was true. But then a movement broke through the control. Jayce ran his hand through his hair again. Frustration. “Why? Why can’t it be–”

“Easy?” Viktor offered.

“More.”

“It can be. But Jinx is from the Undercity.” He didn’t know a better way to phrase it. He tried. “You are much harder for her to love.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

It was bitter. It was nasty. And the thin patience that Viktor had snapped. “You are everything that she is not,” he said. “ You have been orbiting wealth your whole life, Jayce. You have never struggled for food or shelter or felt unsafe in your own home. At your lowest, you had more than most Undercity folk will have in their lives. You are the image of excess that they hate.” 

Jayce was quiet. That unnatural stillness was back. He lifted his head. “That you hate.” 

“I do not hate you,” Viktor snapped. He was tired of this.

Jayce snorted. “Just everything that I am and where I came from.”

“It is not about me .” Viktor snapped his cane on the ground in frustration. “You once again assume my intent.” 

“Well, what else am I supposed to assume?” Jacye bit back. Suddenly he was there in Viktor’s space, towering over him. “Jinx isn’t the only one who keeps her distance. She isn’t the only one who thought she’d need to manipulate me into doing the right thing.” 

Viktor did not step back. He met Jayce’s anger with his own ice. They stared each other down. Viktor snapped on his heels and stalked away. It was not a retreat so much as what he hoped was a very clear dismissal.

“Where are you going?” 

 “I will not argue with you like this.” Viktor said, reaching the door to the lab in record time. “I am going home– where hopefully Jinx will be more amenable to a reasonable conversation than you are but I doubt it.” 

Jinx’s skin pricked against the metal grating. She could feel it– cool and rough against her skin. She pressed down against it– eyes closed. She breathed. The metal was still cool. Still solid. She opened her eyes. It was a dizzying drop below her to the streets of Piltover. She stayed there, facing downward until the sight was not so dazzling. Shadows moved in. Shadows dimmed in a way that indicated that clouds had covered the sun. Then the clouds covered her too. White fog consumed her and Jinx finally felt the static in her limbs starting to lift– just enough. She raised her head to see where she was. There were no lights– none that were on at least– but Jinx recognized the construction tape and the metal panels. A hexgate– one still in production. One that no one had any reason to be in except construction crews and herself and–

But she was alone– for now. She’d made sure of that, she guessed. Maybe she’d be alone forever. Maybe this was the final straw. The grating felt like the one back in the undercity– the one from the scaffolding– the one Viktor had rescued her from. Powder closed her eyes with a high pitched whine. And then she rose up again, teetering to the edge of the platform and gripping the railing that looked down over a city she couldn’t see. She stared into the fog and then she screamed. Again and again till there was nothing left to her voice but a rasp. She stumbled back from the ledge and–

Viktor did go home but not for long. There was no sign of Jinx which wasn’t what he had hoped but was what he had expected. The apartment was too quiet– too lonely for the moment. He was restless. The nervous energy of an explosion and two separate arguments left him shaken and unable to keep from fretting. Right now Jayce’s habit of pacing seemed tempting. But he was not Jayce. If he was going to expend the energy he was going to do it with a purpose.

So he left his apartment. It was not pacing if it was walking– even if he had no true destination in mind. He let himself walk on instinct. Then he chided himself because his instincts were apparently shit today. Between cupping Jayce’s cheek while they argued and winding up at the doors of Mel’s office he wasn’t sure which was the worse choice.

“She’s in,” Elora said from her spot at the front desk. She gave him a smile and Viktor managed to muster one back. It was fine. This was fine. He reached out and pushed the doors open without knocking because he was worried that he might turn and leave if he didn’t. All he needed was for Elora to tell Mel that he’d been lingering outside her door and then had fled. Nothing would bring the meddling woman to his doorstep faster. 

Mel looked up as he let himself in. There was an immediate sharpening of her interest as she took in his surely disheveled shape. Suddenly Viktor felt tired. It would be now that the restless energy deserted him wouldn’t it? It was that kind of day. He pushed himself to one of the chairs Mel kept for visitors and collapsed into it– tossing his arm over his eyes.

There was a moment of silence before Mel spoke, “What happened?” 

What had happened indeed. Viktor slumped further in the chair. “You were right,” he said wryly.

“Unhelpful. I am always right. You’ll have to be more specific.”

“We should not have let her near the explosives.” The pause from Mel was more pointed this time– more worried. He lifted his arm a bit to glance at her and add, “It’s fine. The lab is intact. Everyone is safe.”

Mel shuffled some papers on her desk as if the news didn’t relieve her. Viktor could see straight through it. Mel put another stack of papers to the side after signing one in a quick, practiced motion. 

“It seems uncouth to say I told you so.” 

“And yet you are saying it.” 

“I said it would be rude of me first.”

Viktor snorted and smiled for the first time in hours. It cracked his lips. He lowered the arm from over his eyes and stared up at the rafters and stained glass of Mel’s office. “Is she up there?” he asked. 

“Not as far as I’m aware– and I’ve been in all day,” Mel said. 

Good enough, Viktor thought. He could be fairly sure Jinx wasn’t listening in– not that it would matter much. He wasn’t planning to disparage her in any way. He never would. 

It was quiet again. He could hear Mel flipping over papers from the stack that held her attention. Perhaps it had been rude but it was nice of her not to push. It was kind of her to let him sit and wallow about it. She didn’t gloat. She didn’t ask. The silence was companionable. It made Viktor wonder. It was a question he’d had for a while. He’d never been having a bad enough day to ask it.  

“Are we friends?” 

The sound of Mel’s writing stopped. “Sorry?” 

“You come to my house and eat dinner with my family,” he said. “That is something usually only friends do, no? You have a good relationship with Jinx. You advise Jayce. You let me barge into your office to wallow in the middle of your very busy days.”

“Let is a strong word for the amount of choice I have in the matter.”

“Are we friends?” Viktor asked again.

Mel set aside her pen and folded her hands in front of her. She gave him an appraising look. “Do you want to be?” 

Viktor leaned back in the chair again with a sigh. “Maybe I should have checked myself for a head injury,” he said wryly. “I seem to have forgotten you are allergic to straight forward answers.” This was why he had never bothered asking.

They let the silence linger. Viktor was not going to answer her question. He’d asked his own. The ball was in her court. He was tired enough from the day to end the conversation there if she was feeling stubborn about it. He half expected her to. 

Then he heard a quiet exhale. “I enjoy your company, Viktor.”

It was a bit begrudging– like she hated to let it be known– like it gave up some bit of her power to speak the words aloud. Viktor let out a short, sharp laugh. It was good enough. 

“I think I enjoy yours as well,” he offered– for peace. Because he hadn’t been sure Mel would make the admission and he appreciated that she had. “I suppose that answers that.”

He did not have to look at Mel to know that she was annoyed with him for dragging it out of her directly– but it was only superficial. It was obligatory to hide the truth of the matter– even though she’d already admitted it. Viktor felt a pleased smile slip onto his face. The question was formality more than anything. And the fact that she’d been forced to admit it first meant she didn’t have the right to gloat now about how she’d won him over. If anything, he’d say he won her over. He couldn’t help but push it just a little bit.

“I have not had very many friends, you know?” Viktor mused aloud. “I was ahead of my peers in both the Undercity and the Academy. I have never found myself in the position to make anything beyond alliances.” 

Despite her annoyance Mel humored him. “Sounds lonely.” 

“Jayce was like that too. I suspect that you find yourself in a similar position.” 

“Speculate on something else.” And the humoring was done. His smile turned full grin as he barked another laugh.

“I am glad to have your friendship,” he said as unapologetically as he could.

Mel let out an exasperated breath. “You are sickeningly sentimental today.” 

“I did almost get blown up.” 

“So you came here to what?” She pressed. “Share feelings with me?” 

“Not particularly.” Especially considering he’d never intended to end up here in the first place.

“Then what do you need?” 

What was it with all the people in his life putting so much value on what they could do for other people? It was Jayce all over again. But then again, Mel was goal oriented. He was sure a conversation this open from him had thrown her. This was Jayce’s territory. Well, Viktor would simply change that. 

He liked Mel despite himself. He only had so many people whose company he enjoyed. Mel would have to make room for him now. He decided to throw her a bone.

“What I need,” Viktor said slowly, “is a friend. And currently my only other one is very angry with me.” 

“What did you say?” 

“It was less about what I said and more about what Jinx said I think,” he muttered. “Perhaps that is unfair. She only told the truth– about that at least. But she did so with the intent to drive a wedge between Jayce and I. I believe it did what it was supposed to.” 

“The truth that…” 

“I told Jinx how to win him over when she first arrived with us.” 

Mel hummed in affirmation. Her fingers tapped against her desk. Viktor getured to the air.

“And then he convinced himself that I don’t trust him and it seems that nothing I say can convince him otherwise. Probably in part because of Jinx. She was very nasty after the explosion. She said some very cruel things.” 

“I can understand why Jayce wouldn’t take that well.” 

“He thinks Jinx hates him.” He looked to Mel again. “He thinks I hate him,” he said helplessly. 

Mel coughed politely in what Viktor could see was an attempt to hide a disbelieving snort. He felt some vindication. 

“It could not be further from the truth,” he said. “Am I wrong to say that anyone with eyes could have told him that?” Mel clearly found it as ridiculous as he did. There was at least some satisfaction that it wasn’t his fault Jayce had taken that interpretation and run with it. 

Mel shrugged her shoulders and Viktor saw her composure slide back into place. Her smile was neutral though the gleam in her eye was a little mean when she said, “Love is blind.”  

Viktor didn’t freeze up– thank god he still had some instincts. Maybe Mel was his friend but she was still a lion of a woman and would pounce the moment she sensed weakness– or a secret. He did give her an appraising look though– trying to discern if the cryptic comment was meant to elicit a reaction from him– if it was an accusation. Mel met his gaze and there was nothing to be learned from the way she observed him. After a few seconds of consideration he chose to press on. 

“Insecurity is a terrible look on him,” he said. 

“Perhaps you could help him with that.” 

Viktor inclined his head. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean that you are not the most upfront person in the world, Viktor.” Mel straightened up in her chair– unfolding her hands. “Yes, the rest of the world has eyes. But you.” she pointed at him, “are not half so clear as you think you are.” 

Viktor frowned. He thought he was clear. He had always considered himself straight forward about most things. There was plenty he wouldn’t talk about but in most cases of communication he thought of himself as a blunt object. He lacked tact. He lacked the patience for word play and innuendo. But he also knew he was pedantic to a fault– his tone was dry and naturally sardonic to people who weren’t used to it. 

“I suppose that is a good thing as much as it is bad.” Good in that he still had his defenses. Bad in that Jayce couldn’t read him even when he wanted him to. It stung slightly that after all this time Jayce apparently didn’t know when he was being honest with him.

“Jayce is hurt and angry. He will calm down,” Mel said. It wasn’t exactly comforting but it might be as close as Mel ever got. “What about Jinx?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Don’t know?” That was sharper. Viktor shrugged under the unspoken accusation. 

“She ran out the door,” he defended. “I had hoped she had gone home but she wasn’t there. She is hiding somewhere like she always does. She will emerge once she is ready and then we will have a conversation. You know as well as I do that it is no use to try to track her down, let alone speak to her, before that.” 

Mel scowled. “I don’t like it.” 

Viktor scowled right back. “Me either. But there is nothing I can do.” 

“I suppose,” Mel relented. “So Jinx is hiding. Jayce is angry. And you are here, wallowing on my chair.” 

“You should get a couch,” Viktor suggested. “It would be more comfortable.” 

“Are you planning to make it a common occurrence?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” 

Another sigh. “I regret this already.” 

“I am having a wonderful time,” he said blithely. Though, admittedly better than it had been before he arrived. Up sides. 

“Do you always get like this after you are upset?” 

“If by like this you mean sentimental and annoying?” Viktor tilted his head thoughtfully. “No. Not usually. These are exceptional circumstances.” Viktor could tell from the put upon look that he was reaching the end of Mel’s patience with this. He decided to relent. “Do you want me to go?”

He already had his cane in hand and was making to stand when Mel waved him back down. He blinked. Even with the newly acknowledged rapport he hadn’t expected that.

“Just be quiet while I finish my work,” she said. “Then we can check my home and see if Jinx has ended up there.” 

“She won’t have and if she did we won’t find her.” Searching for Jinx when she didn’t want to be found was useless and Jinx knew that Mel’s would be the first place they’d look if they were insistent on trying to track her down. If she’d wanted to be found she would have been home. 

“We will look anyways,” Mel said dismissively. “And when we don’t find her you can go home and wait for her to show up.” 

Viktor paused, debating, then lowered himself back into the chair and made himself comfortable. He supposed that was as good a plan as any. There wasn’t any harm in checking. And if Mel wanted his less than ideal company a while longer, who was he to deny her? It wasn’t like he had anything better to do. 

He nodded and settled in while Mel turned her attention from him and went back to her work. To his surprise, even without the distraction of a conversation, the companionable silence did wonders for keeping the less helpful of his thoughts at bay. He wondered, while he waited, if that had been Mel’s intent all along. His lip quirked. She was a good friend, even if she would rather pretend not to be. 

Where had all these books come from? She stared down at Viktor’s raggedy paisley carpet and wondered what had happened. There were their books all over their floor. Someone must have knocked them down. Or something. Did they get earthquakes here? That's what it looked like had happened when Jinx looked around the room. Shelves were knocked over. Vases were broken. Viktors collection of stools were haphazardly laying on their sides along with upturned sections of the couch. 

That might explain her hands too– why her fingers were cut and her knuckles were bruised. Her arms were scraped too. Maybe she’d fallen? Maybe she’d hit her head? It might explain why everything was a blur– why everything was either too sharp or too fuzzy. 

A white piece of cotton on the floor caught her attention. It was clean. Out of place. She followed the trail curiously. Where had this come from? She stumbled forward to follow the trail. She didn’t have to go far. 

Vi’s bunny was on the floor– gutted. In pieces. Eviscerated. Jinx’s knees gave out.  

“No,” she said. “No no no no no.” She grabbed the pieces of the bunny and tried to fit them back together. 

And as he did she remembered tearing them apart. 

A sob exploded from her chest. 

“I’m sorry,” she said plaintively. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please–” 

She wasn’t sure what she was begging for. She kept shoving the arms into the sockets where they’d been ripped out. They kept falling away as soon as she tried to do the same to the legs or the head. A horrible whine rang in the air and it took a few seconds for Jinx to realize it was her. She was making the sound. She sounded like a dying waverider. Jinx couldn’t find a way to turn it off. 

A door opened somewhere. She turned.

Viktor stood in the outline of the doorway of his ruined apartment. The yellow orange glow of the setting sun silhouetted him and Jinx couldn’t see his face– not really. All she could do was continue to snivel. 

“Viktor?” she whispered. 

The door closed and he was there– kneeling next to her. She could see him clearly now– the angles of his face sharp and weary. “Viktor I didn’t–” she started to cut off when there was a crack from the ground. She looked down to see that Viktor’s knee had snapped the spine of a book. One of his books. His library. His house. Jinx looked around in horror. His house. Their house. The pain from the cuts on her fingers pulsed. The broken vases. The destroyed books. The tumbled furniture. She remembered. She had been so angry. He’d abandoned her. Kicked her out. And she’d– 

She’d destroyed.

What had she done? There was another high pitch shrieking sound and she knew this time that it was her again. “Help me,” she whispered, holding the pieces of Vi’s rabbit together. “Viktor, help me.” 

“Jinx,” he said and it burned like a brand. She flinched. She wasn’t–. It was only an accident.

She heard Mylo laughing at her in the distance as she bolted to her room and slammed the door closed behind her.