Chapter Text
Smoke and ash filled the air.
Opening my eyes, everything was red and hazy.
I felt the dirt and rubble against my face.
Every bone in my body ached.
I struggle to make out anything around me.
Once I can see, I see a large man. A man I recognize well.
Holding two kids. I know those kids. He looks distraught.
When he notices I'm alive, unlike the other bodies nearby, he looks surprised.
He gets down on a single knee as I struggle to get up. I push myself up and lightly hold his arm as to not disturb the blue haired child who's clutching onto the man. Once I'm up I look around and see the calm after the storm, everything was on fire or already burnt to nothing.
Bodies scattered across the ground.
My friends. People I saw every day. People I spoke to recently.
Gone.
I eventually shake off the pain and we start walking back to the Undercity.
We lost everything.
For nothing.
No good difference was made in the lives of the living.
The woman stirs in her sleep and grumbles as she feels a hand shaking her shoulder. Blue hair is the first thing she sees, Powder. "Vi wanted me to ask if you wanted breakfast and we also wanted to ask permission for something..." Powder asked but trailed off.
The older women sat up and stretched a bit. "Sure hun. What is it?" The older woman looked skeptical as to why the smallest girl was asking so suspiciously.
"Uuuuummm, all of us wanted to go out and hang oouuttt by the docks?" The younger girl said but it sounded more like a question.
The older woman lightly chuckled and teased "Hmmmmm I dunnoooooo." The young girl giggled and begged again.
"Pleeeeeease?" The girl clasped her hands together and put on her best set of puppy dog eyes.
The woman chuckled and shook her head "oh I guess you guys can go, just be careful please. I know those goons have been around there lately." The little girl cheered slightly and kissed the woman on her cheek before jumping off the bed and running out the room.
The woman chuckled at the girls excitement and went to the dresser for clothes. She pulled out a lose maroon button up blouse, a long brown skirt, and long brown socks for the boots she would put on later.
She walked over to the small bathroom and took off her nightwear and turned the water on, the water wasn't perfectly clear but it did the job. Once she was clean and dressed she went downstairs to see her husband at the bar counter with 5 kids sitting on the stools. She smiled "Good morning everyone, what's for breakfast?" Looking at everyone's plate before going to the kitchen door.
"Oh you know bread, eggs, the usual" The teenager with pink hair, Violet, answered with an eye roll.
"Good morning Alessa!" Ekko and Powder greet her with a smile and empty plates. Mylo and Claggor were eating and could barely keep their eyes open. Alessa pat all of their heads before walking towards the kitchen.
Just as she started walking Vander appeared with two more plates and a cup, he set them down in front of an empty seat at the counter. She sat down where he put the plate and with a swift kiss to her forehead he sat down beside her.
Since the kids were conversing, Alessa took it upon herself to eat fast and start to clean up after them. Once the kids were done eating they all went down to the basement where most of them slept but they were quick to rush out the door of The Last Drop.
Alessa had waved them all bye even though they wouldn't see it. She loved those kids with all her heart and even if they didn't come from her she would protect them from anything and everything.
Soon Alessa and Vander were flipping their lights on and prepping for costumers.
Throughout the day regulars would come in for a quick drink or a long chat and eventually leave, as the day went on Vander and Alessa had heard about four kids running around the North side of Piltover. Obviously their minds thought of 'their' four kids and they both kept walking around the pub asking questions to collect more information on what happened. The more people that came in the more things they learned about the kids and their adventures of today.
Vander pulled Alessa over behind the counter "Did you know they were going Topside?" He questioned with a slight attitude.
"Powder said the docks! I never agreed for them to raid a home in Piltover. Did you hear about the explosion? And you honestly think I'd let them go?" She stated angered by his attitude, he just sighed and looked worried. "I know you love those kids as much as I do and I understand that you're worried, but so am I" She touched his arm tenderly. "They are fine, you know they'll protect each other. Vi learned from the best and Mylo is quick. Claggor is strong. And Powder is smart, she knows when she can't win and to run. You have nothing to worry about hun."
He looked her in the eyes and slightly smiled "I'm sorry for the way I reacted, it was over the top. Those kids give me more gray hairs everyday." He pecked her lips quickly and went back to serving drinks.
She watched him walk away and back to the counter, she smiled and sighed because of her anger. She was mad at Powder for not telling the truth but understood why the girl didn't.
Vander told Alessa he saw something he needed to take care of in the corner and she took over the counter for him, slightly eyeing what is going down in the corner. It got quiet when they started to get an attitude with Vander. "A bit of advice. Don't threaten the guy who pours the drinks." He motioned to the people around. They looked around and saw everyone in the pub glaring at them and quickly got quiet. Vander pulled out his pipe and started smoking as per usual and everyone in the pub went back to their conversations.
Soon enough the kids all came in and walked quickly down to the basement, trying to avoid Vander and Alessa. Vander gives Alessa a look and she nods before walking down the stairs to them.
She opens the door and walks in "Is everyone okay?" She looks around the room to see them quite beat up and sighs.
"Never better ma" Mylo reply's with a quiet voice. Vander then walks in and looks around and everyone gets slightly tense besides Alessa.
"I don't suppose you can explain why it is that we're hearing about an explosion?" He stops to cross his arms "A foot chase in topside," Alessa cuts in "Four kids fleeing the scene?" They both exude stress and anger.
"What were you thinking?" Vander asks in the extremely quiet room.
"That we can handle a real job." Vi was the one to answer.
"A real job?" He seemed to get even angrier, Alessa put her left hand on his crossed arms to try and lessen his attitude with their daughter.
"We got our own tip, planned the route and no one even saw us!" Vi started to get amped up.
"You blew up a building!" Vander raised his voice.
"That wasn't-" Violet was cut off by Vander.
"Did you even stop to think about what could have happened to you... to them?" He got quieter as he talked, he was angry but he didn't want to start shouting. Alessa looked at everyone with a calm smile and they looked confused. Vander sighed and then spoke up. "Where did you even get this tip?"
"We heard it at Benzo's shop." Powder said quietly with an innocent look on her face.
"From who?" Vander didn't want to be angry at the little girl so he softened his voice a bit.
"Little man." She said and looked away from him to Alessa. The older woman sat next to Powder and wrapped an arm around her to comfort her.
"Look I took them there and if you want to be mad, be mad at me. But you are the one who always says we have to earn our place in this world." Vi stated with a distressed face.
"I also said the Northside's off limits. We stay out of Piltover's business." Vander started to get more stressed as he thought about his words from the past.
"Why? They've got plenty of crap, while we down here scrapping together coins!" Vi got louder as she spoke and eventually sighed. "When did you get so comfortable living in someone else's shadow?"
That set the large man off slightly.
"Everyone out." Vander said in a firm tone.
Alessa took the kids out in the hall, she wanted to listen in but knew she shouldn't. She made sure Mylo and Claggor stayed away from the door and sat on some extra stools and crates near the stairs. Alessa sat on a crate with Powder in her lap, she sighed and played with Powder's hair. Vander soon came out of the room with a relieved look on his face and then he looked to Claggor. "Get up Claggor, we're going out." He grabbed a bag then took the device that Mylo had been messing around with.
"Hey! That's mine." He complained a bit until Vander looked at him, Vander then turned back to Claggor with a slightly angered face.
"You want to be treated like adults right? Then you should know better than to come back from a job empty-handed." He smiled slightly looking at Alessa and Powder, he walked over to Alessa, grabbed her face in one hand and pecked her lips quickly.
Powder's face screwed up into a grossed out expression quickly and then tried to escape her mother figure's hold. Alessa let her go and grabbed Vander's face to kiss him slightly longer, when they pulled away the two teenagers just looked around awkwardly. "C'mon, we are gonna have a word with your informant." Vander states as he walked past Claggor up the stairs to the pub.
Mylo went to the room while Alessa and Powder went up to the bar. "Are you hungry baby?" She asked Powder, the young girl nodded silently and Alessa went to the kitchen and made some cooked fish and a small slice of bread. In a brightly fun colored cup was orange juice with some ice cubes. Alessa set them down, Powder smiled and ate quietly, the pub had barley anyone in it and it was all regulars who would stay well past closing. Many tips were placed in a bowl and Alessa smiled and moved it further behind the counter to count later.
Alessa got back to work and started to serve some drinks and kept an eye on Powder. The woman cleaned up as the little girl went back downstairs to be with her siblings. Alessa was taking care of the bar while down the street was Vander and Claggor going to Benzo's.
Alessa was walking around and doing her job when some guy walked into the bar, he wasn't a regular so everyone looked at him and acted like they went back to their business. He walked up to the counter and looked Alessa up and down, her attire wasn't very revealing, the most you could see was some cleavage. "Hey beautiful, what's a gal like you doin in a shit pub like this?" He smirked as he talked and Alessa wasn't amused.
Alessa just smiled sweetly and said "Oh you know, serving drinks to assholes like you." The man didn't like her choice of words and his smirk disappeared.
"Assholes like me huh? How about I take that smart mouth of yours and put it to good use." He smirked once again and stood up from the seat he had taken.
"I think I'll save it for my husband, I'm sure we would enjoy it. Nice try though." A couple regulars laughed at her snarky comebacks. The man however didn't like it. So he tried to grab her from behind the counter only for her to give him a left cross, knowing her ring would so some damage.
He stumbled back quite a bit and shook it off, he wanted to start something so she'd give him something. The regulars moved some tables out of the way while Alessa made her way from behind the counter, she crossed her arms and looked up at him. "If you want something from this place it better be a drink, if not then get lost." She stated with a straight face, all he did was reel back and throw a punch.
She moved out of the way and since she was smaller than him, she stepped to his left side swiftly and kicked his knee in. Then he fell to his knees on the ground. He turned around quickly but met with another left cross to the face, he fell to the right and was knocked out on the floor.
Just in time, Vander came back to see the tables pushed out to the sides of the pub and a bigman lying in the middle, he looked to his wife who was behind the counter yet again and sighed. He smiled and went up to her, he put the pneumatic tube capsule he got from Grayson down near the liquor and went to throw the knocked out guy out the doors. When he came back in the regulars started moving everything back and Vander helped out. When he walked back to his wife she smiled and greeted him with a kiss, he smiled into it and kissed her back with more passion.
To say he was proud of her still being able to kick ass was an understatement, things got a little more heated with the kiss and she had to stop him considering they had an audience now, people wolf whistled and were laughing at the small show they got.
Vander gave her a smirk and quickly slapped her behind and then went to the kitchen seeing as there were a few orders of food on the counter. Alessa knew what that meant, shook it off, and continued to pour drinks and chat with people at the counter. She saw the girls come upstairs and Vi gave her a look, she knew they were going out and be safe. So she nodded and they left, Alessa walked around to clean up while people began to trickle out of the pub. Once the pub was completely empty Vander and Alessa were listening to "their" song while cleaning the rest up.
They danced around a bit and eventually started to slow dance together. A quiet room with open space, the calm tone of the room they were in was perfect. When the song ended they didn't let go of each other, just smiled "I am so in love with you Vander Neoma." Alessa stated while staring into his eyes.
"I'm so in love with you Alessa Neoma. How did I get so lucky?" Vander said with the same tone and look in his eyes.
Alessa giggled and said "Well, we bought a pub together, then started a war and I just so happen to actually like you. You just got lucky I was still alive. You would've had to marry some other strong broad and raise kids with her."
He smiled at some memories and shook his head, "Oh yeah? And move on from you? Never...How about I show you how grateful I am to have you in my arms?" He smirked while she looked surprised for a moment.
She leaned up to his ears and whispered "Oh yeah?" with a smirk she let go of her husband and stepped away. She took her cleaning cloth and swayed her hips as she walked into the kitchen.
Suddenly the girls came back in through the doors with smiles on their faces, Vander looked over and smiled. "Did you guys have something to eat? I can make something quick if you're hungry?"
Powder was quick to respond. "No thanks. I ate already, mom made me something before we left." She then just walked away like she didn't just call Alessa "mom". Vi and Vander both looked surprised and followed Powders movements with their eyes. They looked back at each other and smiled brightly, they knew she was starting to get comfortable with the idea of having a "new family".
"I'll take something to eat, do we have fish? Or rice?" Vi just pushed away her thoughts and responded to Vander's question. Vander was quick to go make some rice and fish for her since they had both. Alessa was back there already making something to eat for Vi and Vander knowing they hadn't eaten since breakfast.
He came behind her and wrapped his large arms around her torso, she smiled and leaned into him. "You know what I just heard from a certain blue haired girl?"
Alessa gave him a confused look. "No? They're back? What did she say?" Vander just looked at her and smiled lovingly. The woman however became worried. "What did she say?! Is she okay?"
He chuckled "I think Powder likes you more than me."
Alessa pursed her lips and continued to stir the rice. "I don't think she has a favorite, I think she loves you as much as she loves me."
Vander shook his head and grabbed bowls for him and Vi out of the cabinet above Alessa. "No no, I heard her, she just called you mom, you definitely win favorites."
Alessa dropped her wooden spoon abruptly and spun around to look at Vander, her eyes blown wide with surprise. "W-what?" She started to tear up. Her hands coming up to cover her mouth.
"Oh hun, please don't cry!" Vander started to freak out and put the bowls down to go hug her. Alessa was teary eyed and she grabbed Vander.
"Did she really?" The woman whispered in surprise.
"Yeah, it was the cutest thing too. She said it with no hesitation, no second thought. Big ol' smile on her face too." Vander pulled her close and cradled her head to his chest. "Now that you know, can I finish dinner and eat? I'm kinda hungry. You should go talk with our oldest." He let her go, wiped her tears with his thumb, and quickly pecked her cheek. Then he pushed her out the kitchen gently.
Vi was sat at the bar and she looked up to Alessa and smiled. "I'm assuming he told you, considering your eyes are red and puffy?" Alessa just smiled and went to hug Vi, Vi accepted the hug and relaxed a bit into her mom's arms.
"You heard her say it too?" Alessa huffed and Violet chuckled while nodding her head.
"Yea, I haven't heard her call someone that in... forever. It feels good to know she's comfortable and trusts you like I do." They let go of the hug when Vander came out with the food, Alessa left them to talk and eat.
She went down to the basement and when she opened the door there was Mylo and Claggor sleeping in their beds while Powder was in her small fort. Powder peaked her head out because she heard the door and smiled when she saw Alessa. The woman walked over to the girl and sat down with her, the younger girl crawled to lay next to her. They both just sat in silence and Alessa played with Powder's hair. Even though Powder's hair wasn't super long, she loved her mom playing with it. Slowly Powder fell asleep from the relaxing environment and Alessa smiled, taking the girl into her arms and laying her on her bunk bed. She kissed the girl's head and did the same with the other boys, tucking them in. She covered them with blankets and turned out the lamp that was lit.
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