Chapter Text
It was only a few hours after the war, and as Ekko looked amongst the wounded and injured people of both Piltover and Zaun at the academy. There were stretchers everywhere, some people had lost limbs, some he could see were on their death bed, some were already dead. Caitlyn had ordered the academy entrance hall be turned into a makeshift hospital and since then no one had seen her, he assumed he injuries were that bad.
He was only looking for one face, one streak of blue hair amongst the crowds but no matter how hard he looked he couldn't find her. She had to have survived, she was too resilient for that, he just had to know she was alive then he would leave. As he looked he saw a flash of red hair in the crowd and immediately made his way to her.
"Vi!" He shouted over the voices. She turned to see him, a sad smile on her face once she saw him.
"Ekko!!"
She pulled him into a hug and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Ekko I'm so glad you are alive." As he pulled away he noticed the red in her eyes and the chocked up sound lacing her every word as she spoke, she had been crying.
"Vi what happened, where is Pow-Jinx?" He looked behind her as if she would be there.
Vi started to break down and he knew then what had happened. "She...she didn't make it, and it was my fault."
"No." He couldn't believe this was happening. After what had happened in the other reality, he thought there was a chance that Powder was still in there, that the girl he had once loved as a boy was still in there. "No" It was all he could say.
"Vander attacked me at the Hexgates and she saved me but he grabbed her...and they fell." She pressed her bandaged hands hard into her eyes.
"VI!!" He heard a shout from behind him. He turned to see Caitlyn, an eye patch over one eye, her side bandaged. Vi immediately ran to her and scooped her up into her arms.
If only he still had his time device he could go back and get of that stupid roof and save her, catch her on the hover board. No. He was being stupid.
It wasn't long after that he found himself leaving the academy he found himself walking back towards Zaun, to the Firefly tree. Suddenly he felt lost. It was only a few hours ago when he spoke to her, convinced her to stop blowing them up, that he saw a look in her eye that he hadn't seen since they were children. He knew Powder was still in there, she just needed to show her self. But now that was gone. As he walked he felt as rain drops began to fall around him almost as it it were cleansing this city if the battle. He looked up at the dark sky, the sun long having set. He may have won the battle but he himself lost.
He found himself walking by the Hexgate ruins now, he didn't know why his feet had taken him here of all places. So many people had died. His heart clenched at the thought of Heimerdinger, he gave up the happiness of the other reality just so he would have a chance of saving this one, he didn't even know if it would work. He knew that what he did was the right thing, coming back here and and fighting, but there was part of him that longed to go back to the other reality, where his friends were, where Benso was, where she was. He supposed that part of him would want to go back for the rest of his life and he felt guilty for even thinking it.
He debated going back in there, that now grave site and looking for her, maybe she was still alive in the somewhere. It was then that he heard a clang of metal on metal followed by heavy breathing coming from an ally way next to the Hexgate. He closed the distance quietly incase it was another one of those robots, but he knew deep down it was probably so one injured, he should help them. There another clang. He walked down the ally further and it was then that he realised it was coming from a grate in the floor and it was a woman.
A small flicker of hope ignited in his chest as he neared the grate, moving slightly quicker with every step. He looked down and was met with two purple eyes. "Ekko?" Jinx breathed clearly exhausted . His heart skipped a beat in his chest. She was at the top of a metal ladder that seemed to go down miles and she had been trying to heave the metal grate off for who knows how long.
"Powd-Jinx!"
"You don't happen to have a crow bar or something on you to get this off?" She smirked in that way of hers but there was something off.
"It's screwed in." He toor a knife out of his pocket and began to unscrew the four screws holding the bars in place. "How long have you been here."
"I don't know...how long ago did it end." Based on how her voice was shallow he guessed she had been trying to get out for a while.
"About three hours ago." He got three of the screws out and was now on the last one.
"Ekko I need you to promise me something." No she wasn't just tired, her skin was growing paler by the second, she was injured.
"What is it?" He said as he lifted the grate up and out of the hole.
She climbed out holding her side, blood leaking between her fingers. She was badly injured, he needed to get her to the academy now. "Don't let anyone know I am alive." With that her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed into his arms.