Chapter Text
The kid was still following her.
Jinx rounded the corner of another unimportant alleyway in the backwater parts of Zaun, quicker than last time, which had been quicker than the time before. She was nearly running at this point. But she wasn’t running; she wouldn’t. Like hell she’d run from some brat.
Said brat skidded to a halt at the corner, barely managing to catch herself from slipping on the wet, grimey excuse for cobblestones that were laid a hundred years ago and forgotten about since. Jinx watched from the corner of her eye as she scrambled to catch up, hiding herself behind pipe and box and broken down brick wall, somehow still thinking Jinx hadn’t noticed her. She didn’t know whether to feel insult—she was Jinx for fuck’s sake— or pity that the kid was obviously just as delusional as the walking corpse she was stalking.
It took two more rounded corners and the passing thought that maybe she should just give in and sprint to stop Jinx in her tracks. She heard the kid gasp behind her, freezing in place and loudly slapping her hand over her mouth. Oh for the love of —
“What do you want ?” Jinx said through gritted teeth, whipping around to face the little sump rat. She could feel the rush of shimmer in her blood, responding to her frustration. She stamped the surge of adrenaline down. It made her feel nauseous, but the last thing she wanted to do was lose control over a fucking baby . Some tiny stick with arms and legs.
The kid didn’t say a word. She stared at Jinx, all wide-eyed and open mouthed, clutching at the hem of her shirt and taking hesitant steps forward.
“Nope! Not happening.” Jinx flung Zapper out from its holster and pointed it straight between the brat’s wide, wide yellow eyes. She stopped, frozen in place with her foot still hanging a half inch off the ground, looking panicked down the barrel of the gun. “Ya got ten seconds, kid. Tell me what you’ve been following me for, or you'll wish Chross’s goons had done you in first. Ten.”
The kid’s mouth gaped wider, “Ah!” she sounded.
“Nine.”
Her body unfroze itself, her hands went back to fiddling with her shirt —“Eight”— feeling around until she pulled out a piece of paper from some hidden pocket—“Seven.” She unfolded it as quickly as her clumsy hands allowed, presenting the paper to Jinx with a proud, urgent flourish.
It was Jinx’s wanted poster. Angry-looking blue eyes that no longer existed set deep in a haggard face that looked just as tired as Jinx. Not a bad likeness, really. She could imagine bragging about it to Silco if his body wasn’t currently being picked at by minnows and chem waste.
Jinx looked at the poster, she looked back at the kid. Her face was lit up with self-satisfaction, as if everything had finally been explained. Jinx rolled her eyes and recentered Zapper. “Six.”
The kid didn’t panic this time. She huffed angrily and glared at Jinx like she was the fucking idiot here. She stuck her hands in front of herself, one fist in front of the other like she was getting ready for a fight but never heard of the concept before. Jinx laughed, “Ya don’t got a chance against me, brat, don’t even try. Five.”
The kid let out a frustrated noise, the loudest she’s ever gotten. She gestured to herself, running her hands up and down her body in earnest before making the same pose with her fists. Jinx’s wanted poster was presented again, the kid waving it around, pointing at herself, doing the gesture. When it was clear Jinx had no clue what the hell she was on about, the kid rolled her eyes and started to use complex signals with her hands that Jinx couldn’t keep up with. A flat palm with thumb pointed inward, then curling her fingers into an almost fist, index finger pointing upward—
“OK!” Jinx yelled. “I get it, goddammit, you can’t talk to me.” She holstered Zapper, squatting so she was eye level with the kid. “So it’s charades, then?” A nod. “Fine. Slow, brat. Spell it out like I’m your age.”
Another eyeroll. The kid held up a peace sign. Jinx’s face lit up.
“Two words!” A nod. Index, then two fingers.
“Right, first word, two syllables.” Another nod.
The kid ran her hands along her body like before, from the top of her head all the way down to her toes.
“...You? No, ok, uh, person. Figure? Body? Body! It’s body!” The kid nodded again, relief springing to her face at finally being understood. Jinx let out a loud WHOOP and rolled back so she was fully sitting down. She crossed her legs, excitedly slapping her hands on her knees.
“Alright, kid, now we’re gettin’ somewhere! Give me another!” Jinx said.
The kid grinned at her, taken in by the enthusiasm. Her movements became more exaggerated as the excited energy took over, she hopped on her feet, held out her index finger again. One word, one syllable. The kid crossed her arms, steeling her body as if protecting it from an unseen source.
“Ok, ok, I got this one,” said Jinx. “Uuuuhhh stop? Halt? Woah! Ok, way off, got it.” Jinx scrunched her eyebrows together. “You're...protecting? Guarding? Oh! Guard!”
Bodyguard. Suddenly, it clicked. The energy drained from JInx’s body as quickly as it had entered. She sighed and rested her head on her hand.
“You want me to be your bodyguard, kid?” Her voice sounded as exhausted as she felt.
The kid noticed her sudden change and followed suit, shrinking back in on herself with uncertainty. Still, she nodded at Jinx.
Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid. “Look, kid. I took down those goons because they got in my way, not for you.” Jinx stood up. This time, she called for the rush of Shimmer that shot through her limbs. She brought her face close to the girl’s, too close to be anything but unsettling. Wide, wide yellow eyes met bright, cloudy pink.
“Apparently you didn’t get it before, so I’ll go quid pro quo and spell it out nice and clear. I. Am. A. Jinx. I don’t ‘protect’ people, I don’t ‘guard’ anything. You hang around me and sooner or later it’ll be your corpse feedin’ the sewer rats. Leave me alone .”
The kid barely got to move before Jinx turned around and ran, vanishing from sight in a near instant.
She didn’t see the kid recover from her shock, fix her oversized hat firmly on her head, and continue chasing her in the direction she left. At that moment she wouldn’t have cared. All she did was run. Run and run and run until she found herself at a familiar building, hoisting herself up into familiar rafters over a familiar, empty chair.
Idiot , she thought. She couldn’t protect anybody.