Work Text:
Silco was watching the small child in the corner. He didn’t know what he was going to do with her. She had latched onto him in the alleyway, and he was only able to pry her off once she fell asleep a few hours later. Silco was planning to kill her after she helped him find Vi… But, for some reason, he felt like that wasn’t an option anymore.
Sevika had asked Silco if he planned to keep the child around. He thought having a child this young around probably wasn’t a good idea. But, she could probably be used as ransom if he needed to find Vi. She was the closest thing Vander had to an heir.
The child stirred. She opened her eyes and started to scramble away when she saw Silco. After a few seconds, there was a flash of recognition in her eyes, but she didn’t move closer. Probably for the best. Silco didn’t want to be tackled again.
“Goodmorning, child,” Silco said.
“Vi said not to trust you,” she said quietly. “She said you were bad.”
“And, where is Vi now?”
She didn’t say anything after that. Silco realized that was probably a needlessly cruel thing to say, but he didn’t take it back. The child didn’t seem partially upset by his comment, though she was probably still in shock.
Silco sighed. “You shouldn’t believe what your sister said. I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Silco. What’s yours?”
She didn’t answer.
“It’s Powder, right?” Silco asked.
She nodded. “How did you know?”
“I knew your parents. And, you, when you were younger.”
“I don’t remember you,” Powder said, just as quietly as anything else she had said in the past few minutes.
“I don’t expect you to,” Silco said. “You would have been around three or four. Pretty young.”
“Where are we?”
“In a warehouse near the lake.” He paused to see if she’d react. “Would you like something to eat?”
She shook her head. Silco didn’t press her when she didn’t say anything else. Powder wasn’t looking at him directly. Just near where he was sitting. Silco was watching her carefully.
“You seem nice,” Powder said after a while. “Why did Vi say you were bad?”
“You don’t know me,” Silco replied.
“Are you bad?”
“You can decide that for yourself.”
Powder thought about it. Silco had kidnapped Vander, and had Benzo killed. But, he’d also picked her up when Vi left. He hadn’t pushed her off, and he hadn’t left her alone in the cold rain.
“Vi called me a jinx before she left,” Powder said quietly. “She said that’s why she didn’t take me with her, and that’s why everyone ended up dead. They’re really dead, aren’t they?”
Silco nodded. “You can go back and see for yourself, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Powder looked up. “Do you know where Vi went?”
“You’d know better than me.”
“Is she coming back?”
“You’d know better than me for that, too.”
“She’s never left before.” Powder said it more to herself than to him, but she didn’t say it quietly enough that he couldn’t hear. “When I was younger she said she’d never leave. She said she’d always come back. Do you think she’ll come back?”
“I don’t know,” Silco said.
“Can you have someone look for her?” Powder asked.
Silco nodded. “There are already people looking for her,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yes.” He didn’t add that the people were supposed to kill her if they found her, but Powder didn’t need to know that. “Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat? Maybe to drink? You’re in shock, and not eating won’t help that.”
Powder shook her head. “I’m fine. You said you knew my parents. Do you remember them?”
“Yes,” Silco said.
“What were they like?”
“Oh. They were very nice. They loved you and your sister very much. They, um… Your mother always wanted the best for you. They used to work in the mines. They were very hard workers.”
“Are the enforcers that killed them dead?” Powder asked.
Silco nodded. “By now, yes.”
“Good.”
Silco stared at her for a few minutes. She wasn’t looking at him anymore. She was staring at the wall. Silco guessed her numbness was due to shock. Once the shock wore off, she would probably be pretty upset. She was all crying when Silco met her, so he guessed she wasn’t normally this numb.
“There’s food in the cupboard next to you,” Silco said as he stood up. “If you start to get hungry, eat something.”
Powder nodded.
“I’m serious,” Silco said. “If you don’t eat something, you’ll starve. And, I’d really not have that happen.”
Powder nodded again. “Okay,” she said quietly.
Silco gave her one more look before walking out of the room. She didn’t even look up until the door shut behind him.