They were getting closer to the Last Drop. "Keep going straight." He'd get the car as close as he could. "If you see-"
"I'll watch over Jinx," Sevika promised. "You have my word."
"Mmm, I'm feeling special over here," Jinx said. Her body was so super loose. She was moving around her seat. "I took out 22 today. Silco would have been so proud."
Don't say anything.
"But it was soo plain, just by Pow-Pow-Pow," she complained. "No bombs, no real fireworks. Honestly pretty lame. Where is my stuff, Sevika?"
"It's all gone. Feel thankful you ended up getting your gun. You weren't supposed to."
"Well, why not?" Jinx whined.
"Ekko isn't a bad guy in every way. He's more gray than anything."
Gray? Oh no. Jinx wasn't loose anymore. Her body wasn't as close, she was starting to close off again. Don't do that. Please don't do that.
"How gray?" she asked him.
"I don't know." Don't do that. "Gray enough not to change on me? I want to stay close with you." He reached out to touch her again. "Don't close off."
"He's in it for the shimmer. He doesn't want to kill recklessly," Sevika answered her.
"I'm bad enough that Silco is dealing with me!" Don't close off, don't close off, don't close-
Back. Her smile was back. "Don't freak out so much, Ekko. Gray is okay. I had a friend that was gray once." She moved closer to him. "As long as you aren't an owl? Then you can hang out with the girl that attracts crows," she winked.
He. Didn't know why she said that. No, he did. He didn't think she'd . . . fuck. Just one more thing he did wrong. "I don't mind crows."
"I do," she said. "Silco doesn't want anything to do with crows or ravens."
Crows or ravens? "Why not?"
She shrugged. "Kill them if you have time, or try to ignore them, but notice their presence."
That was . . . weird? "Why?"
"I really don't know," she answered. "Just, black birds in general. It was a Silco thing."
"Silco was always on top of things," Sevika said as they continued to drive. "Even outside of Zaun. Or, it could have been a superstition. Either way. Yeah, it was a rule. I never had any idea how many black birds were around here until I had to start following that rule, but, I haven't seen as many in the last couple of years."
"Ooh, hey. Speaking of that gray friend?" Jinx leaned forward to Heimerdinger. "You look real similar to this buddy guy I knew. Did you know Ziggs?"
Heimerdinger looked annoyed at that. "Yes. I did. At one time."
"Man, I loved that guy. His goggles and his earring, man was glamorous," Jinx said excitedly. "Really helped me out. Used to live with me, and then he just up and left. Well? At first, I mean, I kind of thought he was part of my conscience since he was a short, fuzzy furball kind of guy. He was teaching me things. You hang around me long enough and I start getting the picture between." She laughed. "He lived with me a good year, taught me soooo much more about explosives, we had so much fun."
"Yeah," Sevika said to her. "He taught you more than explosives. Things Silco didn't like at all."
Oh, that made the message clear to Ekko. From Heimerdinger's face, it made it clear to him too. Silco had her friend killed.
"Yes. I? I knew Ziggs," Heimerdinger said slowly, this time without a hint of annoyance. "He was my assistant. It's been years since I'd seen him too. It's been more than a couple. You were just getting started as the Loose Cannon of Zaun back then. I thought he just . . . stayed in Zaun."
Regret? Heimerdinger. This poor guy had constant regret. Not watching Zaun. Not saving that Margaret woman from the village. Looked like he had another one on top of that.
"I don't know if he's the type who'd easily get out," Heimerdinger said to her. "But if he does? I'm sure he'd find you again. And if not? Then? Oh, Ball Sockets," he said. "After six months, I'll go and see what I can find of him."
"Oh, that'd be so cool." She leaned back again. "I loooved that little guy. He had an explosive personality. Loved blowing stuff up with me. Never liked blowing people up, but man, could we create some beautiful chaos together!" She laughed. "Til he up and left, without even a goodbye. Didn't take his stuff from my place or anything."
Not blowing people up. Probably stoked her even more with explosive knowledge, but this Ziggs kept her from killing. That would be annoying for Silco. He probably only got the year because Silco didn't care about someone being destructive with her. Not until he learned that he was teaching Jinx not to kill.
"Yeah. Sorry about your little friend dipping out like that," Sevika said with a little more sympathy. "Gotta run a tight ship."
Oh. Sevika either did it, or knew how and when it happened. Silco wouldn't let her have a single friend. Not even a destructive force friend could stay in her life. There's no way he would have let Vi have her back.
Even if he didn't mess up by taking her away with the Firelights that fateful day. There's just no way. Silco would have straight up had Vi killed.
He wanted his weapon to be 'perfect'.
Piltover
Vi stared in front of herself at her home with Caitlyn. Cait was trying to cheer her up, but it wasn't really working. She tried to brush her away with a 'Cupcake', but Cait wasn't falling for it. "I didn't want it to happen all over again. Not like this."
She remembered seeing Powder, the first time in years. She saw that amazing blue powder smoke and she knew what that meant. When she got to her, she saw her from the back at first. She was so much bigger now. Her hair was so long, it was in two piggy braids. Her outfit really spelt out she'd seen some things.
But, of course she'd seen things. Without her. Without her sister guiding her all these years, with that sensitive spirit of hers, where would she have ended up? "Powder?"
She turned, her eyes locking onto hers. She instantly recognized her. Those same big blue questioning eyes. "Vi?"
As soon as she heard that voice, she ran to her. "Oh, Powder!" She locked her sister in a hug first, but after a few seconds, she felt the reciprocating hug of her sister. She pulled away from the embrace so she could look her sister and explain as best she could. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Powder. I tried to come back. I promise, I did. But I . . . I got arrested."
"Marcus," Powder said.
"I don't know. I . . . it doesn't matter. I just. I never thought I'd see you again." She locked her sister into another hug. Poor Powder was so stunned too, she had to ask her, "Are you real?"
"Yes, of course. It's me, Vi, your sister." This moment was hard on Powder too, she knew that. She wanted to assure her so badly that she was there. That moment, it was theirs. She pulled away to talk more face to face again, but she kept her left hand on her too, to keep herself close. "I'm here, I'm right here."
Poor Powder got emotional, and her tears started to come. "Things changed when you left. I changed."
Vi rested her other hand on her shoulder. "I know, Pow-Pow, I know. You did what you had to survive." Oh, the thought. The thought for both of them. The thought of what they all did to survive. "Me too. It's okay. What matters is we're together." She hugged her one final time. One final moment.
Before her symptoms kicked in and she saw Cait. The betrayal in her eyes. Holding a gun against them. She looked so betrayed when she saw Cait, knowing she was enforcer. Cait was also taken back, seeing that Jinx was her sister.
Vi tried to keep the peace between the two. An enforcer killed their parents. Enforcers were terrible down there, and she could see the signs of change, as Powder had started to talk to herself about shutting up, though no one was talking. As she said things like 'It's Jinx now. Powder fell down a well.'
She lashed out. Childish lines like 'sister who thought I'd missed her' fell out of her mouth. She even pointed her gun at her, but she'd never fire. Vi just moved it away, and tried to reach out to her again.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to abandon you again." Vi was still able to reach out, touch her, and help her try to calm down. She just needed to know, that it would be okay. Once again, another warning sign came from her.
"Everyone, shutup! I need to think."
Thinking was good. No one was talking, it was just silence. She knew it was definitely in her sister's head, but she didn't care. They would get through this. Then? That's when it happened.
The Firelights showed up.
"Violet?" Cait brought her back to the present time. "It'll be okay. We'll find a way to get her back. Maybe you should try talking to him? I know that you said a lot of things about Ekko, but I'm sure you didn't mean it. When I saw you with him, you were genuinely so close to him. I could see that.
Vi wiped her eyes. "I am. But. Just like before." She hit the ground with her fist. "He did it again! He knew that I was upset the first time. He knew why I was going to put her away. I was going to be there, right by that prison cell for so long each day. More than an hour, I just, I couldn't say that in front of the others." She didn't want anyone to get into trouble. "I'd always be there, whenever I could. Especially at first, as Powder."
Cait pulled her closer and had Vi lean into her.
"He didn't even have a plan, Cait! There was nothing but that bullshit thing about chem-barons even he said no to. But, he did it anyway. He took the chance we could reconnect the right way again. I was so prepared this time." It wasn't fair.
"Violet, there was no guarantee that it would have worked still," Cait warned her. "While you were fighting, you could see the way she fought. She was mad, too mad. She had no doctors of any kind."
"Only a Silco, pulling her apart from herself." Silco. That blasted son of a bitch! "If anyone else raised her, helped her through this instead of making her chop away Powder!"
Cait held her so close. Without Cait, Vi didn't know what she'd do anymore. "We'll get her back."
"She's not safe out there. Not as Powder. Not as Jinx. Someone will see her and come after her."
"Right now, she is safe," Cait reminded her. "She is with Ekko and his group. He will take care of her. He is not scrawny or skinny," she teased her. "He is a strong, smart leader."
"How do I get her back, Cait?" Vi asked. "Without hurting Zaun. Without hurting Ekko?" Though a nice fist punch to the face for making her go through all this again might be called for. "How do I get to my sister? I can't bring the enforcers down this time."
"Just, try and find Ekko. Find the Firelights," she insisted. "See if they can find Ekko. Don't demand Powder, just try talking with him. Communication is always key. Let him see just how much you wouldn't let your sister fall."
"Maybe . . . maybe I should join her?" she offered. "Maybe if Ekko knows that I'd never leave her alone."
"Violet. You already paid your debt," Cait reminded her. "There is reason for her being locked up, past the vaccine. You have served your time. I won't just let you lock yourself away for the rest of your life."
Rest of her life? "I wouldn't lock myself away for the rest of my life. Just, as long as Jinx is in there."
"Which would be forever," Cait said.
What? "No, she wouldn't be. A few months, for the vaccine. Then, she could get amnesty for the good work." She tried to read Cait's expression. "Cait?"
"We'll talk about locking you up with your sister later. We have an early day tomorrow," she said.
Right, and they both would want to spend some quality time together before they actually went to sleep.
Maybe Cait was right. Maybe tomorrow she should go down, and find Ekko.