Her Gun to His Head || Jinx x Garou

She figured it would have at least begun to cure her homesickness, being back after all this time, but…

It only made her blood boil, seeing what he'd done to it, her former home… the legacy he'd erased...

'No— feels more like he's parading around with the dead carcass of everything Vander built…'

The state of The Last Drop was the epitome of it all, and it made her feel ill…

Vi felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey— we should probably keep movin'…" said Cheese, in a low tone.

She paused, tempering herself, before giving him a resigned nod.

She'd convinced him to discard his enforcer rifle to avoid sticking out like a sore thumb while they traversed The Lanes, but he'd kept the riot shield he'd collected, and had it affixed to his back under his cloak.

It only added to his already large stature, she supposed — nobody was likely to want to mess with them.

Plus, the third in their temporary trio whom she still knew little about was a force of nature in himself…

She glanced his way — he seemed to have been observing her reaction to coming upon The Last Drop from the upper level upon which they stood.

"Got a home somewhere around here…?" she asked him. "Or are you just a passer through…?

Garou formed a somewhat reticent expression.

"…Lay my head wherever I can, I guess," he muttered.

He nudged his head in the direction of the neon-defaced building.

"Pretty sure it's only the old man's guys that drink in that spot," he remarked. "Hard to figure this sister'a yours'd find herself in there if she thinks along the lines'a you…"

She hung her head, the futility of it all hitting her like a ton of bricks. The Yordle lady at the brothel hadn't had any knowledge to offer her on whether Powder was alive either…

It meant that Silco was in fact her only remaining lead — he was the last person she'd ever seen her with, all those years ago…

It felt like a pang in her stomach, every time she forced herself to contemplate what he might have done with her… whether he might have spared her life…

She turned to Garou again.

"He must have payed you up front, right?" she surmised. "For the job at Stillwater — otherwise you'd be returning to him right now, to collect…?"

He raised an eyebrow at her question.

"Eh… I, uh… did it as a favor," he muttered, to her increasing curiosity. "He ain't here, anyway," he added. "Wasn't the plan…"

She followed the possible logic in her head.

"He's… at the docks, then?" she concluded, "to meet with the men he's freed…?"

His body language shifted.

"I ain't takin' you to him…" he grunted.

She felt her temperature rising once more.

"What's he got on you, that you had to owe him a favor…?" she demanded.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"What's gettin' at the old man got to do with your sister, eh…?" he responded.

"Because," she said through gritted teeth, "the last time I ever saw Powder, Silco was standing over her, holding a knife… that's the kind of man you've indebted yourself to…"

Garou made a hint toward taking a defensive fighting stance, as Cheese marched up to take her side.

She placed a gentle hand out, to stop Cheese from advancing any further — she wasn't sure she fancied a fight with the kid, not after seeing what he'd done against the enforcers…

Garou seemed to know it, too, as he gave a smirk at the very intimation.

"You'd be wastin' your time, tryin' to fight me…" he taunted. "Listen— you're tellin' me the old man's no different than the rest of the scum in this city, so fuck him… fuck whatever empire he sits on top of, too— I don't give a shit about any of it…"

"Then come with us—!" Vi urged. "We can take him down — you've seen what he's done to this city!"

He sighed, shaking his head.

"You got airships and peacekeepers stormin' the place," he argued, "ain't any way you two're gonna fix all of this… besides, I have someone of my own I gotta check up on…"

"…Let us come with you, then," she countered. "If you're planning on fighting Piltover, then don't you think this person you care about would be safer if we all stayed together?"

He turned up his nose.

"Got a little feeling you and her wouldn't get along so well…" he grumbled.

She had half a mind to press further, but she felt herself at an end with him.

"Fine…" she resigned. "Look— me and Cheese, we never thought we'd see the outside of that shitty prison, so… for whatever it's worth, thank you, for that at least…"

He gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Not like I know what you's did to end up in there…" he remarked. "That place ain't exactly strike me as—"

He seemed to trail off mid-sentence, distracted by something out the front of the bar.

"The fu—" he muttered, suddenly hopping the railing and dropping down to ground level, several feet below them.

Startled, she peered over at what might have captured his attention so immediately.

'A child…?'

It looked to be a little girl, anxiously attempting to peer in through one of the windows, as though expecting danger.

Vi looked at Cheese, almost apologetically, as she decided to hop on down after Garou.

She braced her knees as she landed, and snuck over to him, wary of running into any of Silco's men as she neared the entrance to The Last Drop.

"—leavin' that safe house… why're you all outta breath, kid?" she heard him say to the child.

Garou twitched his head in her direction when she reached them.

He proceeded to rise to his feet, and storm over to the door to the bar, kicking it open.

She wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but the little girl looked as though she'd been crying…

Vi crouched down next to her.

"Hey— what's the matter…?" she gently asked.

The girl wiped her eyes, but said nothing in response.

Vi spotted Cheese out of the corner of her eye, taking the long way down to them. She stood again, so that she could peer through the window to the bar — at a glance, it seemed as though some type of brawl had just taken place…

She saw the child suddenly decide to run on inside, after Garou, so Vi decided to follow as well.

She pulled her hood tighter over her head as she entered.

"—not just gonna sit here licking our wounds — boss is gonna kill us once he finds out they took her…" she overheard one of the injured grunts say to Garou.

"Who are they…?" Garou growled.

"It was Smeech, and his gang," the guy replied. "He wanted his piece, I guess — said he'd use her to bargain, like, bargain with Piltover…"

Garou had his hands around the scruff of the man's shirt, while he interrogated him.

"I don't know who the fuck that is…" he muttered.

"One of the Chem-Barons," the grunt replied, attempting to struggle out of Garou's hold. "North Alcove District is his territory — he'd have gotten pushed out by the enforcers…"

Garou finally let him go. The man hurried out, carelessly knocking Vi in the shoulder as he exited the bar.

The little girl stood by Garou nervously, while he simmered.

"I'm sorry…" Vi began. "Let us help — whoever they took from you, we'll help you find her."

She heard Cheese finally make his way inside, behind her.

Garou gave a frustrated huff.

"The old man's the only person who might know where to find this creep," he murmured, "and you two're on your way to go kill him, eh…? Seems like I should just lay you both out right now…"

Vi stepped in closer to him.

"I'd never kill him before he told me what he did with Powder…" she quietly shot back. "You can threaten me all you want — the fact is, we've got the same goal right now, which is finding Silco…"

She glanced around at the other henchmen around the bar, still recovering from their injuries. Fortunately, none seemed to perk up to the subject matter of their conversation.

Garou looked down at the girl, all of a sudden — she seemed to be making some kind of sign motion, which involved finger pistols.

"Yeah, kid," he muttered, "if we're lucky, Blue'll get herself outta the mess she's in…"

'Blue…?' Vi pondered.

"If we're doin' this," Cheese chimed in, "there ain't much time to lose…"

Garou scoffed, passing between them all and heading out onto the street, with the child following closely behind him.

Vi turned to her friend.

"We'll find her," he said, in an attempt to reassure her.

"I just…" she replied, "I've got a bad feeling, I don't know…"

They followed Garou and the girl out of the bar.

~~~~~

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"Swing it like you mean it, kid— c'mon," Sevika instructed, easily evading her swipe without so much as a half-step backward.

"It's not like you're gonna be scaring anybody with your little frame," she went on, "you gotta let them know within a few seconds that you aren't to be messed with — that means fighting with ferocity—"

"This is dumb, though," Jinx finally cut in, with a huff. "What's the point of me learning to fight with a stick? — I can just kill them before they even get close to me…"

Sevika thrust her hand out and disarmed her, before she had a chance to react.

"People who plan like that end up dead, kid," she scolded. "You should be able to make use of any weapon you can get your hands on — you won't always have the luxury of solving everything with your little pistols…"

Sevika held the half-length wooden pole up in front of her.

"This is just a stand-in," she grumpily explained. "I'm not letting you smack me in the arm with an actual crowbar, kid…"

She tossed it back to her.

"Again," she commanded.

Jinx rolled her eyes, begrudgingly engaging once more.

"And you gotta cut that hair— it'll be down to your elbows soon enough," Sevika droned on.

"I'm not cutting it…" Jinx shot back through gritted teeth, as she thrust toward Sevika's chest.

She batted the attack away again.

"Don't let it get too long, kid— it's a liability," she replied. "You get into a scuffle with somebody, what do you think's the first thing they're gonna reach for? People'll do anything to gain the advantage…"

"Not cutting it…" Jinx repeated, growing irritated — this brute of a lady had nothing useful to teach her…

Sevika grabbed the scruff of her collar when she drew too close, shoving her back again.

"You can't keep letting me know what you're gonna do," she told her. "Otherwise I can keep doing this all day— you gotta throw some feints in there, to keep your enemy guessing…"

'Enough with the stupid lessons…'

A guttural yell came out of her, as she charged the woman, slashing with all her might.

She delivered her a good wack on the inner elbow this time.

'Metal elbow…' she sulked.

Jinx's third swipe was sent back toward her, causing her to stumble momentarily.

"Don't let up, kid— c'mon," Sevika taunted.

Jinx caught her breath, curling her fingers back around her weapon and scanning for an opening.

She decided to feint with a stab at the abdomen, before redirecting with her other hand and employing a kind of back-handed thrust she hadn't tried before, aimed at Sevika's knee.

Humiliatingly, she missed completely…

She gritted her teeth, awaiting her teacher's mocking comment.

"Well, what'd you think was gonna happen? Just hold it normally, kid, here—" Sevika grumbled, holding her hand out to correct her. "Didn't your damn sister teach you how to fight or somethi—"

She fell silent as Jinx finally connected in a way that made an impact, the tip of her wooden baton colliding with Sevika's cheekbone. It drew a small amount of blood.

She wished she'd been in the mood to celebrate…

After a moment of stunned silence, Sevika's expression of surprise turned to anger. She raised her hand to her face and dabbed the small cut that Jinx had created.

Sevika opened her mouth, looking at though she were about to castigate her—

"That will be all for today, Sevika…" spoke Silco, strolling over toward them both.

She hadn't even heard him enter…

Sevika reacted with a look of frustration, as she turned to her boss.

Silco simply glared, while all three of them stood still for a moment.

Sevika finally acquiesced.

"Sir…" she grunted, quietly storming out of the room.

They remained in silence for a few seconds, before Silco glanced over at her, outstretching an open hand in the direction of her baton.

She huffed, placing it in his hand without looking up at him.

"Forgive what she said, Jinx…" he said after a moment, "I will speak with her about it, later…"

"…It's fine," she murmured, "I don't care…"

He seemed to look at her with some concern.

"Mm…" he responded, maintaining a gentle tone.

He wandered over toward the edge of the room, placing the baton back on its stand, before taking a seat and looking over at her.

She sidled toward him, still unable to meet his gaze fully. She sat down next to him.

"I've… made arrangements for you to be able to spend the morning at the loading docks tomorrow," he began. "I've instructed the dockmaster to allow you to oversee whatever you choose — he'll even let you operate the crane on something small, if you wish."

"Oh," she nodded glumly. "Sure— sounds good..."

He let out a little breath in amusement.

"I figured you'd be as excited…" he replied, with a small smile. "In truth, I just need you out, so that I can make preparations…"

She finally looked up at him, in curiosity.

"Given what day it is tomorrow…" he added.

She searched her mind for the answer toward which he was nudging her…

The hint of a grin crept across her face when she realized what he was talking about, though she attempted to hide it.

"Perhaps we'll allow for an extra slice of cake," he continued, "having neglected to do anything for your eleventh, last year, hm?"

"It's okay…" she bashfully replied, "I'm the one that didn't tell you…"

"Well, in any case— forget that I ever said anything, so that way I can at least feel as though I fooled you," he said.

She quietly giggled, resting her head against his arm.

"Can it just be us…?" she hoped.

"…If that's what you wish."

She nodded, feeling contented.

"You know," he added, glancing down at her, "these past couple years we've all been together, I've not once ever seen somebody make that woman bleed…"

Jinx looked up at him again, her grin returning.

"She's lucky we were doing some dumb, stick training instead of target practice…" she boasted.

"Mm," he responded. "Well… perhaps she can change things up, next time…?"

She shifted disagreeably.

"It's the same thing, every time— she just finds ways to make me mad, so she can throw me off my game," she muttered, "and then she berates me for it…"

"There's a lesson in that, don't you think…?" he calmly countered. "Emotion can be a compromising factor, in a fight… now— imagine you were to turn that on your opponent, hm…?"

He directed her by the chin to make eye contact with him.

"I've long found that a far more compromising emotion than rage is fear…" he said, staring at her intently. "Fear allows you to win the fight before it even begins, you see— that way you need not find yourself in a contest of swordsmanship…"

She almost couldn't help but believe his words.

"Sevika's never gonna be scared of me…" she grumbled, darting her eyes from him.

He gave a quiet chuckle.

"You're mistaken if you don't think she's going to feel the least bit wary the next time she attempts to push your buttons…" he replied.

She managed to look at him again, unsure of how convinced she felt.

"Don't let her discourage you, Jinx — you're stronger than you think…" he added. "Perhaps you don't feel it yet at twelve, but it's your ingenuity that will make them afraid of you, of what you can do, what you can create… and then nobody will be able to stand against you — nobody will be able to take what's yours…"

Maybe it could be true…

Admittedly, it was what she wanted more than anything else — some semblance of control, over the course of things, over her fate… she'd adopted the name 'Jinx' in rejection of the very notion of it… she desired to laugh in the face of the very idea of bad omens and curses— all superstitions… she couldn't jinx an outcome that she herself held the power to determine…

She nestled her head into his shirt, shutting her eyes before they could get all misty.

"So, you're saying I just needa fight dirty next time…" she joked.

He let out an amused exhale.

"Keep her in one piece, if you can — I do still require her services," he joked back.

She felt his fingers run through to the tips of her hair, as she lay against him.

"It's grown rather long, hasn't it…?" he commented. "You might think of tying it, so that it will be easier to keep clean, and whatnot…"

She thought on it.

"I never got shown how to do it for long hair— I guess I'll figure it out…" she responded.

"Mm," he hummed. "In any case, go on up and draw yourself a bath, child — you could use a wash."

She slowly pulled herself away from him.

"Fine…" she replied.

He gave her a faint smile, as she stood up.

"I've left you the first part of your gift— up there, you'll find it," he said.

She perked up, pondering the possibilities.

"…The bubbles?" she guessed.

"The cloudberry scented ones," he nodded, "sourced straight from Piltover's Green District—"

She cut him off with a hug.

"Go on," he repeated, letting go of her. "Relax— take your mind off of things."

She nodded, and left to do as he said, heading back upstairs.

Sometimes she felt that he was the only thing keeping her calm, or stopping her from spiraling into those intrusive, tormenting thoughts of which she hadn't yet been able to rid herself…

He didn't seem as though he wanted things to stay that way, though — he seemed to want her to find some semblance self-reliance… to become her own grounding force…

That was something that felt impossible, but…

She didn't want to let him down…