Work Text:
How did it come to this?
Staring down at you, my sister, underneath me. How did we get here? I had thought you were dead. That… that you had killed the rest of her. That there was nothing left of Powder in there.
Violet’s eyes struggled to find purchase as she took in the scene below her. Jinx - Powder - completely listless. Her unnaturally bright purple eyes resigned and unfocused, staring at some distant spot on the ceiling as Vi pinned her down to the altar. The thin, frail body barely moved between her knees as she held Jinx down, and had it not been for the girl’s panting breaths, she might have presumed she was actually dead.
“I’m glad it's you,” she had said, quietly so that only Vi could hear. “Had to be you…”
How did it come to this?
Just moments ago, they were fighting for their lives. Each blow had been meant to be a killing blow. But it was also just like it had always been. Jinx pulled on her sister’s hair, Vi’s arms wrapped around her stomach as she struggled to subdue her - just like when they had been growing up. So many long years ago, when everything was so much different.
Well, Vi had finally subdued her.
It had to be you…
Vi was also glad it was her, in a way. Even if her sister was gone, this monster had stolen her flesh. Tortured and twisted Powder’s mind into whatever the hell it had become now. And she was going to be the one to finally free her.
A whimper jarred Vi out of her thoughts. That whimper was familiar, too. It was raspier, but it was the same, pained whimper that Powder would let out after she nicked herself with a sharp bit of metal working on one of her creations.
And Vi’s resolve broke.
She had thought that when they came down here, and that when they finally found her, she wouldn’t recognize anything about her. As she had told Caitlyn earlier, her sister was gone. But perhaps she was wrong. Perhaps there was something left of Powder, deep down inside of her. Buried beneath all of the shimmer and braids and all of the Jinx , maybe there was a tiny bit left.
But a tiny bit was not a lot. A miniscule portion of what had become something else. Something more and something darker that had taken her sister and made Jinx. Vi had already tried appealing to this small portion before. On the roof and over the bridge and at the table and nothing had worked. Nothing had broken through.
And yet after all of that, Jinx had met Vi once again, and this time, she expected to die. Vi realized that suddenly, and her eyes widened as her stance weakened. Jinx had come into this fight ready to die by her hand - wanting to die by her hand.
Was this another opportunity? Is this the time where Vi could finally break through to her sister?
It looked, for a brief moment, that it might. But if it fails…
Vi couldn’t take the chance of letting Jinx go. She couldn’t take the risk. There was too much at stake, and Caitlyn-
Oh, Janna, what could Caitlyn say if she just let her go again? If she let her sister scurry off into the night again, without any repercussions just like last time. She couldn’t let that happen.
There was a heavy thunk. A loud click and whirr as she reared her fist back to punch down. It probably wouldn’t kill her - but it might. Who really knew with all of the ugly shimmer bubbling through Jinx’s veins. But either way, Vi was going to end this once and for all.
But suddenly, there was a blur of swift movement, and she was pushed back as a body forced its way in between the two of them.
“ No! ” Jinx’s voice cried out as Vi found herself staring down the barrel of a gun, shakily held in the hand of a small child she didn’t recognize.
What the fuck? Who’s this kid?
Vi cautiously held her arms back, her body tense as her eyes darted back and forth between the barrel of the gun and the child’s manic eyes. She recognized that look that the girl was giving her. It was a look she had seen in Powder’s face many times. She had seen that look in Mylo and Claggor and Ekko’s eyes too. She had worn that very look on her eyes just as often.
It was the chilling look of resentment and fear that all of the undercity gave to the enforcers whenever they came stomping down from the topside. A look of disgust and anger. And it was directed at her , by a child of Zaun.
And Vi felt as though she could throw up.
How could I have done this? How did it come to this?
She really had put on the uniform and hunted through the streets of her home. What had happened to her? What had she become?
Before she could question her choices any more, Vi caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze shifted to her right, and her eyes widened as she saw Caitlyn raising her rifle and taking aim at the trio. Vi's heart leapt into her throat as she watched her partner squint down her sights. She wasn't going to... It was a child for gods' sake! Vi could diffuse the situation. She could handle this. Cait didn't need to-
A loud, booming crack filled the air as Caitlyn pulled the trigger. Vi didn't even have time to open her mouth before there was a burst of heat against her face and the ring of a bullet hitting metal. The gun held in the shaky hand of the child was suddenly pushed away, torn out of the girl's hand by the force of the impact. She was vaguely aware of the pained gasp that Jinx let out, but she was too busy turning her head away to not be hit by any stray shrapnel from the bullet's impact.
And then, there was silence.
A moment of peace filled the air, only broken by the panting breaths of everyone in the room. Vi relaxed her arms as she turned back to the scene before them. Trying to judge her next move. She wasn't too keen on continuing to beat up Jinx, especially not with a kid in the way. Besides, it had seemed as though she had been ready to give up before the intervention. But then, before she could make up her mind, the young girl between the two sisters let out a loud cry and threw her body over Jinx, shielding the younger sister from the elder.
Vi's eyes widened at the sight, just a Jinx's widened at the contact. "What the..." her raspy voice muttered. "What are you…" Her hands came up, and Vi flinched, her arms almost returning to their defensive position before she realized Jinx was grabbing onto the girl rather than reaching up to her.
"Get off of me!" Jinx grunted as she tried to push the child off of her. Her hands grabbed at the girl's shoulders to try and pry her away from her body, and Vi couldn't help but notice the wince as Jinx's fresh nub of a finger brushed against the scrawny kid's arm. It seemed that Jinx's efforts had no effect, as the girl simply buried her face into her shoulder and cried harder, spreading her body out to cover even more of Jinx's body from Vi.
Jinx relaxed, seemingly giving up the fight. Her eyes briefly met Vi's, and Vi could feel her gaze soften slightly. She still couldn't read what her sister was thinking, but there was a hint of something there. An unspoken question, as if she was asking Vi what her next move was.
And then her gaze tore away, looking back at the child curled up on top of her. " Kid... " she said weakly, so that only Vi could hear. "Come on."
"Get away from her!"
Vi's head swiveled away from her sister to stare at Caitlyn. The other enforcer had her rifle raised, unyielding as she took several aggressive steps forward. Vi was no marksman, but even she could see that in order to take her shot on Jinx, she'd have to shoot right through the little girl.
No. She wouldn't.
"Cait!" she called out, rolling back on her knees.
But Caitlyn didn't stop. She took another step forward, rifle still held steady. "Move!" she ordered.
She would.
Glancing back, Vi could see the panic rising in Jinx's eyes as she started to struggle with the kid. "Scram kid!" her sister hissed as she tried to throw the girl off of her. Her body tried to roll underneath Vi, and he realized with a strange sense of misplaced pride that her sister was trying to put herself between Caitlyn and the girl.
That action was what made up her mind.
The picture that Vi had painted in her mind of her sister was wrong. She had not seen her since that fateful day, her silhouette painted by the light of the moon and the afterglow of a blue rocket. She had seen her as a monster. A creature of evil, hell-bent on destroying Piltover and Zaun combined. But that simply wasn't true.
What Vi saw now was a young woman cornered by enforcers, trying to protect a small child even if it put her in harm's way. And Vi was not about to let herself be a part of this any longer. She threw herself off of Jinx, stumbling to her feet to stand before her partner.
"Cait, she's a child! " she cried out as she held up her hands, mighty gauntlets blocking more of the woman's vision.
"Move!" The enforcer said through gritted teeth, her gaze hard and determined. "She's not getting away again."
Vi just shook her head, bewildered. This wasn't Caitlyn. This wasn't the woman she loved. This wasn't the woman whom she had just kissed mere hours ago. The woman who stood before her now, target set on a kid was almost unrecognizable.
" Cait- " she pleaded, but she was barely able to utter her partner's name before a second shot rang out.
Violet winced as the bullet hit her gauntlet. No doubt that was going to leave a bruise. She stumbled backwards a few steps from the impact, but forced herself to keep her hands raised up and in the way. Her eyes were wide with shock, and her mind was racing a mile a minute.
What the fuck was she thinking?
"Move!" roared Caitlyn as she took another step forward and lined up her next shot. Her voice was full of anger and her eyes were full of fire. At that moment, Vi truly didn't recognize her at all.
"Cait!" she pleaded once again, but then she saw the other woman's finger brush against the trigger. Without thinking she rushed forward and grabbed the barrel of Caitlyn's rifle just as she pulled the trigger and yanked it down towards the ground.
The third loud bang shattered through the air as the two women breathed heavily, staring into each other's eyes. Vi held the smoking barrel of Caitlyn's rifle firmly pointed downwards, pleading with her partner to give up the fight.
But Caitlyn’s eyes were as hard and as cold as steel, and she stared back with a determination that Vi had not seen in her before. Vi opened her mouth - she didn’t know what for, whether it was to plead, or scream, or cry, or something - but she didn’t even have a chance to speak.
Everything happened all at once.
There was a raucous clamor behind Vi, and then Jinx was shouting something as an explosion rocked the ceiling above them. She turned to look just as the heavy stone slab of the wall behind them fell away and a burst of rushing air blew out. The force of the wind took the rest of the wall with it and suddenly everything in the room was being blown away from it.
Vi only caught a brief glimpse of Jinx rolling over behind the altar for cover, taking the young girl with her before both her and Caitlyn were blown away as well.
What the hell is this?
She couldn't keep track of what was happening, and her gauntlets struggled to find purchase on any outcropping as they tumbled back towards the entrance of the temple. Her hand finally snagged the edge of something and she grunted as her arm was nearly yanked out of its socket. Thinking quickly, she grabbed onto Caitlyn before she was blown away. But her hold was loose, and the other woman slipped out of her grasp as she lunged for her rifle - seriously, Caitlyn? - and Vi was only just barely able to hold onto her.
The oppressive wind burst lasted for only a few seconds before it was cut off by a large chunk of rock blocking the opening, but it felt like it had gone on forever. The two of them rolled to stop in the vent shaft they had climbed down earlier, skidding to a stop in the center of the space.
As the rubble settled around them, Vi coughed, trying to clear the dust from her lung. She rolled over and lifted her gauntlet from its protective stance over Caitlyn as the enforcer clambered back to her feet and frantically grabbed her rifle as she rushed over to the collapsed doorway. Vi watched as she froze, staring at the ruin for a few, long seconds before she let out a frustrated sound - something in between a sob and a scream - and began to furiously beat her rifle against the solid rock.
Vi laboriously stood, grunting at the pain from the beating she had taken, and watched helplessly as her ( her girlfriend? ) partner raged against the stone.
“Cait,” she called out. Her voice hoarse cut through Caityln’s manic grunts and the other woman lowered her gun to instead rest her head against the rough stone. Beads of sweat and tears dripped off her face as she panted, and Vi took a hesitant step closer. “Cait-” she went to say again, but she was cut off.
“You stopped me.” Caitlyn’s voice was quiet, a whisper against the rubble as she pressed her palm against the crude painting facing them. Her fingers splayed out as she let out a rough sigh, squeezing her eyes shut.
With a flex of her arms, Vi shrugged off the gauntlets on her hands, the hextech falling to the floor on either side of her with a loud crash. “I- I shouldn’t have had to,” she responded as she walked up behind the woman.
“I had the shot,” Caitlyn replied, as if that was validation enough.
Vi’s eyes widened as a sudden coldness began to pool around her. She knew that Caitlyn was out for blood. They both had been, to be honest. But the look in Jinx’s eyes… the resignation, the fear, the familiarity. Vi wasn’t sure anymore. But she knew that Caitlyn wasn’t ready to hear that, so she tried a different approach.
“That was a kid!” she replied incredulously. Even if Caitlyn wanted Jinx’s blood, what was she thinking, shooting at a child? “What if you missed?”
“I wasn’t going to miss! ” Caitlyn suddenly cried, standing up straight and spinning around to stare Violet down. Vi stumbled back in shock as her partner leveled a hard stare at her. It only lasted a moment before she looked away, glaring at the floor as she clenched her fist. Caitlyn’s entire body was shaking with some kind of anxious energy, and Vi almost didn’t recognize her.
“What… What's wrong with you?” she asked solemnly. Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t okay.
Caitlyn frowned at the floor and narrowed her eyes. “I keep telling myself that you’re different,” she muttered, shaking her head. Her eyes briefly met Vi’s once again, but she tore them away quickly as she moved to brush past her. “But you’re not.”
Vi’s head turned, following the woman as she walked back over to the ladder. An unspoken question lingered on her lips, one that she didn’t want to ask. One that she was afraid of the answer to.
But it turned out she didn’t even need to bother asking.
“It’s her blood in your veins,” Caitlyn said coldly as she cast a burning glare over her shoulder, eyes hidden by her mussed up hair.
A rage suddenly pooled inside of Vi, and she felt herself regress back to an old comfort she knew - anger. She took an aggressive step forward and reached out to grab Caitlyn’s wrist. “Then why are you the one acting like her? ” she asked angrily.
Caitlyn paused, one hand on the ladder as her partner grasped the other. She gritted her teeth, panting heavily as Vi waited for an answer. The red-haired woman felt the frustration slowly dissipate in her, snuffed out by the lack of answer from her friend.
It had been a mean-spirited question. It did not matter how accurate the accusation was, Caitlyn didn’t deserve that. Vi knew that she was struggling - hell they both were - and she knew just too well what pain and grief could do to someone. She relaxed her grip slightly, an apology on the tip of her tongue.
But then Caitlyn’s gaze hardened and inhaled sharply through her nose. Her bicep flexed and her rifle was suddenly angled upwards towards Vi’s stomach, and with a swift thrust, she jabbed it backwards.
As the butt of her partner’s rifle slammed into her gut, Vi stumbled backwards. A pained cry was ripped from her throat as she fell to her knees. Suddenly, she was back in Stillwater. Enforcers surrounded her as she lay crumpled on the ground. One of their steel-tipped boots collided into her stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs as she curled in on herself with a whimper.
She looked up, trying to meet the eyes of the enforcers, begging them to stop. But she only found herself staring into Caitlyn’s cold eyes instead. Where once there was warmth and empathy and love, there was now only an icy detachment. The softness with which Caitlyn used to so lovingly gaze down at her had now become a hard resolve that Vi could not recognize at all.
You promised not to change.
Tears streaked down Violet’s cheeks as she pleaded through choked sobs.
Please. Come back to me. You promised you wouldn’t change.
But Caitlyn gave no response - no apology. The only answer she gave was an exhale of frustrated air through her nose before she turned and started climbing the ladder.
So this was it then.
No.
Just hours ago, they had held each other. Shared their first, passionate kiss. Expressed their love.
You said. You Promised!
They had only just started, and it was already over.
Vi’s sobs became louder as she curled in on herself. Her tears rolled down her cheeks and pooled on the floor in front of her as she choked on her sorrow. The weight of today, and of yesterday, and of all the days before piled up on top of her and pushed her down into the ground. A mountain of grief and suffering, trailing back to that fateful day so many years ago.
She said she wouldn’t change.
Through her sobs she tried to piece it all together. The unfortunate series of event after event. Of darkness and misery and only brief glimpses of light that acted as some brief reprieve before yet another domino came crashing into the next. She had lost her parents first, and then Vander, and then her sister, and now her partner.
Had they even ever been in love?
How did it come to this?
Slowly she lifted her head to watch as Caitlyn dismounted the ladder and walked away. And as more tears blurred her vision, she could have sworn she saw two shimmering pricks of violet gazing back down to her.
And how do I find a way out?
How did it come to this?
I can still see the coldness in your eyes staring down at me. How did we get here? I had thought you were gone. That you had left, and taken my sister with you. That I would never see Violet again.
Sevika tugged forcefully at her arm, Isha by her side, but Jinx stayed put. The pain in her hand screamed at her, a missing finger twitching at every subtle stimulation. But she ignored it, choosing instead to stare down at the bottom of the shaft at the sight of her sister - Violet - crumpled to the ground with her head in her hands, sobbing.
And yet, here you are. Broken.
Somewhere above them, there was a loud clang as the door of the hatch opened, and then closed after the Caitlyn girl - the Piltie bitch who had done that to her sister - but the noise didn’t even make her flinch.
How did it come to this?
Jinx hadn’t been lying, or exaggerating, or playing a role earlier. She thought that had been it. She had thought that Vi was about to kill her. And she had been glad that it was her.
There had been a few close calls over the years. Jinx had gotten into some pretty nasty scraps while working with Silco, (with, not for, make a note, Sevika ), but she always walked away from them. This one, she wasn’t supposed to walk away from.
But here she was anyway.
Everything had seemed so clear earlier. There was a set path, a goal for her to skip towards. The end was in sight and she was well on her way to reaching it. But then, like always, something came in and mucked everything about.
Vi had come bounding into that trap all righteous and enforcer-like and whatnot, and then they beat the crap out of each other. Most of that was as planned. Vi calling her by her real name instead of Powder wasn’t fully expected, but it was a nice touch. She could give her that.
How nice of her to finally get the name right when she’s come to kill me.
But everything that had happened afterwards brought the whole show off the rails. Nearly getting sniped was a possibility, Jinx supposed, but it wasn’t the preferred outcome. Hat Lady blowing her finger off - jeez, that freaking hurt like a fucker - certainly wasn’t planned. Isha was supposed to stay on the sidelines, not come to be her savior. And Vi…
Vi wasn’t supposed to look at her like that. With that familiar warm, sympathy she always had in her eyes. The same warm sympathy that was directed at her when they were kids, or even when they ruined however many weeks ago it had been. Vi had said it herself. They weren’t sisters anymore.
But she kept looking at me like one.
Well that was something awfully rich, wasn’t it? Hadn’t Vi been all up on her high horse about them being sisters and how “nothing could change them being sisters?” Only to come in and beat the living crap out of her while saying her “sister was gone?” And then having the gall to look at her like that and pity her like that? Then to try and save her? What the hell?
Like, really? Pick a lane, sister!
A raw rage bubbled up inside of Jinx as she became more and more confused.
Something had shattered inside of her when she recognized Vi in the old arcade. Vi, Vi, Violet, Vi. Walking all rough and tough and wearing an Enforcer's uniform. My how the mighty have fallen.
Jinx wasn't stupid. She had seen the writing on the wall. One doesn't just hang out and get all close to an enforcer without squandering some of the morals they had grown up with. But it still hurt.
Seeing Vi clad in that damn uniform hurt her more than she had any right to. To think that she had joined the enforcers - become the very symbol that she claimed to hate - and that she was weaponizing the Grey against Zaunites? Jinx honestly didn't know how she had held back her homicidal rage at the revelation.
But she did. She had simply watched, and cried, and then fled. Ran as far as she could and then distracted herself with another fight. And then she planned.
Today had been the culmination of that plan. A showdown - a final showdown - between Jinx and her. Sure, others had shown up. Hat Lady and Sevika were there. And Isha, that fuckin' rascal. But it was really just about her and Vi. But of course, that hadn't really gone down the way she expected it would, now had it?
She did not expect to come out of that fight. She certainly hadn't expected to lose her damn finger. ( Really, again, what the fuck, Hat Lady? ) And she definitely did not expect to see her sister again. She was fighting Vi, not her sister.
So then why did her sister show up?
She tried not to notice, but it was unavoidable. Vi had just been so present in the moment, her sister so bright in Violet's eyes that Jinx couldn't have looked away even if she tried. She did try. It had been a total pivot - a complete one-eighty.
One moment, Vi was on top of her, ready to punch her lights out for good. And the next, her sister was standing in between her and an enforcer, trying to save her life. Not only her life, but the life of young, innocent Isha, too. (The little brat. Jinx was still mad about that).
Oh, make no mistake about it. Jinx was in no way ready to forgive Vi for everything. But maybe she was willing to, now. It had been hard, seeing her again after all of these years. After she had died and moved on. After she had come to terms with the fact that she, Jinx, did not have a sister.
But we were always gonna' be sisters, huh, Vi?
Jinx sighed and closed her eyes. Maybe this was it. Maybe this was the real way out. Not via her death. But by an extended hand. An offer, silent but present. The only question left was whether or not she would take it.
Maybe she could see Vi as a sister again. Maybe. There was a long road ahead of making that choice though. She’d just have to wait and see what happened. Vi could say sorry and sorry and sorry as many times as she wanted, but there was only one thing that Jinx really wanted.
Perhaps Vi had gotten closer to that today. A step in the right direction - an effort made. Silco used to talk a lot about efforts made. Was this one? Maybe.
Jinx sighed as she finally gave in to Sevika’s tug and stood up from her perch. She cast one, last glance down at her distraught sister, an odd urge to comfort her stuck somewhere in between her stomach and her tits.
How did it come to this?
She really didn’t know. How the hell did they all end up in this mess?
And how do I find a way out?
She didn’t know the answer to that either.