Chapter Text
Vi’s heart leapt into her throat the moment Jinx slipped through her fingers toward where Isha had run. Jinx was barely a blur of pink before she was curled in a ball around Isha as an explosion rocked outward, blowing up not only Vander but many of the guards near him. Vi was knocked off her feet by the blast.
She searched for Jinx as soon as she could. When it was safe enough for her to let her guard down to look, Vi peered toward the slumped furry body. Part of her expected to see the bloodied bits of her sister and the child she had tried to save. But there wasn’t any sight of blue hair.
Caitlyn gripped onto her shoulder, breathing heavily as she shoved a finger toward the grassy fields. Then, Vi saw the small patch of flattened grass that led to the figure sprawled on the ground.
The guards had called for a retreat with the explosion and bloodbath that came after it. Vi didn’t pay them a lick of attention as she did her best to jog toward the body in the field, shoving away the throbbing in her abdomen in her haste.
The grass was splattered with shimmery violet. Vi knew that it was coming from Jinx and it made her terrified to lay eyes on her. Jinx was curled up tightly, and her back was torn up from the blast, her top doing very little to protect her skin.
“Powder.” Vi fell to her knees beside the figure, reaching out to press her fingers to her neck. She felt the steady thrum under the pads of her fingers and let out a small breath before she turned her attention to the figure her sister clutched tightly.
Isha had been knocked out as well. She didn’t look very hurt other than the hand that had been holding the gun, which was burned and raw. Vi pressed her fingers to the small neck as well.
Caitlyn fell to her knees beside Vi, and Vi was relieved she was still there as she worked on pulling her sister onto her back to open her airway and check for more damage. She called Powder’s name a few times.
Caitlyn reached out as Jinx was on her back to slowly draw the unconscious Isha away. When Jinx was slightly coherent, her grip loosening enough, Caitlyn pulled Isha away to lay her down on the grass nearby, and Jinx panicked.
Vi kept trying to get her to settle down. Jinx’s mind seemed to be stuck on one thing: Isha. It wasn't until Isha finally stirred and barreled into Jinx that the blue-haired teenager finally settled back.
“We need to go,” Caitlyn said quietly. Vi didn’t think Jinx heard her. Jinx was staring at the sky, her grip on Isha tight, the little girl sobbing. “It’s not safe.”
“Yeah,” Vi agreed hoarsely. She wasn’t sure how they’d get out of there. She looked down at her injured sister before her hand found her cheek. “Jinx. Hey, look at me.”
Violet eyes seemed to glow when they latched onto her face. It made Vi want to flinch.
“We need to get out of here,” Vi told her in her calmest tone. “I can help you up, but I can’t help carry Isha too.”
Something flickered across Jinx’s face and Vi hurried to continue.
“Caitlyn can carry Isha,” Vi said, briefly looking over at the woman in hopes she’d agree. Caitlyn’s face hardened slightly but gave Vi a firm nod of agreement. “And we can get out of here and somewhere safe. We can all patch up. Okay?”
Jinx stared at her as her brain filtered through her words. Finally, Jinx’s gaze fell onto Caitlyn. Caitlyn braced herself under the stare but Vi saw the minute flinch she gave when their eyes met.
Jinx pointed a hand, trembling with blood loss, at Caitlyn and said, “You better not shoot her. Or drop her.”
Caitlyn swallowed hard before saying, “I won’t.”
Jinx glared at her but after a moment she looked down at the kid curled in her lap. Her voice softened when she said, “Isha. Look at me.”
Isha reluctantly peeled her face away from Jinx’s shoulder, a smear of shimmer on her cheek. Jinx wiped it away with her glove as she said, “We’re gonna get outta here. Top hat here is gonna carry ya, okay?”
Isha glanced over at Caitlyn before looking back at Jinx. She moved her hands, making gestures that didn’t make sense to Vi but seemed perfectly clear to Jinx.
“It’ll be fine,” Jinx said, stretching out the last word. “C’mon. Don’t you trust me?”
Isha didn’t hesitate to nod before she glanced at Caitlyn and reluctantly lifted her arms.
Caitlyn stood on unsteady feet for a moment before she hefted Isha up into her arms. She grimaced at the ash and blood coating her but didn’t say a word as she waited. Vi had to pull herself away from Jinx before she stood. Her abdomen protested loudly at the movement, reminding her of her injury. But Vi shoved that pain down like she was all too familiar with.
She reached down and scooped Jinx up, wincing at the soft cry of pain she let out. She tried to see if Jinx could stand on her own two feet, which she luckily could. Shimmer plastered to her sleeve from where it gushed from open wounds. Vi grimaced. Shimmer was supposed to enhance healing, right? How long did it take? Why was Jinx’s blood so much shimmer and very little blood?
That didn’t matter at the moment. Vi followed after Caitlyn as she took the lead.
Jinx was too out of it to give them a safe place to go, and when they asked Isha she refused to communicate with them. That left only one place. Caitlyn didn’t seem thrilled but reluctantly folded.
Tobias wasn’t visible when they arrived at the Kiramman manor. They were able to make their way to Caitlyn’s room quite easily. Caitlyn scrunched her face up when she set Isha down on her bed, smearing her sheets with filth, but she didn’t say a word. Jinx was practically incoherent, her gaze blank as she moved robotically. She stopped talking halfway there, something that freaked Vi out. She could handle her sister's babbling insults, but to hear her so quiet and not teasing was unusual and unsettling.
“I’ll get a first aid,” Caitlyn muttered before she left the room. Vi was torn between heading after her, because she knew that Caitlyn was ready for her own mini breakdown, or staying with her sister and the child that for some reason followed her.
In the end, she stayed behind, finally settling Jinx down on the sheets with the quiet promise to buy Caitlyn new ones. Isha immediately shuffled forward on her knees to tuck herself against Jinx. Vi wanted to tell her not to do that but Jinx finally responded by twitching her arm up to pull her closer.
Vi wanted to say something to the quiet girl. Maybe a reassurance. But she didn’t know what to say. They weren’t close. Vi barely knew the girl for more than a few days. Finally, she managed a small, “It’ll be okay.”
Isha’s eyes flickered to her. She glanced around the room before they settled back on Jinx. Vi still wasn’t quite sure how she fit into the picture. How did a kid get tangled up with Jinx? Who exactly was Isha? It didn’t really matter in the end, though. It was… relieving to see that someone cared about Jinx and that Jinx returned it.
Caitlyn returned with a first aid kit. Isha refused to let them see her damaged hand, tucking herself close to Jinx with her eyes squeezed shut. Jinx wouldn’t let Vi look at her until Isha was taken care of.
“C’mon, kid. I’ll be right here to stop them,” Jinx mumbled, her fingers tangled in the blue-brown locks. “You’ll need that hand to paint.”
Isha glanced up at Vi and Caitlyn before thrusting her hand out.
Once her hand was taken care of, and it was determined she had a small concussion, Vi turned her attention to Jinx. She was relieved to see that the more superficial scratches were practically gone. The torn skin and burnt flesh were already knitting together with fresh cells. Vi wasn’t even sure if she should try to patch her up.
Jinx didn’t blink as Vi cleaned the dirt and soot from her wounds. Instead, Jinx’s attention was focused on Isha despite the faraway gaze in her eyes. Her irises were practically glowing but unlike all the other times, she wasn’t laughing or threatening to blow something up.
Vi was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. For Jinx to lash out, or for Caitlyn to kick her out, or for Tobias to enter and try to shoot Jinx. So many things could go wrong and Vi pleaded to Janna that they would just let her breathe for once.
“You need to shower,” Vi finally mumbled. There was too much shimmer to tell what was coming from where and so much dirt and soot.
“Mm.” Jinx didn’t move an inch, her fingers idly combing through the snarled knots on Isha’s head.
“Why don’t you clean up first,” Caitlyn interrupted. Vi met her gaze. Vi didn’t want to leave her sister alone with Caitlyn. But she knew she needed to tend to her own wounds before they ended up knocking her out.
Vi pulled away from her sister, immediately reminded of the wound on her abdomen as she winced. She pressed a hand to the ache as she stumbled away from the bed. Her body was exhausted after carrying Jinx for so long. She didn’t see Caitlyn until the woman took her arm to help support her.
Vi braced herself against the sink in the bathroom. She peered up at her reflection in the mirror, realizing for the first time just how much blood and shimmer was on her. It made her feel sick. Her stomach squeezed uncomfortably at the thought of how much of her sister was left on her.
“Here.” Caitlyn hadn’t left yet, stepping up behind Vi to grip the collar of her jacket. She gave it a small tug and Vi reluctantly dropped her shoulders to let it be drawn off her frame. It fell to the ground heavily, a wet splat echoing off the tile.
With her abdomen exposed, Vi got a good look at the damage. A superficial wound, really. It wasn’t even bleeding that bad. It was more internal damage based on the bruising.
“Here.” Caitlyn stepped into view again with a damp cloth. Vi had so much she wanted to say to her but wasn’t sure how to form the words.
“Thank you,” she finally managed to get out once her abdomen was cleaned and bandaged, and she had washed the worst of the filth from her hands.
“For what?” Caitlyn brushed her off and Vi had the chance to drop it.
“For helping me. My sister. Letting us here.” Vi really expected that Caitlyn might have shot Jinx, or just left her to die, but for some reason, she hadn’t and for that, Vi was truly grateful.
Caitlyn looked away and let out an unsteady breath. “There are problems bigger than Jinx at the moment,” she said. “This doesn’t mean I’m done.”
It didn’t matter. That was enough for the moment.
Vi stood in the silence bathing the bathroom, unsure of where she stood with Caitlyn for the moment. She would figure it out later, deciding to get back to the bedroom before Jinx did something impulsive.
Caitlyn didn’t follow her.
Vi heard Jinx talking in a low tone as she approached the bedroom. She paused in the doorway as she took in the sight. Jinx was a little more coherent and her attention was solely focused on the girl nestled in the crook of her arm. She was telling a story, Vi realized, from the cadence in her tone and the half smile on her face.
Isha looked up at Jinx like she hung the moon and stars. There was nothing but devotion and adoration in her gaze, and Jinx returned it. Isha wasn’t scared away by the glow of the violet gaze on her or how it ate up the pupils in Jinx’s eyes.
Vi wasn’t sure where Isha came from but she was so very grateful that the girl entered Jinx’s life. Jinx needed her. Vi had forgotten the soft look that Powder used to have. It almost seemed out of place on Jinx’s face.
Jinx dug her fingers into Isha’s side and the girl let out a tiny squeal, kicking her legs to try and escape from the tickling. Jinx winced when a foot hit her knee but moved to grip the leg instead and started tickling the back of her knee.
There was a lot that was going to happen in the future. They needed to deal with Ambessa, Jinx was still number one on Piltover’s most-wanted list, and Caitlyn would probably get right back on her hunt when her current issue was done with.
But for the moment, Jinx was alive and healing, her attention solely on the kid who nearly sacrificed themselves because they loved her.
And in the end, that was enough for Vi.