Her Gun to His Head || Jinx x Garou

Field report: fourteen hundred hours — 'Managed to gain passage to the undercity bypassing the blockade. Light amount of rain to contend with. Remained unnoticed amongst large crowds hoping to cross into Piltover. Materials for investigation intact.'

~

Field report: fifteen hundred hours — 'Solicited for coin in exchange for contraband several times. Attempted larceny on most recent refusal. Lacking directional orientation since the commotion.'

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Field report: seventeen hundred hours — 'Smog concentration in the lower depths of the fissures makes breathing almost unbearable. Promptly retreated to higher altitude in hopes of questioning the citizenry there.'

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Field report: eighteen hundred hours — 'Recognition of the graffitied symbols photographed at the Piltover bombing site is apparent among some of those questioned, however none are remotely forthcoming. Becoming wary of suspicious glances. Navigation toward the outskirts of the city in progress.'

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Field report: twenty hundred hours — 'Possible front for nefarious export discovered—large Wharfside warehouse heavily guarded at all entrances despite no ships operating, due to the river blockade. No determinable means of entry.'

~

Field report: twenty-one hundred hours — 'Wharfside docks inactive, tranquil, besides a couple of teenagers playing target practice. Ideal place to take refuge for the night. Delaying passage back to Piltover until more evidence can be gathered.'

~

Ekko placed down the small, bound journal after reading its final entry, unsure exactly what to make of it all. The young woman it belonged to lay unconscious on the concrete before him, bound to a brass water pipe.

"This is what they do now," spoke his right-hand, "they send enforcers down in civilian garb to plant shit, so they can pin Topsider crime on our guys!"

Ekko was dubious.

"She's a Piltie, sure," Ekko agreed, "but sending her alone doesn't make any sense — her notes don't read like an undercover job..."

"We don't know she is alone," he received in reply. "How do we know they're not down here looking for us? Silco's probably convinced them to use us as a scapegoat for everything that's been goin' on!"

"Then we question her," Ekko concluded, "see what she knows."

His right-hand stepped a little closer, clearly disgruntled by the direction the conversation was heading.

"Or, we just stick her on a boat as she is, let it drift out of the harbor… we got our own to look out for right now — how long until Silco gets the kid you lost to talk? Our entire existence is in jeopardy!"

"You think I don't know that's on me?!" Ekko shot back. "Fact is, if we get rid of her, then we lose her as leverage — you see the seal on this book of hers?" He picked the journal back up and drew attention to a small, golden crest near its spine. "This is one of the big, rich houses in Piltover — Kiramman, or something like that — got strings in the government and everything. Whether she's one of them, or just hired by them, I doubt she's a hundred percent expendable—"

Their unconscious hostage stirred for the first time, gaining both the Firelights' attention.

"Lemme handle this, Scar," Ekko decided. "We'll head out again once I'm finished here."

Scar grunted, reluctantly giving Ekko the room.

The young woman's eyelids fluttered open slowly, as she groaned in discomfort.

Ekko quietly sighed.

"…You don't know much about being inconspicuous, do you?" he began, "can see the blues of your uniform under that getup…"

"…Who are you? …Where am I?" the girl grumbled.

Ekko deliberated for a moment.

"I think you know where you are," he said plainly, taking a seat at the edge of the room, "and I think you know who I am."

The girl attempted to flick back locks of dark blue hair from her face.

"No... I don't… you have to let me go — I'm down here investigating a crime..." she said sternly, through exhaustion.

Ekko was at least pleased to have been half proven right.

"The Topside bombing?" he enquired, leaning forward a little, "or that other brawl I heard about— put your sheriff on his ass, or something…?"

The girl seemed to notice her field journal sitting part-ways across the room.

"The bombing, first— several people died…" she answered wearily. "Somebody down here is responsible…"

"See, that's funny," he said, getting up, "'cause pretty much everybody down here knows who did that… and I'm willing to bet that your enforcer higher-ups know too…"

A look of befuddlement briefly crossed the girl's face.

"I— I'd be glad to take a statement from you… any information you have at all…"

Ekko moved closer, squatting down in front of her.

"I don't think you're hearing me, Piltie," he condescended. "Even if you 'crack the case' down here, all by yourself, nothing's gonna happen, you get me? Silco's got your sheriff on his payroll — he'd never make a move against him. They'll just find somebody innocent to drag up to a Topside jail like they always do, and your people'll be satisfied…"

He watched her haggard eyes, as she attempted to piece together her next thought.

"Silco… the industrialist…?" she asked.

Ekko's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You can't be this green, Piltie — who even are you, anyway?" he demanded. "I wanna know— the seal on that notebook of yours has sure caught my eye…!"

She seemed a little taken aback by the sudden request.

"I— I'm—"

"If you're trying to come up with a fake name, you're being pretty damn obvious about it," Ekko cut in, tilting his head to the side.

The girl sighed.

"Why do you need to know my name…?" she pleaded.

"'Cause my second-in-command thinks we made a mistake even bringing you back here… I need to convince him that you're worth keeping alive."

The girl appeared to experience a mild amount of panic, biting her top lip as she made a decision.

"You need to tell me who carried out the bombing, in exchange," she stated.

"I told you, it won't matter!" he shot back. "Not when your enforcers are all bought and paid for…!"

She shook her head.

"Even if that absurd assertion were true, it— it's not just about getting justice," she replied. "Something was stolen that needs to be returned… something important to somebody close to me…"

Ekko half rolled his eyes.

"What are we talking about — some family heirloom…?"

The girl only looked at him, reluctant to say more. Ekko decided that he was curious enough to find out.

"Your culprit's name is Jinx, okay?" he said. "She bombed the square — the Topsider deaths are on her. Guess she took a souvenir, too. Or, if it's actually something important, then maybe Silco asked her to take it…"

The girl took a moment to absorb what he'd told her, though Ekko hadn't forgotten her side of the agreement. He stared her down until she returned her attention to him.

"Your name," he demanded, "and then I wanna know what's so special 'bout this stolen item."

The girl exhaled in resignation.

"It's Kiramman… my name's Caitlyn Kiramman…"

~~~~~

~~~~~

"—but by the time the dude finished pukin' up the rest of his guts overboard, he looked about as pale as a damn ghost… so, the ship captain told him to make his way up to the crow's nest without his shirt on, just in case that fleet of pirates returned to ransack us again," Garou luridly recounted, "y'know, 'cause we didn't have a white flag to wave…"

It might have only been Jinx cracking up laughing that caused him to give a small chuckle at the conclusion of his story.

"And he actually went up there?" she guffawed.

"Uh, nah," Garou replied. "He probably would'a though, captain was a real brute."

She giggled. "But, what, the two of you couldn'ta taken on some wannabe pirates?"

"I wasn't 'bout'a fight anybody — I was a stowaway," he responded. "Not a single part'a me fancied tryin'ta sail a boat, had things gone awry…"

She lay back, resting her head on hardwood. "Does seem like a lot'a work… y'know that Topsiders don't even navigate their airships no more? — just zip and they're right wherever they needa be…"

Garou glanced over at her.

"Mm… that what that big blue light was, eh…? Saw it when we made entry…"

Jinx kept her mouth shut for that moment, as she found herself feeling compelled to brag about the fact that she possessed the very invention which powered that almighty force… Rather, she'd left the orb itself back at her workshop, but she was finding the idea of showing it to him at a time in the future difficult to rule out…

It might have been Silco's lessons in her head, but she managed to remind herself how little she still knew about this guy. She peeked over at the inexplicable angles at which his stark white hair jutted from his head, at his sharp facial features, his somehow perpetually bloody and recently bandaged hands and wrists… At the very least, he never seemed to tell her anything that he didn't wholeheartedly mean, for better or for worse…

She tore her eyes away before he noticed her staring, focusing on her own body. Her feet dangled over the edge of the platform they both had perched themselves on, inside of a decrepit, abandoned shipping warehouse. Moonlight shone down onto her skin — a vast, busted hole in the roof of the building allowing it in, to pierce the darkness. The large crane positioned overhead lead her to believe that something must have been dropped straight through at some point in time, causing even the warehouse floor to completely crumble in upon itself, and allowing the sea to retake its centre.

That being neat enough on its own, Garou must've decided to show her the place mostly on the merit of the nocturnal phenomenon in the water below them. Jinx contorted her neck to peer down upon countless dark, shimmering, aquatic bodies, writhing and slithering above the water's surface and submerging again in a kind of moon-lit dance. Garou seemed to think the eels emerged in hopes of feeding, attracted by the scent of rotten, old fish in the barrels still strewn about the place.

'Or, perhaps they've gained a taste for human flesh, and this is some kinda spot for shady interrogations in the night…' Jinx thought, amusing herself.

Perhaps she'd put the idea into practice.

"So… guess a journey from another continent must have ya eager to find somewhere to hang your hat, so to speak, huh?" she probed.

"What, like you…?" he grunted.

"Uh… I don't have a hat," she answered absently, eliciting a look of incredulousness from him.

"Look, there's a reason I bothered comin' back here, but that ain't it, aight…?" he grumbled.

She rolled onto her side to face him.

"Ah… secret reason, huh?" she prodded playfully. "Well— whatever it is, did ya do it yet?"

He scoffed quietly.

"…Worried you won't be able to lay eyes 'pon this mug again, eh?"

Jinx looked down at her boots, hoping she wasn't blushing.

"No, I— that's not—"

He gave a little smirk, tossing a small piece of wood into the pool below them and watching the eels tangle themselves over the impact spot.

She sat back up so that she could see it all happen.

"So, you're not just… I don't know, drifting through, are ya?" she asked again, after a moment.

"Uh, probably not… why d'you ask all these things?" he said.

"I don't know, jeez, mister mysterious over here… I just thought, y'know, that maybe you could roll with us…?" Her heartbeat quickened as she spoke. "It ain't extravagant living or anything, and the adults aren't super grateful when us kids are better at their jobs than they are, but... I mean, if you wanna make a name for yourself, there are worse ways to do it, I guess…"

She resisted staring at him as she awaited his answer.

"Look," he began, shooting a glance at her, "I didn't come back here just to join some team, or fight for some cause—"

"—Cause?" Jinx giggled. "You think that's what we're all about? Think my father's men are all a bunch'a freedom fighters or something?" She shuffled a little closer to him. "If we gotta have a reason aside from the coin, it's that Topsiders are all assholes, and it's fun to break their stuff… feels good to break stuff either way, really, but…"

He sunk back into the platform railing, offering a wisp of a smile. "And when they break your stuff back?"

She thought for a moment, then shrugged. "We don't got as much to lose, I guess…"

He seemed to react to her statement as slowly as he could manage.

"How 'bout we go up there, right now?" he suddenly suggested, sitting up fully. "—Wake up their enforcers, show 'em some hell?"

She couldn't tell if he was being serious.

"…You wanna rebel against my father that badly, huh?" she replied, with an uncertain chuckle.

His expression turned. "You're just his little soldier, ain'tcha? Ever not fall in line…?"

"I— What? That's not—" she stammered, scrunching up her eyebrows. "You don't know what you're talking about…"

He sighed, slowly getting up.

"Whatever," he grunted. "Ain't gettin' stronger by hangin' about all day chattin'…"

"Wh— where're you going?" she quietly pouted.

He clenched and unclenched his fist slowly in front of himself, as though ritualistically.

"Topside — told ya…"

She sprung to her feet, her brows furrowed.

"Wha—why?" she countered, "I thought you just—"

He glanced at her, cocking an eyebrow.

"You told him that you'd lay low for a bit…?" she reminded him, becoming irritated. "He just… he doesn't want anything to happen just yet, not until—"

Garou smirked unpleasantly.

"So he sent you to keep me distracted, eh?" he concluded. "There anythin' he won't use you for?"

She scrunched up her face again in incredulity. "The hell is— d'you get a kick outta being an ass or something?!" she spat. "If he's gonna be having problems with you, who d'you think he's gonna send after you to take you out?!"

He laughed in her face. "So the geezer wasn't lyin', eh?!" he cackled. "Tell me then, Blue, how you plannin' on makin' me fall in line?"

"How 'bout I splatter your damn brains across the wall, huh?!" she lashed, forcefully pulling her weapon on him.

He was somehow even faster than last time, moving in on her in a fraction of an instant and wrenching the gun from her hand. She backed up instinctively, but failed to perceive the lack of footing off the edge of the platform until a moment too late.

Just as the feeling of falling reached her stomach, Garou's outstretched hand found her wrist, catching her. They both paused for a moment, Jinx supporting herself with one foot on the platform.

A ticking sound drew Garou's gaze to his own cloth belt, from which now hung a chattering Chomper grenade, some moments away from detonating. She was certain that her reflexes had surprised him, as his eyes momentarily found hers again…

He hastily unclipped the bomb with his free hand, whipping it away, down into the pool below them. They both turned briefly to watch the serpentine bodies of perished eels bob to the surface of the water in the wake of the explosion.

The determined look he met her with as she dangled couldn't help but cause her to crack a smile.

'Y'look goofier than you think, y'know,' she mused to herself.

He didn't seem to know how to respond to the grin on her face, so he simply helped her back to her feet.

"Now, how 'bout I push you down there," she joked.

This did amuse him.

"Well, somethin' tells me they ain't havin' any more dinners…" he replied, looking down behind himself.

Jinx knew that her only chance would be to move instantly, and without forethought — she thrust her palms forward, with all of the might she could muster. It was to her great surprise that he actually ended up in the water below, hurling obscenities her way, as he thrashed around amongst the dead eels.

It was perhaps the funniest thing she'd ever seen.

~~~~~

~~~~~

"Well, it's at least nice to know what your hair's supposed'ta look look like," Jinx giggled, leaning against an industrial fan on the side of a building, which Garou was attempting to dry himself with.

She'd tampered with the thing and managed to make it spin in reverse, blowing out warm air from inside of the building. She figured she still had a ways to go to make it up to him, though.

"Yeah, yeah… y'know those things still shock ya after they're dead, right?" he grumbled.

"I got… like, a home-made cattle prod back at my workshop if ya wanna shock me back," she jokingly offered. "It ain't too far now…"

He cocked an eyebrow at her, before being distracted by a stranger further down the alley, loudly and frantically dragging a hunk of metal behind them.

They both turned to stare at the figure, unimpressed, as the person drew closer with their racket.

"Hey, asshole," Garou called out.

The person dropped what it was they were trying to move, and stood frozen as Jinx realized what it was they were. She'd recognize those dumb masks anywhere…

'Wait…' she thought, a chill coming over her.

The Firelight made a run for it, narrowly escaping a bullet as they ducked into an adjacent alley and continued on out of sight. Jinx considered making chase, except…

She gave a glance at Garou, but didn't have the words to explain. It was more of a feeling...

She took off, instead. She needed to make it back to her workshop — so close to where there were. She needed to make sure.

As she ran, she looked up and saw them — the faint green trails in the sky. There were more of them.

'Those fucking losers…'

She hopped down the stairs, almost falling over herself.

The trap at the entrance — the one only Silco knew how to bypass — it had been activated. Spent nails, blood spattered on the ground…

"Jinx—!"

She ran to him, surveying the ransacked state of her home around her. Her heart rate rose sharply.

"You're not hurt—?" asked Silco, grasping her shoulders.

She could already see it. The small, steel box she kept it in. Left open. Emptied.

She looked up at him.

"I— it's—" She wanted to cry.

"They came for their captured — Sevika took another," he said. "They're fools…"

She leant in and hugged him, clenching her entire face as tears streamed down it.

"…The gemstone?" he surmised.

She nodded her head dejectedly, into his chest.

He sighed. "We'll retrieve it, Jinx," he reassured her. "Their hiding days are—"

She felt Silco pull away slightly, his attention elsewhere. She saw his expression turn livid. She spun around to see why.

'Crap…' she screamed internally, as Garou cautiously wandered down the steps toward them.

She felt her father's daggers, but couldn't bear to look up at him.