Chapter Text
Four years after Silco took Vi in:
The last year has been difficult. For some reason, killing anyone who approaches your family isn't beneficial to their jobs running Zaun. Who would’ve thought? Silco almost had to lock Vi in the house for the first month, because no one could get near him or Sevika without Vi immediately trying to kill them. Eventually, with a lot of help, Vi started to learn to control her episodes of no-feelings-just-protect-via-murdering-everyone. Since that name was a bit of a mouthful, Sevika had told her to “find a different goddamn name”, and Silco had suggested calling it ‘going dull’. The name had stuck, and soon Vi finally wasn’t murdering anyone who walked in the door, much to Silco’s relief. He had decided to start letting her go back to wandering the lanes alone, but with a few rules. One, if she feels herself start to go dull, she has to find either Silco or Sevika immediately. Two, if she’s going to kill anyone, try to make it people who aren’t on their side, since killing allies is a ‘bad look’ for Silco. And three… yeah no there really are only two rules. But now that she can easily stick to them, Silco’s more than happy for her to roam the undercity alone.
She’s putting her newfound freedom to use by taking a walk through The Lanes, just for the sake of being in public again. She’s winding through the narrow pathways, just enjoying being able to move more, when she turns a corner to find a kid being dragged by a man with what looked like burn scars covering his face. He mutters under his breath, trying to cover the kid’s mouth to stop them from screaming. Vi immediately steps in, grabbing a knife from her belt as she leaps forward, slamming the man into a wall, causing him to let go of the kid. She holds the knife to his throat, applying just enough pressure that a drop of blood forms on the edge of the knife.
“Let me go. This does not concern you.” The man tries to shove her off, but Vi doesn’t even blink at the feeble attempt. This man is not a fighter.
“The fuck it doesn’t. What are you doing dragging a kid around?”
“They won’t be missed.”
“So you were going to kill them?” her emotions are starting to drain away, but all she can think about is that this asshole was about to hurt a kid.
“If the serum works, they will live again.”
Fuck, she was rapidly going dull. She really didn't want to now, not when there was a kid nearby. Well, the easiest course of action here is obvious. Kill the guy to satisfy the anger, then focus on making sure the kid’s ok. Hopefully this dickhead isn’t that important to her Pops.
She slices through his neck, leaving him on the ground to die. She turns back to the kid, tucking the knife back away, and stepping away from the body. Hopefully she didn’t get too much blood on her clothes, it’ll be a pain to wash it out later. It might also make the kid uncomfortable. Oh well.
“Hey, kid, you good?” She kneels down to get level with them. The kid slowly looks up at her, still shaking, before diving into her arms fast enough that she almost falls backwards.
“Wow, kid, careful, or you’ll send us both flying. What’s your name?” A small sniffle comes from the kid in her arms, before a tiny voice answers her.
“R-Robin. T-thank you, Miss. He was gonna, he was gonna…” Vi just held them tighter. They were so small, just like Powder had been. Just like Powder would be forever. Vi shoved the thoughts of her sister away, and focused on Robin.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“J-just a few bruises.” They looked up at Vi with an expression that made her melt. She’s always had a soft spot for kids.
“Where are you staying kid?”
“The spot down near The Last Drop. There's a few of us there.” Vi nodded. Back when Vander was still alive, there were always homeless kids from around The Lanes hanging around, probably because Vander was known to give out food or blankets if he had any spare. They must have just never moved on after he was killed. She would have to make sure no one bothered them, and maybe start bringing some things for them now that she had plenty. She realised she had got lost in thought yet again and had forgotten to answer Robin.
“How ‘bout I walk you back?”
“Yes, please.” Vi smiled at the kid. They were just too damned cute. She stood up and gently picked them up and settled them on her hip.
“Let’s go.”
When they made it back to the spot Robin was staying, a group of around 5 kids came up to Vi when they saw her carrying Robin. When she had explained what had happened, they had all looked at her with stars in their eyes. Vi had forgotten what it was like, for a kid to look at you like you have all the answers. She made sure they were all safe, before heading back home. It was time to talk to her Pops and do something for these kids. They deserved better.
Powder is tired.
She could have it worse, and she’s well aware of that fact. If it wasn't for the sheer amount of dirt the Jinxers have on everyone in Stillwater, on both guards and other inmates, all of the kids that are stuck here would be in a much more dangerous position.
That didn’t mean that it wasn’t a lot of work though.
She always starts her day at what seemed far too early (not that there was a way to tell time in the windowless hellhole of a prison), when the guards turn on the lights and unlock the cells for breakfast. From there it’s making sure all the Jinxers get enough food, and getting reports from any of the kids who had heard something useful during the night. She also gives out instructions to any kids who need something to do. She always makes sure that all the kids aren’t overworked, but she can’t take a break herself, not when they all rely so heavily on her. Normally when breakfast’s over she and Ekko would touch base with a few of the older kids, or sometimes just the two of them, to make sure everything was running smoothly overall, and that no one was in desperate need of anything. Ekko mainly sticks to leading a group of the more technical kids who help him build small gadgets from what little junk he can get his hands on. Powder loves to help him out whenever she gets a spare moment, but her days are just getting busier and busier. Ekko’s also taking on more and more work trying to make sure that all the other Jinxers were looking after each other, and spending time teaching the younger ones. Once Powder’s done making sure that everyone has what they need, there’s normally only time for reports from anyone who had a task during the day, and then it’s curfew, where she and Ekko stay up late compiling anything they have that can help with their escape plans. The main problem is that they aren’t willing to risk the loss of anyone, which means all the guards had to be distracted, and they just don’t have the means to create a diversion big enough for that. And then when she finally gets to sleep, it’s never long until her day starts again.
So, yeah, Powder is tired. But she doesn’t really have a choice. So she keeps getting up, keeps giving everything to the Jinxers, in the hope that someday they’ll make it out of Stillwater, and she can finally rest.