Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1 (Violet Pov)

Heart thorns between two fires

The hospital air was stale and Vi's heart was racing… pacing around the room as Caitlyn was talking with some doctor to get news… she couldn’t even bring herself to get in the room where Powder was blissfully sleaping… if you can say that of someone messed up as her.

Oh only Janna knew how grateful Vi was for the fact that Powder body was loaded up with shimmer, but even that can’t do much when you explode a grenade inside your belt.

Violet didn’t even want to think back at how Powder looked like: clothes thorn from the explosion, ashes over blistered skin and body covered in blood seeping from all the tiny holes shrapnell left behind. 

As she was about to storm in to understand what was taking so long, Caitlyn was back from the hospital room and shared with Vi what the doctors already told her. 

Her little sister was surely alive for a miracle, the shrapnel avoided any vital organs and her body was recovering pretty fast from the blood loss without the need of supplements. It already seared her wounds… causing the doctors some disbelief not knowing shimmer potential, but the medics were discussing to perform surgery to reopen those and take out the piece of metals that risk to bulge in deeper and cause an infection. For what regards the various burns on her body at belt height they would mostly heal on their own leaving behind some scars.

“So… she will be ok?”

Caitlyn shrugged: “I think so… why don’t you come in yourself?” As she says this she puts an arm around her. “Maybe you’ll catch her when she wakes up?” 

Vi didn’t find the courage to look at her: “I can’t… every time I see her I return to the words I said and then how she started acting like nothing was worthy anymore an—”

The young enforcer pulled her in a hug “She’ll need you when you woke up, she’ll probably be scared and confused”

“She’ll have you,” Vi muttered. “You can help her.”

Caitlyn gave a short, incredulous laugh. “I’m not her sister, her Vi.”

“You’ll be more than enough,” Vi said, the words tasting bitter. “You don’t stomp on her feelings like I do.”

Caitlyn’s smirk faded, she separated from VI enough to watch her in the eyes. “Vi… you’re acting like the last thing you heard from her was hate. It wasn’t.”

Vi frowned, not looking at her.

“She told you she loved you,” Caitlyn went on, voice steady. “She called you the sister she desired. Those were her last words before she nearly died. And you’re standing out here like that doesn’t matter.”

Vi’s chest tightened.

“You think she’d want to wake up and find out you weren’t even on her side? What do you want me to tell her when she asks where you are? That you decided she’s better off without you? That you couldn’t face her?”

Vi shook her head, jaw tight.

“She needs you, Vi. Not me. Not anyone else. You. The one she risked everything for… The one she thinks can still make the monster go away… The one she loved more than her own life”

That hit harder than Vi wanted to admit. She finally looked up, meeting Caitlyn’s eyes — no judgment, just that steady, stubborn warmth.

“You’re too damn good at this,” Vi muttered.

Caitlyn’s mouth twitched. “Only when it matters.”

Vi didn’t think. She just leaned in. Caitlyn met her halfway, and the kiss was slow, almost hesitant, but real — the kind that leaves you a little unsteady when you pull back.

Caitlyn’s hand lingered on her arm. “Go,” she said softly. “Before she wakes up and thinks you’ve given up on her.”

Vi, halfway to Powder’s room, turned around and asked: “Are you not coming?”

Caitlyn shocked her head: “I have to sort some things out first, you know, hospitals are expensive for people that are not covered”

Inside the room smelled like antiseptic, on a bed was lying the limp body of her little sister animated only by the to spread out breath that made her chest rise and fall at a painfully slow rhythm. 

Peeking from her arm was a needle that connected her to an IV drip and a wrist band that measured her vitals displayed on a valve… Violet found out that being able to know those was a really reassuring factor for someone like her that was always embracing for the worst to happens

And as time went on and on she could just stare at her face and patiently wait, till the quiet was broken by a faint stir and an almost to quiet voice accompanied by two wide eyes staring around in the room till her gaze landed back on Vi

“Where am I?”

“At the hospital,” she cupped the girl cheek with an hand, thumb smoothing her skin “You really scared me Pow”

The surprised expression shifted to a more careful but tender one like if she was ready to be yelled at or rejected or hurt in any way “You… saved me?”

Vi snorts “Damn well I did”

“But why…”

“Why? WHY? Are you kidding me?” She said followed by a snort, louder then she meant making Powder flinch a little “I could never leave you, or lose you, no to him or to those stupid voices and I will burn this damn world down before I let it hurt you in any way possible!”

Powder eyes were fixated on the blanket: “You told me I –”

Vi pushing down guilt cupped Powder face in her hand and said: “I told some fucked up bullshit that I regret, but you know that I never meant it… you are my sister… how could I ever mean those things?”

“But… You deserve better than me…”

“I deserve that you shut those thoughts up and acknowledge that you are my light ok?”

Powder’s lips trembled, her eyes glassy but locked on Vi’s. “Your light?” she whispered, like she didn’t believe she’d heard it right.

Vi’s thumb brushed away a tear before it could fall. “Yeah. My light. Even when you’re driving me insane, even when I’m too damn stubborn to say it… you’re the only thing that’s ever kept me going.”

Powder’s breath hitched, and she leaned just slightly into Vi’s palm, like she was afraid the touch might vanish. “I… I thought I ruined everything.”

“You didn’t ruin me,” Vi said, voice low but steady. “And you never will. You’re the reason I’m still here, Pow. You’re the reason I fight.”

They stayed like that in silent for some time before Powder speak up

“Where is Ekko?”

Vi jaw tightened, she didn’t want Powder to know that Ekko would not be there but lying wasn’t an option “He… He left us when we made it to Piltover… he said he would be back”

Powder nodded, wincing every time a breath came too strong. She leaned closer to Vi, who started drawing slow circles on her back and brushing her damp hair, just soaking in the time with her sister.

The door opened. Caitlyn stepped in. “Mmh… I’m happy you’re awake, Powder.”

The girl’s eyes dimmed. She slowly pulled away from Vi’s side, gave her a faint smile, and said, “Guess this is goodbye then…”

Vi frowned, but Caitlyn was the one to break the silence. “Why exactly?”

“Because you’re taking me to Stillwater…”

“Ah, hell nah, I’m not.”

“But… but I committed crimes. And as you said… I’m the one who created the bomb that killed your father…”

“Shut up and go back to sleep,” The enforcer said, her voice firm but warm. “I’m not taking you away for crimes he made you commit. Not in a million years.”

“I should pay for them… people still suffer… we made him pay for his…”

Caitlyn pinched the bridge of her nose. “Vi, shut down your gremlin, she’s giving me a headache.”

Vi pulled Powder back against the pillows, palm to her cheek. “Pow. Look at me. Enough.”

“But it’s my—”

“It’s not,” Vi said. “Not like you’re saying. You were scared. He made you believe you had no other choice.”

“I still pulled the pin—”

“And you saved us,” Caitlyn cut in. “You saved her. You saved me. You ended him.”

Powder shook her head, breath hitching. “I don’t deserve—”

“Air? You do,” Caitlyn said. “Sleep? You do. Space to heal? You do. Prison? No.”

Powder stared at her, confused, stubborn. “You’re an enforcer…”

“Yeah,” Caitlyn said, flat. “And I’m starting to think that we are not speaking the same language so I’ll make it clear to you one last time. You are not walking out of here in cuffs. End of story.”

Powder’s mouth opened, closed. “But the rules—”

“Powder, just shut up,” Vi interrupted. “Better you sleep than keep spiraling.”

Blocked from every angle, Powder stopped mid‑thought, then after a beat, theatrically pouted. “You’re ganging up on me. Bullies.”

“Deal with it,” they said in sync.

Powder rolled her eyes, sagged back into the bed, and kept her fingers hooked in Vi’s sleeve. After some time her breathing evened out, claimed by tiredness.

Vi looked up at Caitlyn over the blanket. Caitlyn’s shoulders eased, the sharpness in her face softening.

“Thanks,” Vi murmured.

“Just doing my job,” Caitlyn said, but the corner of her mouth lifted. She hesitated, then added quietly, “That… that’s not justice. And whatever sick things I thought before… it doesn’t matter anymore, okay?”

Vi’s lips twitched. “Guess we all get carried away by emotions.”

“Guess we do.”

The words hung there for a moment, the air between them warmer than it had been all day. Vi didn’t think about it — she just leaned in. Caitlyn met her halfway, and the kiss was unhurried, steady, the kind that didn’t need to prove anything. Just a quiet promise, pressed between them, right there beside a blissfully unaware, sleeping Powder.

“So what are we? Friends? Partners?" Cait ask after pulling back

“Whatever makes you happy, cupcake, I don’t really care. I have all that I want right here right now”

Chapter Text

Chapter 2 (Powder Pov)

Ghosts at the Door

Time passes really slowly when the most exciting part of your day is finding out if at dinner you are eating a soup that has no taste or bread so stale you could confuse it with a prop. At least she had her sister on her side for a few hours…  till the nurses take her away cause visiting hours ended.

Why do visiting hours end? At what point does it become dangerous having people in a room? She really couldn’t and didn’t want to understand… Being alone for hours was booooring and was breeding ground for her voices, even if strangely enough since she found out that Vi really cared for her they had gone pretty quiet.

Vi always looked so worried… but worried for her so it was good… sometimes she was even angry… especially when she found out that she was skipping meals cause she didn’t like the food… Vi can get pretty scary when she gets worried… thinking about it she was lucky that she got away with just a warning and a bit of yelling… Needless to say she ate everything after that day.

Even if the stay at the hospital was pretty boring and her wound were painful sometimes Powder would have done what she did over and over again, if Silco had pulled the trigger on Violet in that moment there would have been no other thing to live for.

Oh oh and how could she forget! The enforcer! Caitlyn! She was so sweet with her! Thinking about it she still felt guilty for how she treated her at first… but like to be honest even she wasn’t that much of a saint during their first interaction. She didn’t visit as often as Violet but when she did she always fussed over her… I mean Powder didn’t dislike a bit of attention especially because when she did Violet would try to do more than her in some form of jealousy and that meant free hugs and cuddles!

She really missed Ekko… he never visited once… who knows why… maybe he was angry at her? Anyway whatever it is she will make it up for… Ekko is her best friend and he wouldn’t hold a grudge against her for long.

She was staring at the ceiling while thinking of this. Today would be the last day she spent at the hospital and finally she could return to Violet without any of these visits hours nonsense. When the door opened she bolted up right and… that was a stupid idea that her body rewarded her for making her wince in pain. 

Violet was coming inside next to a nurse and the enforcer girl, they were talking about recovery, therapy and other boring stuff she didn’t care about.

When she tried to stand up Violet was at her side and offered her an arm to steady herself, when even that wasn’t enough and Powder was about to fall she slide an arm under her shoulder and slowly helped her walking

“See Pow? With ease, no need to hurry”

Vi couldn’t understand how much in that moment Powder wanted to sprint using her full shimmer velocity through the door and leave that stupid building but hey, she couldn’t so the best response to the older girl comment was a low graunt and a side look.

“Not my fault you decided to blow yourself up, next time you will think twice about it”

“HEY YOU KNOW WHY I DID IT”

“And I still think you shouldn’t had”

She rolled her eyes… why couldn’t her sister just praise her brave action! Then after an excruciating slow walk to the door Caitlyn crouched down to meet her eyes and give her a warm smile… Cait always treated her like she was still a child

“So, ready for this new start?”

Powder at first wanted to answer straight away then she ended up thinking that in all the time she spent inside the hospital she never thought once about the fact that her sister had to sleep somewhere… and that probably that will be their new home… But where? Somewhere in Zaun? The old warehouse she left behind months ago? 

“Where are we going to stay?” Her voice was shy, she didn’t want to look pretentious or maybe make the enforcer think that she was pretending something from her but anyway she deserved to know…

“Oh yes,” Vi started “We–”

“We?”

“Yes… I have been sleeping at Caitlyn place since we came in here and –”

“I wanted to make it a permanent solution! like you could come and live at my house! If I am able to convince my mother first that’s all…” Caitlyn chirmed in and then added “She always been kind to good people in need… and Violet is my girlfr-”

An hand shot out to her face before she could finish the sentence, but it was too late and Powder eyes already went wide and she started beaming and jumping in place like if her wounds were non existent

“YOU ARE TOGHTERRRRR”

“Pow just-”

“NO I WON’T SHUT UP, THIS IS FANTASTIC!!!” Powder yelped “Why didn't you tell me first!” 

“I was just searching for the right occasion… didn’t want you to feel you know… left out”

“SINCE WHEN I EVER FELT LIKE THAT”

Powder excited response was met with silence and Vi biting her lower lip clearly holding in the answer… Powder rolled her eyes and added

“Ok but this isn’t fair! Back then I didn’t even know her! But Caitlyn is good so it’s ok!”

The blue haired teen couldn’t hold back a smile at the tween genuine response and pinched on of her cheek making Powder hiss and squint her eyes before stating in an offended tone

“HEY I AM NOT A BABY”

Cait just shrugged and patted her head like she was a pet. Powder was about to fire back when a sharp sting in her chest made her whine and forget the argument.

“You shouldn’t be straining yourself,” Vi said, adjusting her hold. “Want me to carry you the rest of the way?”

“No… I can do it.”

She could totally act like an independent human being… as long as most of her weight stayed on Vi’s arm, that’s all.

The walk out of the hospital took to much time, Caitlyn was hovering near just close enough to catch her if she was falling… she hated being this vulnerable… it made her much more of a burden for people around her.

Outside the air was cooler, Powder sucked in a deep breath and was really happy to smell something different from the stale hospital corridors and antiseptics.

A car was waiting nearby. Sleek, polished, the kind of thing you’d be afraid to touch in case it bit you.

Powder started turning her head around, gaze sliding from the two of them as asking for confirmation that this was their ride…

“Fancy right?” Was the response of her sister before she helped her inside

The drive was pretty quiet, if you don’t count Cait and Vi talking about boring stuff like check up. Everything out of the window locked so perfect… Piltover was this paradise while the people in Zaun were left to suffer… Why did the world need to be this outrageously unfair? What was the reason she deserved to get proper treatment while others die of hunger?

The car stopped right in front of a giant building, a building that she recognized and made her freeze in place. 

She knew this street. The curve of the road, the attic, the pale stone catching the decorated door.

Her chest tightened.

No. No, no, no.

This was where it all began. The job. The run. Silco taking Vander. Her siblings going on a mission to rescue him. Her not listen after Vi told her to stay at home. Her using the monkey bomb she’d made to save Vi. The blast. The screaming. The smoke. The dead body. Vi leaving her.

The shape around her changed and suddenly she was there again, in the fire. A shadow moved between the edge of her vision, Mylo grinning… then Claggore eyes wide staring

You did this

Her pulse spiked.

Vander stepped into view behind them, shaking his head, disappointment carved deep into his face.

You killed us. You’ll kill her too.

She gripped Vi’s sleeve so hard her knuckles turned white.

“Pow…” Vi’s voice was close, but it sounded far away.

It’s your fault.

You’re poison. 

You break everything you touch. 

You’re a curse. 

You’re a mistake.

You should have burned with us.

“Pow.” Vi’s voice cut through, low and steady.

She didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Her mind was being split open by memory.

Vi shifted, turning toward her fully, one arm still locked around her waist. Her free hand came up to cup Powder’s cheek, forcing her gaze away from the street and onto her.

“Look at me.”

Powder’s eyes flicked to hers. The ghosts hissed, but Vi’s voice was louder.

“You’re here. With me. Not there. Not then. Here and now.”

Her thumb brushed slow circles against Powder’s cheek wiping away tears that Powder didn’t even know were there. “Breathe. In. Out. Just like that.”

Powder’s chest hitched, but she followed the rhythm. The ghosts blurred, their voices fading to a low, angry murmur till they were no more.

Vi nodded and looked over Powder’s head she shot Caitlyn a glance — sharp, knowing like if rehearsing something they discussed earlier

Caitlyn’s jaw tightened, but she gave a small nod, moving closer on Powder’s other side.

When Vi felt her breathing steady, she gave her a small squeeze. “That’s it. The past can’t touch you. It was never your fault, remember.”

Powder swallowed hard, the knot in her chest loosening just enough to move. Vi kept her close as they stepped out of the car, Caitlyn closely following them.

The front door opened before they even reached it. A tall woman stood there, posture perfect, eyes sharp enough to cut. Powder didn’t need to ask who she was, this had to be Caitlyn’s mother.

“Mother,” Caitlyn said, her voice careful.

Cassandra’s gaze swept over Vi, then landed on Powder — and stayed there. “This is her?”

She was treating her like an object… and her voice was so harsh.

“Yes,” Caitlyn said evenly, then added clearly annoyed by Cassandra’s choice of words “This is Powder.”

“The girl who built the bomb that killed your father.”

The words hit like a punch. Powder’s fingers curled into Vi’s sleeve without thinking.

“Mother—” Caitlyn started.

“You bring her into my home?” Cassandra’s voice rose. “You expect me to welcome the person responsible for my husband’s death? Wasn't it enough to ask me to pay for her treatment?”

“She’s not responsible,” Caitlyn said, sharper now. “She was manipulated. Used. She’s a victim of Silco, not his accomplice.”

“She built the weapon,” Cassandra snapped. “She armed it. That’s not a victim, Caitlyn — that’s an assassin.”

Powder pressed herself closer into Vi’s side. Vi’s arm tightened around her.

“You don’t even know what you are talking about!” Vi cut in sensing Powder unease

Cassandra’s eyes flicked to Vi, then back to Powder. “I don’t need to be there to recognize a criminal when I see one. They destroy. Then they buy your favourism and pity. But one day she will just do that again, maybe to me, maybe to you.”

Something cold was pressing onto her chest.

She’s not wrong. She’s saying what they’re too afraid to admit. They are blinded by piety and you know it. 

Caitlyn’s voice was steady, but her hands were clutched as fist at her side. “Mother, we had this discussion before”

But Cassandra stepped forward, her shadow falling over them. “You can dress her up, feed her, tell her she’s safe… but she’ll always be what she is. A mistake that should have been stopped a long time ago.”

The sting came before Powder even realised Cassandra had moved — a sharp slap across her face that snapped her head sideways. Vi’s arm caught her instantly, holding her upright as her knees buckled.

The voices surged. See? She knows. She’s proving it. You’re not worth saving. You’ll drag them down with you. You’ve done it before. You’ll do it again. You are manipulating them. You are acting like you are to gain their favour.

Her cheek burned, but it wasn’t the worst part. The hallway seemed to narrow, the air thickening.

They’ll get tired of protecting you. They’ll see what you are. It’s better that you tell them first. That you are the first to get away before you end up hurting them

“Please… stop…” Was the only thing Powder could mutter under her breath as the voices were about to start again but they were broke by Caitlyn’s voice

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Caitlyn’s voice shook with fury as she stepped in, one hand on Powder’s shoulder.

“She killed your father!” Cassandra’s voice cracked, but she didn’t back down.

“She’s a kid!” Caitlyn snapped, her voice breaking. “She left the hospital no more than an hour ago! You don’t get to lay a hand on her, not now or ever. She is not some dangerous beast to threaten!”

The voices hissed again, curling around her thoughts. She’s lying to herself. You’re dangerous. You’ll prove it soon enough.

Vi’s grip didn’t loosen. “We’re done here,” she said, already steering Powder toward the stairs.

Caitlyn moved with them, till Cassandra gripped her wrist and said

“You are not making her live here. I forbid it.”

Caitlyn’s eyes went cold. “Watch me.”

Caitlyn’s room felt too clean, too still. The door clicked shut behind them, but the heat on Powder’s cheek from Cassandra’s slap still pulsed.

Caitlyn was pacing, her voice sharp with disbelief. “I don’t understand. I’ve never seen her act like that before. Not once. I knew she would have been against the idea, sure, but this? It’s not like I didn’t tell her what happened! But she still blames her!” She broke off, shaking her head. “I don’t know what got into her.”

Powder sat on the edge of the bed, Vi’s arm still around her. She stared at the floor, the words slipping out before she could stop them. “She was right.”

Caitlyn froze mid‑step. “What?”

“She was right,” Powder repeated, louder. “About me. About what I am.”

Vi’s jaw tightened. “Pow—”

“Maybe I should just go,” Powder said, voice low. “Live on my own. Like Ekko is doing at the moment. At least then I wouldn’t be in your way… I wouldn’t put you at risk”

“You’re not in the way,” Caitlyn said firmly. “You belong here. And even Ekko… if we will be able to get in contact with him.”

Powder shook her head. “No. You’re both pretending I’m worth keeping around, but I’m not. People like me always mess it up… I am a jinx”

Vi’s tone hardened. “Don’t start.”

Powder’s voice cracked. “Maybe you should’ve just… left me to die.”

The slap that came made Caitlyn gasp. It wasn’t cruel like Cassandra one, it didn’t even hurt… it mostly just startled her

“Vi! Why?!” she whined, clutching her cheek and staring at Vi in shock.

Vi leaned in, her voice low but steady… she was mad… again… she looked scary… again… “I didn’t hit you when you were being a brat about the food at the hospital and you tried to skip meals. But this?” She buried a finger in her chest. “This is where I draw the line.”

Powder blinked at her, still stunned.

“You ever say something like that again, about wishing you were dead, and I will slap you again. For real next time. Because it looks like you are growing to found of that idea nowadays.”

Vi’s gaze didn’t waver. “You’re my sister. I’m not losing you. I didn’t lose you to him, I will not lose you to her, and certainly not to that messed up head of yours.”

Powder swallowed, her cheek stinging, but her voices were really quiet. Her sister still looked scary… but Powder hugged and buried her head in her chest… in the end she is still the one that Powder looks out for when scared… even if scared of her.

“Better. Now rest, later this day there is someone who want to meet you” Vi said while drawing slow circles on her back

Powder simply nodded, she didn’t care much.

“He is a good person, a friend of mine… I think you will get along,” Caitlyn added “Ah and yes I forgot you starting school next week”

"WAIT WHAT! I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO READ” Powder squirmed back from Vi whining a bit after a wound started to sting “You knew this!?”

“Maybe. Now sleep”

“I HATE YOU”

“Love you to”

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 (Violet Pov)

Abused and Betrayed

“She’s out cold” She said while slowly shifting to free her arm from Powder’s limp body

“She needed some rest” Was Caitlyn response while she sat across the room on a chair

She was fidgeting with a pen, mind probably somewhere else… Vi know she was still thinking of the earlier fight. 

“Want to step out?” 

The enforcer nodded and together they walked out of the room, there in the hallway there was a giant window that faced the square where people were walking everyone with their own doubt, problem and joy.

Leaned on the railway Vi couldn’t hold herself from asking

“How was your father… you never talk about him”

Caitilyn froze for a second, but then a warm smile appeared on her face

“He was a great man… people probably only knew him as the great husband of the councilor… but he was more then that. He always listened… he knew how to make me feel better and light my day”

There was a pause, Caitlyn swallowed hard clearly holding back tear

“The day… the day he died he was visiting the enforcer’s academy. It was… the day of my graduation”

Her voice caught on the last word, and for a second she just stared out the window, pen still turning between her fingers.

Vi didn’t say anything. She knew what it was like to have a memory that could gut you if you looked at it too closely… 

Caitlyn let out a slow breath. “He was supposed to give a speech. Nothing formal, just a few words to the graduates… to me. I was so proud… I wanted him to see me in uniform for the first time.”

Her grip on the pen tightened. “The explosion happened before he even reached the stage. One moment I was looking for him in the crowd, the next—” She stopped, jaw clenching. “The next there was a cloud of colorful smoke, and screaming, and I couldn’t find him. He wasn’t even a target,” her voice broke “He was there at the wrong time… the criminals were trying to open the vault and… he didn’t survive”

Vi shifted my weight against the railing, watching her profile. She wasn’t crying, but her eyes had that glassy look, like she was holding the line by sheer force of will.

“I’m sorry,” Vi said quietly. It felt useless, but it was all I had that wouldn’t sound like a lie.

She gave a small, humourless smile. “You didn’t do it.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t wish I could’ve stopped it.”

Cait nodded, but she had more to share.

“I spent a lot of time mourning him… cursing the people responsible for his death, wishing to kill them with my own hands… and then I met you, you know how it ends right?”

“You went with me, fighted at my side and then we found Powder in the doctor lab… and you tried to kill her cause she was the one who built the bomb”

Cait's jaw clenched “Don’t remember me… I was so obfuscated by my rage that I couldn’t see the reality of things”

“You never told me what made you forgive her,” Vi said. “I just found you there on the floor with Powder in your lap, trying to soothe the fear out of her.”

Caitlyn’s eyes softened. “Because I saw her breaking down. I saw what he’d done to her. And in that moment, I let go of the hatred. That day had already taken enough from me — I wasn’t going to let it take more. I understood you then. And I promised myself I’d protect her from the world.”

The pink haired girl gave her a small punch to the side, trying to lighten the mood. “You’re just saying that to earn my favour, cupcake.”

She rolled her eyes, but Vi laughed. “See? Your mother was wrong. But you shouldn’t hate her for that. You should forgive her. Help her see what you saw… and maybe she’ll admit the truth herself.”

Cait remained like that for quiet some time, before smiling and thanking Vi for her words.

“You are right, she will understand… at her own pace.”

Caitlyn’s smile lingered, faint but real, her eyes still on the square below.

“You know…” Vi’s voice dipped into that lazy drawl she used when she was about to tease, “all pensive like that, you steal my attention.”

Caitlyn turned her head, one brow lifting. “Vi…” There was a warning in her tone, but it was already soft around the edges.

“What?” Vi grinned. “I’m just saying, you’ve got this whole ‘wise and noble’ thing going on right now. Makes it hard to focus on anything else.”

Caitlyn shook her head, though the faint colour in her cheeks betrayed her. “You have a terrible sense of timing.”

“Or the best,” Vi countered, leaning in just enough that Caitlyn’s breath caught. “Depends on how you look at it.”

“You’re impossible,” Caitlyn muttered, but her hand brushed Vi’s on the railing, fingers curling for just a second before she starts closing the distance between them

Vi’s smirk widened. “And yet, you keep me around.”

Caitlyn opened her mouth to retort, but a sharp knock at the door down the hall cut her off.

"OHHHH NOT NOW!” Vi groaned, throwing her head back.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes and went to the door, where a very excited Jayce was standing.

“You early” Was Cait response as she raised an eyebrow

“My day wasn’t that busy… and also I needed to see with my eyes what you told me over and over this last month” 

Vi leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching him. She could see why an inventor would want to meet her sister,  especially after Caitlyn hadn’t shut up about how good she was, how she could create insane things out of scrap… Cait never even saw her doing that, she based everything on her arsenal during the fight with Silco and some stories Vi told her.

Jayce stepped inside, his gaze flicking around the room before landing on Vi. “She’s awake?”

“Not yet,” Vi said and then smirked. “But I can wake her.”

Caitlyn shot her a look. “Gently.”

Vi raised her hands in mock surrender. “Relax, cupcake. I know how to handle her.”

They moved back into the bedroom. Powder was still curled up under the blanket, hair a mess, breathing slow… Vi knows perfectly well that Powder will not forgive her for making her meet new people while looking this unpresentable… but like this Powder looked cute to Vi… How can you blame her for not wanting to change that?

Vi crouched beside the bed and gave her shoulder a firm shake. “Pow. C’mon, up.”

A muffled groan came from under the blanket. “Go away…”

“No can do,” Vi said, tugging the blanket down just enough to see one bleary blue eye glaring at her with hatred. “We’ve got company” 

Powder shifted her focus on Caitlyn. “If it’s your mother, I’m out the window,” she mumbled, already trying to burrow back under the covers.

“Not my mother,” Caitlyn cut in from the doorway, her voice calm but carrying that tone that meant she wasn’t taking no for an answer. “A friend. Jayce Talis.”

Powder blinked at her, then at the tall man standing just behind Caitlyn… then Powder shot a glare at Vi that told her everything she needed to know before shifting back to the man. Her suspicion was immediate. “Why… and who is he?”

Jayce stepped forward, his smile open and warm. “I’ve been hearing about you for weeks. Caitlyn’s told me how you can take a pile of scrap and turn it into something brilliant. How you see solutions no one else can. I work with a small team… we’re the one behind Hextech, and I think you have the potential to give a great contribute. I think you could help us change the world if you let me mentor you at the academy.”

He said it like it was a gift, like he was handing her something she’d been waiting for.
Vi was so happy for Powder… She always dreamed of creating something that will help people… she always rose stubbornly after every failure and Vi was always there to support her through it.

“No.”

Powder’s expression didn’t change, but Vi eyes went wide and Caitlyn looked like she choked on air

Jayce blinked, still smiling like he’d misheard. “No?”

“I’m done with that,” she said flatly. “I don’t tinker anymore. I don’t build. Not for anyone.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Caitlyn said before she could stop herself.

Powder’s head snapped toward her. “What?”

“You heard me,” Caitlyn said, stepping closer. “You’re one of the most gifted minds I’ve ever seen. And you want to throw that away?”

“No!” Powder’s voice rose, sharp. “You don’t get it. The first time I ever succeeded at building something, I killed my family. I made Vi want to leave me, I almost lost her. I returned building only to create weapon to take Silco down and then? Then I ended up creating more weapons for him instead, bombs that destroyed family, that destroyed your family! That’s what I’m good at. Everything I create ends up hurting someone and I will put an end at it.”

Caitlyn stepped forward, her voice tightening. “That’s not all you’re capable of. You have the talent to make a difference, and you want to bury it because of what he made you do?”

“You think I can just forget it?” Powder shot back. “Pretend it didn’t happen? Every time I touch a tool, I just remember what happens afterward.”

“Then prove yourself wrong!” Caitlyn snapped, her composure cracking. “Use your skill to help people, make up for your previous mistake!”

Powder’s jaw clenched, but she didn’t answer.

Vi stayed quiet, she didn’t expect Caitlyn to take it this personal… but also she was right. Powder was hurting but she can’t throw out of the window the chance of a lifetime just out of fear.

And Jayce… Jayce just stood there, his earlier enthusiasm gone, staring at the small, stubborn girl in front of him. She looked so young, so slight — and yet she carried enough grief and guilt to crush someone twice her size. He didn’t say it out loud, but Vi could see it in his face… the look of someone in denial: How does that much hurt trauma into someone so small?

Caitlyn’s jaw tightened and she said in a tone that didn’t want a replay. “You’re going to Jayce’s lab tomorrow.”

“The hell I am,” Powder shot back.

“Yes, you are,” Caitlyn said, and before Powder could dodge, she reached down and pinched her ear between two fingers, tugging just enough to make her yelp.

“OW! Let go!”

“Tomorrow,” Caitlyn repeated, calm as anything. “One day. You try it. If you hate it, you never have to go back.”

“OKOK BUT LET ME GO”

Caitlyn releases and Vi is barely holding in a laugh as Powder is rubbing her ear.

Jayce, clearly pleased with the outcome, turns towards the door “I will wait for you Powder. I’m sure you will impress me”

The door shut behind him, and Powder immediately flopped back onto the bed with a groan. “Unbelievable. My own sister didn’t even defend me. Guess your girlfriend’s more important than your defenseless little sister.”

Hey she became bratty but at least Cait made her snap out of that semi spiral of before.

Vi snorted. “Defenseless? You’ve got more bite than half of Zaun.”

“Still didn’t defend me,” Powder muttered, while curling onto the bed with a dramatic groan. “Abused and betrayed in my new home, what kind of life awaits me.”

Vi sat down on the edge of the bed and, without warning, hooked an arm around her, hauling her in against her side. “Shush it, drama queen. Can’t believe you were throwing that opportunity out of the window.”

“Vi—” Powder started, but her voice hitched when Caitlyn stepped in behind her and began scratching slow, lazy circles between her shoulder blades — the kind that made her shiver no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

“Hey— stop that, VI DEFEND ME” Powder protested, twisting in Vi’s hold.

“Nah I enjoy looking at you trying to squirm,” Vi said, smirking over her head at Caitlyn.

Caitlyn’s fingers lingered just long enough to make Powder squirm again before she stepped back, clearly satisfied. Vi kept her arm locked around her sister, leaning in just enough to murmur, “Face it, Pow, you’re stuck with us.”

Powder made an annoyed face and rolled her eyes… but Vi knew that behind that bratty behaviour the girl was as happy as she has been in ages.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4 (Powder Pov)

Lab time

I swear they are so evil.

First off, they woke her up when she’d finally gotten comfy, then they made her meet a stranger, and like all of that wasn’t enough, they forced her to accept some kind of golden opportunity she couldn’t care less about.

She was done with tinkering. Done with that world. But apparently, her opinion didn’t count.

And the man, Jayce, had the nerve to smile at her and say, “I will wait for you, Powder. I’m sure you will impress me.”
What was that supposed to be? Some kind of date? She’d actually wrinkled her nose at the thought. Ew.

The next morning, as Caitlyn insisted, she got ready as if going to some sort of sacred event. She moved through Piltover’s spotless streets, still needing to lean on Violet for the simple act of walking, and she proceeded like she was on her way to an execution. Caitlyn walked ahead with the posture of someone escorting a prisoner. Powder’s eyes flicked to every alley they passed, mentally calculating her odds. Spoiler: not great.

She just swallowed hard and decided she would honour her promise.

Once they arrived at the lab, it was so perfect, so clean and neat, that Powder felt the urge to break and mess something up. Paint over the wall… scatter the tools. Anything to make her skin stop itching.

“Good morning, Powder! I see you made it,” was how Jayce decided to welcome her.

“Yeah… I couldn’t have missed it,” she answered deadpan, earning a smack on the back of the head from Vi.

“So,” Jayce continued, “we’ll spend this first day together, and you’ll meet the other members of the project. But first—can you show me what you’re capable of?”

“Yes, she absolutely can,” Vi cut in before Powder could even open her mouth to refuse.

What kind of evil sister does that?

Powder dragged herself to a workbench and, with all the grace of a cat knocking over a glass, ‘accidentally’ sent a few tools clattering to the floor and scattered some neatly stacked papers.

“So… what do I do?” she asked, feigning boredom.

“Anything,” he said to Powder before turning to Vi and Caitlyn. “I think you can go for now; you can return when the day finishes.”

Cait nodded and so did Vi, but before leaving the room said, “Just one thing, don’t leave her alone in rooms with sharp tools.”

“WHY?” Powder demanded.

“Instinct and experience,” Vi replied without missing a beat.

“FUCK YOU!”

“LANGUAGE, POWDER,” Caitlyn shot back automatically.

Powder rolled her eyes, and when the door closed behind the two, she was left alone with Mr. Sunshine himself.

“Sooooo,” she drawled, “I don’t think I have any incredible thing to show to earn your interest and bla bla bla. I’m just here ‘cause I’m forced to.”

He smiled. Why was he smiling? Was this funny to him?

“Just assist me,” he said easily. “Follow me through the day. I need to create a batch of crystals. Viktor is surely there already.”

She walked right beside him, one hand shoved in her pocket. “Waooh. Enticing.”

Viktor was already at the far bench when they entered, leaning on his cane, sharp eyes flicking to her. Powder clocked the accent instantly, the way he was scrawny and his skin so pale.

“You’re from the Undercity,” she said before she could stop herself.

His mouth twitched — not quite a smile. “I am. You know, young lady, it isn’t polite to say those things to a stranger you just met.”

Sky appeared a moment later, warm smile, grease smudge on her cheek, the kind of person who looked like she actually enjoyed being here. Powder gave them both a half‑hearted wave, already wanting to get back home, but unfortunately she had to rest her weight on Jayce’s shoulder and follow him through.

Then Jayce gestured to the centre of the bench, where a faint blue glow pulsed inside a containment cradle. “This,” he said, “is the heart of Hextech. The crystal. The heart of the future.”

Powder froze.

“No. Hell nah.”

Her stomach dropped so fast she thought she might be sick. That wasn’t just a crystal. That was the crystal. The same kind she’d used in her first bomb. The one that had killed her family. The one that ruined everything.

The hum of the lab faded under the rush of blood in her ears. Her chest tightened. She took a step back, then another, her hands curling into fists… She was totally able to walk on her own when her body felt like it, apparently.

“Powder?” Jayce’s voice was closer now, careful.

She shook her head hard. “I’m not touching that. I’m not even staying in the same room as that thing.”

“It’s stable,” Jayce said gently. “Completely contained.”

“NO IT IS NOT!” she shot back.

“It is… as long as we don’t touch it.”

Those words ended up calming that irrational part of her… she knew he was right.

“Ok. So if we are ready to move on, follow me,” he said with a warm smile, letting her rest once more on him.

Jayce led her to the main bench like he was about to reveal the cure for boredom. Inside the containment cradle, jagged hexshards floated in a soft blue hum, little arcs of light crawling between them.

“Woah! The shiny rock is just little shiny rocks! You are blowing my mind!”

“This is the first stage,” he began, adjusting a dial and deliberately ignoring her. “We use a resonance field to align the shards and fuse them into a single crystal.”

Powder leaned on the bench, chin in hand. She didn’t understand half of what he just said. “So… you make them hum until they’re best friends. Got it.”

Jayce ignored her tone. “Once they’re united, we bend the lattice together using the stabilizer. That’s what forms the outer shell.”

Viktor, standing opposite, tapped a cracked reject from a tray. “The problem is the energy signature. We cannot find the right one to prevent fractures. The shell forms, but it is frail.”

Powder squinted at him. “Energy signature. Right. I remember yesterday talking about energy signatures after leaving the hospital — totally a normal phrase to use in an everyday scenario.”

Jayce continued ignoring her. Why couldn’t he get annoyed? Tell her to leave? Just make this stupid experience finish.

Powder was starting to like it… and she didn’t want to… because if she did like it, then she would be back, and she’d end up ruining everything.

“We’ve tried dozens of calibrations. Too much energy, it shatters. Too little, it won’t bind.”

She groaned. “Do you guys ever just… say things like a normal person? ‘Too much, it breaks. Too little, it’s floppy.’ There. Fixed your science poetry. Like when I was making bombs, you couldn’t catch me blubbering about the instantaneous super‑duper release of energy.”

They kept talking, tossing around words like lattice integrity and structural resonance decay. She tuned half of it out, eyes tracing the spiderweb cracks in the reject crystal.

And then it hit — quick, sharp, instinctive. A bomb’s shell breaks because you dump everything into it at once. Big spike. Instant stress. Same thing is happening here… so what if they just reverse the concept? Feed it slow. Let it settle. No stress points. No fractures.

She wanted to share this but… they knew what they were doing and she didn’t. She was just a kid who’d been forced to come by her sister and her sister’s girlfriend because they couldn’t accept that she should have just stopped.

The rest of the day, she trailed after him, Viktor, and Sky, watching crystals power tools, steady machines, even run a tiny transport rig. She made faces, muttered under her breath,
“Oh wow, it spins and it glows, groundbreaking,”
and interrupted explanations with “Uh‑huh” in the flattest voice possible.

By late afternoon, Jayce turned to her. “Alright, Powder. We’ve seen what we do here. Now I want to see what you can do.”

She tilted her head. “What, like… a talent show? Should I juggle them? Maybe eat one for dramatic effect?”

“Or,” Jayce said, smiling, “you could try making one.”

“I can’t… I’ll mess it up…”

“There is no other way to find out than you trying,” was Jayce’s heart‑warming response.

Why couldn’t he just hate her like a normal person? Why did he care? She’d spent the entire day trying to get them to hate her, but apparently she was just free entertainment.

“Ok. But if something goes wrong, it’s on you, not me.”

“Deal.”

She didn’t have anything to lose, so why not put her theory to the test?

She took the shell‑former thingy and started breaking it down with her tool, tweaking it so it would release energy slowly. She ignored Viktor’s increasingly audible grunts, clearly convinced she was breaking it.

Then it was time to stabilise the shard… was that even the right term? Who knew. She started the process, then leaned back, feeling the weight of their stares.

“Stop staring. Sorry I didn’t press the ‘explode now’ button, but some people have enough patience to wait for results.”

After fifteen minutes, she started to feel a little nervous. She didn’t want to make a good impression — that would mean they’d want her to stay — but she loved it so much she wanted to come back. And if it worked… if it did… it meant the voices were wrong. That she could help, not only destroy.

At the thirty‑minute mark, the sound stopped and the stabiliser opened, revealing a deep blue, perfectly even crystal. It glowed at a quarter of the power of the others — but it was stable.

“Woah…” Sky breathed.

Caitlyn wasn’t here, but Powder could almost hear her smug voice in her head: Told you so.

Jayce’s eyes went wide. “This… is revolutionary.” He turned it over in his hands like it was made of gold. “Lower power, yes, but no instability. No fractures. Powder, do you understand what this means?”

It worked. It actually worked.

She let out a shaky laugh, the kind that bubbled up before she could stop it. For a second, it felt like every problem in her life had been scrubbed clean.

Viktor was still staring at the crystal, baffled. “For a first attempt… unprecedented. You elongated the stabiliser feed deliberately?”

Powder leaned back in her chair, smirk tugging at her mouth. “I dunno what you’re saying, old man. Maybe if you spoke like a normal person, I could answer you.”

Jayce laughed, still grinning like a kid. “We were so focused on the wrong problem… but you saw a solution to it!”

She didn’t even try to hide it now. She was beaming, openly, because for once the voices in her head — the ones that said she’d only ever make things that hurt — were dead quiet.

And the silence was fantastic.

About an hour later — which she spent sprawled at her bench painting the surface in chaotic swirls just to make it hers — the door opened again. Vi and Caitlyn stepped inside.

Powder, now able to walk on her own thanks to shimmer healing, immediately rushed over and latched onto Vi’s arm. Not because she needed the support — but because she wanted the extra fussing.

“How was this experience?” Caitlyn asked, polite but scanning her for trouble.

“Ermmm… it was… ok,” Powder said, dragging the word out. “I didn’t blow anything up… I think I’ll return…”

Jayce looked up from his notes. “Hi Caitlyn, hi Violet! She held up to your story… oh, and she didn’t try to stab herself, so yes — a win‑win.”

Powder’s head snapped around. “CAN YOU GUYS STOP ACTING LIKE I AM ALWAYS TRYING TO KILL MYSELF?”

There was a pause.

“…No,” Vi said flatly.

“FUCK— mhhgh!” Before she could finish, Caitlyn’s hand clamped over her mouth with perfect, practiced precision — and a light slap for emphasis, which Powder decided was totally unnecessary.

She glared up at Caitlyn, muffled protests spilling into her palm, while Vi just smirked like this was the most normal thing in the world.

On the walk home, Powder was still buzzing, telling Vi over and over how she was a genius who had revolutionised those guys’ minds — milking every compliment she could. Vi was happy to oblige.

Once they reached the house, Powder walked like she was on eggshells, half‑expecting to run into Cassandra. Instead, they showed her a room — not too big, not too small — with a bed and a desk.

“So… this could be your new room.”

“…I’m not sleeping with Vi?”

“No, I don’t think so. I am,” Caitlyn said.

“THIEF!”

Caitlyn blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Sister‑stealer. Pillow‑hogger.” Powder jabbed a finger at her chest. “You’ve been plotting this since day one, haven’t you? Persuading her with your moves just to—” she waved a hand dramatically “—claim my Vi.”

Vi raised a brow. “She’s my girlfriend.”

“Yeah, and I’m your sister! Blood beats kissing, Vi! You’re just gonna leave me in here? Alone? In the freezing cold? I’m gonna die overnight, and it’s gonna be your fault.”

Caitlyn glanced at the perfectly warm, blanket‑covered bed. “I think you’ll be pretty cozy in there…”

“Not the same,” Powder shot back, stomping into the room. “You’ll regret this when you find my frozen little corpse in the morning.”

Vi smirked. “Relax, Pow. If you wake up from a nightmare, you can always come find me.”

Powder’s head snapped up, eyes wide like she’d just been stabbed in the back. “Wow. Wow. You’re just gonna expose me like that?”

Vi’s grin widened. “What? Acting like the second time you met Caitlyn you weren’t in tears in her arms?”

Powder gasped, clutching her chest in mock horror. “Betrayal. Absolute betrayal. I hope you two are happy together in your little nest of lies.”

Caitlyn’s lips twitched. “Ecstatic.”

Powder flopped onto the bed like a martyr. “Fine. Go. Leave me to freeze. I’ll haunt you both once I’m dead.”

She lay there for all of three seconds before her eyes started darting around the room. Then she jolted upright, pointing at the nearest corner.

“WHY THE FUCK DOES MY ROOM HAVE NO ANGLES? WHAT AM I, A TODDLER?”

Caitlyn face‑palmed at her language, but Powder didn’t care.

Vi leaned on the doorframe, smirking. “Mmh, maybe because you’ve got a… let’s call it a long list of failed attempts.”

Caitlyn added, “And you’re not a toddler. You’re Powder. That’s worse.”

Powder shook her head in mock offence, one hand over her face in an over‑dramatic gesture. “Wow. Guess I’m worse than a toddler now — getting bullied by my own sister and her girlfriend. How tragic can life be?”

“Let’s just say not tragic enough to end it,” Vi finished, her tone a little sharper this time. Powder understood why… but it’s not like it was her fault those thoughts sometimes crept in.

When they left her alone, she took her time changing into something comfortable for dinner and later sleep. God, she was tired… she’d probably have to face Cassandra, but maybe if she stayed glued to Vi’s side, the older woman wouldn’t target her as much.

That’s when she saw it — on the pillow.

A folded note, left by someone who had clearly come in through the window.

Tonight, at the bridge 

—Ekko

Guess she wasn’t that tired after all.

A sleepless night wouldn’t hurt.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5 (Powder Pov)

Firelights

The note neatly tucked in her pocket. Her heart was beating so fast, she wanted to bolt straight away… but first she needed to handle other busines… Dinner… with Cait’s mom.

Walking down the corridor she could already picture her face and judging look, like if she was any superior in her fancy clothes and lavish home. She wanted to judge and judge but she couldn’t understand what real pain and suffering feel like.

At the same time there was a part of Powder who thought that she was right, that she was really a mistake, but that part is now so little compared to the rest, especially after the event of the day…

Unfortunately when she saw the silverware and the perfect table that seemed out of a movie and Cassandra hard look on her she felt smaller and as fast as she could she slumped on a chair next to Vi brushing her elbow together

“Sit up straight.” 

She did pretty fast without saying a word, gaze low on the food that she barely touched.

Cassandra’s gaze lingered on her for a moment longer, sharp and measuring, before she finally picked up her glass.

“So,” she said, her voice smooth but cold, “I hear you’ve been… keeping busy. Piltover’s generosity is truly remarkable.”

Vi’s arm shifted slightly against hers, a silent reminder to stay calm. “She’s been working,” Vi said evenly. “Learning.”

Caitlyn added, “It’s been a productive day, she gave a great contribution.”

Cassandra’s lips curved — not in a smile. “Learning what? How to make herself look useful long enough to stay? Piltover has been taking a habit of taking in strays from Zaun. They rarely change,” She gives a fake laugh “They just end up broken as before cause they can’t do anything better”

Powder’s fork stilled halfway to her mouth. She didn’t look up, but her grip on Vi’s sleeve under the table tightened.

“That’s not correct,” Caitlyn said, her voice calm but firm. “She’s done nothing but try today, give her space.”

Cassandra’s gaze slid to her daughter. “Try? Trying doesn’t change what she is. Zaunites rot because they can’t do any better. It’s in their nature.”

Powder’s head came up, eyes narrowing before Vi could think of stopping her. “We rot because Piltover makes sure we do. You keep your streets clean by dumping your filth into ours. You force us to work in factories that poison our water, the smoke from the mines you need for your lavish needs chokes our air, and then you call us broken when we can’t breathe.”

“Pow—” Vi’s voice was low, warning, but Cassandra cut in.

“Zaun poisons itself. Crime, violence, addiction — it’s all you know. And in your case…” Her eyes locked on Powder, cold and deliberate. “…addiction is already in your blood. Injected with shimmer. Once an addict, always an addict.”

The words hit like a slap. Powder’s chest tightened, shame and rage tangling in her throat. For a moment she wanted to shrink into Vi’s side and disappear — but the heat in her chest burned hotter than the hurt.

“You think shimmer was a choice?” she said, her voice shaking with fury. “You think I wanted that? I DIDN’T EVEN WANT TO LIVE!”

“Mother, please,” Caitlyn said, leaning forward, her tone sharper now. “This isn’t helping anyone.”

Cassandra didn’t look at her. “I’m telling the truth. And the truth is, she doesn’t belong here.”

Vi’s hand closed over Powder’s under the table. “Pow, don’t—”

But Powder was already leaning forward, meeting Cassandra’s gaze head‑on, her voice low but shaking with fury… all those words filled with lies made her fear go away, in the end what she had in front of her was just someone filth rich that thinks her need overthrown the ones of the poor “Good. I wouldn’t want to belong with people who call the truth dangerous, drown it in blood. You point at me like I’m the only killer in the room, but face it, you are the one who armed the enforcer that day. Pretending your hands are clean? That’s the funniest part.”

“What are you insinuating”

“Enjoy your dinner.” Powder said chair already scraping the floor

“Pow wai-”

“I am done here.” She said before storming back in the hallway ignoring the lingering pain on her waist.

The hallway felt colder than the dining room, but the heat in her chest didn’t fade. Her boots hit the floor hard, a way to make herself more visible to them even as she was walking away. 

When she entered her room there was no heavy step to follow, just the muffled sound of arguing voices overlapping onto each other, but she didn’t really care.

She shut the door, leaned against it for a breath, then crossed to the chair where her jacket hung. The note was still in her pocket, folded so neatly it almost looked harmless.

Tonight, at the bridge. 

—Ekko

Her fingers tightened around it. She didn’t need to think about it — she was going.

The window was quieter than the door. She eased it open, swung one leg over the sill, then the other. The drop wasn’t far, but the landing still sent a sharp sting through her side. She gritted her teeth and straightened, when she was feeling strong emotion the shimmer always powered her more… it was like it reacted to them

The streets were quiet this time of night, the glow of Piltover’s towers fading behind her as she made her way toward the bridge, to meet Ekko, to know what this is all about.

She was there first, leaning on the railing that split the city in two: the rich from the poor, the ones who thrived from the ones who endured. She heard him before she saw him.

The slow hum of an engine so familiar, the one of the hoverboard they built together while they both worked for Silco, their little project, one of the moments where Powder could finally feel like herself.

And then he was there, rising into view from the shadows, the green glow of the board’s underlights catching in his scarf.

For a second, she didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Just watched him come closer, the hum of the engine filling the space between them like a heartbeat she’d almost forgotten.

He slowed to a stop in front of her, boots touching down from the board. “Still works,” he said, patting the side of the board that was now in his hand.

“Guess we did something right,” she muttered still leaned onto the railing.

“I thought you wouldn’t come”

“Mh… I almost didn’t, I had to survive dinner with Cait’s mom. Not really on her favourite person list”

He snorted “You two don’t get along?”

“No, not at all. But… What is this all about? Why you wanted to see me here, why couldn’t you simply come to the hospital or there at home”

He looked away, a hint of sadness in his face like every time he has something on his mind that doesn’t know how to spill out

“I wanted to say goodbye… you know… before you became one of them. A last memory of you… The real you.”

Her fingers tightened on the railing. “One of them?” she echoed, her voice flat. 

How can he think that of me!?

He nodded, eyes still on the dark water below. “Piltover. Topside. The people who’ll live a lavish life while they decide what part of Zaun they can strip away this year. I know there you are living a better life… and I know that soon you’ll forget where you came from.”

She let out a short, humourless laugh.

So this is about? 

Does he think that she is this lavish, this material? That she will forget that people are suffering only for the pleasure of a better life? 

 “You think I’d choose them after everything?”

“I didn’t know,” he admitted. “You’ve been up there for weeks. You experienced how better of a life they can give you. Living in their world. I thought maybe you wanted to stay in it.”

She pushed off the railing, turning to face him fully, she was angry, heck yeah she was hurt. “I’m here for Vi, Ekko. That’s all. I’m not theirs and never will be. And if that is what you think of me then it would have been better than I wouldn’t have come at all.” And then she turned away

Ekko hand shot and grabbed her by the wrist forcing her to turn

“I… I tried to convince myself that you were one of them now…” He says voice carrying guilt but also hope “I tough it would have hurted less this way if I would have find you different, changed…”

He swallowed hard, his grip loosening but not letting go. “But the truth is… I couldn’t accept losing you. I couldn’t even bring myself to visit you in the hospital, because I didn’t want to see it — I didn't want to face the fact that you might not come back to us. To me.”

His eyes searched hers, unguarded now. “And maybe… maybe this doesn’t have to be goodbye.”

“And what then?” she asked. She tried to sound cold, distant, but the edge in her voice didn’t hide the crack underneath.

“I’ve built something,” he said. “A resistance. In Zaun. A movement for independence. Silco was a manipulative bastard, another Zaun’s tyrant, but he was right about one thing — Zaun needs to be its own nation. But I can’t do this alone.”

He stepped closer, his voice tightening. “Zaun needs you. I need you. We need Jinx.”

Her jaw clenched. “That life is the past. Jinx died with Silco.”

“Powder…” His tone softened, but there was steel under it. “She’s still a part of you. And she’s what we need. We fight fire with fire. It’s the only way we’ll ever make them listen. It’s the only way we get change. Not Silco’s Jinx. Not the person he manipulated to get his job done. Yours. The one who doesn’t hesitate when it matters. The one who can take the people who’ve been bleeding us dry and make sure they can’t ever do it again.”

Powder’s face hardened, but it wasn’t anger that rose first — it was the sting in her chest, the one she’d been carrying since that night. “You don’t get it,” she said, her voice low. “One of my bombs… It killed Caitlyn’s father. He was a good man. He didn’t deserve it. And Cait… she’s good. She didn’t deserve to lose him. None of it was right.”

Her gaze dropped to the planks beneath their feet. “If that’s what being Jinx means, then it’s all wrong. I’m not doing that again.”

Ekko didn’t look away. “Powder… not everyone’s like him. Not everyone’s innocent.”

She lifted her head, eyes sharp. “And what if we end up hurting the ones who are?”

He stepped closer, his voice steady but carrying the weight of something he’d already made peace with. “Then we’ll be the villains. Because someone has to take the blame. Someone has to be the one who makes the change happen — and change always has a cost.”

His hand loosened on her wrist, but he didn’t step back. “We’ll do everything we can to avoid it. Every time. But if it happens… we carry it. We take it so no one else has to. So Zaun’s kids will be having a future different than ours”

See, you can’t escape what you are, just a mistake, a weapon of destruction

Powder’s breath caught.

The world around her seemed to dim, the green glow of the hoverboard fading at the edges of her vision. In its place came flashes — sharp, jagged, too fast to stop.

A child coughing in a dark alley, ribs showing through skin. A woman screaming over a body in the street. 

They suffer! We should fight!

But when you fight other things happen.

Her own family — Vi’s face twisted in grief, Claggor and Mylo lying still — because of her. Caitlyn, on her knees, tears streaming down her face, clutching her father’s lifeless hand.

The images kept coming, colliding with each other until they blurred into chaos — people shouting, shoving, fists flying. Arguments breaking out over what was justice and what was cruelty, over who deserved to live and who didn’t.

It always end like this, you won’t ever ever live a moment of peace. And the fault? Is all yours

Her chest tightened, her hands curling into fists at her sides. She couldn’t tell if she was angry, sick, or both.

“Powder.”

Ekko’s voice cut through the storm, steady and close. She blinked, and the flashes began to fade, the bridge and the night air rushing back in.

He was watching her, reading the tension in her shoulders. “Before you say no… before you walk away… I want to show you something. Just one thing. Then you decide.”

She swallowed, still feeling the echo of those images in her chest, and gave the smallest nod.

Ekko stepped back toward the hoverboard, holding her gaze. “Come on. You’ll understand when you see it.”

Ekko swung onto the hoverboard and held out his hand. Powder hesitated, the echo of those flashes still pressing against her ribs, but his eyes didn’t leave hers. There was no pity there — just that stubborn certainty she remembered.

She took his hand.

The board lifted smoothly, the hum beneath their feet steady as they cut across the dark water. Piltover’s towers shrank behind them, their gold light swallowed by the green glow of Zaun’s depths. Powder kept her gaze forward, the wind cold against her face, she didn’t even feel the pain anymore… it was like the more she strained it the more the shimmer worked.

They entered through a narrow pipe just big enough to let them pass and continued inside till the air began to change — warmer, tinged with the faint scent of earth. Ahead, a soft green light pulsed in the dark.

The tunnel opened into a vast cavern, and Powder’s breath caught.

A massive tree rose from the center, its roots twisting through the stone, its branches hung with glowing lanterns. Around its base, the Firelights moved — some in masks and gear, checking weapons, repairing boards; others without masks, tending to the wounded, handing out food, holding onto the people they were keeping safe.

It wasn’t just a hideout. It was a refuge.

Powder’s eyes lingered on a boy about her own age, maybe a year younger, his arm in a sling, a leg clearly infected with whatever toxin he got from the water. He was sitting like that on a root, laughing at something a woman beside him said as she handed him a steaming bowl. Nearby, a masked Firelight adjusted the straps on his glider, readying for patrol. Fighters and survivors, side by side, sharing the same space but living very different battles.

Ekko guided the board to a stop on a high platform overlooking it all. “This is what we’re fighting for,” he said quietly. “Not just the ones who can fight back. The ones who can’t.”

She didn’t answer, but her gaze stayed on the scene below.

After a moment, he tapped her arm. “There’s something else you need to see.”

They rode on, leaving the warmth of the cavern behind. The tunnels narrowed, the air growing colder, until they emerged onto a rusted catwalk high above a sprawling industrial complex.

Below, massive pumps churned, drawing water from deep underground. Powder followed the pipes with her eyes — most of them ran upward, toward Piltover. Only a few smaller, corroded lines branched into Zaun, the biggest ones were instead throwing waste in Zaun river.

“They call it a shared resource,” Ekko said, his voice flat. “Piltover takes eighty percent. Zaun gets the scraps. And the council signs off on it every month.”

Powder’s hands curled into fists.

Ekko looked at her, his expression steady but fierce. “This is why I need you. Why Zaun needs you. You’ve seen what happens when we do nothing. This is what happens when we let them decide who gets to live well and who gets to rot.”

Powder didn’t speak for a long moment. She kept her eyes on the corroded pipes, the cloudy water spilling into Zaun’s tanks, the clean flow vanishing upward toward Piltover.

When she finally looked at him, her voice was steady. “Alright. I’m in.”

Ekko’s shoulders eased, but his gaze stayed sharp. “You mean it?”

She nodded once. “I won’t tell Vi, or Caitlyn for what count. I will play both sides and I’ll keep working in the Hextech labs, keep their trust… and I’ll use it for us… those people are not bad, but they have the means we need to make a change”

A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Then let’s make it official.”

The hoverboard carried them back through the tunnels until the air warmed and the cavern opened before them again. The great tree rose from the stone, lanterns swaying gently in its branches.

They spent the next hour moving through the base. Ekko showed her the fighters’ gear, the gliders, the hoverboards. He introduced her to the ones who kept the place running — the medics, the cooks, the ones who made sure the people under their protection had food and shelter.

Finally, they sat at a workbench tucked beneath one of the tree’s roots. A map of Zaun and Piltover lay between them, dotted with marks and notes.

“You’ll keep your place in Piltover,” Ekko said, tapping the upper half of the map. “Feed us what you can. Designs, schedules, anything that gives us an edge. And when we need you down here…” He tapped the lower half. “…you’ll be ready.”

Powder traced one of the lines between the two halves of the map — the path she’d be walking from now on. “Two lives,” she murmured.

“Two fronts,” Ekko corrected. “One fight.”

When the plan was set, he walked her back to the hoverboard. The ride to the bridge was quiet, the hum of the engine filling the space between them.

They touched down where they’d met earlier. Powder stepped off first, boots hitting the stones.

Ekko stayed on the board for a moment, watching her. “You’ll come back soon?”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Don’t make me regret saying yes.”

He smirked faintly, but there was something softer in his eyes. “I won’t.”

She hesitated, then stepped closer and trow her hands around his neck pulling him in a close hug and giving him a shy fast kiss on the lips

“See you soon little man” She said, voice teasing, before heading back towards Cait’s lavish home, without turning back, just leaving him there to stew on what happened.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6 (Vi Pov)

Forever sisters

“Why can’t you just let her be! She is a child!”

“She is your father’s killer” Cassandra shot out

“She was under Silco manipulation! She is a good girl, why can’t you see it” Caitlyn continued

“Cause I know what she is, just another filthy Zaunite”

“Mother, my girlfriend to is from Zaun”

“And in fact I never said that I share your choice. You could find some other important person to be with… like I don’t know that Jayce!”

“Mother, what part of I like her you don’t understand?” Caitlyn shot back before gripping Vi hands

“We are leaving.” She said and tugged Vi along.

Oh cupcake got fire

“Mhh I am happy to see you stand out for us and for her”

“Shut up”

They went inside their bedroom, Door shut behind and both sat at the Edge of the bed

“So… are you gonna check her or what?” Cait asked

“Yeah… I probably will. I am Just giving her some time to cool off” Vi answered gaze fixed on the door

Cait hands lingered on her jaw and She then smiled a bit

“You know… work been tough lately… especially with how we need to handle the Marcus’s case.”

“Yeah I know, you’ve been running yourself into the ground.”

She shrugged. “Pretty much,” and then added, “I still think of that time we spent together trying to locate Silco and you know how we fought togheter…”

Vi raised an eyebrow. “Are you building towards something?”

“I am just saying… you could join us. Be right along my side.”

Vi frowned a little and then answered, “Babe… you know… I can’t join the enforcer… after all they did.”

“That’s why you should! To change them from the inside! To create a real corp that cares about its people!”

Vi looked away and shook her head. “And what if I just became another one of Piltover’s cog… but also how should I explain that to Powder. That I am joining the corps who killed our parents.”

Caitlyn hesitated, the fight draining from her shoulders. “Vi… I know what they’ve been. I know what they’ve done. But if people like you never step in, they won’t change. They’ll just keep grinding down anyone who doesn’t fit.”

Vi let out a hard breath. “And you think slapping a badge on me makes me different? Makes them different?”

“It makes you visible,” Caitlyn said, steady but softer. “It gives you a voice in the room. You could make a difference, a real one.”

Vi turned back to her, heat simmering. “To them I’ll be another Zaunite thug they let in the door. And Powder—” her voice roughened, “—she’ll see me in that uniform and think I sold us out.”

Caitlyn reached for her hand again. Vi pulled it back.

“I just want us on the same side,” Caitlyn whispered.

“We are,” Vi said, low and certain. “Don’t forget that.”

She stood. The air between them felt heavier than any argument. “I need to check on Powder.”

Vi left the room. The hallway was dim and hushed, floorboards creaking under her steps. She paused outside Powder’s door and knocked.

Silence.

“Powder?” she called, softer.

Still nothing.

She eased the door open. Curtains drawn. Bed untouched. The room felt empty in a way that knotted her stomach. Vi stepped inside, scanning. The window latch was loose.

Figures.

“She left,” Vi muttered.

Caitlyn appeared in the doorway, her voice sharp. “What do you mean she left?”

“She’s not in here,” Vi said, gesturing at the untouched bed.

Caitlyn’s eyes widened. “And are we going to search for her or not?”

Vi turned, her expression hard. “Cait, I think you’re forgetting who we’re talking about. Powder’s got enough agility to dodge a bullet. Chasing her through the city in the middle of the night won’t do us any good.”

Caitlyn folded her arms, frustration written across her face. “So we just sit here?”

“We wait,” Vi said firmly. “If she doesn’t come back by morning, then we’ll go after her. But right now… we give her the chance to come home on her own.”

As she says that Vi flop down on the bed and groans in annoyance

“I just hope she’ll be careful out there…”

“She is strong, she can look out for herself”

“She is also reckless, this hasn’t changed… and also she is still weak from the explosion”

Cait leans closer and smiles at Vi

“Don’t fall in despair Vi, just think about the words you re gonna chose when she sneak back in”

“Ohhh be sure about this, I am not gonna let it slide”

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Vi waited for a long time in Powder’s room, leaning in a dark corner eyes fixated on the window, if the girl tough she could just sneak back in like nothing happens then Vi will show her otherwise.

The latch clicked. The window eased open. Powder slipped inside, quiet as a shadow. She swung one leg over the sill, then froze when she saw the figure waiting.

“Going somewhere?” Vi’s voice was low, sharp.

Powder flinched, nearly stumbling. “Vi— I—”

“Where the hell were you?” Vi pushed of the wall, her boots heavy against the floorboards.

“I just… needed air,” Powder muttered, eyes darting away.

“Air?” Vi’s tone cut like a blade. “You vanish for hours, sneak back through the window, and you expect me to believe that?”

Powder’s jaw set. “I can take care of myself.”

Vi stepped closer, her shadow swallowing the space between them. “That’s not the point! You left the hospital no more than two days ago! You don’t get to disappear in the middle of the night without a word. Not after everything we’ve been through. Not after what we’ve lost.”

Powder’s voice rose, defiant. “I’m not a kid anymore!”

“No,” Vi snapped back, her voice cracking with heat. “You’re not. You are a kid only when it makes things easier right?”

The words hung in the air, sharp and heavy. Powder’s eyes darted to the floor and she started biting her own lips, a clear sign of her trying to hold back tears.

Vi’s anger faltered, the weight of her fear breaking through.

“Don’t look at me like this…” Vi said, voice cracking in the end

She reached out suddenly, pulling Powder into her arms, clutching her tight against her chest.

“You scared the shit out of me,” Vi muttered into her hair, her voice rough and trembling. “Don’t you get it? I can’t lose you again. Not you.”

Powder stiffened at first, then slowly melted into the embrace, her arms wrapping around Vi’s waist.

“You know I’ll always love you… right?”

“Why are you saying this Powder?”

There is a pause, like Powder is holding inside something she doesn’t want to tell out loud.

“Nothing… forever sister?”

“Always.”

Then Vi pulled away to look Powder in the eyes, she gave her a warm smile and said

“Now go to sleep, you need to rest for tomorrow”

Powder rolled her eyes and hugged Vi another time before taking off her jacket and boots and flopping onto bed.

“Night”

“Good night to you Blue”

“Blue?”

Vi shrugs

“It fit you”

“Guess it does…”

With that Vi closed behind her the door and walked down the hall towards her room, her eyes were growing heavy and she really just wanted to rest a bit.

“Why do things keep getting messier…”

She sat on the edge of the bed right next to the sleeping silhouette of Caitlyn

“Maybe I should join you… maybe this is really the answer”

And with that she falls asleep next to her beloved girlfriend, mind still heavy with the event of the night and a question growing heavier in chest

What is Powder hiding..

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“Morning Vi”

She groans “Can’t you sleep a bit more cupcake…”

“Not really, I gotta get to work”

“Ouh… fuck schedules”

“Yeah guess they suck… have you thinked about my offer?”

Vi jaw hardened, her gaze focused somewhere else

“I don’t like your military… it was never right to us in Zaun… but I will think about it”

Cait gave a faint smile

“That is enough for me”

Cait walked out of the room and disappeared in the hallway.

The door clicked shut behind Caitlyn, leaving Vi alone with the silence. She dragged a hand down her face and let out a long breath. Sleep hadn’t done much to clear her head. If anything, the questions weighed heavier now.

She pushed herself up, pacing the room. Powder’s face from the night before wouldn’t leave her mind — the defiance, the way her eyes had darted away, the hesitation before she said forever sister. There was something there. Something she wasn’t saying.

Vi’s fists clenched at her sides. 

Why don’t you trust me enough to be clear with me…

Powder was still at the table, poking absently at the crust of bread on her plate when Vi came in. For a moment, Vi just stood in the doorway, watching her. The sight tugged at something deep in her chest — the way Powder’s shoulders hunched, the way she chewed her lip when she thought no one was looking. It was the same as when they were kids, back before everything had gone to hell… why did memories always have to hit so hard?

“Pow,” Vi said softly, sliding into the chair across from her. “What do you say we get out today? Just you and me.”

Powder blinked, surprised. “Out? Where?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Vi leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “Market stalls, rooftops, even just walking the streets. I just… I want to spend some time with you. Like we used to.”

Powder tilted her head. “Why now? Did something happen?”

Vi forced a grin, though her chest ached. “No… I just miss spending time with you.”

Powder snorted, but the corner of her mouth twitched upward. “Wasn’t I the clingy one?”

“Yeah,” Vi said, nudging her foot under the table. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t get to want some time with my little sister.”

They sat there for a beat, the quiet between them softer than it had been in weeks. Vi studied her sister’s face, memorizing every line, every expression. She hated herself for it, but she couldn’t shake the thought that moments like this were fragile — that they could vanish without warning, like everything else in their lives had.

Heck yeah, it happened before. 

Every moment she spends with Powder seems tied to an invisible force, a chain of events that has the only objective to pull them apart.

Like why did fate hate them so much? She never asked for much… but apparently even simple being with her was more than she could get.

So she reached across the table and covered Powder’s hand with her own. “Let’s make today ours, yeah? Just you and me. No one else.”

Powder looked down at their joined hands, then back up at Vi. For a moment Vi tough Powder was gonna cry, then her expression got replaced by something warmer. She gave a small nod.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Just us.”

And like that Powder leaned onto Vi and she got to live in that moment… cause she knows that every moment could be the last.

They started at the market. Powder darted between stalls, her eyes wide at the colors and smells, tugging Vi along by the wrist. She stopped to poke at a basket of strange fruit, wrinkling her nose when the vendor offered her a slice. Vi laughed, bought two anyway, and made her eat one. Powder gagged dramatically, and Vi nearly doubled over from laughing.

From there, they wandered the streets. Powder pointed out every odd contraption in the shop windows, her mind already spinning with ideas. Vi didn’t understand half of what she was rambling about, but she nodded along, smiling, just happy to hear her voice unguarded.

Later, they climbed. Up the fire escapes, across the rooftops, until the city stretched out beneath them. Powder sat on the ledge, legs swinging, hair catching the wind. Vi sat beside her, close enough that their shoulders touched.

For a while, neither spoke. The hum of Piltover below filled the silence — vendors calling, gears grinding, the faint whistle of a distant tram.

“Remember when we used to race across the roofs back home?” Powder asked suddenly, her voice carrying that mix of mischief and longing.

Vi chuckled. “Yeah. I do.”

“I was faster.”

“In your dream,” Vi shot back, smirking.

Powder laughed, the sound light and unguarded, and Vi felt it settle in her chest like a balm. She turned her head, watching her sister’s profile against the sky. For a moment, she didn’t see the girl who had been twisted by Silco’s lies, or the one sneaking out into the night. She just saw her little sister again — the one who used to cling to her hand and beg for one more race, one more story, one more moment together. The one who would have always looked up at her… did this change?

“You used to grab my sleeve when you got scared of falling,” Vi said softly.

Powder’s cheeks flushed. “I was little.”

“You still are,” Vi teased, nudging her shoulder.

Powder rolled her eyes, but she leaned into the nudge, resting her head briefly against Vi’s arm. “You always caught me,” she murmured.

“Always will,” Vi said, and meant it with everything in her.

The sun dipped lower, painting the sky in streaks of orange and violet. Vi let the silence stretch, memorizing the weight of her sister against her, the sound of her laugh still echoing in her ears. She knew she couldn’t hold onto this forever. But for now, she could pretend.

For now, it was just them.

“I hate growing up…” Powder whispered, her voice trembling. Tears welled in her eyes.

“Pow…”

“When I stop being your child… what will I have left?” Her voice cracked, breaking into something raw.

“Hey—”

“NO!” Powder’s voice tilted into helpless anger before collapsing back into a sob. “I don’t want this to change. I don’t want you to stop looking out for me. I don’t want you to stop seeing me like this.”

Her shoulders shook as the tears spilled freely. “But time doesn’t care what I want. It keeps moving, and one day all of this will just be just a bittersweet memory. And you’ll look at me and I won’t be your little sister anymore. We’ll grow apart. And I’ll lose you.”

Vi’s chest ached like someone had driven a blade through it. She grabbed Powder’s face in her hands, forcing her to look up.

“Powder,” she said, her voice breaking, “you could be twenty, thirty, fifty — and you’ll still be my baby sister. You’ll still be the one I look at and think, how the hell did I get so lucky to have her? You’ll never lose me. Not to time. Not to anything.”

Powder shook her head, sobbing harder. “You don’t know that…”

“I do,” Vi whispered fiercely, pulling her into a crushing embrace. “I know it because I feel it every time I look at you. You’re mine, Blue. Always. Nothing can take that away.”

Powder clung to her like she was drowning, her fingers digging into Vi’s jacket. And Vi held her tighter, as if she could shield her from the years themselves, as if sheer strength could stop time from stealing this moment.

“Powder, I don’t love you cause you are a child and I don’t fuss over you for that, I do cause you are you. You are this person that carved its place deep inside my heart, so deep you can’t take it out,” Then after a pause she added, still hugging Powder tight. “so please don’t cry… cause you don’t know how much it hurt me to see you like this”

Above them, the first stars flickered awake in the darkening sky. And on that rooftop, two sisters clung to each other — one terrified of being left behind, the other terrified of not being able to prove she never would.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7 (Powder Pov)

Seven days

Vi was smiling. Not the forced smile she wore when Caitlyn’s mother spat venom, not the tight one she used when she was trying to hide her anger. A real smile. The one Powder always tried to see. She looked at her like she was still that kid who used to trip over her own boots and beg for one more story before bed. The same way she looked every time Powder chased down more ways to please her, to get her to enjoy her company a bit more.

And Powder wanted to stay in that look forever.

But she couldn’t.

Because she wasn’t that kid anymore. And sooner or later, Vi would see it.

“Home sweet home,” Vi muttered, tossing her jacket onto the chair. She stretched, groaning, then glanced back at her sister. “Not bad for a day out, huh?”

Powder nodded, forcing a smile. “Yeah. Not bad.”

Every laugh, every stupid joke, every time Vi nudged her on the rooftop — it all felt like it was slipping through her fingers even as she held it. Like she was watching it turn into memory in real time.

She hated that.

She hated that she couldn’t just be here, with Vi, without thinking about what came next. About the Firelights. About Ekko. About the fight she had already chosen, even if she hadn’t told her yet.

But did she really have a choice? 

I can’t let them keep suffering… They need me

Vi flopped onto the couch, patting the space beside her. “C’mere, Blue.”

Powder sat down, curling into her side. Vi wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close like she always used to. For a second, Powder let herself sink into it, breathing in the familiar smell, the grounding sensation of heat seeping into her.

“You know,” Vi said softly, “I don’t care how old you get. You’ll always be my little sister.”

Powder buried her face against her shoulder so Vi wouldn’t see the tears. She wanted to believe her. She wanted to believe that no matter what she did, no matter how far she drifted, Vi would still look at her the same way.

But deep down, she knew that this was not the case. Their lives were not a fairy tale.

And that terrified her more than anything.

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Later that night, the house was quiet. Too quiet. Vi had fallen asleep in her room, Caitlyn’s steady breathing beside her. Powder lay awake staring at the ceiling, her chest tight.

The day had been perfect — rooftops, laughter, Vi’s arm around her shoulders. For a few hours, she had almost believed she could stay in that world forever. But she knew better.

She didn’t want to fight Caitlyn. She didn’t want to hurt Vi’s feelings. But when the war came — and it would come — they would be on the opposite side.

Caitlyn is an enforcer… Caitlyn will stand against her and this time it won’t be like it was during the fight with Silco, the standoff would be real. 

I won’t fight her… At least I’ll try not to…

Powder rolled onto her side, biting her lip until it hurt.

She didn’t want to fight no one, only the people who hurt Zaun first, but the others won’t let it slide and that meant that more people will enter the fight and in the end innocent blood will be spilled. Who knows if Vi will understand why she is doing this…

Better she doesn’t know yet. Better she keeps seeing me as her Blue, for as long as she can. 

She sat up, pulling on her boots with practiced quiet. The window latch clicked beneath her fingers. She hesitated, glancing once toward the hallway where Vi slept.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Then she slipped out into the night.

The rooftops welcomed her like old friends, the wind cool against her face. She moved fast, her body remembering every leap, every landing. She wasn’t the helpless child Vi still saw. She was Firelight now. She had a cause, a war, people that relied on her.

And yet, as she raced toward the bridge, her chest ached with the memory of Vi’s promises on the rooftop

Powder blinked hard, forcing the tears back, maybe she could hope for a happy ending, maybe Vi will understand.

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The buzzing in the air as she heard a tump behind her

“Ekko,” she said while turning around to face the boy “hurry up to bring us there, we should change our meeting point, don’t want to attract too much attention”

“Powder a strategist?”

“Shut up, Vi found out I sneak out yesterday”

Ekko’s grin faded, replaced by something more serious. “And?”

Powder looked away, her throat tight. “And nothing. She doesn’t know. Not yet.”

Ekko studied her for a long moment, then nodded. “She will, though. You can’t keep this double life forever.”

“I know,” Powder whispered, her voice almost lost to the wind. “But I want to. Just a little longer.”

Then she added

“Also I need to learn more about hextech before we can start making real tools with it”

Ekko didn’t push. He just kicked his board into motion, the hum of its engine filling the silence. 

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The Firelight workshop was alive with noise — the hiss of solder, the clatter of gears, the faint hum of half‑finished machines. Powder sat cross‑legged on the floor, tools scattered around her like a nest, while Ekko leaned over a workbench, mixing chemicals together for his freezing bombs.

“You were really running on sticks,” Powder muttered, tightening a bolt on a firing mechanism.

“Not everyone spent their free time learning how to make weapons,” Ekko shot back.

She smirked. “Shut up before I start testing them on you.”

He snorted and flopped into the chair beside her, brushing dust from his hands. “These months have been a blur. How’s school?”

Powder groaned. “Ekko, please. Another hour of those professors droning on about theory and I’ll smash my head against the wall. In Piltover they really have nothing better to do then getting philosophical around things that should be kept practical"

“And the lab?”

Her expression shifted, a spark of pride lighting her eyes. “That’s better. I know almost everything we need about hextech now. We should really start replicating it.”

“You sure you’re ready?”

She shot him a look. “You’re talking to the girl who made half of Silco’s toys work.”

Ekko chuckled. “Yeah, that’s true…”

Then, as if remembering something, he reached into his satchel and pulled out a small locked container. He set it on the table, clicked it open, and revealed a faintly glowing gemstone, the unstable kind.

Powder’s breath caught. “Where did you get that?”

“Back when we were still running errands for Silco. Came out of a heist. I kept it.”

A slow grin spread across her face. “You know what we could use that for? A purifier.”

Ekko frowned. “How? Isn’t it just condensed energy?”

“Yeah, but hextech isn’t just energy. It reacts to runes — like a programmable machine. If we build the right housing, we can make it strip toxins out of water… you know I was the one that found out what rune did that”

She grabbed a scrap of metal and began sketching symbols into it, her hands moving fast, her voice quickening with excitement. “If we put the gem inside this cage and run water over it, the impurities get… deleted. Gone. Clean water in return.”

Ekko leaned closer, watching her work, awe flickering in his eyes. “And why didn’t we make these before?”

Powder raised one finger. “One: you never told me you had a gem.” Another finger. “Two: I can’t exactly sneak hextech out of Piltover without raising suspicion. And three: we’d need a lot of them to purify all of the water in Zaun. This one gem could maybe power a fountain. A single block, if we’re lucky.”

Ekko’s grin faded. His gaze hardened as he looked at the faint glow of the crystal. “But they could do it. Piltover. With all their gems, like I remember you telling me that your lab produces so much hextech to be able to sell it to other nations.”

Powder’s smile vanished. She set the cage down, her voice flat. “Yes. They could. But they won’t. Not unless it’s their problem.”

The purifier hummed faintly on the table, a trickle of clean water dripping into a tin cup. For a moment, both of them just stared at it — a miracle in miniature, proof of what could be.

And proof of why they were fighting for.

For what felt like minutes they remained in silent, just admiring, but then Powder stood up and dusted her shirt of saying “I need to go back to Pitlover, don’t want Vi to start getting worried for me”

“Might want to stay for a little more today, we are having a meeting discussing the start”

“Oh… right…”

Ekko leaned back against the workbench, arms crossed, watching her. “Really wonder how she isn’t asking why you leave every night.”

Powder’s gaze darted away, her jaw tightening. “She thinks I’m just… spending some time out in the fresh air. Clearing my head from all the stress that comes with this full life.”

Ekko tilted his head, studying her. “Why don’t you tell her the truth? She could understand.”

Powder let out a bitter laugh, shaking her head. “No, she won’t. Because if the war starts, I’m turning my back to the people who took me in. Caitlyn. Jayce. All the ones in Piltover who believed in me. And I’m not against them, not really. They’re just… on the wrong side.”

Her voice cracked, softer now. “We are not fighting them… we are not fighting Piltover… just its corruption… just the part of it that is rotted…”

Ekko’s eyes softened, but his tone stayed steady. “She won’t leave you, she cares for you as much as you care for her… about the others… if they step in between they will get hurt, this is war, once it starts lines get drawn.”

Powder's throat tightened. She turned back to the purifier humming faintly on the table, the trickle of clean water gleaming in the tin cup, she wanted to believe him, but she couldn’t. “Every choice I make ends up screwing up my life and the ones of the people around me… but we need to make sacrifices… else who will?”

Ekko didn’t answer right away. Finally, he sighed and pushed off the bench. “Come on. The others are waiting. We’ve got to talk about the start.”

Powder lingered a moment longer, staring at the purifier. The water was so clear, so simple. Proof of what could be built. Proof of what could be saved.

And yet, all she could feel was the weight of what she was about to lose.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The chamber was alive with restless energy. Firelights crowded around the makeshift table, maps and blueprints scattered across it, the purifier crystal humming faintly in the corner. Ekko stood at the center, laying out routes and fallback points, his voice steady but urgent.

“We’ve waited long enough,” he said. “Piltover’s grip is tightening. Progress Day is their show of strength. If we want to make a statement, it has to be then. No more whispers. No more shadows.”

Murmurs rippled through the group. Some nodded, others shifted uneasily.

“We should wait. Gather more supplies.”

“No — if we wait, Piltover tightens the leash.”

“Progress Day is suicide.”

“It’s the only chance we’ll have!”

Maps and blueprints rattled under fists slamming against the table. 

Ekko tried to cut through the noise. “Listen—”

But no one listened.

Powder sat in the shadows, hood low, silent. She let them argue, let the storm build. Her hands rested on her knees, steady, patient. She didn’t need to shout to be heard. Not yet.

The voices grew sharper, more desperate.

“They’ll crush us if we move too soon!” 

“Zaun’s already crushed. Better to die fighting than choking on their scraps.” 

“We’re not ready!” 

“We’ll never be ready if we keep it up like this!”

And then, finally, Jinx moved.

She stood slowly, the scrape of her chair against stone cutting through the din like a blade. She didn’t speak. She didn’t have to. One by one, the voices faltered, then died, until the only sound was the faint hum of the purifier.

Every eye turned to her.

She pulled her hood back, it was mesmerizing how people could have such admiration and fear for her, certainly being the one who took down a tyrant comes with its perks. Especially if that same person is the key to harness Piltover’s golden child.

She didn’t really like it… she preferred how Vi saw her, but she needed to come to terms with reality, she was no more the defenseless little girl who deserved to be shielded from the world.

When she spoke, her voice was low, almost calm

“You’re all so loud,” she said. “Arguing about waiting, about striking, about whether we’re ready. But every second we spend waiting there is a soul in Zaun that stopped breathing”

The silence deepened.

Her eyes narrowed, her voice hardening. “I might be younger than some of you, I might not have all those years on my back, but don’t think for a second I don’t know what war costs. Don’t think I don’t know what it takes. My parents died during the first uprising.”

She leaned forward, planting her hands on the table. “Progress Day isn’t suicide. It’s the moment. The city will be watching, cheering, blind in their pride. And I’ll be on their stage. Their prodigy. Acting like they are the one to thank for my skills. But we’ll show them, show them all what we really are.”

Her voice dropped, dark and certain. “We don’t need blood. Not unless they force it. We don’t need to burn the city down. We just need to show them Zaun won’t kneel anymore. And when they try to abuse us, when they try to grind us under again — then, and only then, we strike back.”

She waited enough to make sure her words sinked in and then continued

“We were stripped down long ago of our right, slowly and steadily they made our life an hell to maintain their expensive paradise, but those days are about to come to an hand”

The words hung in the air like smoke.

No one argued. No one dared.

Ekko’s eyes met hers across the table. He didn’t smile, didn’t flinch. He just nodded once, slow and deliberate.

“Progress Day it is,” he said.

The Firelights erupted — not in chaos this time, but in thunder. Fists slammed against the table, voices rose in unison, the chamber shaking with their conviction.

And in the center of it all stood Jinx.

Not the girl Vi still saw.

Not the prodigy Piltover applauded.

The Firelight who would stand on Piltover’s stage and announce Zaun’s defiance to the world.

“This is the start of a new dawn”

A week.

Just a week until Progress Day.

A week to forge enough hextech to power their surprises for the D‑Day.

And for Powder, a week to wear the mask of a perfect life — to smile at Vi, to sit at Caitlyn’s table and laugh at her jokes — all while knowing that every touch, every moment was borrowed time.

Seven days to pretend she could still be their little sister.

Seven days before the truth tore it all apart.

Seven days before she will lose everything.