Her Gun to His Head || Jinx x Garou

'No— mother, please…'

She writhed around with disconcertment, clawing at her binding.

'You'll be in danger… Jayce too— you mustn't…'

Her mouth was dry. She hadn't tasted water in…

'I can pull myself out of this… don't give them what they want—'

Caitlyn's eyes fluttered open. She hadn't even been asleep, only in some type of waking dream haze.

Voices. From the room ahead of her.

"—That's not what I heard. I've heard that some burly chick from Noxus has stopped by to whisper war strategy with the Piltovan Council—"

It was a squeakier, male voice — not one she recognized…

She let her head roll down in front of her, giving her tired neck a rest. She barely had the wherewithal to analyze what was happening in the next room, not in her current state…

She lamented how things had managed to go from bad to worse for her.

From all she'd managed to learn from her previous captors, this was not somewhere she wanted to be.

She'd found herself in the lion's den…

"—a path that doesn't get us all blown to hell, Silco…?"

Her ears pricked up, as she attempted to focus. If Silco was actually there…

"You forget our leverage, Finn," said a sleek, but authoritative voice. "We also have deterrence — Jinx has successfully weaponized the Hextech gemstone, and Topside will be made aware of this in no uncertain terms—"

"The words of somebody who has no intention to simply deter — you want this war!" another voice cut in. "We all know it's been your goal from the beginning, Silco — there's no use denying it!"

"As always, Renni, you lack the vision to glimpse the entire picture," Silco shot back. "There is no overstating the current strength of our hand—"

"Yeah, yeah, the Kiramman chick tied up outside," the squeaky voice spoke up again, "you think you're gonna negotiate for the whole bag just with her?"

Caitlyn attempted to calm the rage she felt at herself — she'd allowed herself to become a pawn in this…

"—even if we were only to settle for the release of a handful of our people from Stillwater—"

She tried to think.

'This 'Jinx' character… presumably Silco's top lieutenant… she's created a weapon using Jayce's gemstone which could incite a war…'

Her stomach turned at the prospect of it all.

'Somebody from Noxus… is it to be believed? That our councilors are being influenced in a similar direction by some warmonger…?'

Part of her couldn't imagine the Jayce she knew authorizing the creation of mass weaponry out of Hextech, and yet…

"—You all understand that there is no opportunity without risk," Silco continued. "The kind of power you've all tasted thus far, from the dirt I dug it out of for you, is nothing compared to what I promise now…"

She had to put a stop to this. She had to find a way…

'Or you'll never see them again…' her tormenting thoughts crept up on her.

She was struggling to stay conscious…

She heard the clank of the door swinging open — a haze of light shone through the burlap covering her face.

She was being moved, again…

~~~~~

~~~~~

~~~~~

"—and then you just go over it straight, like that," Jinx explained, demonstrating a touch-up of her colored fingernails. "I always go pink and blue, but I got some other shades if ya don't wanna match—"

The girl seemed to prefer the idea of the two of them wearing the same color, her small hands reaching for the brush Jinx was holding.

"Mm," she smiled a little at the girl's choice.

She looked over at Garou for a moment, who was cleaning a needle off in the bathtub.

It had certainly hurt, she remembered, glancing down at her freshly sewn up wound. At least, it probably hurt less than it would've had she tried to do it herself…

"Wow, look at ya go," she commented at the child's work. "Now, all ya gotta worry 'bout is people finding you kooky, but we don't gotta care what any of them think," she went on.

The kid gave her a look in response — determined? Glad? …Hungry? It was hard to tell.

'Kids this age usually talk, right?' she thought quizzically.

Garou wandered over toward them both, holding a roll of bandages.

"So you really ain't gonna tell me what this one was doing with you, huh?" she pestered.

"Already told you," he grumbled, "thing just started followin' me…"

She pursed her lips.

"Well, you must'a been up ta something interesting this past week… took you this long to come see me…" she said, abandoning any subtlety.

He ignored her, instead unspooling and tearing off a length of dressing with his teeth.

He knelt down with it in his hand, before seemingly thinking better of it.

"Probably defeats the point if you go over the clothes with it…" he said awkwardly. "I'll leave it here…"

He stood back up and began to walk away.

She finally spoke up once he'd made it halfway to the exit, rising to her feet herself. "You're not leaving again are you…?"

He returned a look of mild confusion.

She rolled her eyes a little. "You could just turn around, numbskull… it'll only take, like, a minute…"

He still looked mildly uncomfortable, but did as he was told, moving toward a seat nearby and facing the other way.

She was finding the way he acted more amusing than usual.

The girl seemed to have been intently observing their interaction from the floor, having finished with her nail art.

"Just need a sec to patch myself up, kid," Jinx said to her, handing her a set of fluorescent paint markers. "Go 'head, let's see if you're a better doodler than me."

The girl took to her task, looking around elsewhere for inspiration.

She felt a sting as she pulled her partially torn clothing away from her skin. The wound looked to have sealed, and there was no fresh blood, so she got to work wrapping it up.

"You've gotta see Fishbones in action, by the way," she called out to him while she worked.

She waddled over to the table beside her for the bandage fastener Garou had left, before delicately pulling her pants back over it.

She turned back toward him, seeing him checking out the weapon where she'd left it, near the entrance.

"I'm all done, by the way," she added, hopping over to him.

He looked at her. "You're all 'bout things that go boom, ain'tcha…?"

She giggled enthusiastically. "It was sooo loud…!"

He smiled a little, but didn't share any further thoughts.

She suddenly felt unsure what to say to him — part of her wanted to interrogate out of him why he'd bothered coming back again, while at the same time tell him that she wished he'd done so sooner…

The silence between them in that moment was doing little to assuage her.

"Thought about leavin' you be, by the way…" he eventually began, shooting a glance her way. "Ain't so bad down here, though…"

An odd feeling tickled her chest, hearing for the first time from him that he might actually enjoy spending time with her.

"Here I thought you were just here to dump a kid on me and go," she joked.

He turned to look at her, and then at the girl.

"If you give it a name… don't make it stupid," he said after a moment.

She furrowed her brow playfully.

"Jeez, excuse you," she returned. She began to walk over to check on her. "Maybe she'll tell us her name!" she called over her shoulder.

Surprisingly, Garou hopped up to join them.

Jinx smirked when she noticed what the girl had decided to draw.

"She might have a little crush on ya or something…" Jinx remarked with a smirk.

He shook his head derisively.

"…That really what my hair looks like from the back, eh…?" he commented.

The girl looked up at them both, proud of herself.

"Yeah— not bad, kiddo," Jinx said, offering a high-five the girl didn't seem to know what to do with.

The air suddenly felt like it had changed. Had the entry door swung open or something…?

She got her answer without having to move.

Silco's eyes were as piercing as a snake's — both of them…

He traipsed toward the three of them with slow, measured steps, giving her mind time to spin in circles for some sort of explanation that he might not hate.

He always seemed to feel a tad more intimidating when he wore his big, red-collared coat…

He stopped only briefly to notice Fishbones sitting on its side on the floor, as he walked by it.

They were silent by the time he reached them. He acknowledged Garou first, in some brief, determined stare-down between the two of them, before his gaze finally settled on the kid.

'Well, he doesn't seem so mad—'

"…I thought we might talk, Jinx…" he declared, shooting her a look.

She nodded wordlessly, unsure what tone would have been wise to take.

Silco glanced purposefully over at Garou again, before slowly turning to leave, her trailing behind.

"Um… be back soon…" she murmured at Garou.

She followed him back to The Last Drop in silence, trudging along behind him in suspense of what he might say to her when they finally did speak.

They reached the stairs to his office, passing by Sevika, who didn't seem to notice her for once.

Silco surprised her by not reaching to light up his cigar the moment he'd sat down.

He let out a wistful sigh, instead.

She approached with some uncertainty, but his body language seemed to invite her over, oddly enough — she climbed up to his desk as she always did, assuming her usual spot atop it.

"It took a spirited discussion, but the Chem-Barons eventually assented," he began, as though it were business as usual. "We have their seals, each and every one of them…"

"Oh… that's good…" Jinx replied.

"Mm," he continued. "How did your test-fire go…?"

"Uh, good, it's big, it's definitely— yeah…"

He nodded, before turning toward the window for a moment.

"Where is the gemstone right now…?" he asked.

"On me," she assured, giving a pat to the gun on her belt she'd taken to calling Zapper.

He slowly swung back around to face her.

"You know," he said, "I truly never thought I would find myself feeling reluctant to place all of my cards on the table… to play my entire hand…"

She wasn't sure where this was coming from.

"…What do you mean?" she wondered.

He met her eyes for a moment.

"…You did never mention to me that your pointy-haired friend returned to assist us with dispatching the Firelights…"

"Oh, uh, yeah..." she bumbled. "Seems like he has trouble staying away from a fight…"

"Mm," he responded, before pausing for a moment.

"I hope you don't plan to spring on me that you've both adopted that child together…?" he eventually said.

Her face began to go red, while she angled herself away from him.

"You're being silly, c'mon…" she mumbled.

He managed a small chuckle.

"He…" she began, "I don't know, I like it when he's around, I guess… he's kinda funny when he wants to be…"

Silco moved himself a little closer to where she was sitting.

"I… suppose I've always taken your commitment for granted, all of these years, Jinx," he said. "Perhaps I'm best off simply asking you, whether you feel that you're prepared for this… what we're about to do…?"

She chewed on her lip, while she tried her best to understand what he was really asking of her.

"I need you behind me on this, Jinx…" he added. "We can rid the world of every circumstance which ever caused you harm, which caused those we once trusted to betray us… we can have it all burn…"

She crawled over and into his arms, misty-eyed.

She wasn't even upset… he just had a way of dragging up old feelings, sometimes.

She could tell how important this was to him…

"So…" she sniffed, "what do we do…?"

He lifted her away from him, and back to a seated position.

"That letter of mine you read, little over a week ago," he began, "the Piltovan Council will receive it on the morrow…"

She listened as intently as she could.

"Our two bargaining chips, as it were — the councillor's daughter, and your weapon…" he went on, "I plan to leverage them both, however the power of your weapon must be demonstrated to—"

They were both distracted by a commotion outside.

All manner of noises could be heard — yelling, clanging, a strange hissing… Jinx saw flashes of blue light up Silco's window…

Sevika burst through the door, a piece of cloth over her mouth.

"Boss," she coughed, "it's bad — enforcers, a whole troop of 'em… gas…"

Silco appeared bewildered, rising from his desk to follow her.

He turned to Jinx quickly. "Do not reveal yourself…" he urged.

She tugged gently on his arm in protest. "Wait— we can leave the other way…!" she loudly whispered.

"It's only a show of force to have me meet with them," he assured her. "Fear not, child…"

She attempted to think straight, as he began downstairs with Sevika. She only had Zapper on her, as well as a single Chomper grenade.

'Need a way to deal with the gas…' she thought as she hastily crept toward the window down the hall she occasionally used as an alternate entrance.

She could faintly hear their conversation, as she scanned for a way she might reach the roof of the place.

"—a surprise to see you back here at all, Marcus…" spoke Silco, with his usual bravado.

"We're here for the Kiramman girl — you won't keep her from us," Marcus replied, not mincing words. "Your people don't hold up as well against this stuff as you do."

She had a vantage point, now. The green gas surrounded The Last Drop, and so did the masked enforcers, puffing loudly through their respirators.

The two armored chemtank soldiers which guarded the door had fallen, motionless…

She looked at the enforcers again. Their weapons… every damned second one of them had one… a blue, glowing gem embedded near the firing pin of the rifles they carried.

It was Singed's words which were echoing in the back of her mind… maybe this was more than she could handle…

"—is hardly a place I'd expect a councillor's daughter to frequent," Silco taunted. "I do wonder who might have given you this false tip…"

"I'd be taking a little closer look at your allies, Silco…" Marcus returned. "Listen, I know this girl has a penchant for sticking her nose where it doesn't belong — we can do this without an arrest…"

"Let's not pretend as though you'd be arresting me for such a thing…" Silco shot back.

She watched every single enforcer aim their weapons in unison, seemingly in response to some gesture by Marcus.

"You're making a mistake," he held. "You must understand — they won't forgive this…"

"I think they'll forgive you just fine," Silco countered, "even if you return empty handed."

"We won't be leaving here without the girl," he declared.

Two enforcers began to approach where Silco would've been standing.

'You won't be leaving here at all…' Jinx decided, seeing red.

Her Chomper flew, chattering through the air at the left-most side of their formation, while Jinx strafed toward the opposite end of the roof, Zapper in hand.

She knew the gas wasn't very flammable, else it'd have been too easy, she figured…

The explosion distracted the enforcers into facing the other direction, allowing her to get three quick shots in before she was spotted. The electrification of Zapper's projectiles was amplified upon impacting her targets' foolhardy brass armor, sending them careening over.

She managed to glimpse Sevika getting in on the action before having to take cover. She felt some relief.

'Keep him safe, you'll at least have done something right…' she thought in her direction.

She scrunched up her nose as she noticed that the copper tip of her weapon had become red-hot, so much so that it steamed.

'Of course I brought a damn prototype…' she cursed herself.

She looked on with further dread as a set of canisters were lobbed over her head and onto the roof behind her, spewing out more green gas.

It was already agitating her eyes, before she could even think to cover her nose and mouth.

She searched around frantically for a way down that wouldn't get her shot…

There — a ladder she could kick down, if she could reach it. Her vision was already becoming blurred, her eye makeup streaming down her face…

A blue charged shot wizzed past her face — they'd already managed to encircle her. She fired off her overheating weapon instinctually, in the direction she'd been shot at, hoping it'd hold on for just a little longer…

She slipped.

Crap…

Her tumble off the roof was broken by bumping herself against the eaves of a lower level, slowing her momentum enough to temporarily find a hold.

They didn't let up shooting — she had to immediately drop herself the rest of the way to avoid their fire. She zapped an enforcer in the face on the way down, though she suspected she'd pushed her weapon to its breaking point.

She held the thing up, and missed her next target, badly — the copper guide-point end had all but melted from the heat.

Double-crap…

There was no cover. She held her hand up, imagining it might do something, and closed her eyes painfully.

No shots came.

The hits the enforcers took sounded painful — she wished she could make any of it out through her hazed-over eyes.

She reached out in front of her, as his silhouette drew closer…

"Here— don't breathe the shit," Garou urged her, handing her a large swathe of dark cloth.

"Silco—!" she pleaded, as he turned around to continue fighting. "Make sure he's safe..."

He grunted in the affirmative, and rushed forward, further into the green haze.

She held the cloth he'd given her up to her face — it did help, a little.

'Is it… his shirt…?' she wondered of the size of it.

Jinx holstered the defunct Zapper, instead picking up one of their Hextech weapons… It was crude, at best, from all she could feel of it, probably designed more to look elegant rather than to pack a punch…

'At least it fires straight…' she confirmed, testing it on the face of an unconscious enforcer, on the ground beside her.

'Ain't getting up from that one, pal…' she thought, bitterly.

She circled around to the entrance of The Last Drop, observing few enforcers left standing. The ones left were otherwise occupied, anyway…

She smirked to herself, listening to Garou beat the snot out of them.

Jinx burst through the doors, checking the corners for anyone who might've snuck inside. It was only Silco — he sat panting at a table, blood running from his nose.

She lowered the rifle and ran to him. They embraced tightly, her tears turning real.

"Tried to get in on the action, huh…?" she somberly joked.

"Marcus — he socked me before attempting to deal with you," he winced. "Surprised the boy had it in him…"

His eye was clearly bugging him.

"We should get you upstairs—" she offered.

Sevika burst through the door next, heading straight for the sink behind the bar and splashing water aggressively over her face. She did it only with one hand — her mechanical arm looked to be all but disabled.

"So who the fuck ratted?!" she posed to Silco.

He sighed.

"We'll need to clean house, it seems…" he stated indignantly.

The three of them turned to the door in unison, as the final person entered.

Garou trudged in, bare-chested and exhausted, his eyes and face red with strain from gulping lungfuls of the gas outside. Blood oozed from his knuckles. Something was up with his shoulder, though…

"Hey, thanks for covering me back there, kid," Sevika said, wandering out from behind the bar. "Oh— you're hit…"

Jinx rose to her feet.

"Eh…? It's nothing…" Garou grunted.

It wasn't nothing — he had an entire Hextech round embedded in his shoulder blade, continuing to give off blue, electrical discharge as it hung from his charred flesh.

"Get the boy a shirt," Silco chimed in wearily, "and then send him to see Singed…"

Jinx glanced at Silco, before hurrying over to give Garou his shirt back.

"Should probably get that out…" she said to him.

"…Maybe you ca—" he began, before faltering on his feet.

She reached out to hold him, but he was heavy — his body thudded onto the floor.

He was out like a light…