Her Gun to His Head || Jinx x Garou

'Well, you certainly ain't pretty…' Jinx mused over her completed work, staring down the teeth of the thing.

Silco had impressed upon her his desire for something that could make a splash, and boy was this it, she thought. It certainly looked the part.

She didn't typically care much to do the actual math, but given the output of the gemstone —what'd they call it? Hex-tech? Ugh, lame— she'd calculated the yield on the explosion to be ten times anything she could achieve packing her more conventional explosives into a warhead.

Painting Fishbones had naturally been her penultimate task, and she didn't skimp out — not that she ever did…

It was enough to get her mind off things, at least — decorating a giant, metal, missile-launching shark bazooka and its big, scary, red projectile to boot.

That's to say, it did for the most part… she hadn't managed to completely scrub the vague, week-old smell of smoke from her clothes…

She'd found herself feeling a little lonelier than usual, too — everybody including her father seemed to be busy preparing, cranking business dealings into overdrive, as though something big were about to happen…

She knew something was, but she'd promised Silco not to go blabbing about it to everybody. Though, she couldn't say she was as excited about it as everyone else… part of her already missed the days when he only ran a small-time operation, with her as his little secret weapon, building bombs and learning how to fight properly… before the Shimmer enterprise had become what it was now…

She could only imagine with trepidation what things might be like with her father ascending from de facto mob leader to a real, big-time political ruler of a nation.

Zaun…

It was his dream, really…

As much as he'd proselytized to her about it, it had only ever been words to her. She'd certainly never fancied herself as an idealist. All she wanted was…

Well…

In truth, she mostly only fixated on the things she didn't want…

She didn't want to be left again…

While she enjoyed paying back tenfold every enemy who might ever try to do her harm, the only satisfaction she really gained from it all was the feeling that she might finally be strong enough not to be seen as weak…

It seemed silly, sometimes… she wasn't weak, not anymore — she saw how people feared her…

She'd just figured that one of these days it'd all have been enough to silence those echoes of her past that still tormented her…

No— that was what she needed Silco for the most, it seemed…

Sometimes she'd try to imagine how she might go on if she found herself without him, but most of the time the thought only terrified her, and made her feel ill.

He was the person she did it all for...

But…

Maybe it didn't have to be him…

As strange as it made her feel, she'd been missing her new friend.

The only time she'd really bothered to leave her cave over the week past had been to visit some of the places they'd previously interacted — she had no idea where it was that he even lived, as he'd never been willing to mention it, and that was assuming he did ever even sleep in the same place twice…

Either way, hoping that they might cross paths again seemed her only chance of finding him.

Part of her suspected that maybe he just didn't want to see her — he did know how to find her, after all…

The day had turned to dusk, it seemed, as she stepped outside with Fishbones strapped to her back.

'Well, this puppy does need a test-fire…' she thought, pondering different locations that might deserve to have a hole put in them.

She wore a hood, as she didn't care to have anybody approach her.

'Hmm…'

She decided on a brief detour, though she wasn't entirely sure what compelled it — she couldn't recall ever really visiting this place under normal circumstances…

It was only slightly out of the way, but few people seemed to know how to get to the place, which she supposed was probably by design. She kicked a small ladder down, descending half a floor, and continued down a narrow alley until she reached a half-width doorway.

Inside, it was dark, and it smelled damp.

Whatever he had going on was always enough to creep even her out…

"Uh, hi…" she offered.

Singed peered up at her from a bloody surgical table, his glass eye glinting green under the light of the lamp.

"…What brings you here, child…?" he asked.

"Uh, y'know, everybody else is all so busy these days," she began, "you've usually got some cool, uh… toys, or whatever, down here…"

He hummed in response. "I'm afraid to say that I am no less busy — I've had to move several of my projects ahead of their previous schedules, for various reasons…"

"Yeah…?" she replied. She couldn't help feeling gauche around the strange man. "Uh, anything cool…?"

He hesitated before continuing.

"I fear they may be essential…" he said, somewhat ominously.

She glanced over at a large, amphibious looking creature suspended in a cylindrical tank full of fluid, glowing green under the tube lights.

"What— we running outta fish or something?" she joked.

He removed the nitrile gloves he'd been wearing, and began to clean his hands at a large, metal basin next to where she was standing.

"It… is my belief that we will not win this coming war, child," he explained, "I have voiced this opinion to Silco several times, but he will not hear it…"

"Oh…" she responded.

He glanced over at her, and the weapon on her back.

"I understand you've managed to get your hands on a piece of the invention which powers their instantaneous displacement gates — this so-called 'Hextech' technology…?"

"Oh, yeah," she chuckled, "you'll probably mistake it for an earthquake when I test-fire this puppy later…"

"Hm, most impressive… however, it will not be enough," he said frankly. "They possess the ability to produce such weapons at an industrial scale, where we do not… I imagine that in such a time, even you will have to once again learn to fear a troop of enforcers…"

Jinx wasn't entirely sure what to say. They did at the very least still have Shimmer, she thought, subconsciously brushing her hand against the pouch on her belt which held her still-unused supply.

She supposed that the sight of an enforcer did used to be enough to scare her, back when she was…

"—My work is a contingency, of course," Singed continued, "though I am of the belief that it will save us, it is entirely possible that it will never need to share our air…"

"…Our air?" Jinx repeated.

"I'm afraid I must continue... uninterrupted, my dear," he said suddenly, attempting to usher her out.

"Oh… sure…" she replied, slowly making a move.

As she passed his surgical table, she got the notion that the blood spattered upon it was unlikely to have been from a human — damp tufts of fur were strewn about its surface…

"If we should meet again, child…" he said, before closing the door behind her.

She stood awkwardly in the alley, unsure what to make of their conversation.

'Strange fella…' she mused.

~~~~~

~~~~~

~~~~~

'This world ain't right…'

It was all he could seem to see — people looking to get one up on each other. Didn't make a difference which side of the bridge he was on…

Seemed like he was about to brush with another group of scum, harassing somebody against the wall of the alley for something that wasn't theirs to take.

The guy wasn't willing to give it up, whatever it was.

'He's an old man, for fuck's sake…'

Garou reached for the lid of a nearby dumpster, loudly slamming it closed to gain their attention.

"You're blockin' the way," he growled, "so piss off."

The largest of them pulled a blade from his jacket, approaching him furiously.

"The hell'd you just say to me, kid?!" he snapped.

Garou didn't even feel the need to take a stance against him. He waited until he was in reach…

The guy suddenly pulled back in fright as Garou snatched the blade from him in an instant, turning it toward him in the same motion.

He held the point half an inch away from the guy's eye.

"PISS. OFF..." he repeated, with a menacing calm.

The men scattered, leaving the old man to collect himself.

Garou continued on. The geezer didn't thank him, and Garou didn't really care.

'You'll spend all your time fightin' amongst yourselves, instead of…'

He approached the site of the bridge blockade — rowdy as ever, with the sun starting to go down.

He drew closer.

Seemed like some people were being let through — patted down, orders barked in their ear, paperwork…

He drifted into the angry crowd.

'You clowns got the same damn color blood in your veins… you think that paper and badges and uniforms really separate ya…'

Somebody was denied — violently shoved back into the crowd.

'Maybe if you all just had somethin' real to fear, instead of fightin' with each other…'

He felt something brush up against his leg — some small creature, wearing a helmet.

It suddenly grabbed him, with its little arms.

"Hey— beat it…" he said to it.

The hazel eyed child looked up at him with a curious expression.

He reached down and yanked one of her arms away from him.

"I ain't your dad — get lost…" he reiterated.

A hand was suddenly placed on his shoulder — a brown glove.

"Hey— no children," the enforcer declared.

Apparently he'd made it to the barrier.

"It ain't mine…" Garou growled, giving his leg a shake, but with no result.

The enforcer didn't reply, instead looking him up and down with a disturbed expression.

Garou noticed that the enforcer had his other arm in a sling against his body.

The kid seemed to finally get the notion that something was up, pulling away from him slightly.

A pistol was pulled in front of his face.

"S-Sir, I'm gonna need you to step over to this side of the barricade," the enforcer said shakily, urging his comrades over.

'Had to be a damn kid…' he grumbled to himself.

Garou wasted no time, swiping the gun away from his face and delivering a head-butt to the enforcer's chest. He felt his sternum shatter as he was sent skidding across the pavement.

The crowd behind him reacted enthusiastically to the act of defiance, boldly pressing forward as Garou defended himself against another enforcer with the kid still attached to his leg.

A molotov cocktail spiraled overhead, setting the contingency barrier ablaze, and beginning a full-blown riot.

Garou ducked his head to the side as a bullet wizzed by him, but the enforcer who'd let it fly was quickly swallowed by the mayhem.

Garou finally bent down and wrenched the kid off of him properly.

"You wanna cross— there's your chance, alright?" he scolded.

He stood back up and began in the other direction — he didn't need all of this damned ruckus…

He slipped his hands into his pockets as he walked.

'Ain't any different than before… I'm wastin' time…'

His ears picked up the pitter-patter of small footsteps behind him.

'Great…'

He stopped, turned and glared at the girl.

"…Got somethin' to say…?"

She opened her mouth slightly, flashing the gap in her front teeth, but no sound emerged.

'And a mute, too…'

He sighed.

"You're not gonna be able to follow me where I'm goin', kid…" he grumbled.

The brat made a little finger-gun gesture, imitating when the enforcers had fired upon him moments ago.

Garou rolled his eyes.

"Wouldn't put it past 'em to shoot you too, kid," he said. "Gotta take care of yourself…"

He turned to leave, but the pitter-patter sound trailed along behind him.

'Maybe it just needs some damn food, or something…'

It wasn't as though he had any coin, but he was sure he could scrounge up something. If nothing else, then…

Maybe Blue would be less mad to see him if this little thing came along too…

~~~~~

~~~~~

~~~~~

'Well, holy hell…' Jinx exclaimed inwardly as she stared at the pile of rubble she'd created, where a small building had once stood.

The explosion had created a kind of fantastic, blue light show through the smog — though, igniting the stuff certainly didn't make it smell any better…

The sparse few crows that had flocked from the site when the excitement took place began to glide back over, squawking at her unappreciatively.

'Yeah, yeah… at least you weren't inside…' she imagined telling them, sticking her tongue out instead.

She'd checked the place for Shimmer-heads well enough, before she'd blown the place to hell.

Hard to imagine people living down here…

She reached for the strap looped to her waist. The weapon attached to it wasn't her normal pistol, but something else she'd been working on.

She bent over and plucked the gemstone from its little hatch inside of Fishbones.

'You're not the only one getting a test-fire, you ugly old fish,' she thought in its direction.

The new pistol took the gemstone right in its barrel, and a copper channeling guide-point fastened over the top of it with a click.

'This one ought'a make a lot less mess…'

She practiced her quick-draw, scaring off a couple of crows in the process, before finally deciding on a target — some kind of old, hanging sign, its contents long past being legible.

She took a breath before squeezing the trigger.

She felt her brain vibrate, as what she could only describe as an arrow fashioned from a bolt of lightning exited the barrel. The metal sign swung back and forth erratically from the impact, and had been zapped to the point of audibly sizzling.

She grinned, the weapon exceeding her expectations.

'Might even replace ol' reliable…' she thought.

She heard the crunch of dirt behind her, causing her to spin around.

A cloaked, hunched figure halted before her, their head twitching slightly.

"Y-you g-got the b-batch f-for us…?" they managed, their voice hoarse and pained.

She always felt a little on-edge around Shimmer-heads.

"Don't come closer," she urged, "I ain't got anything for ya, pal…"

Their head twitches became more extreme.

"S-s-smell it…" they muttered.

'Oh…' she thought.

She half-considered leaving it for them, just so that they'd move along, but she wondered what the point would be — they'd be in the same damn spot again in a few hours after the high wore off…

"Listen, pal," she replied, "part of me's itching to see what this thing does to a person, and trust me when I say you wouldn't wanna be around for that…"

The Shimmer-head responded by visibly shuddering, before turning to hobble away from her.

She stood and stared after them for a moment.

It was strange to think that there was a certain point at which such a thing could change you forever… a point where you could no longer come back, and you'd never be the same again…

She guessed she couldn't really see what all the fuss about the stuff was in the first place, much less imagine it becoming the fixation of one's entire life…

She holstered Zapper, and began to get ready to leave.

Her ears pricked up again.

The cloaked figure had returned, this time with their fists full of coin, loudly crunching against each other.

"I said no," she called out.

They were undeterred, hurriedly approaching her with their head bowed.

She drew her weapon again, taking a slight step back.

"You hearing me, creep?" she said, "I don't want your coin… your…"

'Blood…'

Many of the small, golden medallions were stained crimson red, which didn't leave her optimistic that—

She suddenly felt a sharp pain in the side of her leg as she was backing up, causing her to cry out.

She spun around to see another cloaked figure, making a crude swing at her with a small knife.

Hands from behind her clawed and grabbed at the pouch on her waist, while she attempted to clear enough space for herself to fire a shot.

"Get the hell off!" she yelled.

The knife-wielder nicked her again, but this time on the forearm. She pushed through, smashing the butt of the handle into their face, and using the window to get a shot off.

The knife was dropped as they convulsed and writhed on the ground.

Jinx spun around, hoping to hit the initial attacker with the same move, but they instead dropped to the ground, dragging themself away through dirt to be out of striking range.

She shot a bolt at them anyway.

'What the hell…' she thought, catching her breath.

Though…

A golden glint caught her eye — her Shimmer injector lay on the ground next to the one she'd just shot, purple ooze dripping from the tip of the needle. They suddenly weren't as incapacitated as their accomplice…

The delayed effect of the stimulant caused them to contract their entire body initially, before leaping at her with a burst of speed that caught her before she could even think to raise her weapon again.

'Crap…'

She fought and clawed against them, but they were strong. She knew that to fire a bolt at them would also mean that she'd be shocking herself, but it was quickly becoming her only recourse — the knife dropped from before was out of reach.

Their body suddenly went limp.

She kicked and heaved them off of her, while they gargled up purple fluid, completely catatonic all of a sudden.

'Weird…'

She supposed it was something to do with the micro-dosage — their body seemed to take it hard and fast…

She needed to get back, to tend to her wounds if nothing else.

The injector lay on the ground before her, and she considered leaving it.

'I guess I could clean it…' she decided.

The slice out of her thigh stung her with every movement, but she slung Fishbones back over her shoulder through gritted teeth, and began back up the way she came.

She couldn't help but check over her shoulder any time she heard a noise in the darkness…

As she returned, she found the door to her workshop to be less than sealed shut the way she'd left it.

She silently groaned. She couldn't particularly imagine why Silco would bother snooping around in—

'Oh…!'

She stood in startlement for a few moments, before the pain from her leg reminded her of its presence. She heaved Fishbones onto the floor beside her, and found a place to sit down.

The expression on Garou's face read as… bashfulness…? Something seemed up, at least…

"You really like to just waltz in here whenever you please, huh?" she opened.

He grunted awkwardly.

"Figured I'd find you here, y'know…" he said.

Jinx winced as she reached for some gauze for her leg.

"Hurt yourself, or somethin'?" he asked.

"It's nothing," she answered, dousing the gash in alcohol and rocking back and forth to deal with its sting.

Garou wandered over to look at her.

She stared back up at him. She wasn't sure why, but she felt a little self-conscious around him, all of a sudden.

"Probably ain't gonna heal right, if you don't sew it up…" he offered.

"Damn…" she replied, "or— I mean, I know…"

"I could, uh…" he began, "I've had a few like it before, I could, y'know, show you…"

He was being weird…

"But, uh, listen," he said, "before you go screamin' in pain and everythin'… I didn't wanna spring it on you at a bad time…"

He was looking past her, prompting her to turn in her chair.

'Well, that's a new one…' she thought, her eyes coming upon an unexpected sight.

"It seemed like it needed somethin', y'know, to eat," he continued. "Hope you weren't savin' that candy for some occasion…"

The kid was real tiny, sitting over by Jinx's bed helping herself to her toffees. Seemed shy, too — didn't say 'hi' to her or anything, just sort of stared, reading her, but keeping her answers to herself.

Jinx shot Garou a highly quizzical expression.

"What…?" he quietly scowled. "I didn't ask the brat to follow me…"

Jinx didn't believe him.

She'd always suspected the guy had a soft side…