Author's Note

A bit late for when I wanted this update to come out, but meh, it's here now. I'm gonna try for an update on this story or Of Science and Love (or both) at least once a week from here on.

Anyways, here's a light chapter to balance the heaviness from last chapter.

Caitlyn groaned as she crawled out of bed. She really wanted to sleep more but the smell of something delicious was luring her awake.

Besides, she needed to get up. Her sleep schedule had been completely thrown off track. She needed to get back in the habit of waking up early.

...Nah.

She could do that when she got back to her regular life. She was not a morning person, and enjoyed being able to sleep in. So if she was allowed to keep sleeping in without repercussions, she was gonna take it..

Yawning, she dimly remembered that she fell asleep in Jinx's room. She looked around and noticed that Jinx was not around. Groaning some more, she got up to go explore the rest of the house for the bluenette.

Numbly, she stumbled throughout the house, managing to find Jinx in the kitchen making breakfast. Now more awake, albeit only slightly more, she cautiously sat down at one of the dining tables chairs.

"Jinx," she hesitatingly called out. She wasn't sure what state of mind the criminal was in after last night's events. She was hoping that Jinx would not be in an angry state again, or worse, in that heartbreakingly sad state. Thankfully, the criminal simply turned around with usual, slightly disturbing smile on face.

"Oh, morning, sleepyhead! How'd you sleep?" Jinx seemed a little too perky for Caitlyn's taste this early in the day, but she ignored it.

"Fine. How did you sleep?" She replied. She thought about the words exchanged last night and quieted adding, "No nightmares?"

Jinx visibly flinched, and Caitlyn could have sworn she heard the girl's breath hitch. But as soon as she blinked, Jinx was back to normal, as if nothing had happened.

"Pfft, I slept like a baby! It was like I was laying on a bed of clouds." Jinx sounded way too nonchalant to Caitlyn. She noticed that Jinx hadn't actually answered her question either.

"Jinx...you didn't answer my question. Did you have any nightmares?"

Jinx sighed and murmured out a "No," but as soon as she turned around with pan in oven mit covered hand, her mouth was stretched back into a ridiculously wide smile.

"Food's ready!" Jinx called out, starting to set up plates.

Caitlyn was puzzled at why Jinx could go back to smiling and ignoring the morbid topic of having nightmares each and every night.

How can she ignore such a topic. She gets horrific nightmares each night, with the last night the only exception. How can she simply smile and go on without care. Wait...

Caitlyn reached an epiphany. She realized that Jinx was masking her true emotions and thoughts underneath the guise of sheer gleefulness. Caitlyn really wished she had a degree in mental health. She would've reached this conclusion a long time ago, and probably would have been able to fix Jinx by now...

But Jinx is always smiling and laughing. If she only pretends to be so, then does that mean she is always hurting...?

Caitlyn pushed aside the unsettling thought. She didn't need to linger on the fact that Jinx is more broken than she thought. Not now anyways.

No, right now, she needs to move on to the task at hand: figuring out if Jinx was stable right now..

"Are you alright?" She quietly asked, interrupting the bluenette who was getting ready to eat. Like she expected, Jinx nonchalantly blew her off with a empty response.

"Yeah I'm good, never been better. Gonna be even better once I get these pancakes in my stomach." But before Jinx even got the chance to reach for her utensils, two arms lashed out and grabbed her own.

Her surprise further intensified after looking face to face with the stern blue orbs of the Sheriff.

"Huh, wha-"

"Jinx," Caitlyn started, more intensely than before, "please, tell me the truth. I need to know. I want to help you but to do that, I need you to allow me to. So, please, tell me, are you really alright?"

Jinx sighed once again, looking down. But after a moment, she returned her gaze towards Caitlyn, matching the sincerity in her eyes, with her own violet ones.

"I wasn't lying earlier. I meant what I said about never being better. That was the first night in a long time that I didn't fear sleeping because I wasn't alone this time. I didn't have any nightmares. I'm fine right now."

The Sheriff let her go, and didn't ask any more questions, which Jinx was gracious for. It was hard enough to reveal that much information as it was..

They sat in an awkward silence, as they ate. That was, until Caitlyn commented once again, after finishing her food.

"We need to talk, Jinx." The bluenette tensed up, visually showing her displeasure towards the prospect of 'talking', but silently nodded a yes. They cleared away their dishes before moving over to the couches for a more comfortable place to talk.

"Jinx," Caitlyn began, "I need to know what happen after that mission you wrote about last. I need to know about everything that happened in Zaun. I can't do much when I'm left in the dark about things."

Jinx trembled harder, further showing how she felt about this topic.

"I-I don't wanna talk about what happened. It hurts too much to think about..."

Caitlyn frowned. When she looked into the violet eyes, all she saw was pain. She wanted to say something, anything to comfort the girl, but nothing came to mind. Instead, figuring that actions spoke louder than words, she brought Jinx in a fragile embrace.

Jinx was surprised by the sudden action, but returned it nevertheless. After a moment, the Sheriff gently broke the hug, but kept a hold on the girl's shoulders.

"You don't have to tell me about what happened right now. Whenever you're ready to talk about it, I'll be here, ready to listen. And once we get to that point, we will continue in baby steps. Ok?"

"But don't you want to go home? You don't have to stay here in help me. I don't know if i will ever be able to talk about what happened, and I'll let you go in you want." Jinx averted her eyes in what appeared to be shame.

Caitlyn would have none of this talk though, and cupped Jinx's jaw, forcing the bluenette's focus back to her.

"Why would I want to leave now? I told you, I have no intention of leaving, at least not until I have helped you fix yourself."

"But what about your family and friends. They need you more than me. They think you're dead you know. Last I heard, they are planning a funeral in two days."

Caitlyn frowned at the thought. It hadn't crossed her mind much lately to think about how everyone she knew was faring, and it hurt to think that she was killing her family and friends. But now that she knew this information, she wanted to go home and stop her family from grieving more.

Vi must be tearing the city up looking for me and my parents must be devastated...

But she shook her head. She couldn't return. Not yet. If she could fix Jinx, she would save the city from it's number one enemy. If she were to leave now, leaving Jinx alone, Jinx might go back to her destructive way. In fact, if she were to leave, Jinx may go on a rampage.

Jinx trusted her to reveal this much information already, and the broken side of herself. Not only that, but she already has trust issues, and abandonment issues. If Caitlyn were to leave, Jinx might perceive her as another person to have abandoned her when she needed help.

No. She would not let this happen. If it meant she had to put her family and friends through sadness for a bit longer, so be it. She couldn't let the city as a whole suffer from a broken Jinx any longer.

"My family and friends can wait a little longer. You need me now, and we are going to fix this first. Got it?"

Jinx paused and contemplated her words. Caitlyn could tell that Jinx was struggling to trust her. She hoped that the bluenette would allow her the chance, but remained silent as Jinx decided.

"...Ok."

Caitlyn smiled, prompting a weak one from Jinx as well.

"Good. As I said, we don't have to talk about it today. Just take your time. I'll be ready."

Jinx nodded in reply.

"Can we go do something fun now? All this stuff is making me depressed," Jinx quietly asked.

"Sure, what do you want to do?" A glimmer lit up in Jinx's eyes, showing that she was back in her regular attitude.

"Can we modify your gun some more?"

Caitlyn hesitated at answering her request. She was torn between two options. On one hand, her gun was precious to her, and she didn't want it to be messed with. She didn't even let Vi tinker with it when the Enforcer asked.

On the other hand, Jinx was a genius with technology, and could seriously improve its functionality. She would also could bond with Jinx through it, and learn some things.

She begrudgingly decided that she would be better off saying yes, despite her fear of her gun being irrevocably changed.

"Yeah, just don't change it to much. I like it the way it is."

"Don't worry, I'm only gonna increase the scope some more, and the firing mechanism. Ooh, maybe I can reduce the recoil too." Jinx kept mumbling technological nonsense while she headed to the workshop, leaving Caitlyn wondering if she made a bad decision letting the criminal near her gun.

She shook her head, chuckling to herself and got up to follow Jinx anyways.

Author's Note

It seems Jinx is trying to buff Caitlyn. Heh.

Response to Readers:

Erindor: Spoiler (sorta) - Your predictions are kinda close to my idea for the story. But I'm not gonna tell you which prediction is closer. You'll have to keep reading to find out.

Nyx Sigma ZERO: Yup, they will have some work to go through. But give it time. Also, thanks for letting me know that my writing and progress is fine. It's good to know that, though I do want to be a bit faster in writing chapters.

Thank you all for the comments, support, and compliments. As always, let me know how I did on this chapter, if you have time and care enough to do so, and I'll see you all next time.