It was a quiet day in Piltover, which was good; Quiet meant no trouble. No explosion, no murders or reports of thievery, not even a call from Silco. Quiet meant spending all work hours in front of his desk dealing with paperwork and one or another special request from the council.
It was tiring, it was boring, it was safe. It meant another night he got to go home with his daughter.
So yes, Sheriff Markus liked quiet days whenever they appeared. Today looked promising, only a couple of reports about public drunkenness but nothing the enforcers couldn't handle. Perhaps it would be a job suited for the young Kiramman heiress in his rank.
Honestly, in another world, a better world, he would be ecstatic to have such a prodigious detective working for him. Sure, she was stubborn and still had not shaken off entirely the high-class entitlement she had been raised with but in a couple of years, she would be an excellent officer and maybe a good Sheriff candidate.
But this wasn't a better world, it was a shitty, dirty, and hideous world in which being a good detective and not knowing when to stop asking questions was a fatal combination for anyone that worked as law enforcement. And when that someone is a daughter of a council member then it became the responsibility of her superior to keep her alive and out of trouble, at least according to the girl's mother who made quite clear what she would do if something happened to her daughter.
It was…. Stressful to say the least. Just steering officer Kiramman away from any of Silco's businesses was causing his hair to slowly start turning grey, let alone with his other responsibilities as a Sheriff.
So now he was patiently waiting for the Tempest or any other god to finally screw his day over. He still had a couple of hours left in his turn so they had plenty of tim-
*Thump!*
The sound of the pneumatic mail canister silenced his thoughts.
It was the canister Silco used when he needed something.
"And to think that today had been such a nice day." He muttered to himself. Wanting to get over the situation quickly he grabbed the tube and opened it.
It was only as the lid began to move that he noticed the crude drawing of a monkey face in pink color that was adorning the front of the tube.
There was a flash of light.
Then Pink.
Everything he could see was pink, he could taste the pink, he was pink.
His secretary burst into his office, her face was filled with concern, then shock, then amusement.
"Did your daughter send you another glitter bomb, Sir?" He could hear the giggles the secretary was barely trying to hide
"...Yes Melissa"
Never in his entire life he thought he would be grateful that Vander's daugh- Silco's pet psycho had taught his own daughter how to make glitter bombs. Nor her penchant for sneaking them into his office every once in a while.
"The extra uniform is in your third drawer to the left, the glit-A-gone on the second one to the right, Sir" She replied "I will clear the rest of your agenda for the day"
Mental note: Give Melissa a raise.
Thanking his secretary, he locked the door to his office and shut the drapes that covered his windows to allow total privacy. The accursed canister was sitting open on his desk. A note covered in glitter but surprisingly free of any pink paint.
Heyyyyyyyyyy Mr. Sheriff! It's me! Your daughter's favorite babysitter ? ﾟﾘﾃ? !
He snorted, that psychopath was in no way or shape his daughter's babysitter no matter how much she proclaims it. He had irked Silco somehow and he had sent her to his house as a friendly warning, unfortunately for the two men, the two girls had somehow bonded over their mutual liking of painting things (and people) pink.
So I was walking around the undercity minding my own business.
He didn't know why, but he had the urge to call bullshit on that one.
And found something really really important for topsiders that shouldn't be left alone down here!
Now, normally I would take it straight to the bossman and make you all sweet like an undercity food stall owner when it's inspection day!
But a snarky voice around me told me that it was better for everybody to take it back immediately to topside as soon as possible or there were going to be troubles for everybody ? ﾟﾒﾀ? If you know what I mean.
So go to this address at around 17:30 to pick it up and don't tell Silco ?!
Seriously! Otherwise both topside and the undercity is are going ? ﾟﾒﾣ? ﾟﾒﾥ? ﾟﾒﾥ
Signed X
P.S: Tell your daughter I will visit her soon! ?
He read the note.
Then he read it again.
Read it once more to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
Then he swore.
"Son of a #!?"
"Everything is alright. Sir?" Melissa asked from outside.
"Yes Melissa, but it seems like the glitter went deeper than I expected" He answered in a hushed tone. It wasn't even a lie, the glitter truly had gotten everywhere
"The backup underwear is in the third compartment of your cabinet, sir!"
"Remind me to give you a raise, Melissa"
"I will sir" He could feel the wink she undoubtedly gave him across the door.
He turned the note to find a smaller paper attached to it. On it was the address of a small abandoned lote that bordered the limit between the two Piltover and the undercity. It was close enough to the topside that no gang bothered to claim it as their territory and was almost always empty due to fear of an Enforcers raid. The perfect place for a private meeting between topsiders and undercity dwellers.
He checked the clock on his wall, it showed 15:00. It would take around thirty minutes to reach the meeting point so he still had two hours and a half to make his choice. Except it wasn't a choice wasn't it? Once you sell your soul to the devil you don't get to have it back.
The only question was if he needed to inform Silco that his pet wanted to sneak out without his permission.
He checked the clock again.
15:02
He made his choice.
"Melissa," He called while taking off his pink-covered uniform "Call Officers Altero and Castiel and tell them to start gearing up, we are going to the undercity to check a lead on an ongoing case."
"Will do, sir!"
15:40
Officer Altero was a good choice for this mission. He had quite the intimidating physique and was one of the very few he could trust to be in the know of his arrangement with Silco and while he didn't like it he knew it was a necessary evil for the sake of the peace of the city.
16:00
Castiel on the other hand reminded him of his younger self. Brash, always ready to make a name for himself, and showing enough disdain for the undercity dwellers to make a fool out of himself. Hopefully, this mission would help him get into his thick skull the necessity of having people of the underground willing to collaborate with you without directly exposing him to Silco.
16:49
Finally! After what felt like an eternity he managed to get enough of the paint and glitter off of him to leave his office without becoming the butt of the joke of the precinct... Again.
Altero and Castiel are waiting for him in the lobby in full uniform, he gives them the metallic rebreather needed for those unaccustomed to the undercity polluted air.
16:57
The three of them stood in front of the elevator that would take them down into the undercity. Altero was standing right beside him while Castiel was nervously fiddling with his equipment.
"So..." the thick voice of Altero broke the silence. "Does this lead we are going to investigate have anything to do with dear old Silkie?"
Just because Altero understood the importance of the truce didn't mean that he wouldn't unleash barbs at the subject when he thought he could get away with it. Hence and forth his habit of referring to Silco as Silkie in public.
"Silkie?" Castiel asked as the elevator finally arrived.
"A smarmy piece of shit that lives underground," Altero replied as the trio entered the elevator. "Should have locked the asshole years ago but the bastard has eyes everywhere and gives dear old Sheriff a lead every once in a while to keep things flowing."
That was a gross misrepresentation of his relationship with Silco and Altero knew it. But even the officer didn't know how far it went. It wasn't a consensual relationship. He had made a mistake in his past and even now many years later he was still paying for it.
"A fucking sumprats that doesn't know his place then" Castiel muttered to himself. Or at least tried to judge by how Altero's shoulder tensed at his words.
"Bit of advice Rookie" The imposing officer emphasized the last word as the lift slowly went down. "If you want to last long in this business then you shouldn't underestimate those sumprats. They can be just as smart as anyone from the topside and they need to use their brain to survive instead of dilly-dallying all day investigating and experimenting around."
"Officer Altero is right," Markus interrupted. "Underestimating the Fissure-Born is a quick way to lose your career… and your life"
Castiel gulped at the remark.
17:03
"Think of this as a practical lesson on the importance of maintaining good Top-Under relations," Markus said as he signaled the others to put their mask on, in conjunction with their helmet and goggles it gave them the advantages of making them practically indistinguishable from any other officer of the city.
"Once more into the fray..." Altero muttered to himself as he masked up. The lift slowly reached its destination.
17:14
With a thump, the lift finally stopped allowing the doors to slowly open. Markus stepped out first, both hands behind his back.
In control or at least pretending to be.
Altero followed behind, his police baton, which he had modified to be more of a big ass club, was resting over his shoulder. Castiel was trailing last at his left nervously checking every corner with his standard-issue rifle.
He didn't blame him, it was a quiet day in the undercity and unlike on Piltover, a quiet day usually meant troubles for everyone.
They were close, he checked his pocket watch.
17:23
A couple of steps later they arrived at their destination. The lote was as expected empty, now they had to wait.
"So who exactly are we meeting boss?" Altero asked.
"An informant known as X" He could hear the snort that left Castiel's mouth. "She is quite... volatile to say the least. So watch your movements around her."
"Owwwww" A voice interrupted him from above causing the officers to tense up in anticipation of an ambush. "I think that's the sweetest thing you ever said to me!"
She was here.
Dropping from a window above, the consequence of one of his biggest regrets landed a few feet in front of him. Staring at those blue eyes filled with madness, Vander's youngest cheerfully saluted the trio.
"Heeeeeeeellooo Sheriff" She exclaimed, a pink satchel resting on one of her sides, before turning towards his companions. "Hello Officer Hunky and… Oh, it's a new guy!"
Faster than he could blink Jinx was standing in front of Castiel, the nervous officer raised his rifle but that didn't seem to faze the bluenette. Instead, she examined closely the young rookie slowly circling around like a Long tooth does before going for the bite.
"Mmmm, young, probably a rookie trying to make mommy and daddy proud." She muttered loud enough for everyone to hear making a show out of her inspection. "Breathing heavily even with the mask, so it's a safe bet to say that's his first time down here. Trying to hide how nervous he is by projecting fake confidence brandishing his rifle as a sign of power so probably a virgin."
"Sh-Shut-up" The way Castiel squeaked told him that Jinx had hit the nail in more ways than one. Then in an act of stupidity, he pointed his rifle towards the girl's face and rammed it forward hitting her straight in the nose.
Shit
His hand instinctively went towards his gun. If Jinx exploded then it didn't matter if they somehow managed to escape, either Silco or the council would have their hyde.
Then he heard it, the laughter.
Very low at first, but slowly getting higher and higher. It was the tell-tale sign that something or someone was about to explode.
Jinx raised her face allowing the trio to see her wicket smile covered by blood of the same colors as her eyes flowing out of her nose.
"Nice gun, Virgin boy," Jinx said as she wiped out the pink liquid from her nose. "But as every man that has seen you naked in those communal showers you Pillies love to brag about have told you." She smacked her satchel which quickly transformed into a full-fledged minigun pointing into Castiel's chest. "Mines bigger!"
He tried to move as soon as the gun's barrels started to spin but stopped as soon as his feet hit something on the ground. Looking, he saw two paint-covered grenades laying around him. He looked towards Altero, there on his club, 3 more grenades had been attached without anyone noticing them. Finally, his eyes landed on Jinx's hand that held the detonator.
"Fuck" He thought to himself.
Okay, he needed to calm down. It wasn't like Jinx was crazy enough to kill the Sheriff of Piltover in a meeting she organized, right?
...
Yes, she would.
Okay, he needed to deescalate the situation, as soon as possible.
He checked his watch, 17:30 right on time for the meeting.
"As much as I'm sure Officer Altero is enjoying that you made Rookie Castiel shit his pants," He said in his most calm tone of voice. He had to trick her into thinking that he was in control, that he wasn't afraid of her. "Why did you call us here?"
Jinx's minigun slowly stopped spinning, she tilted her head like a puppy; her blue eyes looking at him as if she didn't know what he was talking about.
Well, knowing her it was a perfectly valid worry that she had forgotten why she had summoned them.
Suddenly her eyes lit up as she turned around and let out a loud whistle.
Noises began pouring out a dark alley behind them
He held his breath and waited.
And waited…
And waited...
"Little man! What's taking you so long!" Jinx shouted at the alley, to his surprise the alley shouted back.
"They are stair down here! Why didn't you bring her up before you greet them!"
Her?
Jinx's head turned towards him before giving a small shrug
"Be right back, forgot Little man has noddle for arms"
"I heard that!"
Jinx darted into the alley leaving the trio alone with their thoughts.
He checked his watch
17:36
"What are we doing here Markus?" Altero asked while trying to dislodge the grenades attached to his baton, Castiel on the other hand still hasn't moved since his brief touch with near death.
"Got a tip of something from the topside having appeared downtown, something that could cause a riot..."
"Except it wasn't something but someone.."Altero responded. "And you only brought me and a rookie so whatever this is you didn't want Silkie to know about it."
Why?! Why did his officers have to be such detectives whenever Silco was involved? Altero had half a dozen unsolved cases to be good at but instead he became just as good as Kiramman whenever Silco was involved!
"Just because X is crazy doesn't mean that she is stupid" Markus answered him. "If she of all people went through all the troubles of contacting me without Silkie noticing it, then whatever she found is important."
"So Piltover's finest do have a brain inside those helmets" A smug voice rang from the alley.
It was a boy, he was covering the upper part of his face with a white devil mask that complimented his white haircut styled as Mohawk. A term he only knew because his daughter had insisted for him to have one for about a week after she met Jinx before she gave up.
"You must be Noodle arms" Altero deadpanned after giving him the boy a quick glance.
The boy in response flipped him the bird.
Ah, that's why the boy looked familiar, he was the kid that Benzo was taking care of. Great, another orphan he helped create. Maybe he should get a plaque on the local orphanage or something for his help in keeping the business afloat.
"Where's Ji-"
His thoughts were interrupted when the aforementioned girl exited the alley pushing a wheelchair-bound woman. Her face had been whipped clean out of any blood as he could see a stained but elegant handkerchief on her hand.
His mind halted when he recognized who exactly was the woman in the wheelchair.
"Co-Councilwoman Kiramman?!" He bolted straight towards her, stopping just a few feet away. "Is everything all right? What happened? Did those two do anything?"
The glare she gave him was enough to make him halt in his steps.
"Sheriff Marcus" A shiver went down his spine at her tone. "Those two had been nothing but generous and kind since I woke up and even had the girl your officers just assaulted was the one kind enough to nurse me back to health. So please treat them with the respect they deserve."
He looked in disbelief at the councilwoman, then at Jinx, finally he looked towards the boy hoping to find some sense.
"Don't look at me man." The masked boy replied. "I was as shocked as you are when I found out." Clearing his throat he gathered the attention of everyone else. "If you wouldn't mind I think it would be for the best if we finish quickly, fewer chances of big S hearing about this if you understand."
His throat hitched at the thought of Silco getting his hand on the councilwoman, that certainly would be the worst-case scenario. Jinx wasn't kidding, it could have easily spelled the end of the entire city if he had told Silco about the meeting.
He gave one final look at the boy, if his suspicion was right about him being the snarky voice that Jinx mentioned in her letter, then he would definitely tell his officers to give the white hair boy a pass next time they saw him on topside.
"Bye Bye Bleeding lady!" To his, and probably everyone else's surprise Jinx gave a quick hug from behind to the councilwoman before releasing her and scurrying away into the alley, the boy quickly following her.
"Bye Markus, Officer Hunky, and Virgin boy!" Was the last thing they heard as the lote became silent.
Markus ordered Altero to push the councilwoman wheelchair as the four of them headed back towards the lift. The trek was awkwardly silent as they entered the elevator.
He checked his watch.
17:52
He could feel the glare of the councilwoman at the back of his head as the old elevator slowly took them upward.
"Mrs. Kira-"
"I hope you realize" The councilwoman interrupted him. "That after I'm back to full health you and I will have a very serious conversation about what happened today, are you clear?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Good, as for you two." He didn't need to turn around to know both Altero and Castiel's bodies had tensed up as soon as they came to 's attention.
"Not a single word of what happened, are we clear"
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Both stuttered out loud. In any other situation, he would be amused at the sight of two of his officers cowering at the words of a Lady, but right now he was dreading the future conversation he and the councilwoman would have.
The lift stopped as the doors opened allowing him to see the darkened skies of Piltover, he stepped forward and turned around to allow Mrs. Kiramman to exit.
He almost missed the councilwoman tucking away a handkerchief covered in bright pink into her pocket…. almost
By the time the three of them reach the back entrance of the Kiramman estate, it's already dark. A gardener appeared and looked at the state of his master before opening the gates and summoning an army of maids and servants as well as the head butler.
The old man thanked them for finding his master and kindly asked if they wanted to step in as the matriarch was taken into the house.
He refused and ordered Altero and Castiel back to the station. He also gave the older officer a message to Melissa that he was heading home early.
It's 18:45 when he arrives home.
His daughter greets him with a jumping hug that almost topples him to the ground.
It's 18:46 and he is holding his daughter as she tells him about her day.
For just a minute everything was alright in the world.