Author's Note: Folks... I think this will have nine chapters. Like, I had the broad strokes of what I wanted for this story but now that I'm reaching certain parts, it's kind of branching out more than anticipated.
Also. It may be a bit late in the story to do this, but from this point on we'll have some more points of view without Jinx's presence in them. I considered doing this starting from chapter 3, but didn't find it relevant there. From this point on, there's too many things happening that are important for Jinx, and we as readers have to know about it otherwise we're losing important stuff. Not to mention I want to write them. If that's too annoying, well, it's a bit too late to say sorry now isn't it.
Warning: police corruption, complicated relationships and discussions of pedophilia
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"You should know this is unacceptable behavior," Marcus said with his cocky know-it-all tone. Vi already knew he was an asshole, but he kept wanting to remind her. "You need to seriously reconsider your street thug attitude if you ever hope to become a cop."
"As if half you guys aren't common thugs in fancy uniforms," Vi snarled back.
Marcus scoffed. "Great stand there, Violet."
"It's true and you know it."
"Doesn't mean you should start bar fights and attack staff," Grayson said as she drove. They would take less than twenty minutes to get to the station, but Grayson didn't seem to be in a hurry.
"Sevika was threatening my sister. I wasn't just gonna lower my head and be quiet."
"And the bouncer was just to let off some steam?" Marcus asked with another scoff.
"He locked Vi in a chokehold," Caitlyn came to her defence. "Vi wasn't right in assaulting him, but he used excessive force."
"Fucker was in on it," Vi snarled, knowing she was right. "Bought time so the fucking bitch could get away."
"Sevika pulled out a knife," Caitlyn added. "I saw it."
Grayson hummed. "We know how dangerous Sevika is. It's good things didn't get ugly, all things considered." It didn't stop it from being ironic, with Vi's face still covered in blood and soon to be swelled up with bruises.
"I thought you said you were working on getting a warrant for her," Vi asked Grayson.
"There are as few or even less people willing to testify against Sevika than there are against Silco, and that's because they know Sevika is the one who's gonna come knocking if they do," Grayson said uselessly. "The warrant is coming, Vi. You just need to be more patient."
"I didn't fucking start police training to be patient."
"If you have new evidence to add to the case, please, share."
"She was in possession of deadly weapon," Caitlyn repeated.
"And that's good as an aggravation, but not enough to prompt an arrest warrant," Grayson replied.
"Isn't that a good place to start, at least?" Caitlyn insisted. "She has a criminal record, it'll be a recidivism. I'll testify about what I saw."
"We need more than one easily refuted statement, Kiramann. For Sevika and Silco."
"But I'm a police officer, shouldn't that count for something?" Caitlyn started to say, but Vi exploded in the back of the car.
"Are you fucking kidding me, Grayson?" she demanded. Caitlyn tried to call her to reason; she was talking to the chief of police, and her future boss. "You have my testimony! Vander's, if he fucking opens his mouth!"
"And after your accusations, true as they may be, what proof do we have to back any of it up?" Grayson replied patiently, even though they had had some variation of this conversation enough times already for it to be pointless. They were no longer talking about Sevika. "Powder's adoption was legal, Vi. That's not an angle you can use against him."
"It wasn't and you know it! Vander was threatened to go along with it and Silco bribed every fucking legal office to speed up the process, what more fucking proof do you need to lock that guy up?! Fucking cops, you're all fucking useless!"
While Marcus was busy severely chastising Vi for her conduct to a hierarchical superior, Grayson sighed, lowering her eyes from the road momentarily. Both Vander and her knew this would come back to bite them in the ass sooner rather than later but it didn't make it suck any less. She supposed she had it coming, getting her just deserves of Vi's rage now that she was going to become a cop and after Vander had been the sole target of it for years now. Well, besides Silco.
"... have some respect! We're willing to turn a blind eye to what you just did so you can have a chance in staying in the academy, and this is how you speak?" Marcus was saying. "Ungrateful punk!"
"Please, don't let me be another stain in your dirty cop sheet!" Vi replied. "We know it's only when it suits you anyway!"
"There's only so far the law is willing to bend, Violet, and that includes you and your antics!"
"Fuck you! This bullshit only benefits Silco! It's like you're the ones on his payroll!"
"Enough, Violet," Grayson said resolutely, slowing the car down to a stop. She had a type of voice you don't question, not even Vi. "Fighting between ourselves is useless. I know you are angry, but you're better than this."
Vi turned her face away to the window. Marcus had the decency of staying quiet. Caitlyn sunk in the seat and breathed out slowly.
"I made Silco's first arrest when he was younger than you, Vi," Grayson said. "Together with Vander, Benzo, and your parents. He's not a stupid teenager doing some disturbance of peace or public misconduct anymore. He's dangerous, and we know that, but we cannot get proof that isn't circumstancial or downright unexistent where testimonies are concerned."
"You don't listen to mine!" Vi couldn't keep it down.
"We cannot lose the opportunity to nail him to the Shimmer trafficking, the Doctor, the gang violence. The deaths. If he really is the leader of the organization, we need to do this right. We can't afford to have a weak attack and then let him walk away with a technicality. We'll just be allowing him to get rid of the evidence. Evidence that includes people. That includes you, your family. Your sister."
"I'll fucking kill him," Vi hissed under her breath. She would. Vander could go all on about how Silco would never harm Powder, she didn't believe it and was the only one who apparently did anything concrete to stop it from happening.
"Your plan to get him blamed for the child drug trafficking is not bad and a good bait," Grayson continued. "But we still need actual proof from Finn, or from your sister when she gets used as a dealer. That was the whole point after all."
"We'll get it, and we'll nail the son of a bitch."
"With photos, phonecalls, Shimmer, anything to get us out of this standstill of accusations to hard evidence."
"Finn will get it," Vi said with gritted teeth. "He already confirmed Silco's the head of the whole thing, didn't he?"
"That's still just another claim. If I bring Silco in with that, he'll walk out in no time with something as simple as difamation and we may miss the chance to take down the whole organization. And no matter how backed up Finn feels, he knows what will happen if he speaks without absolute certainty he'll bring Silco down. So we still have no proof."
"Should've hacked into your sister's phone or have that boy plant a bug in Silco's house already," Marcus muttered. "Whole reason this is still ongoing is because you can't make up your mind."
Vi clenched her teeth hard, because he was right. How many times had she said that to Vander, that they should just use the fact Ekko knew where Silco lived to bug the house or just at least follow them to keep tabs on Silco, learn his schedule, find proof that his involvement with Sevika wasn't just casual buddies but boss and henchwoman? Even hacking the phone, they could access the microphone and record everything they said in the house. Yes, Powder would hate them at first, she wouldn't understand because that fucker had twisted her view of things, but it was for her own good.
We have to do it right, Vander had said. They had to protect her from Silco, but also had to make sure Powder wouldn't turn her back on them after. They had to do it right in a way she would understand, so she wouldn't side with Silco.
Bullshit. They were going against child kidnappers, drug dealers, murderers. The only way to fight fair against people like that is hitting them with everything you got.
But Vi had gone along with it, not without fear of the results herself, but mostly for Vander. And their relationship had slowly but surely declined over the years because of it.
"How long 'til we get to the damn station?" Vi asked instead of acknowledging Marcus's point.
"We are not going to the station," Grayson replied, starting to drive again. Vi and Caitlyn looked at each other. "You're going home and we'll archive the report as self-defence."
"But there were people recording," Caitlyn recalled. "Won't there be..."
"One broken nose isn't going to be a problem," Marcus replied. "Especially if he really is one of Silco's men. And Sevika has a criminal record."
So do I, Vi thought and scoffed. " 'Unacceptable behavior', huh."
"You are right that we sweep dirt under the rug when we can get away with it," Grayson said without looking at Vi on the rear mirror. "I'm not above using my position for the benefit of the majority, and that includes you being good police material I don't want to lose. If only you learn patience."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Vi said, unable to keep the sarcasm off her voice. "Why don't you use your position to make up some nice evidence against Silco then?"
"We have to do it right," Grayson repeated with simplicity. Vi groaned.
Marcus opened his mouth but his phone started ringing. He fished it out of his pocket, complaining under his breath: "We were just talking about him. It's past 3AM, the hell happened now."
"Finn?" Vi asked, leaning forward as Marcus took the call.
They remained silent but the voice on the other side was too muffled to make out the words. While Marcus gave curt and rispid answers that irked Vi for not being clear enough, Caitlyn was distracted thinking about what Grayson had said. She wasn't too comfortable with it, even if it was for the best. Of course she knew it would be bad for Vi to have a bar fight on the record while she was in the academy, but it set a precedent. Clearly was based on a precedent. Grayson knew what she was doing, though, and Caitlyn respected her reasoning. Jayce, for instance, wouldn't allow this sort of conduct, and Caitlyn wasn't comfortable in lying to her friend about the realities of law enforcement, but the city he had been elected president of had plenty of questonable practices. At least this one was to protect Vi.
A shift of tone in Marcus's voice made all three women tune in. "What? You're sure?" he said. "Why didn't you record all that? That would've been much more helpful than just having your word for it."
Marcus listened some more and ended the call. He turned to Vi before she could ask him.
"We have something new."
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"I'm gonna see if Vander's home," Mylo said first thing as they entered, making Jinx whimper.
"Please don't wake him," she pleaded.
"It's the middle of the night, he's not gonna be able to help Vi right now," Ekko added in, holding Jinx close when she cowered.
"He's friends with the Chief, you think he's not gonna be able to do anything?" Mylo retorted, going straight to Vander's bedroom.
Jinx eeked, repeating the same mantra that was playing in her head since the cops had arrived. "It's my fault, Ekko, it's my fault, it's my fault, he's gonna be so mad, he's gonna be so mad-!"
"Maybe he's not home yet," Claggor tried uselessly; Mylo returned soon after with a shirtless and slightly drowsy Vander, his brain going into full alert mode when he saw the blood and tattered shirt on Powder. She instinctively cowered further behind Ekko.
"Powder! What happened?"
"I'm sorry, Vander, please-" she tried, her voice a squeak, please please please, but Vander had his brows knitted in worry and carefully touched her face.
"Let me get you some ice," he said with a calm and reassuring tone, looking at the boys. "Anyone else need it?"
He returned with something cold from the freezer wrapped in a small kitchen cloth and handed it to Jinx, who seemed to be certain it would bite her.
"It's alright, Powder. Sit down," Vander asked. He didn't recognize the source of her fear, looking at Ekko for guidance when he was the one to take the ice. "What happened?"
Jinx felt the tears flooding her eyes. "I didn't mean to, I didn't, I didn't..." she pleaded.
"There was a fight," Ekko started, trying to measure his words, but Vander nodded.
"Mylo's already told me about Vi," he said, and in her anxiety Jinx didn't process that he knew. He knew and he wasn't screaming or calling her names or throwing her out.
"Man!" Ekko threw at Mylo for his lack of tact, but it was better to let Vander know from the get go matter-of-factly than to have some explosive sob festival. That was precisely Mylo's thought process, and Vander hadn't got angry or honestly surprised beyond the reasonable amount. Jinx was throwing another usual tantrum for no reason!
"What happened?" Vander asked again.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Powder, it's alright," Vander repeated, and his tone couldn't show it more than it already did. "Calm down. No one's angry."
Jinx tried but started sobbing all the same, cowering away from Ekko now in shame and anger, shoving her hands over her face to hide it and smudging the black tears of make up that ran down her cheeks.
Vander exhaled and looked at Ekko. "What happened?"
"Sevika," he said, a full explanation. Vander frowned and nodded slowly.
"Vi's alright?" he asked.
"Still blocks with her face," Ekko replied, trying to ease the mood however slightly while Jinx shook her head wildly. Vander gave a small smile that faded as he looked at Jinx. She was giving her all to sink into herself.
"Powder, it's alright. It isn't your fault, kiddo."
"It is!" she screamed, pulling at her beanie that just so happened to be the blocking the roots of her hair she otherwise would've sunk her fingernails into. "It's my fault! I fucked up again, I fucked up again!"
"I'll call Grayson," Vander told them, delagating the task of calming Jinx down to Ekko, but by the time he had turned around to go look for his phone, someone was shoving a key into the lock.
"Violet, don't ruin the whole-!" Marcus was saying as the door flew open and Vi came in.
They all stared for a second, and Jinx stopped pulling at her beanie.
Vi was here.
Vi was here!
"You weren't arrested!" she burst out in both relief and disbelief, hurling herself over her sister who barely had enough time to catch her. "I was so-"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Vi demanded at once, getting Jinx off of her and holding her by the shoulders. Jinx blinked, confused.
"I..."
"Vi," Grayson called with that voice of hers, but Vi ignored her.
"Powder, please, talk to me." She held the sides of Jinx's face to focus all her attention, making her whimper in reflex from the tenderness. "Enough, okay? You need to talk to me."
"I'm sorry, I didn't want you-" Jinx tried, not following what Vi was talking about.
"That son of a bitch, Powder! When did he start abusing you?"
What?!
"What?" her thoughts got echoed by everyone present, not least of all Vander.
"What did you say, Vi?"
"Vi, let's try to talk," Caitlyn said as Grayson closed the door. Their living room was now more crowded than ever, too many people starting to speak at the same time, but Vi was keeping her grounded and focused and confused.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, looking at Vi with wide eyes.
"Powder, I know," Vi said resolutely, like that was all Jinx needed to hear to understand and not precisely what was confusing her. "I know, okay. We're gonna help you but you need to help us, we know he wants you to deal to kids and that he's hurting you, you're the proof we need to end that son of a bitch."
"What are you talking about, Vi?!" Jinx freed herself from Vi's hands and took a step back. "What are you saying about Silco?"
"We know, Powder," Vi repeated while Marcus huffed in the background. "You started acting different, but I thought, of course you would, you had to in order to live with that guy, but I never thought... Powder, I never thought he would hurt you like that, if I did I would've-"
"But he's not hurting me!" Jinx repeated, shaking her head. What was it with people today?! Where did that story even come from? Just like Finn, why the fuck... why was everyone thinking that all of a sudden? Had they talked to each other or what?
What if they did?
No. Of course not. They didn't even know each other. Shut up.
"Wait up, Vi, run that over again," Claggor asked.
"What the hell happened, Vi?" Ekko joined, looking at both sisters.
"What kind of story is that?" Vander asked again.
"That's a lie! Why would you think that?" Jinx asked too.
"Vi, this is just another accusation, we cannot take action without proof," Grayson repeated.
"Don't say anything else, Violet," Marcus ordered, but if Vi wasn't listening to Grayson she sure as hell wouldn't listen to fucking Marcus.
"We're not gonna arrest Silco because I'm gonna fucking kill him, so fuck the plan, none of you are gonna stop me!" she shouted and turned to Ekko next. "You tell me where he lives, Little Man, I'm sick of this shit!"
"Vi, look at your sister," Caitlyn urged.
"Vi..." Ekko tried.
"He's raping my sister, Ekko!"
Jinx gaped, looking horrified at Vi. What was going on?
"Violet, enough," Grayson said. "This is not how you do things."
"Silco would never abuse Powder," Vander said firmly. "I don't know where you heard that, but-"
"You're defending him? You?!" Vi spat, so angry her heart was punching her chest. "What's wrong with you, Vander?!"
"Vi, Jinx never said anything about-" Ekko tried.
"We were all stupid! We had every sign in front of us and we just let it happen 'cause 'we have to do it fucking right' !" she threw at Vander. "I'm tired of that shit! I'm not afraid of him! Yeah, he's gonna try to have us killed 'cause he's a fucking murderer, but so what? We fight back, we hit him where it hurts, at least we don't don't go down willing! At least we get some decent fucking proof at last. We don't just sit back and pretend things are alright!"
"Vi, I don't know where you heard that, but that's not true," Vander repeated.
"How the hell do you know?! She didn't deny it!"
"Powder said it's a lie. Listen to her."
"She's changing the narrative," Marcus said not without disdain, Jinx's reluctance to admit anything was getting under his skin despite himself. If Vi was exposing their game, at least they had to make it count for something. "Cat's out of the bag, kid. We're trying to help you, but you need to help us too."
"Jinx, is Vi for real?" Mylo asked quietly.
Jinx was staring at Vi without seeing her anymore, listening to words exploding around her without fully understanding them.
It didn't make sense.
Why were there three cops in their house?
Why hadn't Vi been arrested?
Why was she saying those things?
Why was Jinx changing the narrative?
When hadn't she denied anything about this?
What plan?
"... what's going on?" she said in a whisper under the rumble of voices, her eyes starting to jump among the crowd faster and faster, starting to see patterns against her will, starting to connect dots she didn't want to as she took a step back.
I'm wrong, I'm wrong, it can't be.
It can't be.
No.
"No," the sound in her head came out louder. "Vi... what's going on? You're not..." her voice got caught in a lump. "You're not working with the cops, are you? You..." She looked at Ekko, at Claggor, Mylo, Vander. "You're not... you're not using me to..."
She had talked to Finn about this. She hadn't denied it when Finn brought it up. That was enough for him to buy into a premade assumption and spread it as facts, facts people were predisposed to believe in.
Finn was working for the cops. Silco was right, Finn was working for the cops. The circle is tightening, Finn wasn't going to turn the barons over, he had a deal with the police. Self-sabotage, because fuck it so long as he could get profit out of it, police protection and a deal of immunity.
Vi was working for the cops. That fucking bitch Caitlyn had turned her over, she was working for the cops. She wasn't arrested because she had a deal too, the cops were dirty and did everything that benefited them, Silco was right, they were all working for the cops.
And if Finn was working for the cops, then the play with the kiddies Shimmer really wasn't his, he really didn't think that far ahead, the cops did, cooked up a ploy using Finn as hook line and sinker to try to catch Silco slipping, to make him slip, because if he didn't use his daughter as an asset, then Finn would. They'd win either way. If they didn't get evidence, they'd plant it, Silco was right.
Because if Jinx was caught dealing like they planned, they could trace it back to Silco having illegal business. She was a minor, she wouldn't go to jail because they'd work around it, but the main thing was he would lose her custody. That was what Vi wanted the most. A way to get her away from Silco. If he was abusing her, it would speed up the process even more so of course she would believe it.
Jinx was the one that everything revolved on.
No.
No, no, no, no. No, please.
It's my fault.
"You've... you've used me?" she said weakly, in disbelief.
"I would've done that ages ago if I had any idea this was happening!" Vi replied. "Hacked your phone, followed you, I don't care if you hate me so long as that guy doesn't touch you anymore."
Jinx gasped, pulling her phone out and looking horrified at it. Had they...? What had they heard?! They'd bugged the house, Silco was right, what had they heard?! What did they know?! Because of her!
The only way you help is by getting out of everyone's lives.
You fucking jinx.
She snapped the phone against the wall, cracking it open.
"Powder!" Vander called.
"Ekko...?" she cried, the tears welling up on her eyes again but this time it was worse, it was getting hard to breathe, not now, not now notnow, her lungs were tightening, pleading. "All of you-"
"Jinx, I didn't- we didn't bug anything, listen-" Ekko tried to say, but Jinx drowned his voice with a scream.
"How could you do this to me?! How could you-?!"
"I should've done all that sooner instead of listening to him and just let this shit drag on!" Vi pointed at Vander. "I know-"
"You don't know anything! Finn lied!"
"He said you didn't deny it. Why wouldn't you deny it?!"
"I was trying to fool Finn! I needed him to trust me so when he said that stupid thing I didn't know what else to do! I didn't know he had a deal with the cops, I didn't know you had! How could you?!"
"Why did you wanna fool Finn if not to help Silco with his fucking drug business? We know, Powder!"
"You don't know anything!"
Vander pressed his fingers against his closed eyes, everything he feared unravelling before him. Claggor and Mylo stared helplessly. Ekko and Caitlyn tried to speak to their respective partners, but neither heard them. Marcus tried to find some sort of win in the situation, some implicit confession of guilt by Jinx's erratic behavior, but Grayson only saw an angsty kid and a desperate surrogate mother hurting each other with good intentions.
"You don't know anything!" Jinx screamed again at Vi. "You only hear what you want to!"
"He's a fucking monster! You say he isn't abusing you, I wanna believe that, but even if he was you'd think it was alright, that it was a good thing!"
"He's not a monster, he's my father and he never fucking abused me! You think I wouldn't have told you if that was true?!"
"You wanna protect him! He's wrapped your head so much you think he cares for you!"
"Because he does!"
"Powder, we love you, I love you, I'm trying to keep you away from him!"
"You're using me to get to him, how's that love?!"
"Jinx, we just wanted to-" Ekko tried again, and again was interrupted.
"I don't wanna talk to you, Ekko! I defended you, and you lied! You lied!" Jinx screeched.
"We have to do something to get you away from him, Powder!" Vi charged again. "Your behavior has changed, you've been losing weight, you're depressed and I can't get you treated, you have anxiety attacks all the time! How can I not blame the guy that took you away from us?! Even your music has changed!"
"Seriously, Vi?!"
"Don't you see? He's bad for you, he's changing you!"
"I've changed because of you! Because you threw me out!"
"No one ever threw you out, Powder," Vander said firmly, and that Jinx heard, exploding before Mylo and Claggor could join.
"Yes you did! You didn't want me near you and Silco showed up and took me in!"
"He kidnapped you, Powder!" Vi screamed, her frustration turned into rage that Jinx could only read as an attack.
"No! You don't know what you're talking about!"
"How can you not see that?! That son of a bitch took you with him and kept you away from us! That's kidnapping!"
"You didn't want me! He took in the trash you threw away!"
"No, Powder, that's not what happened!"
"Yes it was!"
Vander closed his eyes and leaned against the table, breathing heavily because he knew this was coming. Every other time they had argued about this had ended up with accusations thrown around and someone angerly walking out without any conclusion being reached, any understanding of the others' stance. Then they'd slowly make amends, find their comfortable place again where the issue was never fully tackled until eventually one of them brought it up again somehow and the cycle restarted. Just delaying and hiding from the inevitable and the one time where it'd be too much, because Vi wasn't a child anymore, her anger and intolerance to accept the status quo grew as the years passed and had reached past breaking point, hence the plan sat in motion.
And Powder wasn't a child anymore, either.
"Silco didn't fucking kidnap me, he adopted me with your consent," she said, pointing at Vander, who opened his eyes again. "I don't blame you, never did, you got rid of a problem and gave it to someone willing to deal with it! Kept your family safe!"
"That's not what happened, Powder," Vander said, again, hoping this time it would be enough to make her see, knowing it wasn't, especially not now. But if there was a time to make her understand, it had to be now. He couldn't hope to change anything if he kept doing things the same way, and he did want change before Powder was lost to them and to herself. "You're our family, we never abandoned you. Silco took you that night and threatened me, threatened us, so he could become your legal guardian. I had no choice."
Jinx shook her head. "That's not what he told me."
"He lied, Powder."
"Silco doesn't lie!"
"How can you believe a lying piece of shit like him over us?!" Vi yelled in disbelief, and that fact was something she would never accept. "Over me, your sister?!"
"Because he doesn't think I'm a jinx!"
"You're not a jinx, God, I never should have said that-"
"Stop talking to me like I'm a child!" Jinx yelled back at Vi, turning to Vander next in rage. "He told me about you two, about what you did to him!"
Part of him knew he shouldn't be surprised, but Vander felt his stomach sink at those words. A flash of hurt crossed Powder's features for a split second.
"Is that what he threatened you with? 'Cause that sounds more like a rescuing than a kidnapping!"
Of course Silco would think that. And now Powder, too.
And whose fault was that?
He knew Silco's relationship with Powder was much closer and affectionate than his own had ever been, and it made sense that he would have told her about his past, with how much they trusted each other. It's not like Silco lived with the shame of having done something unforgivable to his best friend, his brother. He lived with the consequences of having survived it.
"It doesn't matter what Vander did to him!" Vi said, unfazed by the words. "That's some bullshit excuse if I've ever heard one!"
"Vander's never told any of us about it, has he? So how do you know, Vi?"
"I don't give a fuck about what happened between them! That son of a bitch kills people, Powder! How can you not see that?!"
Jinx was shaking her head again. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
"We have people willing to talk, and if you do it too, we-"
"There's nothing to talk about! And Finn is a liar!"
"Powder, we know the truth, stop protecting him!"
"You don't know anything!"
"Ekko works with ex addicts, he sees what Shimmer does to them, how it blasts their fucking body, how it destroys their lives," Vi started, pointing at Ekko, but the boy looked warily at Jinx. "Silco let's that happen, wants that to happen 'cause then he gets a profit. He has people attacked for not wanting to deal for him. Do you know his men control almost everything in the Slums? They have fees for everything, for fucking passage, and he's escalated the gang violence to the point there's gunfighting almost everyday!"
Jinx was shaking her head, so Vi pressed.
"Remember Deckard, that idiot from my class?, Silco pumped him in Shimmer and uses him as bloodhound. Remember Babette, that lady that used to buy us ice creams when we were little?, she was forced to have Shimmer deals in her brothel because her staff were getting attacked. Hank, the tiny guy from The Last Drop?, he overdosed last week. Klaus, our old neighbour? He was jumped in the street, they crushed his skull! Vander was threatened, who knows what would've happened to him, don't you see?! He has people killed, Powder!"
Vi was trying to shock her, as if Jinx didn't know. She kept shaking her head.
Silco didn't kill people - they died by circumstance, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes it happens. Most often they died on their own accord, by overdosing Shimmer or by trying to outsmart the deals. Threats of violence worked most of the time, and when they didn't... well.
He didn't kill people. He had Sevika kill them for him.
Jinx didn't really see anything horribly wrong in that.
"You don't know anything about him," she repeated, because it was the truth, no one else did, no one else bothered, no one else had the privilege. How Silco talked with her and showed it was safe to ask and not know, how he always had time for her despite his busy life. How he liked to help her with her hair, how he ranked her DIY explosively punky gothy metal outfits. How he taught her how to play guitar, how they'd compose songs together, how he'd suggest changes or pitch ideas for her art projects. How they baked cupcakes together, how he had a wacky sense of humor that was actually very similar to hers, the kind of sense of humor someone who owned a shark-shaped guitar for the fun of it had, of someone who found something to laugh at where others found horror and offence. How he'd cuddle her and hold her tight even when the broken pieces of her cut him, not letting go until she did because he knew, he knew how much it hurt to feel alone and not good enough. He understood her because he once was her, and he wanted her to become better than he ever was.
It's only us, Jinx.
It was only them.
"You lied to me," The words hurt, burned, didn't feel freeing as they forced their way out against her clenched teeth and then raged out like a dam breaking open. "Why did you lie to me?!"
She didn't wait for an answer though, turning to the door and throwing it open against the wall, but she was pushed back by the hand Grayson threw around her wrist.
"Wait."
"Get the fuck off me!" she yelled, throwing a kick at the woman and thrashing her arm free, darting down the stairs without missing a beat before Marcus could get his hands on her.
"Jinx, wait!" Ekko called, sprinting after her.
"Marcus," Grayson called. He was already holding the door.
"Great job, Violet," he snarled. The shrill impact of the building door told them Ekko hadn't caught up with Jinx in the stairs. If any of the neighbours had still been miraculously asleep after all that screaming, they certainly woke up now. They heard the heavy door open again and bang shut.
"Where you're going?" Vi spat.
"You just gave our information to a key witness that also has direct contact with our main suspect," Marcus snarled back. "Where do you think I'm going?"
"We can't let your sister return to Silco knowing what you've told her," Grayson said. "He may disappear with her, and start getting rid of evidence."
Caitlyn frowned in worry, looking at Vi.
"Powder won't tell him anything that will harms us," Vander said under his breath. Grayson heard him all the same and sighed.
"With all due respect, Vander, Silco isn't stupid. He'll put two and two together."
"What, you're gonna arrest my sister?" Vi asked, wanting to be angry but only managing to sound tired. All the weight of the night was suddenly collapsing over her, her bruises aching, her throat tightening, the consequences of what she had done slowly gaining shape.
What were they gonna do now?
"I need to figure out how we're going to manage this," Grayson exhaled. "Keeping your sister here will at least buy me time to think."
Vi dragged herself to the couch and let herself sink. Vander finally did the same, crumbling on a chair.
Could this have gone any worse?
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to be continued
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Author's Note: The mention of cupcakes was inspired by the fic "Cupcakes for Jinx" by isindismay, it's really wholesome, you should read it.
Musicwise this chapter was hard. Only recs I can give are "Choke" by Earth Caller and "2.0" and "Lead the Riot" by Rage of Light for the painful finishing touches.
Next chapter won't be as action-packed as this ending might lead to assume, just a headsup.
As for life, it's certainly gained new colors but it's been hard. This fic is not helping as much as I would hope.
Thanks for reading.