Author's Note: This is the last time I'll say it: this is gonna be 10 chapters.
(...I think :') )
And there is a bit of action in this one after all. This is a bigass chapter.
Warning: abuse of authority, mentions of pedophilia, anxiety
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"Jinx! Wait!"
"Leave me alone, Ekko!"
"Hold on, please, we need to talk!" Ekko pleaded. "That was a whole misunderstanding, we didn't bug anything!"
"How can I believe you?!" Jinx yelled. "You were all plotting behind my back, spreading lies about Silco!"
"I didn't know, Jinx! I was just as shocked as you!" Ekko tried to explain. "I didn't understand half of what just happened, I-"
"So you didn't know about Finn? About the cops being after Silco?!"
"I-" Ekko hesitated, groaning out in frustration. "Jinx, you know we're not just gonna stand by while we know-"
"You don't know anything!" Jinx repeated in a squeal. "Leave me alone, Ekko!"
"We can't leave you alone when we know you're seeing things that will hurt you, that you can do things for him that will put you in danger! Please, try to see our side too!"
"I'm so stupid, I'm so stupid, of course you were doing something, you're all buddy buddies with that Cupcake bitch, Vander has the big boss lady friend, of course you would, of course you would, I'm so stupid!"
"Jinx, please come back, let's talk this over," Ekko pleaded again, cutting the distance between them in a sprint and grabbing her arm. She shoved it away but Ekko grabbed her again and pulled, forcing her to stop and turn to him. "Jinx, stop! Please!"
"No! You lied to me!" she repeated, pulling her arm free again. Ekko released her, not wanting to hurt her.
"You think Silco doesn't lie to you? When he says we don't love you, that we're bad for you, that your family threw you out, you think he's not lying to you?"
"You're showing me he's right! He's not lying, you are!"
The noise they were making was starting to wake up people in the nearby buildings as well. Lights were turned on and orders and requests of varying levels of politeness started to spread like a background buzz Jinx would've ignored if not for a particularly loud yell from a window.
"Will you keep it down or do I have to call the cops?!"
"Fuck you!" Jinx screamed at full lungs. The offended man replied with more threats that went over Jinx's head, turning back at Ekko. She opened her mouth ready to continue to try to let go of some of that hurt when she noticed the stupid cop had followed them. "Go away, you too!"
"Keep it down, it's the middle of the night," Marcus demanded, speaking with the type of tone of someone who expected his orders to be followed at once. He closed in on them. "Enough tantrum, let's go back and calm down."
"You think I'm going anywhere with a cop?" Jinx spat. "Leave me alone!"
"I said to quiet down," Marcus huffed. "If you're not willing to help, at least don't make it worse. Come back to your father's house without fussing."
"Or what? You can't arrest me!" Jinx yelled. "I haven't done anything!"
"You're disturbing the peace," Marcus said plainly. "Public misconduct. Criminal obstruction. Resisting police arrest-"
"Police arrest?" Ekko repeated.
"-but you just make up your own fucking proof to arrest people, don't you?!" Jinx bellowed.
"Man, you're not helping," Ekko said, moving closer to Jinx. "Let us talk alone."
Marcus groaned out in irritation. This was all going bad because of these idiots. Whatever sympathy he might have for a kid like Powder and her situation was gone; yes, he knew an abuse victim would often shift the blame to themselves or deny it, and the later seemed to be the girl's typical behavior, but this whole family got on his nerves: Silco for being a criminal who evaded justice without the needed nudges the Chief wasn't willing to sanction for some reason; Vander for being a sorry excuse of a father and not standing for his daughter, just letting her live with someone who, given his many crimes, Marcus had no doubt believing was also a pedophile; Violet for being an impatient and unredeemable street thug with frustrations bursting at the seams; and finally Powder, or Jinx, or whatever she wanted to be called, this eccentric weird kid with a loose screw (granted, she had reasons for it, but if Marcus had wanted to be understanding of people's struggles, he would've become a psychiatrist. Plus she wasn't so young anymore to behave like a child) who had every trump card in her hands to solve this case but refused to play them.
"I'm not making a suggestion," Marcus said, grabbing a hold of her.
Both Ekko and Jinx pushed him away immediately, but Marcus reacted by shoving Ekko to the side and kicking Jinx's legs from under her in a single trained movement. Jinx landed hard, the air knocked out of her and making her feel like a ragdoll when Marcus effortlessly turned her facedown on the ground and pinned her with his weight. She started shrieking and thrashing wildly, forgetting both her injuries from the bar fight and a practical reaction due to sheer anger.
"Let me go! Motherfucker!"
"Get off her!" Ekko screamed, charging onto Marcus and tackling him off of Jinx. Marcus fell on his side and Jinx scrambled up to her feet with a grunt, turning to Marcus with her teeth bared and throwing a kick that only missed his skull because Ekko caught her and spinned her in the air. "Whoa, Jinx!
"Let go, Ekko!"
"Maybe we're really reading this wrong," Marcus spat as he got up. "Maybe you're not a victim after all, just another accomplice."
"Man, this isn't helping!" Ekko tried to reason, but handling a kicking Jinx and a stupid cop wanting to prove some fucking point wasn't easy.
Jinx managed to squirm herself free and went straight at Marcus, throwing a new kick that landed on his groin and when the man went down groaning she almost went for a second kick to the head but some instinct or voice of reason must've possessed her because instead she took the chance to dart in the opposite direction faster than any of them could follow.
"Jinx!" Ekko called, ready to at least try to catch her.
"Son of a bitch!" Marcus cursed, pulling out his gun in reflex. The sound made Ekko stop in his tracks.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" he snapped back, shoving Marcus's hand away when he raised it at Jinx. "The fuck's your problem, man?!"
"You band of misfits, you have no idea what you're putting at stake," Marcus spat, looking with a shocking amount of disdain at Ekko. "You don't think of the consequences of any of your actions, you just fuck everyone else around you, no questions asked! That girl knows we're onto Silco, she was supposed to be a key witness and now knows the name of another one, what do you think is going to happen when she goes running back to him?"
"She'll... she won't reveal anything," Ekko replied, feeling his own voice shake, and Marcus scoffed loudly at that.
"Really? She seemed pretty adamant to her daddy's side! You think she'll just let him get fucked over? Sit quietly knowing we have an actual case in the making?"
"She will never give Vi up. She won't give any of us-"
"I don't have patience for your stupid sentimentalism," Marcus cut him off, picking up the gun. The sound of Jinx's steps had vanished. "You've let her escape. You're an accomplice too."
"You really wanna buy enemies amongst us?" Ekko asked incrediously.
"You know where she's headed. You know where Silco lives. You're gonna tell me right now."
"I'm not gonna tell you shit," Ekko replied at once. "It's people like you that always made us distrust cops in the first place. You think you can just boss people around and intimidate them. You're just another version of Silco!"
Ekko knew he was hitting at the man's pride, which was the stupidest thing he could do right now when he still had the gun in his hand and some kind of compulsive need to exert authority. This could get ugly in the blink of an eye, but if Ekko hadn't answered Vi before he sure as hell wouldn't answer to this idiot.
Whatever the man wanted to do was interrupted by a brave or stupid neighbour who came out of a building, eyeing them both at a distance.
"Everything alright, officer?" he asked, hiding the side of his body in a way that told Ekko he was holding some kind of weapon in case of need.
"Everything's alright, citizen," Marcus said pompously, showing his gun. "You can go home, we're done here."
The man nodded, if but a bit cautiously. Marcus moved to the side, holsting the gun and glaring at Ekko.
"Walk. Now."
.
Vi could hear Ekko calling Powder by Jinx (that fucking name) and her screams in the street. Ekko had caught up to her. She couldn't make up the words, but took a guess at what she was saying.
Inside, there was an awkward silence no one seem too eager to break, or most likely didn't know how to. Claggor had sat down next to Vander, looking at his dad who was bent over himself, hands and head hanging, his eyes on the floor. Vi was trying not to look at him; she didn't trust herself not to explode again, and while Vander was trying to avoid more fighting (because of course he was, that was all he did, hiding and looking the other way so people wouldn't pick a bone) Vi felt that a renewed wave of anger was roaring under the surface just waiting for her to see his face. Mylo was standing near the wall, his eyes wide and eyebrows heavy, looking lost and distressed and for once too wary to say anything. Grayson was standing in the same place, ignoring the dull ache on her leg from Powder's kick (she was tough, but Powder could throw a hit), her face heavy.
The only one who seemed centered was Caitlyn, gathering up a basin with water she'd scrapped in the kitchen, a towel, gauze wraps and Powder's cotton discs together with a bottle of betadine from the bathroom, sitting down next to her and starting to wash the worst of the blood on her face away.
"What do we do now?" Claggor eventually voiced what they were all thinking.
"First thing is bring Powder home," Grayson replied, approaching Vander's side. "If Marcus doesn't bring her back..."
"He won't," Mylo said omniously. Grayson looked at him. "You don't know Jinx. She's never gonna get caught by a cop. She hated cops even when we were kids, let alone now she has to keep tabs 'cause of Silco. I'd be surprised if he doesn't come back concussed."
"Then we will have a problem," Grayson replied tiredly. "We need to keep both you and Finn safe. We'll have to try to get to Silco before he runs away-"
"He's not gonna run away," Vander said to the floor.
"Great, then we'll get the boy to tell us his address or get a warrant ready for his credit card info, find purchases we can trace down his address to. Freeze his assets while we're at it," Grayson continued without missing a beat. "Should give us time to bring him in."
"But you said he'd walk out easily without actual proof," Claggor recalled. "Wasn't that the whole reason why you hadn't done that yet? And what are you gonna base the warrant on?"
"He didn't know we were actively going after him yet," Grayson replied. "Our priorities have sorted themselves out."
"But Silco doesn't know anything, and we don't know what Powder will tell him, if anything."
"Precisely. We don't know, but I don't trust the girl to stay quiet in the state she's in. And again, Silco isn't stupid. We need to go on worst case scenario."
"Finn can't get proof if he's hiding," Vi said, her voice straining not to rise.
"He can't get proof if he's dead," Grayson corrected matter-of-factly. "If your sister doesn't mention your involvement, like Vander thinks, there's a small chance you might be safe, but she has no reason to extend the courtesy to Silco's opposition."
"She won't say anything about us," Vander repeated quietly, and even that was enough to make Vi feel like she had been punched in the chest. She tried to focus on the sting on her cheek when the soaked towel touched an open cut.
"Why won't he run away?" Mylo asked Vander. "You've been saying he isn't stupid, why would he wait for the police to come?"
"It's not a matter of being stupid, it's a matter of pride," Vander answered him. "Silco didn't get where he's at for no reason. He has people in his pocket, knows how to work with the law and even more around it. He won't go into hiding if he thinks he'll be attacked, he'll attack first, and hard."
"Well he's got something better than you then," Vi spat instinctively. Caitlyn stopped momentarily, looking at Vi in a pleading manner. Enough fighting for one night.
Vi didn't share the sentiment.
"None of this would've happened if you hadn't given up," she said, turning to Vander. Behind the tranches, their united front against Silco had always been plagued by that wound Vi never recovered from. "You gave my sister away."
"You know it's not that simple, Vi," Vander said quietly.
"I don't!" Vi replied, nearly making Caitlyn drop the water when she jerked her body forward. "So what if he threatened you? What could he do to you that was so much worse than me losing my sister?!"
"Vi," Grayson said firmly. "Enough."
"And you go and defend him?" she continued regardless. "What the fuck's wrong with you?"
"Why would you believe something like that so easily?" Vander asked, though he immediately knew he had made a bad call.
"Why the fuck wouldn't I believe it?!" Vi screamed, the spark of rage igniting in her chest for another round. "He's a fucking criminal, he grooms my sister, why wouldn't I believe if someone who's helping us with the case tells me he's raping her?!"
"You knew Silco when you were young, Vi," Vander tried anyway. "How many times did he look after you two? How many times did your parents leave you alone with him? I know it's been a while, but-"
"Really? You knew a guy eleven years ago and you think you know everything about him? He also did the things he's doing now back then?"
"I knew him since before you were born. He's changed alright, but not like that."
"Well great, 'cause the last thing I need is my sister suffering through that too!"
"Then where did this story comes from? Pedophilia is a serious accusation."
"Right, 'cause kidnapping and murder aren't."
"It's worse and you know that."
"Great! We need all the help we can get to lock him up! If I can't kill him, at least this way he'll last one day in prison."
"Don't try to do that," Vander said firmly, straightening his back. "Don't try to make up things against him, much less something like this."
"Why not? Apparently Silco's so much fucking better than any of us that we can't pin anything against him, why won't I hold on to anything remotely promising? Especially something that'll help me get my sister away from him fast?" Vi demanded. "You want to do everything by the book even if that means we're stuck on some technicality!"
"Making up accusations isn't a technicality," Grayson said.
"He's guilty and we have to get him somehow. You didn't let me testify against him when he kidnapped Powder-"
"He didn't kidnap-"
"Fuck that shit!" Vi screamed, standing up and cutting Grayson off. Caitlyn salvaged the basin by sheer luck. "You two are the same! You're both scared of him! Fight back, for fuck's sake! Act, do something! How could you just accept things without fighting back?! Stop being cowards!"
"Vi," that was Claggor now. "Come on. Vander kept us safe. He's fighting, isn't he? Just because he doesn't go fists swinging doesn't mean-"
"Powder still lives with Silco, not us," Vi cut him off. "Still lives with all that crime and drugs and violence and who knows what else and it's fucking with her head. He let that happen, 'cause he's scared. What the fuck did you do to him, anyway?" she threw at Vander, who frowned and lowered his gaze. " 'Cause this whole thing has to do with that, and you know about it," she turned from Vander to Grayson. "Don't you? That's why 'we have to do it right'. You both say the same thing 'cause there's something else going on here that you don't fucking tell us, and my sister is the one that suffers because of it! He has some dirt on you two, doesn't he?"
Grayson faced Vi's fury with a tired but firm stare. Vander raised his head slowly, but before he could say or deny anything, the doorbell rang. Mylo sparked to life and went to the door, but Grayson strided in front of him and clicked the button to open the building's door. She waited with the door ajar for Marcus to climb up the stairs with Powder and Ekko, but everything was too quiet outside for it to be a sign he was escorting Powder back. Vi could read the acknowledgement of that fact in the Chief's body language, the slight lowering of her shoulders and the deep breath she took.
Some neighbour must've finally got sick of the noise and decided to peek to the stairway when they heard the footsteps climbing up, because they heard Marcus's voice assuring everything was alright and that the situation was under control, using his police uniform as a stamp of authority. A softer voice replied something back; Vi wondered if it was the downstairs neighbour who had the newborn baby. Yeah, it sucked, but it's not like their situation here was better.
The steps echoed quietly and Ekko came in, followed closely by a non-concussed but definitely irked and slightly limping Marcus. There were patches of dirt on his uniform that weren't there before, like he had fallen to the ground.
Powder wasn't with them.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," he said to Grayson when he closed the door. "This one helped the girl escape."
"You attacked her and pointed a fucking gun at her!" Ekko said at once, and if Vi needed any more reasons to want to punch someone, Ekko had just shoved them in her face. Vander stood up from the chair too.
"How the fuck dare you?!" she stepped to the son of a bitch but Caitlyn held her back by the arm.
"Enough," Grayson said once again, this time using the full power of her voice. She had no need to scream. "Here's what we're going to do. You're under police protection, and Finn too. You'll be moved to secure location as soon as I wake up my agents."
"We're not safe here?" Mylo asked, his expression growing paler.
"Child, Silco knows where you live, work and go to school," Grayson replied so simply it would've been funny in any other time. She turned to Ekko. "And you know where he lives."
"Listen, Grayson..."
"The damage is done, Ekko," Grayson interrupted him. "I'm trying to stop it from blowing up in our faces."
"You're interfering with police investigation," Marcus snarled. "Spit it out already."
"I can't betray Jinx like that. She won't say anything about us to him. And weren't you supposed to be 'doing it right'?" Ekko reminded, and fuck, Vi hated those words.
"Doing it right is preventing the violence a vicious criminal is capable of," Marcus replied angerly. "This isn't about your stupid teenage romance, this is police business. You know a vital piece of information, you tell us."
"Listen, I hate Silco and I want him in jail for the things he does, but I'm not gonna betray Jinx to-"
"You can't have everything, Ekko," Grayson said. "Anything we do against Silco will be read as an attack by her. It's too late."
"But the same is true the other way," Caitlyn spoke. The room turned to her and she put firmness behind her voice. "Isn't that the real problem here? You both want to do what's best for Powder, but it fundamentally rests on removing the other part of her life, and she wants to keep you both."
"Silco doesn't want what's best for my sister," Vi spat immediately, but Caitlyn shook her head.
"Vi, I understand how important this is for you, but we should try to be rational here," she asked patiently. "Misguided as his intentions may be, Silco clearly cares for Powder. We may not agree and see how it doesn't benefit her, but he's doing what he thinks is best. We have Vander's word for that, too. And Silco also thinks that you are a bad influence on Powder. But Powder wants to protect you and keep you in her life regardless. Anything any of you do against the other will be read as an attack by her, because it is. She's in a constant state of stress and alert trying to stop you from removing each other from her life."
"So we're the ones at fault that my sister is depressed?" Vi demanded, turning to Caitlyn in defiance.
"You both are. Because you're opposing each other and trying to push the other away." Clearly there was some compromise from both parts, otherwise how could they have lived like this for seven years? How did they live like this? Caitlyn didn't mean to judge, but it felt like an honestly unbearable balance. Powder was not an easy person to deal with, and she knew Powder's dislike for her borderlined the blind hatred, but the poor girl hadn't had it easy to begin with. "Powder will read it as an attack too if Silco does something against any of you. She's stuck between you two, it's disheartening."
"Kiramann, I understand what you're trying to say, but it doesn't change our problem," Grayson said. "We are trying to arrest Silco. That is an attack, and we have to prevent what he will counterattack with."
"I know, ma'am. What I'm saying is, I agree with Vander and Ekko. Despite how angry she is, Powder won't reveal anything about them. Because if Silco goes after any of them, Powder will be hurt. And Silco wants to protect Powder."
"What're you saying?" Mylo asked. "He won't do anything because of her?"
"Maybe he loves Powder more than he hates you."
"Whose side are you on?!" Vi snapped at her.
"What you've said. That Silco always attacks first. He never openly attacked any of you, did he?" Caitlyn asked the room.
"Yeah, except when he kidnapped my sister and threatened us!" Vi yelled, those moments fully engarved in her mind, when Vander came back home and told her 'Powder will live with Silco now', 'He'll make me lose all of you, Vi, I have to', 'He's dangerous', 'It's for the best'.
"Why not just remove you entirely from her life?" Caitlyn asked, not mentioning how Silco had got to Powder in the first place; Vi had confided in her with pain and shame, and she didn't want to make it sound like she was accusing her girlfriend.
"He tried," Ekko said; he recalled when Jinx stopped going to school and all their classmates would ask him what was wrong, if she had moved to another city, if she would miss them, if she was okay.
"And yet you know where he lives," Caitlyn reaffirmed. "You go to his house, Ekko. You could've placed a bug there that might've exposed his crimes, but he let you go there anyway because Powder loves you. She was here to spend the weekend, wasn't she? He let's you stay in her life, under threats, yes, but let's you stay because he knows she cares for you. He wants her to be happy despite his own wishes."
"Great, the criminal has a heart," Marcus sneered. "Is that your case, Kiramann? You won't make it far in the force."
Caitlyn inhaled, trying to stand her ground depiste his words. Vi turned back to him, fists shut tight.
"I would put you under police protection," Vander said, an edge to his voice that normally wasn't there. "You've hurt my daughter. Silco doesn't have my self-restraint."
"He will be stupid to attack a police officer," Marcus snarked.
"I just think... maybe we are taking bigger steps than we should," Caitlyn tried again, fearing the tension would rise again. "Place Finn under protection, yes, but if Powder doesn't say anything, Silco will have no reason or want to go after any of them."
"Vander's not the only one who knew Silco, Kiramann," Grayson said. She sounded tired, but it didn't make her look weak. Just like you should pay extra attention to every word she said. "That girl is going home to him. He had chronic insomnia when he was young, and I don't imagine it has improved in the past decade. When he sees the state of distress she is in, he will know something has happened, and whether or not it was Vander's or Vi's fault, he will assume it is. He is the one that will read it as an attack. If she is hurt, he will react."
"Ma'am."
"You're all under police protection. You will be moved. We will get a warrant for Silco's credit card and find his address. Like I said to begin with."
.
Jinx was breathless when she got to their building, but she had stopped running ages ago because her back had started to pinch from her bad fall. They lived in different neighbourhoods, one hour apart by foot and taking shortcuts, but it felt like an eternity of panting and snarling down sobbing fits. It wasn't a cold night, but she was severely underdressed to spend so much time outside, essencially wearing only a bra and half a fishnet shirt on her upper body. The people she crossed paths with, a couple coming home from a party and a group of friends in a public bench, had looked warily at the state she was in, but Jinx hadn't given them the chance to show whether they had wanted to help or take advantage of her. She was so disturbed that her primal reaction to the car that had slowed down creepily next to her was to back kick the door violently, making the two guys inside come out yelling and threatening her. It hadn't taken long for one of them to gag on his words.
"Shit, she's the Eye's girl," the driver had said, pale under the street light.
"What the fuck?" the other guy had asked, turning to him in annoyance.
"Blue haired Rapunzel, it's her," the first one replied, going back to his side of the car. "Let's go, man."
"But the little bitch-!"
"Let's go, man! We're sorry, okay? We meant no harm, we just-"
"Fuck off!" Jinx had yelled at him, and the two guys had scrammed out of there.
She bit her teeth hard while she pushed the fucking tears away, struggling to find the keys to the building's door, but when she pulled them out clanking she realized they were wrong. They were Vander's, the metallic teddybear keychain with pink and blue crosses on its eyes was Vander's not Silco's. She punched down the pockets in her pants again even though she knew she didn't have them, she didn't have the keys, she'd left them in her bag and she'd left it in their bedroom 'cause she was supposed to spend the night there, she had only taken her phone, some cash and Vander's keys to the club, she'd fucked up, she'd fucked up again, how was that fucking possible?! She'd left the keys in their house!
She only needed a tiny push for the dam to break and that felt like a fucking punchbag hitting her across the face. Jinx dropped at the doorstep and, sank her face in her arms and just bawled. What the fuck was she gonna do now? Wake Silco up? Even if he was still awake, what was she supposed to tell him?! She was supposed to go quietly back to her bedroom, sink in her bed and forget about the world for some hours, now what?! She was alone in the street, who knows how late in the evening it was already, with no phone, beaten and battered by two thugs in the same night, how could she hope to tell anything to Silco that wouldn't make him tilt?
What was she gonna tell Silco? What could she tell him? How could she tell him everything she had found out about Finn tonight without mentioning Vi and Vander and everyone else?
Jinx ripped the beanie off her head and pulled her hair with a shove, sinking the heels of her hands hard against her face, wanting it to hurt to let something off, she was gonna explode, and it fucking did, she hit the spot where Sevika had punched her and it made her whimper like a wounded animal. Then she started coughing loudly, because of course she would, everything had to happen. A dog started to bark nearby, the sound made sharper when a window opened.
"Young lady? Are you alright?" a voice asked above Jinx and she jumped up, looking at the window next to the building door. The old lady from the first floor was looking worringly at her, pressing her robe against her chest. Her tiny dog was barking inside. "Goodness, you're Mr Silco's daughter! Let me open the door, dear."
Jinx gaped, seeing the woman retreat to her house and go press the automatic lock. The building door opened with a loud click, and Jinx took a moment to understand she could push it open, that this first obstacle to go home was now overcomed.
The old lady opened the door to her house and urged her to come in, her dog that looked like a walking cottonball barking at her feet. "Good heavens, are you alright? Let me get you a glass of water."
"I just want... I just wanna go home," Jinx replied, sniffing and shivering.
"Of course, let me walk you up, let's go, dear, everything will be alright."
"You know where I live?" Jinx asked, confused.
"You're Mr Silco's daughter, from 3 Left, right?"
"You know him?"
"He's a very polite young man, always holds the door open for me," the old lady explained, securing her house keys tightly as she shut her apartment door with her dog safely inside and gently nudged Jinx towards the stairs as if she was afraid to break her by accident. "He's mentioned you're a wonderful young lady and of course I've seen you already, with that beautiful hair of yours. Let's get you home, dear."
"I don't have my keys," Jinx said, and that newest failure made her voice crack and tears spill again. Her sobs echoed in the stairway even though she tried to hide them behind her hand. The neighbour lady shushed her, rubbing her back softly.
"It's alright, dear, it's alright, I'm with you, we'll talk with your father," the old lady reassured her.
She tripped on the steps and almost fell down, but they managed to get to their house and Jinx watched as the neighbour softly knocked on the door.
"Mr Silco? It's Grace, from the first floor," she said probably too quietly for it to be heard from the bedroom, but the door opened immediately, revealing Silco in pyjamas but fully awake, his eyes widening as he looked at Jinx.
"My God, Jinx?" he dropped something to the interior of the apartment (in the back of her mind Jinx knew it was the pocket knife he had been holding) and pulled her against him at once, holding her in an anxious hug. "What happened?!"
Fuck, Jinx thought, Silco was up. Of course Silco was up, because of course he had to be.
"She was outside, I opened the door for her," the old lady explained softly as Silco held Jinx's bloodied and make-up ruined face in his hands and Jinx gave it her all to not look at him, not yet, she'd start screaming if she did, she couldn't think, she couldn't think-
"Thank you, Mrs Grace, I'll take care of everything."
"Do you need anything, Mr Silco?" the old lady asked, her expression showing her full worry now that she was talking to another adult.
"Thank you, I'll take care of everything," he repeated, pulling Jinx inside with him. "Have a good night, apologies for the trouble."
The old lady still said something but Silco had shut the door already, pulling Jinx into another hug that felt even more panicked than the first.
"Jinx, are you alright? What happened, please tell me."
Her instinct was just to push him and run and hide in her room, ignore his calls for her and just shut the door in his face, but Silco didn't give her the chance to do any of that, sitting her down on the couch and kneeling in front of her.
"Who did this to you? What happened?"
She was just trying to help. She was trying to help again but she just fucked up, she fucked up again...
The only way you help is getting out of everyone's lives, jinx, you fucking jinx, because you're a jinx-
Jinx opened her mouth and screamed, screamed when Silco grabbed her wrists to stop her from clawing at her hair and face, screamed against his chest where he buried her face, screamed until it felt like her throat was bleeding and finally screamed when she thought she was choking and the only sound that came out was a rasped shriek. Silco was telling her something she couldn't hear but he kept doing it anyway, trying to lift her from the floor when she curled around herself. He couldn't do it, but kept trying anyway.
it's my fault, it's my fault, they know about him, they're coming to take him away, I helped them, it's my fault, it's my fault-
"It's not your fault, come here."
it's my fault it'smyfaultit'smyfault-
"Jinx, come here, you're safe, breathe..." Silco was still trying to soothe her but she wasn't safe, they weren't safe because of her, she was a liability, Sevika wasn't lying, she was a problem, she was the problem, everyone wanted to get rid of the problem, everyone had to get rid of the problem, it was for the best otherwise this happens, the cops were gonna arrest him because of her, she was a liability, she'd left them the keys, they know, they know they KNOW- "It's not your fault if the police comes, Jinx."
"It is!" she sobbed when she finally realized the voice in her head was actually her own speaking out loud. "Don't you understand, I can't do anything right! I'm a liability, I'm a jinx!"
"Please, breathe and tell me what happened."
"We can't stay here," she realized, snapping up so fast she made Silco fall back on the floor, pushing the coffee table with his weight. "We can't stay here, they'll come take you, we can't, it's my fault, I left the keys, I didn't deny it, they think you're raping me, Finn, but I- I'm sorry-"
"What?" he said, scrambling up to his feet.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was just trying to help, I was just trying to help!"
"Jinx, what happened?"
"Please, we can't stay here, the cops are coming to arrest you!"
"I'm not going anywhere, Jinx," Silco said firmly, holding her gently by the shoulders to make her look at him, to breathe. "Please, tell me what happened, from the start. You're hurt. Who did this to you?"
"We need to get out of here, Silco, please," Jinx repeated, and the way Silco shook his head made her want to start bawling again. "Please, come on!"
"You need to rest. You need to feel safe right now. I'm not taking you to a strange place to-"
"I can't feel safe here! Please, let's go somewhere, anywhere, please!"
"You need to wash yourself, change clothes. You're home, I will keep you safe."
"No! I fucked up, Silco!" Why wasn't he listening to her?! "The police is after you, they have a case against you, Finn, he's in it with the cops! He's not turning the barons, he has a deal with the cops! They know about the organization, they know about you, and now they think you're raping me too! Finn told them that!"
"Did he now."
"There was a fight at the club, Sev- I mean..." Could she mention Sevika without mentioning Vi? How was she supposed to explain what prompted the fight? It'd be so much more simple if she just lied, but she couldn't lie to Silco, could she? She couldn't think so much right now, she just wanted them to go somewhere! "The cops showed up, and that fucking pig threw me to the ground and pinned me down-"
"Finn did this to you?" Silco asked, looking at the state of disarray of her clothes, not just because Sevika had ripped her fishnet shirt but because she had patches of dirt on her trousers and scratches on her body. His voice wasn't so soothing anymore but Jinx couldn't really register it.
"No, it was a cop, he tried to arrest me, threw me to the ground and made up a bunch of stuff I didn't do, he pushed Ek- the fucking- stupidass cop with his stupid fucking mustache-"
"What's the name of this cop?"
"I, I don't know his name, he's a stupid looking cop, works with the lady boss..."
"Grayson."
"They... Finn's working with them. I'm sorry, Silco, they were using me, the fucking Shimmer kiddie stuff wasn't him, it was the cops, to use me to get to you, and I made it worse, I was trying to help and when Finn said that stupid thing about you I just... he told the cops... they know about you, they know a lot, and I left- I mean, I dropped my keys, in the whole mess, I- if they find out where we live, they-"
"If the police finds out where we live, they won't need your keys to enter," Silco reassured her. Jinx needed any and all proofs that she wasn't guilty, no matter how simple they might seem. "And it's not your fault if they make up crimes against me. They believe what benefits them."
"Can we go now, please?" Jinx pleaded, but Silco shook his head again. "You can't stay here, Silco!"
"Will you calm down if we go to a hotel, then?"
"No," Jinx said, sniffing. "No, people will see us, everyone fucking recognizes me everywhere, they can tell the cops, if-"
"We'll be safe, I promise you."
"No... Don't you have somewhere safe, anywhere else, someplace the police can't find you?"
Silco exhaled and compromised. "Okay, we'll go somewhere else. But you will breathe, wash your face, and you will rest, do you hear me?" He actually waited for her to nod before he let go of her shoulders, instructing her to gather her things for a day or two away.
While Jinx went to her bedroom with urgency in her every step, Silco went to his, changing into the clothes he had ready for the next day and picking his cellphone and charger. His movements were contained, deliberate, keeping the appearance of calm he needed Jinx to see and feel.
He wanted to pick the first thing at hand and throw it against a wall.
He didn't expect much different from Grayson and the police. They would make a move sooner or later, and deep down he knew they would try to use his daughter to get him. And he wasn't surprised about Finn either. It made sense. It even made sense that he would believe and spread a rumour about him just to denigrate his image.
No.
Finn was nothing. The police were nothing.
It was them that were the problem.
Jinx wasn't in that state of distress just because of Finn or the police. He had seen her like this before, in this panic and hurt. In the night he first took her in. When her sister hit her.
They were involved. Jinx had gone to the club with them. Something happened there, while Jinx was with them. With that boy Ekko, the two boys Vander had taken in, with her sister. Whatever case Grayson was building didn't start tonight with some accusation added by Finn, they had been doing it for a while, Grayson and Vander and that Vi girl. She, unlike Grayson and Vander, had no qualms in trying to take Jinx away from him. Of using Jinx to get to him, regardless of what it would do to her, of how betrayed and guilty it would make her feel when she found out.
No one else would leave Jinx in this state but Vi.
She hurt Jinx again.
And Vander should've known better than to let that happen.
Silco had to fight against the sense of vertigo that made the world lurch forward when he turned too fast, grabbing a hold of the wall to keep standing. He had been up for hours, the painful throbbing around his eye spreading to his whole head and making every second feel like he was about to be sick. He had almost ventured to try and give himself a shot, but he had taken Shimmer just the day before, he couldn't take another dose so soon - or he shouldn't, at least. He already had enough problems on his hands to add the fact his body was building a much faster resistance to the drug than ever before. Like any good addict. He had been holding his head between his hands to keep it from exploding, about to give up and attempt the assembly of the syringe under the nauseating pain, when the noise in the stairs had alerted him and he picked his knife. Then the downstairs neighbour had knocked on the door, and had to try to calm down a sobbing and injured Jinx.
Silco was in too much physical and mental pain to be excused that his instintive response was murder.
He punched his phone on the way to the living room, shoving the syringes and Shimmer doses into a bag and picking up his knife from the floor while he waited for Sevika to pick up. It was over 5AM, but she answered rather fast.
"Sir, I can explain," it was what she started with.
"What?" he asked, straightening back up.
There was a rummaging sound on her end. "I mean..." Sevika cleared her voice slightly. She didn't sound like she had been asleep. "Things got out of hand, I-"
"I don't have time for this right now," he cut her off, approaching the window and away from Jinx's room. "Listen to me. Find Finn. Keep him safe for me."
"Sure thing."
"Find which policeman was called to a fight in a club tonight, together with Grayson. I want to give him a gift." He shut the blinders with a shove. "And do the same with Vander's boys. Have Deckard deliver it."
"Alright."
"I want a party at Vander's bar. Make it a blast."
"Locke will make a reservation."
"And I want you to have a conversation with our friend Vi."
Sevika gave a moment of pause before she said: "How serious?"
"So she'll understand."
Sevika understood it, too. After a sound of agreement on her side, Silco ended the call.
.
to be continued
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Author's Note: I just discovered an artist called Banshee (bansheebbyy on instagram) which gave me the sort of vibe Jinx's music project has in this fic. Definitely much more techno and fairy-like/thematic (the sound sometimes reminded me of Alice Madness Returns OST metallized, like "Never Forgive") than what I picture Jinx's sound to be here (which would be very guitar and drums based and very depressive/self destructive in terms of lyrics), but overall Banshee's full solo project and the use of growls/shrieking voice in her music like in "Fairy Metal" and lyrics like "LSD" are quite interesting. And her instagram definitely has the vibes I imagine Jinx would have in her socials in this fic. I could definitely picture Jinx here to later make an album with the same vibe as Bashee's work.
Yes, I know the band/music part of the story has been put to the side to give space to the crime part, but we're going into an intermission soon.
Thanks for reading. The fact that so many people click on this fic still surprises me. I hope you also check the music recs I give! Even if you don't like the songs, at least be aware they exist.