A/N: Welp, my story keeps on growing! Thank you so much to the people still reading and watching this fic, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and for those that are new, welcome!

A Discovery

Three people sat in an academy room around a circular table, the three people in question being Jinx, Jayce, and a renowned physician by the name of Dr. Oikos, Jayce apparently called him in as he specializes in Cardiology.

While crossing out an idea with her marker, Jinx looks at the both of them, "This is so stupid! It's been months, Top Hat is two months away from giving birth and we have fuck all to show for it."

Jayce grits his teeth, "Jinx, complaining about it gets us nowhere, this is going to be a very difficult procedure, of course an answer isn't going to be that easy."

Jinx scoffs, "Yeah well, I still stand by my idea of an artificial heart."

Oikos shakes his head, "That type of technology is pretty new relatively speaking, while I would like to be the first doctor to ever put an artificial heart inside a baby, the risks are great, not to mention many hearts end up needing to be replaced because the power source starts to fail, a baby would have a hard time living with this reality and surviving the operation, especially a baby in his condition."

Jinx screams in frustration, were they going to fail? Was she going to fail, again? Of course you're going to fail, Jinx. Mylo sneers.

Claggor remains silent but she can tell he agrees with Mylo. Claggor was always a quiet child, sometimes he spoke up whenever Mylo was hurtling vitriol at her, but he never fought for her like Vi did, it was like he was too afraid to rock the boat of their family dynamic, the times when he would cheer her on whenever she beat Mylo at that arcade game, are among the few cherished memories of support.

That wasn't to say he was never nice to her, or never showed his love for her, but so many times whenever Mylo was laying into her, poking her hard with his finger, she wishes that he would have fought for her like Vi did, she fought for herself well enough, but the support of family is invaluable.

Just as she was ready to speak again, much to the wariness of both Oikos and Jayce, both noticing she was having one of her "moments", the door to their room was burst through by some overeager academic hoping to earn brownie points with the Golden Boy.

"Mr. TALIS! MR. TALIS! I have exceptional new-"

At the look on Jayce and Jinx's faces he immediately stopped whatever he was going to say, both Jayce and Jinx were legends in their own right, both for different reasons, but one thing they had in common was their reputation in battle, Jinx, the loose cannon, who never went down no matter what or who she was up against, the embodiment of a nightmare on the battlefield. Jayce, the legendary warrior who carried a freakishly large warhammer that he defeated countless foes with, his battles with Viktor, The Machine Herald, are the stuff of legend.

Both of them at this very instant were giving this young student such a terrifying look that men and women far tougher than him would have sooner surrendered than fight on. Suddenly the student found himself incapable of speaking, sweat poured down his face, and he started to breathe heavily.

Jayce was the first to snap out of his rage, he sighs in irritation before speaking, "Well? Out with it. You just interrupted our attempts to save my nephew, my sister's son, so it better be a damn good reason."

Jinx's face visibly softens at Jayce calling Klaus his nephew and Caitlyn his sister, she smiles, if there was one common ground they could find, it was their family.

The student quickly stops his paralyzed fear and speaks, "R-right, s-s-so as-as I was g-g-going t-t-to s-say. T-t-the H-h-h-hex Ab-ab-absorber, is a c-c-complete suc-suc-success."

Jinx snorts, "Sheesh kid, you stutter more than a person who's been shot by my Zapper."

Jayce looks at her unamused, before staring back at the student, "Breathe, now what's this about the Hex Absorber? It passed it's field testing?"

The student takes a moment before nodding, "Yes, with the added tip by Ms. Jinx here to make little incisions on the gemstone, the absorber should be able to absorb at least ninety percent of the arcane essence inside the stone, as opposed to the fifty percent before."

Jayce nods, a small smile forming on his lips at his success, "Thank you, next time however, wait until I'm done here, these meetings are a matter of life and death, and I don't want to be disturbed for future reference."

The student nods graciously, before exiting the room.

Jinx had been in her own mind while they were conversing, Oikos had said that the technology behind artificial hearts is pretty new, and that there were complications associated with them, but what if... The proverbial lightbulb lit up in her mind, of course, the arcane energy from the Hex Absorber!

"Golden Boy, you just solved the problem without even meaning to do it." Jinx says with a wolfish grin.

Jayce raises an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"It should have been so obvious, it was right in front of us, make sure to thank that kid later, after he's done changing his pants." She says with a smile.

Jayce looks at her bemused and Jinx merely sighs, "The Hex Absorber, with that we can suck the arcane energy out of a stone, create an artificial heart, and since I know all of the runes by heart, I can make it so that the arcane energy acts as an eternal power source for his heart!" Jinx says excitedly.

Jayce is beyond impressed with the suggestion, though there were some little kinks to work out, "That is an excellent idea, except the heart isn't the only issue, after seeing the test results of the prenatal, we all know that the rest of his insides are badly damaged, we can build an artificial heart, some organs however cannot be replaced, if artificial hearts are still new, the science behind other artificial organs are in their infancy, not developed enough for practical use."

Jinx scowls, of course, leave it to her to get so caught up in one thing that she forgets about the twelve other things that are important too. Caitlyn could be forgiven for not mentioning the other details immediately after barging into her workshop to tell her of the bad news, as the heart was obviously the most pressing issue, but the other organs could prove to be really bad too, if not fatal.

Jayce smiles, "Still though, it's great progress, much better than where we were before. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to prepare the Hex Absorber, the energy we need from one gemstone should be more than enough to power a heart."

As Jayce walks out of the room, Jinx is once again in deep thought, what were they going to do about the other organs? They were so preoccupied on the heart for the past few weeks that they forgot about his other problems. What could possibly heal the-

Another realization occurs to her, though this was one was far less exciting for her than the one before. She hates herself for even thinking of it. No, no, no, no, no, no, how could she do that to her own family? There had to be another way! There had to be!

The logical part of her mind though knew there wasn't, no other thing could heal people so quickly and efficiently, she grimaces.

Oikos notices the look in her eyes, "You've discovered something else, haven't you?"

Jinx decided right there that her and Oikos were kindred spirits when it came to unorthodox methods. "Yeah, I did. Though I hate that I came up with the answer. There's only one thing that can heal severe injuries or deformities so quickly: Shimmer."

Instead of outrage and disavowal, Oikos responds with a fascinated expression. "Interesting, if we could find a refined variant of it, like the one you had injected into yourself, it could work."

Jinx frowns, while she doesn't want to share the true gory details of how she was transformed like this, times like this make her want to shout that she would never do something like this to herself, she could still faintly remember her father's words as she lay on the operating table, how tough she was, how she could take whatever Singed had planned, if only he knew.

Oh it gave her power and strength beyond measure, but it also increased her aggression and further destabilized her already wrecked mind, it's only because she's had it in her system for so long that the effects of it have become tame in comparison, but she can still feel that dark impulse every once in a while, added with the darkness that was already inside her.

"Forget it Doc, I'm not going to condemn someone who's family to this, trust me, power like this comes at a cost, and I'm not leaving my nephew to pay the bill." Jinx states with a solemn expression.

Oikos nods, "I understand Jinx, my professional curiosity aside, it would be a hard burden to bear, but what other choice do we have?"

Jinx sighs, Noxus and the Freljord have mages with healing magic, but in either case it's not as simple as calling them up and asking for help, the Noxians conscript all of their mages for war, so asking for one of their warriors to help seemed very unlikely.

Maybe if they opened a line of communication they could communicate with the Freljord, but with that came time for negotiations, Clan Kiramman served as an official and important part of the Piltovan government, asking for another nation's help with a personal matter was no small ask, add to the fact that the Freljordians were an isolationist people and they didn't have a Hexgate, and well, doing anything with them would take far too much time, time her nephew didn't have. Shurima wouldn't help for the same reason Noxus and Freljord wouldn't and couldn't, mages are powerful assets to them, and the disparate tribes were too focused on survival to help another family from a random city-state, mages, especially mages specializing in healing magic would be a precious resource to a tribe, not to be handed out for the personal needs of foreigners who need help, and Ionia focuses exclusively on spiritual magic.

Any mages in Demacia or Piltover and Zaun would be in hiding, while Hextech has been embraced, mages themselves are still viewed with distrust and in the case of Demacia, hatred.

She sighs in frustration, she hates the tiresome nature of politics with a passion, and at times she was tempted to resent Silco for tutoring her on the politics of Zaun and Piltover, how they interacted with each other and the rest of the world, even when she was small and called herself Powder, the lessons were there, much more simplified but there.

She knew Silco wanted her to be his successor, his heir, she came to that realization somewhere around the same time she killed her first man, one that hadn't been on accident.

She sat in the chair opposite to his desk, he stared at her, his expression a mix of concern and anticipation. "So, the deed is done then?"

Her fourteen year old self nods absentmindedly, still not over what just happened, the man she was ordered to kill was a shimmer dealer trying to cut Silco out of the profits and keep a bigger slice of the pie to himself.

What scared her the most wasn't the act, or the man himself, no, it was how easy it was for her to do it, she did everything she was ever taught on how to behave in front of an enemy, she was intimidating, cold, ruthless, which was not a small feat for a scrawny fourteen year old girl to achieve, especially in front of a fully grown man, but her reputation must have preceded her somehow.

She still remembers the shock she felt when she heard the man say 'It's you!', after kneecapping him with her gun and demanding answers, she came to find out that the story of that night at the cannery was spread like wildfire throughout Zaun, a story of a little girl who murdered Vander, the man who had taken her in his own home, along with her sister and adopted siblings, all in cold blood. That she laughed like a demon when she saw all of their deformed and broken bodies around her, before proclaiming allegiance to Silco, who was grooming her to be his successor.

People started to pass that story around like a folktale, a little girl who was evil incarnate, a pox on everyone, especially those closest to her. The last look on his face while he was still alive was one of abject fear, a dehumanizing kind of fear, as if the person looking back at you regarded you as a beast and nothing else.

Whatever semblance of sanity she had left died in that moment, she remembers ripping into the man with her knife, screaming at the top of her lungs, her clothes covered in blood, shouting obscenities, she remembers the the look of terror of everyone around her, the kill couldn't have been done in an alleyway or somewhere private, it had to be public, so that the man could be made an example of in front of the denizens of the Lanes and the rest of Zaun.

Instead of shame or sadness, she felt simultaneous anger and pleasure at the sight of their fear, good, let these disgusting little worms fear her, it'll make them think twice before disrespecting her family's memory or herself ever again. Everyone in the vicinity ran away from her and the scene of carnage, she collapsed to ground and was in tears, she spent a few seconds like that before seeing a set of very familiar boots on the ground in front of her, the person responsible for tailing her and making sure she carried out the act.

She was non-responsive and so Sevika picked her up in her arms, she faintly remembers her saying 'Good job, kid.' Though the tone of her voice didn't sound excited or proud, rather sad, and, empathetic? That doesn't sound right, Sevika at best treated her like a nuisance. Yet, that's what she heard.

She remembers requesting Sevika to take her to her hideout before she had to report to Silco, which Sevika agreed to, clearly seeing her state and knowing she needed to bathe and cool down after all of that. She also borderline begged her not to say anything to Silco, that she wanted to tell him herself, which Sevika also agreed to.

She looks at Silco with barely contained rage, "Did you know?" She asks at a pitch barely above a whisper.

Silco regards her strangely, "What are you talking about?"

She snarles and jumps up onto his desk, pointing her pistol at him, "DID. YOU. KNOW?!" She screams.

Silco raises his hand in a placating manner, "Powder, it's okay, whatever problem you have just tell me and we'll sort it ou-"

"Oh don't give me that bullshit! I heard about that exciting little story of the monstrous little girl who murdered her family in cold blood. A living curse on those around her. The only people who could have known the details of that night that are still alive are small enough that I can count them on my fingers. And someone seems to have gotten carried away with creative license." She snarls at the last part, Silco's eyes soften immediately as soon as she mentioned that story.

"Did the man you were to kill mention this story?" He asks with care.

She scoffs, "Like you don't know? I bet he was some twisted form of a test, maybe someone who was in debt to you, someone who agreed to test your little soldier so that you'd forgive his debts and not pass them on to his family."

"Powder..." Silco starts, but she isn't finished, "No, I want to know! What was it like altering the narrative of your daughter's tragedy and twisting it into a horror story? After all, you always tell me to become what people fear, right?! What better way than to make up a horrible story of an unlovable and disgusting monster who ruthlessly murdered her family?! Well I guess the unlovable and disgusting part is right, but seriously? Me laughing as they all died around me?! I gotta give you a ten out of ten for morbid creativity, Pops!" She says the last word with utter acidity.

Silco sits up, "Powder, that's enough!" He rarely ever raises his voice, especially to her, which is enough to make her pause.

"Now, why-" But he doesn't finish, Powder collapses on his desk, and is an utter emotional wreck, her sobs echo through the whole room, and Silco immediately gets up to hold her in his arms.

"How could you do this to me?" She says through her tears.

Silco holds onto her even tighter in response, "I would NEVER do this to you, do you hear me? Never. I want you to be strong, the world is filled with enemies and you're going to need to be stronger than all of them if you're going to thrive in Zaun, if you're going to take my place once I'm gone."

Powder looks up at him with wide eyes, so Silco did want her to take his place eventually? The corners of Silco's mouth subtly curve upwards into a smile, "But I would never do it in this way. I know how much you loved them, even if one of them did betray you before she died, even if one of them was the brother that maimed me and tried to kill me, I respect your love of them enough to never do what you accuse me of."

She hiccups, "I-if you didn't, then who did?" Silco shakes his head, "I wish I knew, that story hasn't been exactly good for me either, Vander is still venerated by everyone in Zaun, which is partly the reason why I had commissioned that memorial to be built in his honor."

"You-you really think I'm good enough to be your successor?" She asks skeptically, Silco caresses her cheek, "You're so hard on yourself, little one. I know it. You will be great. You will be magnificent. You will be perfect. You will inspire fear and respect into everyone's hearts, and you'll never live in fear or be alone, not as long as I still breathe."

Powder's heart warms at this but looks down contemplatively, then looks back up at him, "Th-then I will be, but I won't be by your side as Powder anymore, she's nothing but a weakling who screwed up everything and killed her family, and I need to be strong to make you proud, to be worthy."

Silco hums at this, "Then who will you be?"

Powder thinks back to that memory, 'BECAUSE YOU'RE A JINX! Do you hear me?! Mylo was right!'

A jinx, a curse, a hex, something that brings nothing but bad. She smiles, Vi was right, she is a jinx, but instead of being a jinx for her family, like Powder was, she'll be a jinx for her enemies, they will all cower in fear at the sound of her name, she'll show them, she'll show them all.

She'll play the role she's been given.

Powder looks at Silco firmly, "From now on, you can call me Jinx."

Silco is impressed with her choice, and nods in approval, "Very well, Jinx."

Jinx smiles, maybe by being what Silco says she can be, by being strong, she won't be in pain anymore.

If anything, the pain that broke her on that fateful night remained stronger than ever, and her anger grew. If only her father knew how much of a disappointment she truly is. Here she was, ready to condemn her nephew to the same fate Singed gave her, there had to be another way! And yet...

No, there was no other option, Unless... another realization hit her, she didn't need to give him shimmer or the arcane energy by themselves.

She dons a determined expression, "Doc, we don't have to do them separately, what would you say if I said we could put the arcane energy of a stone together with the Shimmer juice, and then use the new substance to power his heart and heal his organs through his circulatory system that would be pumped full of the substance by his new heart?"

Oikos was floored, the power of Shimmer and Hextech combined into a single glorious whole, the notion created so many different possibilities in his mind. "That-that could work, and it would be revolutionary if you pulled it off, however the combination has never been tried before, we'd be venturing into uncharted waters."

Jinx shook her head, "It's our best bet, but explaining this to Caitlyn and Vi is going to be a bitch."

They were all in Cait's study, Vi had an arm around Caitlyn in emotional support, but Jinx could tell that internally Vi is as in much distress as she is.

When Jinx made her presence known by the door they both stared at her intently, anxiety and stress thick in the air.

She just sighs and walks in, knowing this is going to be an uphill battle.

"Well, do you guys want the good news first?" That got their attention, there was no progress for months, and Caitlyn in that time was now fully pregnant, the bump in her stomach grown exponentially.

They say nothing but the look in their eyes says it all, yes, they do want good news after all this time. Jinx smiles. "Well, the good news is, we found a fun little solution to the heart problem, Golden Boy has been working on a device called the 'Hex Absorber' that can absorb the energy of a gemstone, I gave the idea of using that arcane energy to power an artificial heart, your son would never have any heart problems every again."

The elation they both felt was palpable, Vi tears up and goes to give Jinx a hug, which Jinx reciprocates. They both smile at each other before Jinx continues to speak, "Yeah so, this is still going to be a pain in the ass to do, when Klaus comes out of the womb he'll be very weak, this is gonna have to be done carefully."

Vi and Caitlyn are both pensive at this, it is a big risk, but it's either risk it or lose him for sure, Vi just looks at her, "We trust you, Jinx." Jinx's eyes start to water at that, scared and touched by their faith in her all at the same time.

"That's not the only problem, his other organs are still wrecked, the tech for artificial hearts is new, the tech for other artificial organs might as well be in a diaper too. The heart won't be enough to heal his organs."

Caitlyn looks down in sorrow at this, while Vi looks at her panicked, "But I mean, there's still hope left, right? I mean, come on! We're only two months away!" Vi's eyes moisten as she paces the room.

Before Jinx has a chance to respond, Vi storms out of the room, and slams the door behind her.

"Figures, she always did have zero patience." Jinx says in a tone that was half nostalgic and half irritated.

"Don't mind her Jinx, she's taking this really hard." Caitlyn says, Jinx smiles, "We both knew she would. I was going to say there is a solution, though to be honest if she's this pissed I'm glad I didn't say it in front of her."

"What is it? You can say it to me." Catilyn says, determined. Jinx humorlessly chuckles, "Trust me, you'll hate me for it too, I already hate myself for suggesting it. There's only one thing that could heal Klaus' organs so effectively, Shimmer."

Caitlyn's entire body goes rigid at the utterance of that word, the source of so much pain and grief for everyone, the thing that destroyed so many families, and she knows it couldn't just be a drop of it, with how damaged Klaus will be, it'll take a lot of it to heal him effectively, this is the thing that is to save her son's life?

"How? How could you of all people suggest this?" Caitlyn asks, trying to keep her anger in check, and failing to do so.

"Trust me, I know, but it's the only thing that can help, we've been at this for months Cait, no mages can help us, and medical tech has only gone so far, Shimmer has a lot of healing power, it even outbeats healing magic, but normal Shimmer isn't gonna cut it. For this to work, he's going to need the refined Shimmer that Singed put in to me." Jinx lowers her voice at the last part, in so much pain at the reality of the situation.

Caitlyn isn't having any of it, "JINX! That drug almost destroyed you! You were already unhinged and broken, that drug enhanced all of that pain and brokenness inside of you! So much so that it's amazing you're even here right now!"

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?! I would kill for any other answer or solution to the problem, but there's nothing!" Jinx screams, her expression heartbroken and furious, and whatever Caitlyn had to say next died on her tongue. She immediately goes to Jinx and embraces her.

"I'm sorry, I know you're doing your best, it's just, this is a drastic path we're taking, and I hate that you're right." Caitlyn says softly.

Jinx nods, "So do I." After a moment she adds, "There could be a way to get rid of or limit the bad effects of Shimmer, and it's what I plan to do. Combine the elements of Shimmer with the arcane energy of the stone, Oikos thinks it could be done, but the combination has never been tried, so we're kind of walking into the unknown here."

Caitlyn looks to her, "Why do you think combining them will limit the effects of Shimmer?"

Jinx looks up with a thoughtful expression before answering, "Hextech energy responds to runes, if I combine it with the healing aspects of Shimmer, I can design the runes on his heart so that the new substance specifically only does two things, power his heart, and heal his body, but there's still so much we don't know about Shimmer, it's almost alien, my theory could be wrong, but it's the best option we have."

Caitlyn says nothing for what feels like minutes, but eventually she sighs, "Do what has to be done then, I'll try to explain it to Vi, though I don't know where to start."

Jinx snorts, "Shit, I almost feel bad for you."

Caitlyn rolls her eyes, "Her reaction won't be that bad."

Jinx merely stares at her, Caitlyn sighs, "Alright, it'll be a challenge to get her to accept this."

Jinx shakes her head, "Understatement of the fucking century."

Caitlyn is curious about something else, "How will you get this refined Shimmer?"

Jinx looks down, "There's a guy I know that will give it to me, even if I have to beat it out of him, I'll need your okay since I can only leave for Zaun with your written permission."

Caitlyn raises an eyebrow, "Who?"

Jinx looks up at her, "Singed."

The rugged and worn down streets of the Lanes were largely the same as the last time Jinx was there, as were it's people.

She noticed the stares of the people around her, filled with anger and fear, she expects that. Zaun produced ferocious monsters, they were the byproduct of a broken city, everyone's lives here are awful because Zaun was designed to be awful, but there are those who saw the heart of that awfulness, and came back through the other side altered and broken, she was one of them. To the denizens of Zaun, people like her were a reminder of the ugliness of their city, the embodiment of it's black heart, and they both feared and hated her for it.

She notices the sign on a building of her favorite childhood place to eat, Jericho's. Without hesitating she walks on in, and at the sight of her Jericho's eyes widen, Jinx, the mad bomber, the loose cannon, chaos incarnate, in his place of business. The same girl who spent so much of her childhood here, who spent her birthdays here with her entire family. The same little girl who was so full of life and laughter, after so long she came back.

He looks at her with a mixture of sadness and fear, and Jinx merely gives a small smile in response, "Hey, big guy."

Jericho looks at her uncertainly, unsure why she's here, "It's okay Jericho, I'm here for my sister, her wife is pregnant and expecting twins, but her boy is dying and needs help, I need to get in touch with Singed, he has what I need."

At the mention of Vi he immediately lets down his guard, but is surprised she cares about Vi or her child, Jinx chuckles, "Yeah, I guess I decided to up and get all caring, saving my nephew's life and all. Don't tell anyone else okay? I'd hate people to think I have a heart."

Jericho prides himself on being able to see past people's physical facade and truly knowing their intent by seeing the look in their eyes, and when he stared into hers, he knew she was telling the truth.

The honesty of her words made him almost break down into tears, he thought she was gone forever, he went around the corner and gave her a bone crushing hug, which she returns.

She chuckles, "I love you too big guy, but hug me any harder, and I think you'll destroy my lungs forever."

He lets her go and she smiles at him, "So does this mean you'll help?"

He nods, but looks back at the counter, and then back at her.

She laughs, "Well, it wouldn't be a visit to Jericho's without eating your food, sure big guy, I'm in."

Jericho gave her a slip of paper that told her to head to Babette's, another person she knew once, though only when she visited Vander's bar or other occasions, both Vander and Vi would never let her anywhere near her establishment, neither did Silco.

As she arrived at the door she was supposed to be at, she knocked on it, before the viewport slid open and foreign eyes looked back at her, there was no noise before the viewport slammed close.

Jinx waited and waited. She waited so long she is tempted to leave and try again another day, before a door opens, and out comes Babette herself.

"I never thought I'd see the day. Jinx at my place of business. What do you want, girl?" Her tone had a hint of feigned indifference, but behind it was genuine curiosity.

She merely shows her the slip of paper, and Babette's eyes widen, "How did you convince Jericho to give you one of these?"

Jinx smiles, "Would you believe me if I said my sunny personality?"

Babette scoffs, "Did you threaten him? Hurt him? That man once saw you and your sister as family, how could you?"

Jinx raises a hand, "I know that, and I didn't hurt him. I told him the truth, and he decided to help me. Simple as."

Babette ponders on that, "And what's the truth?"

"My sister and her wife are expecting, but one of her kids, her son, is dying, I needed help to get in contact with Singed, and Jericho led me here." Jinx says simply.

If Babette's eyes were wide before, they were wider now, "Why would you want his help? He's not exactly the charitable sort."

Jinx laughs bitterly, "Oh trust me, I know. Still, I need refined Shimmer, and he's the only one I know who has it."

Babette hums thoughtfully at that, "Well, I know where he is, but whether it'll make it easier for you or not depends on the person holding him captive."

It was Jinx's turn to be shocked, "He's being held prisoner? By who?"

Babette stares at her, "Your old friend, Ekko, and his Firelights."

Jinx's eyes widen, the boy savior captured Singed? How?

Babette nods at her look, "I know, right? Never thought that old bastard would ever have gotten captured either. I don't know the specifics myself, you'll have to ask Ekko when you see him."

Jinx regards her with a confused expression, "You make me wait out here for almost an hour, look at me indifferently, and then when I say what answers I need you're all so eager just to cough them up? What gives?"

Babette eyes start to soften, "I didn't know who would be waiting for me on the other side of the door, the mad bomber or the girl I once knew, so I put on a mask to guard myself. Now I know why Jericho helped you, there's something different about you, something good."

She pauses, "And honestly sweetheart? My heart was broken when I learned what became of you, you're not the first to be broken by Zaun, and you sadly won't be the last, but to see the sweet little girl I once knew who once had so many hopes and dreams, twisted by anger and hatred, well, it tore me up inside to see you like that."

Jinx snorts, "Sweet? Didn't you hear the news? I murdered my family in cold blood, cackling like a monster while I did it."

Babette frowns, "I never believed that hogwash, you would have never have done that."

Jinx smiles, "Good to know."

Babette returns a smile of her own, "So, you're finally starting to heal, gotta be honest girl, never thought I'd see the day."

"That makes two of us." Jinx says, "Thanks Babette, I'll go see the boy savior. Something tells me our reunion will be eventful, to say the least."

"Don't you need directions?" Babette asks.

"Nah, little man isn't as clever as he thinks, I've known the location of their little base for a while now."

"Very well, goodbye Jinx, it was good to meet up after so long." Babette says meaningfully.

Jinx nods, her eyes softening, "Yeah, it was."

The entrance to their base was more guarded than it ever was, when Silco died it opened up a huge power vacuum in Zaun, so many factions vying for control, the Firelights became one of those factions, they were now a political force as much as they were a fighting one.

At the sight of Jinx one of the guards swore and hit a button to the side of the wall, a boisterous alarm rang out, and mere minutes later a whole battallion of the boy savior's finest surrounded her.

"You've all grown a lot since I last saw you, looks like you've eaten your veggies and taken your vitamins." Jinx says with her usual snark.

"Funny, I could have sworn I knew a little girl who hated vegetables, must have been why she turned out so small." A very familiar voice calls out.

Someone moved through the men and women and came in front to meet her, the boy savior himself was there, Jinx chuckles, "Yeah well, I'm sure if she were here, she'd say he's one to talk."

They stared at one another, so many emotions in both of their eyes, anger, sadness, grief, happiness, love.

So much unspoken pain is silently exchanged between the two of them in that moment.

Finally Ekko speaks, "What do you want Jinx?" His tone had a coldness to it, but there was also genuine concern, from his perspective this may seem like a weird move on her part, just waltzing up to the main gate of an enemy base with no weapons or seemingly any plan.

It must have look like a suicide run.

She giggles, "Yeah, it must look like I'm callin' it quits, but trust me little man, that's not why I'm here. I need to see a certain mad scientist, and word from Babette's says you have him in your custody. So, you know, if you could let me see him, I'd have a massive IOU in store for you."

Ekko tenses up at the utterance of his childhood nickname, he wasn't prepared for that, not from her of all people. He scoffs at her request, "You expect me to let you of all people in to see Singed? You're two peas in a pod, I'm risking a jail break by doing that."

Something changes in Jinx's expression, Ekko struck something deep in her when he said that her and Singed were two peas in a pod, "By Janna, you're such an asshole."

"I'M the assho-" He's interrupted, "SHUT UP!" He is taken aback by the raw emotion in her voice, her eyes are drilling into him.

"I've been called every shade of monster in the book, boy savior, but that's new, I'm like Singed? Really? Maybe while you were so busy out there crusading, dealing with one villain to the next you never bothered to actually study the enemy you were fighting. Singed is the monster that other monsters are afraid of, which you'd know if you weren't so busy being perched up on your horse!" She tearfully exclaims.

Ekko is speechless, as are the Firelights around him, not expecting this emotional outburst from Jinx of all people, but she's not done and if anything she get's even more emotional than before, "Don't worry Ekko, I don't treat people like they're lab rats, all potential experiments for my twisted curiosity, I don't smile with glee as they writhe in pain due to some twisted perversion of the scientific method, when I've dealt with enemies I made sure I instilled fear and and showed my power over them, but generally speaking they died quick deaths, there have been a few that I've dealt severe punishments to depending on what they've done to me, but compared to the slow hellish agony Singed puts all of his victims through, the mindless and horrible abominations he has made for 'science', that have suffered a fate worse than death, I'm a certified saint!" She yells.

Needless to say Ekko was not expecting any of this, the only other time he saw her this emotionally vulnerable was on that damn bridge, "Jinx I-"

"No! You suspect me, well let me put your heroic little mind at ease, little man." She says, "I'm not here for some vengeful scheme, I'm here because Vi's son, whom Vi would consider you an uncle to, is dying, unfortunately I have to meet with this lunatic so that he can give me what I need to save my nephew, so will you help me or not?"

Ekko just stands there for a few moments, he never expected Jinx to care about anything, he had hoped of course, he's had countless dreams of Jinx coming back, professing her desire to change, confessing her love for him, he's dreamed of her being the girl she used to be, increasingly ever since he saw a glimpse of it on the bridge before that explosion.

Now that she's here, all he can do is just stand there like a buffoon, completely and utterly overwhelmed. His voice is barely above a whisper, "Let her pass." A young woman who just made lieutenant looks at him incredulously, "Sir, you can't be-" Ekko turns to look at the woman, daring her to challenge him, "Let. Her. Pass!"

Jinx has a small smile on her face, "Alrighty then! I won't be long!"

As she gets closer to the entrance Ekko stands in front of her, "Uh-uh, you really are crazy if you think I'll let you go around our base unattended."

"Aw, you want to be my escort and show me around? How romantic boy savior. I'm touched." Her smile is teasing but also intoxicating, Ekko starts to get flustered and grits his teeth, "Follow me, don't touch anything you're not supposed to and don't wander off."

"Sir! Yes sir!" Jinx dramatically says with her hand doing a mock salute.

Ekko just scoffs, and leads the way.

As the Firelights grew, so did their base, which was more like a small little town now, they even built an entire detention center for people like Singed, Jinx knows they long stopped being the ragtag force of rebels she once knew, but to see it firsthand was something else. Their journey to the detention center was met with many people gawking at them, the mad bomber and the boy who stole time walking side by side, she smirks if only they knew the full history, what would they think of their illustrious leader then?

Soon they found the building they were after, and as they entered Ekko looks over his shoulder to her, "So what do you need Singed for anyways? He's not really the first person who comes to mind when I think of helping a baby." Ekko says casually while leading her to his cell.

"No shit genius, I'm not asking him to be the rugrat's nursemaid, I need a resource and he has it, end of." Jinx says rather brusquely.

Ekko raises an eyebrow, "So what is this 'resource' you're talking about?"

Jinx sighs, "Refined Shimmer."

Ekko stops in his tracks and turns to her, "You know you'd think by now I'd be used to the things that you do, but you still manage to surprise me... Why would you ever put that garbage in one of your own family members? Let alone a baby nephew?!"

Jinx snarls and gets in Ekko's face, pointing to her eyes, "These purplish pink orbs aren't for show little man, everyone is so eager to remind me of the terrible nature of the thing that is now part of me. The thing that he put in me! Trust me, I. fucking. know. I have a plan, well more of a theory really, but if it pans out, the effects should at the very least be nowhere near as bad compared to mine. Don't ever question me again when it comes to the love and care I have for my nephew."

Ekko eyes widen when she says a certain man was responsible for her altered state, he wasn't stupid, when he first saw her foreign and shining pink eyes, he knew the cause, it was briefly seen on Shimmer addicts when they got a dose of it, except hers never went away. She had gotten a certain variant of shimmer that stayed inside of her, he never knew whether she did it to herself, or if someone else was responsible, now he had his answer, and by the way she said 'he', it was the man they were about to meet.

His fists clench angrily at this revelation, he had the man that did this to her under his nose the entire time and didn't even know, violent thoughts burst through his mind, his hatred for him growing even stronger. Then he saw the way she talked about her nephew, it reminded Ekko of those books on the animal kingdom, how fierce the lioness protects her little cub.

It swelled his heart with joy to see her like that, and if he is being honest with himself, he finds her beautiful when she gets protective like that. He raises his hand in mock surrender, his voice softer now, "I'm sorry, I guess I was wrong."

Jinx huffs, "You're damn right you are, boy savior."

Her indignant reply made him desire her all the more, he mentally slaps himself for getting distracted, and clears his throat. "Alright, so his cell should be down the hall, I should go with you."

Jinx rolls her eyes but nods, as they walk, a light smile graces her lips, he thought he was slick, but she saw the look in his eyes. He grew more muscular over the years, his face more rugged, there were some scars here and there, but if anything that just added to his charm.

Soon enough she found herself getting hot and bothered before similarly berating herself for getting distracted like a ditzy schoolgirl, and before they both knew it, they arrived at Singed's cell, though it wasn't a traditional iron bar cell, the front of the cell was covered with a wall made of bulletproof glass, airholes were made in intervals on the top and bottom of said wall, there was a cot, sink, and toilet, the walls inside the cell were made of dark and irregularly shaped stone bricks.

At the center stood the man himself, with a posture one might expect of someone welcoming them into their home, "Good morning." He says casually.

He stares at her, with a sickening expression of joy, "Hello Jinx."

She simply stares at him, he's more decrepit than the last time she saw him, if that was even possible. She growls, "No time for chitchat, I need help finding something, you'll know the stuff, it's the only way something I have planned will work."

He immediately shakes his head. "Oh no, that won't do. First I need to know the experiment you have planned." Jinx looks into his eyes and believes him, his quest for scientific knowledge is insatiable, and she knew he wouldn't divulge anything unless she plays along.

"Fine, my nephew is-" "I didn't know your sister was expecting. Give her my regards." She scowls at him, "My nephew..." She starts again, with more bite, "Is dying, he has multiple severe internal injuries, his heart, kidneys, pancreas, stomach, lungs, and liver, all damaged, the heart being the worst of them, but the others not being all that better."

"How tragic, to be born and already face so many hardships." Singed says with a false tone of empathy.

"I came to you because I know you have refined Shimmer stashed away somewhere, and I need some in order for my theory to work."

At the mention of this, Singed's eerily calm countenance changes, his eyes more attentive, he walks closer to the transparent wall, "What do you wish to do with my work?"

Jinx smirks, she knew he'd be excited once she mentioned that, "Well let's just say Golden Boy has discovered a way to use the arcane energy of a gemstone by itself, and recently I had a eureka moment when it comes to combining the essences of both Hextech and Shimmer."

Singed's eyes grow more wide, his fascination and excitement were palpable, he chuckles, "My dear girl, I see saving you all those years ago was one of my greatest acts."

Jinx trembles with rage at that, he has the audacity to say that, this pathetic and disgusting excuse of existence, she smiles through her rage, "Clearly, a man like you who has been discredited, shamed, and exiled from the actual scientific community needs all the accomplishments he can cling to, and didn't you once mention having a daughter? So sad that she died so young, then again, perhaps it's better she didn't live to see the pathetic worm her father grew to be."

Ekko's eyes widen, looking at Jinx like she grew two heads, what the hell was she doing?

His eyes start to display a fury of their own, he bangs on the wall with ferocity, startling both Ekko and Jinx, though she hid it better. "I LEFT OF MY OWN VOLITION! My genius was unappreciated by that fool Heimerdinger and his collection of sycophantic underlings! They didn't understand, they couldn't have possibly understood! The mutation HAD to survive!"

Jinx rolls her eyes, "Oh sure, you tell yourself that, but we both know the truth deep down, don't we? You were cast out, considered deficient. You know what? I bet your sorry ass couldn't even help me now."

Singed is shaking with rage, he starts growling, for what feels like ages he just stays there against the glass, infuriated. "Jinx what the hell-" Ekko starts, but then Singed starts laughing humorlessly.

"I see, so that was your game, provoke me enough by insulting my intelligence and pride that I'd be forced to help you in order to prove you wrong, not bad my dear. Not bad."

Jinx shrugs, "I thought it was a good plan, did it work?"

Singed eyes seems to shift in a certain way, as if he were smiling, which is all Jinx needs to know.

"You know, I've dabbled myself with your idea a few times, I even got close to doing it, but always was missing something. My notes are all compiled at my lab, I haven't used it in years, but still use it as a place to store notes and of course, all forms of Shimmer."

Jinx nods, "Where is this lab?"

His eyes bore into her, and he chuckles darkly, "Oh, you know the place my dear, after all, it's where you were reborn."

Her mind goes quiet, only focusing on him, she notices the knife holster at the bottom of Ekko's leg, and she was strong enough to break down this glass barrier, it wouldn't break on the first try, but if she was quick and powerful enough, it should eventually give, she could end him with her hands alone, but a knife would make it extra painful. Using her enhanced speed she takes the knife from Ekko's holster, and screams as she attempts to smash the glass barrier, shocking both Ekko and Singed.

Ekko quickly gets a hold of her however, moving faster than he ever thought possible. "Dont do it! Jinx he's not worth it!"

"You're actually trying to defen-" "I'm NOT defending him! I'm trying to keep you from doing something you'll regret! If you murder him in cold blood, all of this progress you've achieved will be for nothing! Don't taint yourself again! Please! My heart couldn't take it."

She is startled at his words, she sees the look of genuine fear and pain in his eyes, a look of pleading, she could easily break free of his hold, but the longer she looks into his eyes, the more she doesn't want to, and the look eventually calms her down, "Okay." She whispers, "I won't."

Relief is emanating from Ekko in waves, he lets her go, "Okay." He releases a breath he didn't know he was holding, "That's good."

Jinx turns to glare at Singed, "What the hell are you getting out of this? I know my little provocation worked, but what else are you planning?"

He chuckles again, "My dear, the progression of science is more than enough reward for me."

Jinx narrows her eyes, normally that would be true, he loves new discoveries, but there was a small glint in his eyes that told her there was something more, and she hates not knowing.

He was up to something, unfortunately time was running out, so she couldn't ponder on it, but the look in his eyes was nothing short of terrifying.

A/N: Well, well, so ends another chapter. We're getting closer to the arrival of baby Klaus, writing his birth and subsequent operation I'm sure will be emotional.

I'd like to think that the transition between Powder and Jinx wasn't instantaneous after episode 3, which makes sense in my view, and that Silco still loved her as Powder, plus it goes along with what she said in the finale, Silco didn't create Jinx, Vi did.

As for Singed, my interpretation of him as a character is like a mix of the mad scientist nature of Dr. Frankenstein on steroids, mixed in with the insanity of Hannibal Lecter, minus the cannibalistic tendencies, hope I was able to give off that vibe here.

Thanks once again to all those who have commented, left kudos, and bookmarked. Your support encourages me to continue forward with my story, and I'm ever thankful for it.