sorry this isn't "a new family" part 2 but hey inspiration strikes where it strikes. I hope you enjoy
Vi sat alone in Bazo's junk shop. She knew what was awaiting her once the enforcers she had called showed up. Hopefully they would go a little easier on her because she was younger, but Vi didn't expect them too. She was going to be an example, put away for the maximum amount of time and given the harshest punishment just because she was a trencher.
She thought about how Vander reacted that day she came home empty handed. He had been so disappointed and angry. Vi could still feel the sting in her cheek where Vander struck her after sending away Mylo, Clogger, and Powder. It hurt as though he had just hit her.
The door swung open with a creak, revealing the sheriff and one other enforcer. The regular enforcer pushed forward, handcuffs already in hand, ready to forcibly arrest Vi, but the sheriff stopped him. She approached Vi, watching her calmly as she stood up.
"You are the one who called?" the sheriff sounded surprisingly soft. Vi nodded. "Marcus, give me the cuffs." She didn't move her eyes off Vi as she reached behind her for the equipment.
"But sheriff, she-" Marcus tried to argue. To Vi, he looked a lot like a trencher looking for a fight.
"Cuffs. Now." The sheriff's voice lost its softness and make the enforcer give in and hand her the cuffs.
Vi refused to meet her eyes as the sheriff cuffed her, silently relieved that she didn't force Vi into the cuffs nor did she put them on too tightly. Vi let the sheriff guide her out of the bar, turning in the direction of Piltover as Vi kept reminding herself that she was doing this to protect her city. To protect her family. To protect Powder.
The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps made Vi finally look up and glance around to see what they were running from out of habit. This caused the enforcer to jab her painfully in the shoulder with the butt of his rifle.
"Keep moving, scum." Vi resisted the urge to snarl at him, he was just trying to make her angry so he would make her punishment even worse. The footsteps sounded off again, this time closer to Vi and the enforcers. "What did I just-" Vi only took her eyes off the sheriff for a second to glare at the other enforcer, but upon seeing the look of horror painted on the man's face as she stopped talking made her turn around quickly.
The sheriff's blood was spattered all over the ground, her helmet gone, and half her face caved in. Vi took a step back. No, they couldn't do this. The enforcer was going to blame Vi for this. He was going to tell his fancy Piltover supervisor's that she murdered the sheriff. Vi couldn't control her breathing. her hands were still cuffed in front of her as she backed away from the dead sheriff, only barely registering the other enforcer brushing past to stand in front of her.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Vi's eyes snapped up to look at the enforcer, only to find that he wasn't yelling at her, but at a scarred man approaching through the fog. "This wasn't the deal!" Deal? What did he mean deal?
"Deals changed." Was all the man said as he threw a bag overflowing with coins to the enforcer. Vi then saw the abnormally massive figure standing in the shadows. It moved forward with all the grace of a crippled bull towards Vi, who only managed to take two steps back before the creature reached her.
Vi could hardly fight as the creature grabbed both her should and forced her to her knees before stepping around and placing a single foot on one of her caves to hold her there. Once her mind caught up to the situation, Vi started to thrash and struggle, but with her hands bound and her leg pinned, she couldn't free herself.
"Wait, you can't! I need to take someone back to the council. We can pin her for Grason's death, but I need to bring her topside!" Vi felt her breathing pick up even more at the enforcer's admission. They were going to frame her for murder. The scarred man glanced in Vi's direction, showing her that he noticed her fear.
"No. This one is off limits." Was all the scarred man said to the enforcer before disregarding him completely. The strange man knelt in front of Vi, lowering himself to her eye level, seemingly unconcerned with the blood that was surely soaking his pantleg.
Vi knew he was trying to be comforting, or at least less terrifying, but she still couldn't get her breathing under control, she could see her vision starting to swim and the beginnings of a headache forming. Vi had no idea what was going on, who was standing one her leg, or why this strange man was trying to protect her from the enforcers. She needed to get a handle on herself, but her eyes kept drifting back to the sheriff's body, the blank eyes staring at her.
The scarred man reached out a hand towards Vi, ignoring her flinch, and ran his finger through her hair in an attempt at a comforting gesture. "It's okay little one. I know you don't know me, but I know a lot about you." What did that mean? Vi fought off the urge to close her eyes as they grew heavy. "I promise, I'll keep you safe." Vi didn't know what to make of the stranger's words, she was too busy trying to keep herself upright, her balance shifting as though she were on a boat. When had she gotten so tired? Vi tried to stop herself from falling over but was presently surprised when the scarred man caught her gently. The suddenly the creature was picking her up. Vi tried to make out what the man was saying as he was still talking to her, but the ringing in her ears was just too loud.
Vi felt the strange and boney hand run through her hair one last time before everything faded away into black.
Silco felt the girl collapse on top of him, exhausted by almost getting arrested and the mild sleeping gas he set off into the air. Something good about living in the undercity his whole life was that he had built up an immunity to airborne chemicals, something Vi hadn't quite gained yet. Silco let his henchman pick up Vi so that he could transport her to his base. He couldn't believe that Vander was willing to let the enforcers arrest a child just for his unstable peace treaty with the topsiders. Vander of all people had to know they were going to send her to Stillwater, regardless of her age. Topsiders always tried to do their best to screw over anyone from the undercity.
One thing Silco had decided long ago that he wouldn't stand for was betrayal, and while Vander had proven long ago, he would turn his back on anyone, Silco never thought he would betray his own daughter. The scars on the side of Silco's face ached, the memory of held under and burned in the toxic river coming to the forefront of his mind as he looked at the young girl.
Silco made sure to keep an eye on Vander after the bridge riot, just to see if he would ever snap out of his guilt enough to realize how much he was hurting the undercity, but to Silco's surprise, he found that his once-brother had adopted the children of their dead friends. It was likely the guilt that make him do so, But Silco thought it was sweet none-the-less.
With Sevika in his pocket as well as a few hidden listening devices, Silco managed to keep up on how the kids were growing and how his old family was doing, maybe even going as far as to manipulate a few situations to give them an advantage when they needed it. That is why Sevika came straight to him when the kids tried to pull a heist they thought would impress his old brother. Silco knew there would be a lot of heat from enforcers and that topside likely wouldn't care if they were children or not as some elite pilties was the one who was robbed. He thought this heat would finally make Vander realize that his little "peace pack" with topside was not going to last and would also hurt his family. But no, he would give up his own child so he could continue to pretend he was helping while their people suffered from the oppression.
Silco thought about the pride he felt when he heard Vi arguing with Vander, asking him to help make things better. She made the same argument he had back when he and Vander had been planning their first revolt that day on the bridge. The slaughter of that day was sad, Silco lost many friends as well as his brother, but it only proved even more how much they needed to become independent. However, the pride he felt in Vander's young ward was soon replaced by a bitter anger as Vander rejected her ideas for improvement left and right, going as far as to try to squash the fighting spirit out of her.
The heist might have been ill-advised, but the children had been right that it is something he and Vander would have done. Silco had many fond memories or running from enforcers alongside his friends, running cons that left the citizens of Piltover's heads spinning, and of being able to rely on his family for help when he needed it. But those days were long gone, replaced by loneliness and a mild (It was mild no matter what Sevika said about it) stalking habit.
Looking back at the pink haired girl in his henchman's arms, still sleeping, Silco remembered how alone he felt after Vander's betrayal. He couldn't and wouldn't let that girl go through the same thing. Maybe it was time Silco took a page out of his old friend's book and adopted an abandoned child.
Vi hadn't come home. Powder waited in the basement with Mylo and Clogger as Vander went looking for her. The two boys paced the area, showing how restless they were. Powder knew they wanted to be out there looking for Vi themselves, but Vander had ordered them to stay home due to all the enforcers running around the undercity. At least it occupied their attention enough, so Mylo stopped calling Powder a jinx.
"This is all your fault you damn jinx!" she spoke too soon. "Vi is out there, probably cleaning up one of your messes, in danger! We should be out there with her!" Powder took deep breaths the way Vi taught her to. Mylo was just upset by Vi's absence; he didn't mean the things he said. Probably.
"She'll be back soon, Mylo. Vi probably just wanted to blow off steam." Mylo was about to respond to Powder when the door swung open to reveal Vander. Alone.
"Where is she?" Clogger beat the other two to the question. Vander just shook his head and sat down in a stool at the bar, defeated.
"No, she's out there! We just have too-" mylo was cut off from running out the door when Vander grabbed the color of his shirt, pulling him back into the room.
"You are not going out there. The enforcer Prescence has only increased since-" Vander ran his hand through his hair, clearly reluctant to tell his children what happened. "Someone killed the sheriff. The number of enforcers down here trying has tripled trying to find the culprit. No one can walk the streets without getting stopped." Vander sounded so defeated. Powder wondered how many times the enforcers stopped him and if the beat him.
However, before she got the nerve to ask, the door burst open, revealing a sweaty and out of breath Bazo. He huffed for a few seconds before he finally managed to form words. "He's back. Silco, he got to Vi first." Now powder was even more confused. Who was Vi with? Was she supposed to know them?
One look at Vander showed Powder everything she needed to know. He looked devastated. "How do…" Powder had never heard Vander sound so small, so powerless, so helpless.
"Ekko saw it. Said Silco and some mutant attacked her when she tried to turn herself into the police, they killed the sheriff during it too."
Vander set his hands on the bar top, staring off into nothing. "She tuned herself in?" Powder moved to try to comfort her father figure but froze as a large, meaty fist collided with the bar top, cracking it. "THAT WASN'T WHAT I MEANT!" Vander seethed, appearing more angry than Powder had ever seen him.
"What did you mean?" it was Mylo who asked. Even he sounded small and powerless.
Vander signed. "I told her it was her job to keep you lot safe. I didn't think she would ever take it that far…" a question still burned at Powder's mind, she needed to ask.
"Who is Silco?" Powder was surprised at how loud her voice sounded in the empty bar, echoing over the surfaces and reflected back to make sure everyone heard her speak.
Vander's face softened as he looked at Powder. "I suppose it's time I told you kids… about my brother."
Silco was quite happy to bring Vi back to his headquarters, though he knew she would likely fight him as she had no idea who he was. So, to protect his merchandise, Silco had vi strapped into the old chair in the back. He had it made in just in case Vander ever became a problem again, but it would work for this too. He just needed Vi to stay put until things died down and she realized he wasn't a threat. Of course, the girl didn't seem very happy about it when she woke up.
"Where the hell…" Silco could just barely hear the whispered words from the other side of the room where he was working before the loud clanging of someone pulling desperately on the chair's restraints filled the area. Rushing over, Silco caught Vi's attention and tried to calm her down. "Who are you? And where am I?" Silco tried not to take offence at the way Vi snarled her questions at him, Vander never told her about him after all.
"You are somewhere safe, the enforcers are still out there looking for you-"
"I was trying to get arrested!" that sentence broke Silco's heart. "It is the only way to protect my sister!" the girl's thrashing renewed with more vigor than before and Silco sighed. He would have to leave her there until she tired herself out. It hurt him to leave her there, alone and afraid, but he left a note in her line of sight to call out to him if she needed him, and oh how Silco hoped she would.
Powder was horrified. Vander tried to kill his own brother! He planned the riot that got her and Vi's parents killed! He made a deal with topsiders and it cost her Vi!
"It might not have been the right course of action, but it gave me the best thing in my life; you kids. And I swear we will not let Silco get away with taking Vi-" Vander tried to finish off his little story, Mylo and Clogger siting starry-eyed on the floor listening, but Powder couldn't hear anything anymore, the blood raging in her ears was too loud.
"No." this time the way she made her voice echoed was intentional. "You did this. You got my sister into this with your STUPID PLAN!"
"Now Powder, calm down-" Vander tried but Powder still didn't hear him.
"I will find my sister myself." She looked directly at Mylo. "Jinx or not." Powder heard the slap before she felt it, but when she did, she nearly cried from the pain. She looked up to see Vander with his hand still raised, his eyes Blazing in anger. Mylo and clogger just stared on at the two in shock.
"Shut up!" Vander yelled in her face before backing up, staring at his hand in horror. "Powder… I'm so sorry. Powder!" But Powder was already out the door, running away from the man she thought to be like her father. She vowed to find Vi, no matter what.
Vi had been there for far too long. She figured out pretty quickly that she hadn't been arrested as she was still in the undercity, but she had no idea where or why. The scarred man had come back a few times since Vi had arrived to try to talk to her, but Vi refused to speak. Eventually the man would have to give up but he would always simply come back.
Besides, Vi was sure her family would find her soon. It was next to impossible to keep anything secret in the undercity as some one was always around, and for the right price, would spill any info. But as the minutes stretched, and slowly turned to hours, Vi began to feel doubt prickle at the edges of her mind. He family must have noticed that she was gone, it had been hours! But Mylo, Clogger, and Vander were nowhere to be seen, nor had any of the guards had set off any alarms about intruders.
Her family would come for her, vi knew she would have gone to rescue them in a heartbeat. Hell, she even had a few times! But where were they? Maybe they didn't know she was gone yet.
A sudden thought made Vi freeze. She had been trying to get arrested. That would have meant that she was going to disappear. But they would confirm she was okay right? Even if she turned herself in and was sent to Stillwater, that would be better than abandoned to some random man in the undercity. And Vander knew the Sheriff! He would have found out that she died! So where were they?!
The longer Vi thought about it, the more anxious she got. She had no idea how long she had been knocked out, and the room she was being kept in didn't have any windows so she didn't have any frame of reference for the time of day, but it had to have been a while. Long enough for Vander to learn what happened. He had to be on his way.
"Violet?" Vi whipped her head around to the large door. the scarred man was back. "Are you hungry? I brought some soup, I'll unlock your hand to eat it if you say calm." Vi wanted to refuse, to tell him to go to hell, but the loud growl of her stomach gave away her hunger.
Ashamed, Vi fixed her gaze on the floor as the man carefully unstrapped her right hand from the chair, though it still remained tied down so she could only move it about a foot. The man then set the bowl of soup on a small table next to Vi and she began to hungerly scoop spoonful's into her mouth.
"Violet," the name made Vi bristle, but she didn't want to correct the scarred man. "Why where you trying to turn yourself into the enforcers?" the question made all of Vi's anger fade, and all her sadness came rushing back. Powder. The enforcers wouldn't go easy on her just because she was a kid, and Mylo and clogger shouldn't take the fall for Vi's idea.
"It was my responsibility." The man just scoffed at Vi's answer.
"Your responsibility to get thrown in Stillwater for robbing some Piltover snob? No. Vander and I did so much worse at you age. You should have seen the time we found a group of enforcers and managed to steal everything out of their pockets! Ah, they chased us for hours…" Vi chuckled at the mental image of a young Vander tricking a bunch of enforcers, but the smile soon faded from her face as she realized the man was implying that he had been with Vander as a child.
Vi looked deeply into the man's face, trying and failing to get a read on him due to his horribly scared face. "Who are you?" the man seemed delighted at the question and rushed to answer.
"I was once Vander's brother. My name is Silco." Brother? Vander never said anything about a brother. But just as Vi opened her mouth to question him, Silco spoke up. "I know he never told you. I think he was ashamed of what happened." He then got a far way look in his eye, and for once Vi didn't want to say anything. Half hoping he would continue, half afraid of him doing so. "we made a mistake. We thought we could take on topside ourselves. But it cost us everything. Our friends. My face…" Silco trailed off dragging a scarred hand over his face and Vi didn't like the picture he was painting.
"Enforcers did that to you?" Vi guessed, but Silco just laughed sadly.
"No, violet. Vander did. In a fit a rage after the bridge incident. He just… snapped." Silco turned his good eye back to her. "That was when he found you, I think, after he left me in that river. To die." He sounded so sad, but Vi wasn't convinced.
"No. that can't be true! Vander is kind and gentle. Sometimes he gets mad, and he swings at me, but he wouldn't…" Vi trailed off, remembering the times when Vander had hit her. The most recent was when she had come home empty handed from the topside job. Vander had sent everyone out and before Vi could explain what happened he just lost his temper on her. Vi didn't remember much of it, but she did remember how Vander's fist felt against the side of her head. However, she also remembered how he cared for and apologized to her afterwards. It was one of the few times that Vander really showed her affection recently.
Vi looked back to see anger blazing in Silco's eyes. "He did though, didn't he?" Vi's face must have been answer enough as Silco stood up and paced angerly, muttering the whole time. Vi didn't dare interrupt him. "That's it! I won't be like him!" Silco stalked back over to Vi, ignoring her flinch, and unlocked her cuffs.
"Why…" Vi didn't know what she was asking. Why did he take her? Why did he let her go? Why did he not want to be like Vander?
"I hope for you to stay here, Violet. With me. I promise you will not be hit here. Ever. If you want, we can even go and get your siblings. It is only a matter of time before it escalates, Violet. How long will it be until it isn't just you?" Vi chose to ignore the last part, focusing instead on the promise and the offer. She had no idea what to do with ether. She just rubbed her wrists, trying to get rid of the ache from the cuffs.
"I'll need to think about it." Vi walked slowly to the door, fully intending to leave and not come back. Silco looked saddened at her movements.
"He left you to get arrested Violet. A child. You would have been sent to Stillwater." Vi felt her rage build back up and she turned around to face Silco.
"I knew that when I set up the arrest!" Vi yelled, catching how Silco flinched at her voice. She lowered it, but just to save her vocal cords. "It was my job."
"No, its not. Not here at least." Silco slowly approached her, just as one might do to a wild animal they aren't sure is friendly. "You could be a kid here, an older sister, not a parent or a guardian. Just a sister." Vi had to admit, the offer sounded good, but she didn't know this man and he had kidnapped her. She should just go home.
"Let me think about it." And this time, she meant it.
Vi took her time getting home, thinking over silco's offer. She didn't really want to leave Vander, he wasn't really that bad. He had only ever hit Vi, that had to mean something. Vi shook her head, she couldn't trust Silco, no matter how good his offer sounded.
Turning the corner to the last drop, vi saw something blue by the dumpster, something… sobbing? Upon closer inspection Vi raced forward to see her sister crying. "Powder!"
Vi engulfed her sister in a hug, trying to stop the sobs that racked her small body, shushing her. "It's alight pow pow. You are okay, ya? Look at me." Powder heisted, so Vi lifted her chin only to have her blood boil. Powder had a black eye.
"Who did this?" Vi growled out, trying desperately to keep in her rage as to not scare her little sister, but knowing she failed as Powder shrunk back. "Hey, hey, Pow its okay. I'm not mad at you, I just want to know who hit you."
Vi desperately hoped she was wrong as Powder glanced back at the bar's entrance. He wouldn't… would he?
"Vander." Powder whispered the name so quietly, Vi had to strain to hear it. But the name made her blood boil all over again. Vander laid hands on her little sister. This was something she could never forgive.
Vi thought again about Silco's offer. He had said he could bring her sister, but did she want to? was she willing to leave Vander for someone who could be worse. But he also could be better. Silco might have kidnapped her, but he did also save her from being arrested. Maybe… maybe she should see if silco was the better option?
Vi was so unsure of her plan. She knew she wouldn't ever leave Powder alone with Vander again, but did she really want to go back to Silco? Vi had noticed that there were far more enforcers in the undercity. Maybe Silco's could bribe them and get rid of them. Did he have that much powder? Even Vander couldn't get them to back off without someone for them to arrest.
Vi shook her head, she just needed to get back to the last drop to check on Mylo and Clogger. Then she could figure out what they would do. She shushed Powder as they made their way through the back entrance to the bar, even though Vi didn't see anyone.
"Mylo? Clogger?" Vi called out to her brothers, only getting a little concerned when they didn't answer. The two made their way into the back room on silent feet, keeping a lookout for any bar patrons or Vander.
Once they got closer to the door that enclosed their bedroom, Vi could hear a low groaning noise. Cautiously, she opened the door only to have her vision turn red at what she saw.
Mylo and clogger were both lying on the floor, bruised and beaten, Mylo groaning in pain, but he sat up quickly when he saw Vi. "Vi? Vander said you were dead." Both Vi and Powder were shocked to hear this, Vander had said nothing like that when Powder was there and Vi had only been gone a day or so.
"What? Why would Vander say that?" Vi whispered as she reached for the first aid kit they kept in the house.
"He said that Silco was going to kill you." This time clogger spoke, but his speech was slurred by the swelling in his face. "That he was a cold-blooded killer." Vi thought back to the scarred man that took her. He didn't seem like a cold-blooded killer. Just sad and lonely.
"Well, he didn't. but what happened to you?" Vi had a feeling she already knew the answer. Her fear were confirmed by the twin looks of shame and guilt that covered both Mylo and Clogger's faces. It was the same look she always wore when she disappointed Vander.
"He said it was time he trained us, just like he taught you. But he said this time would be different, and that we would have to be stronger than you to survive in the undercity." Vi's heart dropped with every word. Vander had done this. He had 'trained' Vi to take a punch and now he was doing it to her brothers. If Vi's mind wasn't made up before, it was now.
"Get up. we are leaving." Vi pulled Mylo to his feet.
"What? Where?" Clogger tried to ask but Vi waved him off.
"We are going to a friend, one who will protect us from Vander." Vi spoke urgently, needing to get her point across fast.
"Wait, we don't need protection from Vander. He-" Mylo spoke, but Vi cut him off.
"Hit you. He hit me. He hit my baby sister. It's only a matter of time before this escalates." Vi knew where she had heard that. Silco had warned her this would happen, and he had been right. "Lets go. Now."
"Vi?" a soft voice had Vi freezing in her tracks, turning slowly to meet Vander's eyes as he looked at her sadly. "You are alive!" Vander charged toward Vi, determined to hug her but Vi took a step back, avoiding him.
"What did you do?" Vi knew she shouldn't talk to Vander like that, but today she wasn't in the mood to tiptoe around him.
"What?" the bartender looked dumbfounded, so Vi simply pointed to her brothers and Powder. "Oh, the training. Well, umm, I-"
"Training? Training for what? To take a fucking punch? You hit them! Repeatedly! That's not training!" Vander at least had the decency to look guilty.
"Well, you were gone. I thought you were dead. So they needed to take care of themselves but now that you are back you can-" with each word Vi grew more angry until she couldn't take it anymore.
"No. It isn't my job to take care of them. It was supposed to be yours." Maybe Silco got in her head but right then Vi was too angry to care.
"Not your…" Vander repeated before his face twisted in a snarl. "Of course, it is your job. It's your responsibility to care for you siblings!"
"No, its not. And now, it's not yours ether." Vi tried to shove past Vander but the man didn't move, keeping himself between Vi and the door. "Move."
"No. you're not going anywhere." Vander grabbed Vi roughly by the arm, bodily dragging her to the interior of the room and slamming her down on the chair.
"LET ME GO!" Vi struggled with everything she had but couldn't free her arm until Vander released her. The pink haired girl tried to get up from the chair only to receive a slap to the face that had her head whipping to the side and nausea rising in her throat.
"I have raised you kids from the time you were young, and this is how you repay me? By running away?! I've done everything for you since your parents died!" Vander ranted and raved, all the kids too stunned to move after his display of violence.
"After you killed our parents." Vi whispered the words so quietly she was sure no one would hear, but the second slap to her face proved her wrong.
"What did you just say to me?" Vander screamed in Vi face, some spit landing on her cheek.
"I said," Vi said, standing up to look Vander in the eye. "after you killed our parents." Vi spoke loud enough for everyone to hear this time. "Ya, that's right. Silco told me all about your rebellion. The one on the bridge that killed our parents." Vi didn't back down, no matter how scared she was.
"That's a lie! Enforcers killed you parents! I-" Vander geared up for another rant but Vi cut him off.
"Enforcers may have pulled the trigger, but you were the reason they were on that bridge!" Vander stared at Vi, stunned into silence for a moment before his anger returned tenfold.
"You ungrateful little brat!" Vi couldn't dodge the fist that collided with her face, knocking her to the floor. Vander stood over her, throwing punch after punch. Mylo and cloger tried to grab him, to do anything to stop the attack, but they only succeeded in getting thrown off and hit themselves.
Powder screamed for him to stop while Vi just… took it. She took every punch without a sound, trying her best to block her face, but Vander was too strong. He was too big. He was too angry. He was going to kill her.
Just as Vi started to panic, realizing Vander would kill her, a shot rang out in the air.
Vander's eyes widened as he held his side where the bullet entered, staring at the assailant. To everyone's surprise it was Sevika who stood in the doorway, gun still raised, ready to fire another shot. The follow up shot proved to be unnecessary as Vander fell to the ground next to Vi, his blood spreading around him in a large puddle. Vi quickly got up, out of reach of the man who was beating her just moments ago, scrambling over to Sevika.
"Are you okay?" Sevika didn't take her eyes off Vander as she asked, not daring to look away from the potential threat.
"Y-yes. I'm fine" Vi knew she wasn't fine, but she was okay to get out of there. Everything else could be taken care of latter. Until then they just needed to get back to Silco.
"Come on. I have a friend who can help." None of the kids argued as Sevika lead then out the door, away from the man who almost killed them.
Silco didn't hope too much that Vi would come back. He could tell she meant it when she said she would think about it, but he knew how hard it was to leave everything behind and start anew.
In his deep thought, Silco didn't notice his door opening and someone approaching until Sevika was almost in front of him.
"Sevika! I didn't see you there. Did you check on the kids?" Silco asked her this every time she checked in out of habit, but this time he was really concerned about sending Vi back to Vander. The look of Sevika's face didn't assure his at all. "What happened? Are the kids hurt?! Do we need to go get them?! I'll gather all the men, we can take down Vander and his people by force if we need to. the kids will be mad but they'll understand-"
"Silco?" a quiet voice interrupted his panicked rant. "You would have come back for us?" it was Vi who spoke, standing in front of her siblings like a shield.
"Of course." Silco just hoped the words were enough. He stood still as Vi approached slowly, her siblings following from behind her. Silco didn't dare move as he wondered what Vi was doing and what she was planning. What if it was a trick? What if it was-
Silco's train of thought got cut off when Vi hugged him. "Thank you." It was all silco could do to hug Vi back.
"Of course."
It was a few months before Mylo, clogger, and Powder warmed up to Silco and his new way of life. But the food, freedom, and shelter sure helped. It was mostly the fact that Vi trusted him that lead to the other kids giving Silco a chance.
"Kids! Dinner!" Silco called as his henchman arrived with some Jerico's takeout, it was the kids' favorite. They all came rushing out of the abandoned fan they had made their shared room.
"Ooh, Jerico's. thanks, Silco." Vi spoke with enthusiasm as she took one of the boxes.
"Ya, ah thanks." Silco knew Powder was shy and the fact that she thanked him at all had his hear glowing. The two boys said nothing, but Silco didn't think anything of it. The kids had warmed up to him well enough and it would continue over the years. He would never forget how they flinched from him right after Sevika brought them and he tried to treat their injuries.
Silco never asked what lies Vander told about him, but he could guess it was nothing good. At least they were away from Vander and his rage.
"I have someplace to be tonight." Silco often had business to attend to so the kids all just nodded at this. "Come on Sevika."
It was a long way to the docks and an even longer way to stillwater. The prison was ugly in the evening light, no plants, no people, just a gray wall that enclosed one of the worst places on earth. Just where Silco needed to go.
The two nodded to the guards who let them pass with ease, almost all of them were in his pocket, as they made their way to the deepest depths of Stillwater. A pounding sounded off in the hallway from the only occupied cell in the area.
"Having fun?" the pounding stopped as Vander turned around, snarling.
"Where are they?!" he was referring of course to Vi, Mylo, Clogger, and Powder.
"Safe. With me. Free from you." Silco was not happy to be talking to Vander, he had hoped he died when Sevika shot him that night, but, upon checking up on him, Silco found Vander very much alive and fighting. It took several enforcers and a good amount of coins to get Vander to Stillwater, but now he could never hurt Silco's kids again.
"Bullshit! Those kids belong with me!" Vander reached through the bars to grab at Silco, but just couldn't reach him.
"So you can beat on them some more?" Silco nodded to Sevika who punched Vander through the bars, forcing him to back up. "No, those kids are mine now and soon the entire undercity shall be mine too. The nation of Zaan. A pretty good place for them to grow up if I do say so myself."
Vander nursed his newly broken nose. "Did you just come here to gloat?"
"No. I came here to warn you. Never go near those kids again. Your continued living is only because you took care of them for so long. If you so much as try to escape, it will end." With those words silco turned and left Vander to rot in stillwater, both of them completely unaware of a young enforcer who had just started to investigate the undercity, looking for someone to show her the way in.