Lil felt like she couldn't breathe. A dead man was standing in front of her. The left side of his face was covered in a large scar that surrounded a black and red eye. But the eye on the right was the same bluish-green color she remembered. The same color of the eyes that haunted her dreams.

I'll be back. Stay right here.

Lil blinked her eyes rapidly and shook her head in an attempt to clear her vision to ensure she was truly seeing him standing there. She tried to speak, but her tongue felt numb in her mouth. Luckily, someone else spoke for her.

"What are you doing here?" a man from the group asked. "You're supposed to be dead."

"That's what Vander wanted you all to think," Silco said. "He tried to bury me and drag my name through the dirt, yet here I stand."

"Knowing you, I'm sure he had his reasons," Mai said.

Lil snapped her gaze to Mai from where it had been locked on Silco.

"Mai…" she started.

"No. Let her say what she needs to say," Silco said. "I'm very interested in the opinion of a dirty alley rat."

Lil reached out her hand just in time to stop Mai from surging forward in response to Silco's taunt.

"Don't. It's not worth it."

Mai took a step back and shook off Lil's hand. Lil turned back to Silco.

"What do you want?" she asked, finally having the ability to speak to him directly.

"Vander's gone, so I've come to claim what rightfully belongs to me," Silco said. "And I'm willing to fight for it if I have to. I would rather not spill any more Zaunite blood tonight if possible, however. You are all free to leave, or you can join me."

The group that Mai had gathered all exchanged glances before half of them, including Mai, moved to leave the bar. Lil stood frozen in place. Mai turned to look at her, gesturing towards the door.

"Lil?"

"Go. I'll be right behind you."

Mai followed the rest of the departing people, scowling at Silco as she walked past. Silco didn't pay her any mind. His gaze was focused on Lil and the ones that had remained.

"Welcome to the cause," he said with a large gesture of his arms.

"I'm not staying," Lil said. "I need answers."

"Answers to what?"

"Where's…" she started before her question was answered by the door opening again and a blue head stuck in. "Powder!"

Lil bent down to one knee and held her hand out to the young girl. She was nearly knocked off balance by the force of Powder slamming into her. She wrapped her arms around the small girl's back, pulling her closer into a tight hug before pulling away to place her hand on the side of her face.

"Are you alright?"

Powder started to nod, but quickly changed the movement to shake her head no. Tears were brimming in her bright blue eyes, and Lil could tell that this wasn't the first time it had happened recently. She pulled the girl back into a tight embrace.

"Where's Vi?" she asked. "The boys?"

"They're all gone!" Powder sobbed into her shoulder. "I messed everything up, and they're gone!"

Lil shushed her and began to rock from side to side. She turned her eyes up towards Silco, narrowing them in a glare.

"It wasn't me," he said, holding up his hands defensively.

Lil thought back to what Huck had said when he came into the bar before.

An explosion.

Powder's words suddenly made sense; it was her actions that led to her siblings being lost. Lil rested her chin on top of Powder's head for a moment before releasing her hold on the girl and returning to her feet. She reached for Powder's hand and took it firmly in her own.

"Come, Powder," she said. "We need to go."

"No!"

Powder pulled her hand out of Lil's grip and ran in Silco's direction, scurrying behind his legs to hide.

"Powder?"

"It appears that she wants to stay here with me," Silco said, resting one of his hands on Powder's blue hair.

Lil stared at the pair of them, her eyes darting between Powder and Silco. She didn't want to leave Powder, but there was no way she could stay here. At least not until she figured out what to do about the man standing in front of her.

She's not my child. She's not my responsibility.

Lil had said those words to Vander when he asked her to stick around for Powder's sake after Sevika had stormed out of the Last Drop the day before. Thinking back to her own words helped her make the final decision. Lil turned away from the pair before her and headed for the door. Her progress towards the door was quickly stopped by a loud cry and the feeling of arms wrapping around her waist.

"Lil, please don't go!"

"I can't stay here, sweets," Lil said, looking back at Silco. "Not with him."

She saw a small wince before he hardened his features again.

"You can't leave!" the girl wailed, grabbing on tighter. "Don't leave me!"

The desperation in Powder's voice stabbed into Lil's heart.

No, don't go! Please don't leave me here!

Lil pried Powder's grip away from her waist and turned to kneel in front of the girl. Powder surged forward and wrapped her arms around her neck instead. Lil sighed and stood with the girl in her arms, Powder's legs quickly wrapping around her midsection. Lil walked toward the stairs to the room below the bar.

"Where are you going?" Silco asked.

"I'm putting her to bed. She's had a long night."

"There are still things to be done," he started.

"She's 9, Silco," Lil said. "She doesn't need to be here for your takeover. I think she's witnessed enough."

Lil turned and descended the stairs to the bedroom below without another word. She pushed the door open and then kicked it shut behind her after entering the room. Walking over to the bottom bunk that Powder usually occupied, Lil sat down, and Powder finally released her death grip on her neck. Lil patted the bed softly, urging the girl to lay down. Powder followed her silent instruction and collapsed onto her stomach, burying her face in the pillow. Lil gently stroked her hair, shushing her every time a sniff or hiccup escaped her.

"Promise you won't leave?" Powder whispered drowsily.

"I'm sorry, sweets, I can't make that promise. But you know where to find me if you need me, right?"

Powder nodded her head before her eyes drifted shut. A few minutes passed, and Lil could tell she had fallen asleep when her breathing slowed. She leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of Powder's head before standing from the bed. Crossing the room, she turned to look at the girl a final time before switching off the light and leaving, closing the door behind her.

Lil climbed the stairs back up to the main bar, pausing at the top to lean on the wall as she braced herself to make the final decision to leave. Taking a deep breath, she pushed off the wall and started walking towards the door. Her steps were brought to a halt when she saw a large figure helping someone across the room. Lil watched as Sevika dropped herself down into a chair and leaned on the table next to it with a pained expression. Her left arm was in a sling, glowing lines of blue covering her skin all the way up to her shoulder and then small amounts extending up her neck to the left side of her face.

"Sevika? What happened to you?" Lil asked.

Sevika turned to glare in Lil's direction, but her eyes softened when they landed on her. Lil crossed over to sit next to her rather than exit the bar. She anxiously looked over Sevika's injuries. Her arm wasn't the only thing that was injured. There was also a large gash on her head that probably needed stitches.

"The brat blew up the warehouse. My arm was hit by the blast while I was protecting Silco."

Lil's gaze snapped away from inspecting Sevika's wounds to meet her eyes. The avoidance she received in return was enough to answer her silent question. Sevika had known Silco was still alive and hadn't told her.

"How long have you known?"

"A few months."

Lil stood up from her seat next to Sevika and moved to walk towards the door again. A firm grip on her wrist stopped her from going very far. She turned to look at the offending hand before sliding back up to meet Sevika's gaze again.

"Listen. I know you're pissed. Both at him and me," Sevika said, loosening her grip. "But are you going to throw away the chance to have him back because of it?"

"I never had him in the first place," Lil said, pulling her wrist out of her grip entirely. "I have nothing left to lose."

Sevika sighed and pointed towards the ascending stairs next to the bar with her good arm.

"He's up there and wanted to talk to you before you left."

Lil looked in the direction Sevika had pointed and took a moment to consider what she should do. She wanted answers but wasn't sure if she was ready for them. She let out a frustrated grunt before following Sevika's direction up the stairs. Finding the upper balcony empty, she walked down the hall to see an open door.

Lil pushed the door open with a loud creak to reveal a large dusty room. Boxes lined the walls, and a large sheet covered the large window on the outer wall. In the center of the room stood Silco, his back to the door with his hands clasped together behind him. He didn't turn at the sound of her entering the room, but she knew he was aware of her presence. Lil closed the door behind her with an audible click.

"Sevika said you wanted to talk to me," she said. "So talk. It's what you've always been good at."

"I would have thought you would be happy to see me. Instead, you've done nothing but glare, accuse, and be rude to me."

"I don't know what reaction you were expecting from someone that thought you were dead."

Silco turned to face her, his blue eye burning just as much as the red one.

"Did you mourn me?"

"Did I…" Lil sputtered. "How can you ask that?"

She was regretting her decision to come up here. Turning back towards the door, her hand grasped the handle to leave.

"Lil, wait."

She hesitated and stilled her hand from turning the handle. She gazed over her shoulder and met Silco's burning gaze again. It had softened slightly with his request for her to wait.

"Seeing me again was no doubt a shock to you. I guess I should have expected some hostility. I don't know what lies Vander filled your head with…"

"Did you kill him?" Lil asked, interrupting him.

"Yes. Or rather, I contributed to it. Not sure what it was that finally killed him. The stabbing, the shimmer, or falling out of an exploding warehouse."

Lil winced at the description of what Vander had gone through.

"Was it necessary?"

"Are you seriously asking that question?"

"You asked a stupid question. Let me have mine."

Silco huffed at her statement, a slight smirk pulling at his lips. Lil didn't share his amusement at the situation.

"Did he need to die?"

"For things to change? Yes."

"And the kids? Did they need to die too?" she asked.

"I told you that wasn't my doing."

"You may not have caused the explosion, but you still led them there by capturing Vander."

"I may be mistaken, but I was under the impression you were supposed to be watching over them and keeping them out of trouble. It seems that your failure is to blame here."

Lil could feel her face heat up at his words, and her eyes began to sting. She quickly turned away from him and bit her lip to try and ground herself. She had already been blaming herself since she noticed the kids had disappeared. She didn't need him to put it in words.

"They may have slipped away from my supervision, but I'm not the one that killed their father and put them in danger in the first place."

"He tried to kill me. It only seems fitting I return the favor."

Lil whirled around to face him fully, pointing at him accusingly.

"Vander told me that you attacked him!"

Silco scoffed at her outburst.

"And you believed him? My question from before doesn't seem so unusual."

"If you had seen your face that night…" Lil started.

"Don't go dredging up the past, Lil," Silco said, turning away from her. "It doesn't mean anything now."

Lil felt like she had been slapped. Her hand fell limply to her side.

"If that's the case, I guess I'll be going," she said.

This time she opened the door and was almost in the hallway before he stopped her again.

"Stop running away, Lil."

"It's not running away if no one comes for you."

"You think I won't?"

"You didn't before. Even though you promised to come back."

Smoke filled the air, the fires that sourced it burning brightly against the darkening sky. Small explosions from left-over bombs hit by the flames mixed with screams and infrequent gunshots. But nothing was louder than the ringing in her ears.

Lil wedged herself against the wall of the bridge, hiding behind a piece of rubble. Her shoulder screamed from the movement, but Lil kept her mouth clamped shut to prevent any noise from escaping her. The last thing she needed right now was an Enforcer to find her. She focused on keeping her breaths steady and pushing down the encroaching panic.

Something that had started as a semi-peaceful demonstration had quickly gotten out of hand. Lil didn't know who threw the first blow, but before long, fists, homemade bombs, and bullets had started flying through the air. She had quickly lost sight of her friends, the crowd pushing them apart. Vander's shouts had sounded louder than anyone else's, urging them onwards. Though the fighting couldn't have realistically lasted that long, it had felt like hours had passed before she found herself flying through the air into a piece of metal.

That piece of metal had sliced a large gash from her clavicle over the top of her shoulder. Lil was afraid to look at the wound and see the true damage. She knew it was bad from the pain alone. She rested her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. Maybe if they thought she was dead, they would leave her alone.

A voice breaking through the ringing in her ears caught her attention. Lil opened her eyes and looked around for the source of the voice. It sounded familiar. Despite this, she didn't trust her senses to not fall into a trap. She stayed silent and still against the wall.

"Olillia!"

She definitely wasn't imagining the distinct call of her name. The ringing in her ears began to subside as she tried to focus on the voice.

"Lil! Where are you?"

"Here!"

Her voice sounded weak and groggy. She cleared her throat and tried again. A few seconds passed before she heard rapid footsteps approaching her location. Lil looked up as a figure came into view. A tall, lean figure with blue-green eyes. Silco.

"Lil! Are you alright?"

She shook her head and gestured to her injured shoulder with her other hand. Silco crouched in front of her to get a closer look at her wound. He had one of his own on the left cheek under his eye.

"Shit. Come on, let's get you out of here."

He gently grabbed her left hand and pulled her to her feet. He wrapped his arm around her waist, supporting her as they walked through the debris field to the end of the bridge. Lil focused on where she was walking, keeping her eyes from drifting to the wreckage around them. Once they reached the end of the bridge, Silco guided her to a quiet alley and helped her sit on the ground to catch her breath.

Silco crouched down before her again and gently touched her injured shoulder, causing her to release the scream she had held back before. He shushed her before leaning in again and grabbing something. He gave a swift yank and removed the piece of metal still lodged in her shoulder. Lil screamed again before it trickled down into a whimper.

"I know it hurts, sweetheart. We'll get you patched up, and you'll be fine."

Silco sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than her. Lil could hear the worry in his voice, tinged with something that sounded like anger.

"This didn't have to happen this way. Vander should have held back. We should have retreated. So many are dead…"

He had trailed off mid-sentence, causing Lil to look up at him to make sure he was alright. He shook his head and rose to his feet. Offering his hand again, he pulled her to her feet. Before she could resume their previous position, he bent down and scooped her into his arms.

"Silco, I can walk."

He shook his head again and started walking toward the warehouse the Sons of Zaun had set up to be used as a makeshift infirmary.

"This is faster. The sooner we get there, the less blood you'll lose."

Silco carried her all the way to the infirmary, opening the door with his foot when they arrived. As soon as the door opened, they were hit by a wave of chaotic sounds. The infirmary was bursting with injured people. The people trained in medical practices rushed from person to person, dispensing bandages and other needed supplies. There was not an empty bed in sight.

Lil looked up at Silco to see his brow furrowed and a scowl on his lips. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something before he turned and walked down the warehouse's outer wall to the stairs leading to the abandoned office. Silco climbed up the stairs and shouldered his way into the office. He placed Lil on the couch inside before disappearing down the stairs again. When he returned, he was holding a box of supplies that he put on the couch next to her before sitting beside her.

"This is going to hurt."

"More than what you did earlier? You really shouldn't have pulled that piece of metal out. I think it made it worse."

"Maybe you're right. I've never had any aspirations of being a medic. Tell me to stop if it hurts too much for too long."

Lil braced herself when she saw him pick up what looked like a bottle of alcohol. She bit her lip to keep from screaming again as he poured it on her wound to disinfect it. He moved to start stitching it up when they heard a loud shout from the main room. Lil looked at the door expectantly.

"That sounded like Vander!"

Silco scowled again and placed the needle back where he got it from. He stood from the couch and walked over to the door. He looked out to the main room for a short while before turning back to face Lil.

"I'll be back. Stay right here."

"What? Where are you going?"

"There's something I need to deal with."

Lil could see the anger she had noticed before rising to the surface. Anger at Vander. She could feel her panic starting to rise again.

"No, don't go! Please don't leave me here!"

Silco crossed back over to her and gently took her face in his hands, looking directly into her eyes.

"I'll come back for you, I promise."

A/N: Please review and let me know what you think!