A/N:Long time no update for this story, which I hope won't happen again. Thank you to anyone that's still around and reading. There have been a few extra things written for this story so check out my tumblr writing blog (purplefangirl42) for those.

Sevika let the door of the bar slam shut behind her, pulling her coat over her broad shoulders as she walked out into the chilly night. She shuddered as a gust of wind blew past her, pulling the front of the coat shut to block it out. An unlit cigarette rested between her lips and she attempted to find her lighter within the pockets of the coat as she began her trek home.

She was more than ready for Spring, wanting this awful cold to go away. She could deal with rain and mud as long as the wind was no longer around. When she finally got the lighter out of her pocket and the end of her cigarette was glowing hot, she ducked her head against the wind, keeping close to the wall of the alley she was walking down.

If she had gone home when she had originally planned, it probably wouldn't have been as cold, but she had been waiting for Lil to finish her shift at the Last Drop so they could walk together. Just as Sevika was getting ready to leave, Lil had told her that she was going to be staying later and to head home without her. When Sevika had asked her why, the explanation had made her roll her eyes.

One of the kids was sick. Probably the little blue-haired brat that Lil was so attached to. Vander had asked Lil to watch over her while he worked the later shift at the bar. He seemed to always be asking her to do things that were outside her job parameters, at least that was what it felt like to Sevika. If he didn't have time to take care of the kids, he shouldn't have taken them in. It wasn't right to pawn them off on someone else.

Sevika shook her head in annoyance and tried to clear the thoughts from her head. She knew Lil cared about the kids and just wanted to help out, that's just who she was. It wasn't something that was going to change anytime soon, no matter how much it annoyed those that wanted to spend time with her.

As she neared her apartment, Sevika felt a prickle on her skin, as if someone was watching her. She paused a block away and looked around, eyes shifting from corner to corner, looking for anything suspicious. A dark shadowy form leaned against the wall of an alley alongside her apartment building, someone lurking just outside the lit area where she'd be able to see them.

"Whoever you are, quit being such a damn creep," she called out. "If you've got something to say to me, come out and say it. Don't lurk in the shadows and stare at me."

The figure pushed off from the wall and slowly stalked out of the alley in her direction, their steps deliberate like a predator. A street light on the corner shone a beam of light down onto the sidewalk and the figure stepped into it, revealing a lean man dressed in brown and red. A large scar covered the left side of his face, surrounding a malformed eye that almost seemed to be glowing. Despite his startling change in appearance, Sevika recognized the man beneath the damage.

"Silco?" she said softly. "It can't be, you're dead."

"So I've been told," Silco responded. "Yet, here I stand."

Sevika blinked rapidly a few times and shook her head in an attempt to clear her vision in case she was seeing things. She had had a few drinks at the bar, but not enough to make her start seeing and hearing dead people.

"I assure you that I am really here," Silco said. "You aren't hallucinating."

Sevika stared at him with her mouth hanging open, the last bit of her cigarette falling to the ground. He really did seem to be standing before her, there was no denying it.

"How? Why?" she asked, not really forming whole questions. "Where the hell have you been all these years?"

"Perhaps we can talk somewhere more private?" Silco suggested. "My survival is not well-known and I prefer to keep it that way for the moment."

Sevika nodded in the direction of her apartment and he followed her across the street to the front door of the building. When the two of them were securely inside, she turned to face him again, trying to keep the anger building inside her from erupting.

"So you're alive," she said. "And you've been doing what? Hiding?"

"Not exactly. I've been building up my forces and planning for the future. I also had some healing to do," he said, gesturing to his scarred face. "Attempted drowning in a toxic river has some damaging effects on a person."

"Attempted?" Sevika said. "From what Vander said, it sounded pretty successful. As far as any of us knew, you were dead. It had some serious effects on some."

"Is that so?" Silco asked. "How is Olillia? From what I've gathered, she still works at the bar as if nothing had ever happened. I also am aware of the fact that the two of you had some kind of situation going on for a while."

"Have you been spying on me?" Sevika asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "Have you been spying on her? Rather than just coming to her and telling her that you're still alive?"

"Why would she care? She seems to have moved on."

Sevika could hear a tinge of anger and betrayal beneath his words, as if he was hurt by the idea of Lil having a life beyond grieving his loss. She could feel her own anger bubbling up again, indignation at the insult he was implying towards her friend.

"If you think she's moved on completely, that she ever forgot you, then you are more stupid than I took you for," Sevika sneered at him. "You never seemed to understand how much you meant to her, and I don't think you ever will."

Silco seemed surprised by her reaction and she could see his expression falter for a moment before he refocused and returned to his previous image.

"You care about her a great deal still? Despite your failed attempt at a relationship?" he asked.

"Of course I do," Sevika spat. "She's my friend. I care about her much more than you ever did."

She could see the corner of his mouth twitch and anger flashed in the eye that was undamaged. Silco turned away from her and walked over to the window in her living room, staring out into the night. Sevika could see tension in his shoulders for a moment before they settled back into a more relaxed state.

"Don't be so sure," he said quietly.

Sevika stared blankly at his back for a short time before speaking again.

"What did you come here for, Silco?" she asked. "I highly doubt you came here to talk about Lil."

"No, I didn't come here about that. I sense that things are tense in the Underground. The Hound is not running it as efficiently as he should and things are slipping through the cracks."

Silco turned away from the window to face her again, linking his hands behind his back and stepping towards her.

"I don't imagine that is something that you agree with," he said. "You want things to be different. You don't like how Vander does things and you want to see some change."

Sevika narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. She didn't know how he could know things that she had only thought to herself. He was hitting everything right on the head; she did want change and didn't think Vander was doing what he should as the de-facto leader of the Undercity.

"Maybe you're right," she said. "But what does that have to do with you? You planning on overthrowing him and doing things your way?"

Silco didn't answer her, the question hanging in the air between them. His silence was all the answer she needed, however. He was planning on doing exactly that. While she didn't agree with the way Vander did things, Sevika was sure a coup was the way to deal with the problem. She also wasn't sure Silco was a good replacement. Out of the two of them, she had always liked Vander more and thought he was better at getting others to follow him. She had to admit that Silco had a stronger revolutionary spirit though, and would probably do what was necessary to better the future of Zaun.

"I didn't come here to recruit you to my side quite yet," Silco said. "I only wanted to place the idea in your mind that you have an alternate option if you desire it."

"I'll have to think about it," Sevika said. "I'm not sure I want to throw my lot in with you and ruin what good I do have in my life."

"I would like to have you at my side when I bring about the change I see for our future," Silco said. "You've always had that fighting spirit in you that I admired."

Sevika scoffed at the idea that he admired her in the way she had been just thinking about him. The two of them had never really been close, and there had been some tension between them in the past. Most of which had to do with Lil. She knew that was something that couldn't continue if they wanted to work together in the future.

"No matter what happens," she said. "I will never abandon Lil. If you want me, she comes, too."

A small smile lifted the corner of Silco's mouth at her words.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

When Sevika had seen Lil walk into the Last Drop, she hadn't believed her eyes. She watched silently as Ran led her across the bar to take her up to Silco's office. It had been a while since she had disappeared and Sevika was very curious as to what was going on. Now, she could see Lil descending the stairs, her gaze focused on Sevika.

"I'm surprised you showed up," Sevika said. "After how you reacted, I didn't think there was any chance in hell that you'd walk back through those doors."

Lil crossed her arms over her chest and stared at her.

"At first I wasn't going to," she said. "And I have every right to never speak to either of you again if I felt that was the correct thing to do."

Sevika felt the guilt that had been gnawing away at her for months reforming in her stomach. She had hated hiding the truth from Lil, but Silco had said it was necessary. She honestly wouldn't blame her if she didn't speak to her again.

"What made you change your mind?" she asked.

"Powder. I want to make sure she's safe," Lil said. "Also, I need money and wasn't having much luck finding work anywhere else."

Sevika rolled her eyes at the mention of the kid. Of course, Lil would stick around for the brat like she always had. It was not ideal that Silco was keeping the girl here, but if it meant Lil would stick around, then she could find a way to deal with it. Maybe it would give them a chance to fix things between them.

"Hey, are we gonna be okay?" she asked. "I know you're pissed at me, and I don't blame you."

"You lied to me, Sevika. How am I supposed to trust you when you would hide something like this from me? I'm not surprised about Silco's behavior, but I am about yours."

"I know I messed things up, and I'm sorry," Sevika said. "I promise that you can trust me."

"I'm going to need some time before that can happen," Lil said. "But since we're going to be working together, we can have a truce for now."

Sevika nodded and glanced down at the floor, not wanting to look at Lil's hurt expression anymore.

"How are you feeling?" Lil asked. "What's going to happen with your arm?"

"It has to finish healing and then I'm going to get a mechanical replacement," Sevika said. "Silco felt it was the least he could do since I lost it protecting him. Supposedly, it's going to be some high-tech thing that will be better than I could hope to get on my own."

"Well, I hope you aren't in too much pain," Lil said before stepping forward and resting a hand on Sevika's good shoulder. "No matter how hurt I am, I still care about you."

Sevika looked up and met Lil's gaze, seeing the love displayed there. It seemed that she still had some hope for a chance to repair things in the future, and she would take whatever chance she got to fix her mistakes.

"I'll be back tomorrow," Lil said, removing her hand from Sevika's shoulder. "See you later."

As she walked away, Sevika thought she should say something and take the first step to help her friend. She called out to Lil, causing her to stop and turn back to face her.

"Please be careful," she said.

Judging by Lil's expression, she knew she didn't need to elaborate. Lil gave her a small smile in return before leaving the bar. As she watched her leave, Sevika felt a pit begin to form in her stomach. She hoped that she hadn't led her friend into danger by her actions. She wasn't sure she'd be able to live with herself if she had.

The days following his conversation with Olillia had been interesting for Silco. Though he spent most of his time in his office, he still saw her from time to time when he did leave the room. As there wasn't much for her to do until the construction was complete, she spent a lot of her time with Powder on the premises. Silco wasn't sure what they did during their time together, but he was glad that someone was keeping the child occupied.

When he had decided to take the girl in, he hadn't really thought through what he was going to do with her. He had no experience in caring for children and he certainly didn't have time to do so with trying to get his operation off the ground and solidify his leadership of the Undercity. Still, he made sure to check in on her from time to time to reassure her that he was still around if she really needed him. He didn't want her to feel abandoned, not when she was so vulnerable.

There had been a few nights where he had been woken by her screams from down the hall, no doubt caused by nightmares of the night they met. Part of him wished that Olillia was here full-time to help in those situations, but as it was, he had to deal with them himself. Powder was slowly beginning to trust him and allow him to offer her comfort for her nightmares, which was a step in the right direction in his eyes. He wanted her to feel safe, and for that, she needed to trust him.

Olillia had told him that Powder had a few things to work through that she would need to do on her own, things that neither of them could help her with. Silco wasn't sure what those things could be, but he trusted that she knew best since she had known the child for much longer. She had assured him that Powder would come to him when the time was right.

When he heard the knock on his door one day and the child entered his office with Olillia in tow, Silco wondered if that time had come. The two of them approached his desk together, Olillia guiding the girl with her hand, an encouraging touch on her back. Silco set his pen down and focused all of his attention on the pair before him, patiently waiting for whatever they had to say.

With an encouraging gesture from Olillia, Powder stepped forward and placed something on his desk before stepping away again. Silco glanced down at the object and saw that it was the ashtray that had gone missing from his office a number of days ago. He had wondered what happened to it, but it had never crossed his mind to ask the girl about it. The formerly plain, gray tray was now covered in brightly colored doodles.

"I wanted to make it look nicer for you," Powder said. "So you could have something nice, instead of just boring old gray."

Silco picked up the ashtray and turned it in his hands, taking in every colorful swirl and pattern that she had added. He had never received something so personal and despite the child-like nature of the gift, he appreciated it.

"Thank you, Powder," he said, placing it back down. "I will make sure it is put to good use."

A shy smile appeared on the girl's face and she looked up to Olillia, who nodded at her in response. When she looked back at Silco, she was biting her lip nervously.

"Was there something else?" he asked, prompting her to open up to him.

"Lil said that since things were changing, it would be a good time to think about who I want to be," she said quietly.

Silco glanced up to Olillia and their gazes met briefly before she nodded back down to the child, instructing him to pay attention to what she had to say.

"I don't think I want to be Powder anymore," the girl said. "I want to be called something else."

Silco sat back in his chair and folded his hands in his lap, focusing on the child before him. She seemed to have given this subject some thought, no doubt at Olillia's suggestion. He thought back to their previous discussion about this and was glad that she had taken the initiative to bring it up to the girl so he wouldn't have to.

"Do you have an idea for what you want to be called?" he asked.

The girl bit her lip again and reached up to pull on her braid anxiously. Olillia bent down to get closer to her and despite the fact that he couldn't hear her, Silco figured she was offering the girl more words of encouragement.

"I like…Jinx."

"Jinx?"

The girl looked up and met his gaze, giving him a slight nod. She seemed sure of her choice, no matter how strange it may be. When Silco's gaze shifted slightly to Olillia again, he could see a tinge of worry in her expression. It didn't seem like she much approved of the name choice, but was respecting the girl's decision when it came to her own identity. It only seemed right that he do the same.

"Jinx it is then."

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