Author Notes: I got the inspiration for this chapter after finishing all the others, as I believe I missed out on the chance of describing Jinx's first experience with the Firelights and how she managed to integrate into them.
Sorry for the confusion that adding a chapter in the middle of a story might cause! I hope you'll enjoy it still.

Merry Christmas folks, remember to hug your loved ones!

It's been three days since Jinx arrived at the Firelights' base. The first time she slept here was when Ekko brought her in on his back as she was on the verge of exhaustion, and it was also the last time she got a decent amount of rest. She realized that this would not change any time soon either — this place was haunted.

She had to leave.

It was the middle of the night and the rooms carved and built around the tree and the clearing all grew dark, as the rest of the Firelights were busy enjoying the well-earned respite she could only hope for. Jinx closed the door behind herself as she moved towards the base's only exit. She had no energy to pack anything to bring with herself – all she knew was that she needed to find a quiet place as fast as possible, a place where she could actually sleep .

As she reached the line where the clearing ended and the Undercity's rotten environment began, she stopped. She looked back at the tree and tilted her head, searching for Ekko's room. Having found it, her shoulders slumped and she hung her head down, torn on what to do. In the end she chose neither option as she walked back to the tree, sitting down and leaning on its trunk with her back towards it, placing her head in her hands.

She didn't notice that somebody had approached her in the meantime.

"It's the first time a newcomer is so appalled by my culinary arts that they would rather leave than taste it ever again. I have to say, I'm a bit offended."

Scar stood above her with a kind smile on his face.

"No…it's not that," she replied, her voice devoid of any emotions.

Seeing his playful attempt at conversation fail, he swapped to a more serious expression, sitting down next to her. He examined her and saw that she was in a state almost worse than when Ekko brought her in — something he would have found hard to imagine a few minutes before.

"Can't sleep?" he asked.

"Yeah… You too?"

"My kind is nocturnal by nature. But I had my fair share of restless days."

"Ah… so you're just here on guard duty?"

"Yes, actually. Although I'm more on the lookout for people trying to enter, not exit. Haven't found a way to fit in yet?"

"Not really, yeah."

He looked up at the tree giving them support.

"It's a big change. It's okay to ask for help if you feel overwhelmed."

"Nobody can help me with this."

"That's not the point. It's about understanding the problem. Besides, you can never know for sure until you've tried."

She followed his gaze and searched for Ekko's room again.

"The exit won't go anywhere in the meantime," he added. "I'll make sure of it."

She stood up and made her choice, heading towards the spiraling staircase.

"I'll try. Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. Who knows what he's going to be like when his sleep is disturbed. He may just kill you on sight. Though the way you look, I think that would be better said of you."

As she started scaling the steps leading to him, she called out to Scar for a final time.

"I can see who he got his training for shitty jokes from in my absence."

He smiled.

"Careful on the way up. Wouldn't want to knock on his door with your head."

She peeked in through the window to see Ekko lying under it on his back in his bed, snoozing happily despite her third consecutive attempt at getting his attention.

You sure are a heavy sleeper… Good for you.

She went back to the door and knocked on it again, debating the choice between destroying it or the window as the next step in securing her entrance to his room when she finally heard him speak.

"Come in. It's open."

She didn't hesitate. Darkness covered most of the room in the back, but she didn't care about his living arrangements at the moment anyway — she turned to him, her heart filled with sadness by the news that she was about to break to him.

"Oh… hey. You okay?", he yawned.

Even in the dim light shed by the firelights through the window he could see the answer to his question. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen and her expression was similar to when he found her in the fissures three days ago.

"I… I can't stay here, Ekko."

All fatigue instantly left his body as a sudden jolt spread through it, making his heart race. He turned over on his side towards her.

"Why?"

"It just… doesn't work out. This place and I, we're just incompatible."

"Do you want to… talk about it?"

He made enough space for her next to him and nodded towards her, inviting her to join him. She hesitated for a few seconds but settled down nervously alongside him in the end, lying on her side as well, facing away from him. She remembered that they used to do this a lot back in the days when they had something to complain about. The work Benzo gave Ekko, the goons on the streets that tried to beat them up, and — much more often — the fact that Jinx always seemed to mess something up when on a mission with Vi and the others.

"I know that I'm… not welcome here. When I walk past people, I see the look in their eyes and the hate in some of them. I'm sure… I know that some of the people on the mural, who were dear to them are there because of me. And it's not just during the day… but during the night too.

"I see their faces, Ekko. They look at me the same way. I hear their voices. They keep telling me that it's my fault. That I'm a monster. That I should have died instead of them. That I should die and join them. I've been hearing them ever since… ever since that day at the warehouse. Mylo. Claggor. Vander. Even Vi, before I found out that she was alive. And all the others I have wronged since then.

"I did my best to shut them out. On the streets, everything reminded me of them, so I had to find a safe place. Deep down in the fissures with no features and no memories, where I had built my hideout. There, the voices were… tolerable. They only came to me when something big happened."

She took a deep breath.

"But not here. Here, they just won't shut up. Every night they just barge through the walls and look at me with anger in their eyes, asking me what right do I have to get a good night's sleep. To even be here. And I see more of them every day. Tonight, I saw the girl that looked like Vi for the first time. The one I… I killed on the airship."

She stopped as her throat croaked, giving Ekko time to react.

"Do you always hear them?" he asked. "When you walk around? Without any pause?"

"Not always. It's… much worse at night." She bit her lips, debating whether to expand upon it further. "When I'm alone," she finally added.

She felt the bed under her move as he shifted his weight around. When he spoke again, he heard his voice from a bit closer than before.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that it was this bad. I saw that it was difficult for you to settle in, but I hoped that with time it would get easier. But from what you're saying, running away won't make the voices disappear. It only pushes them away temporarily."

She remained silent.

"I knew all of those people on the mural, Jinx. Some because we fought together, some because the others told me their stories. They were all good people. Not one of them would want to torment you from the afterlife if they saw what you went through. But if that's not enough to convince you, then…"

She felt his hand on her shoulder as he gently pulled it alongside her upper arm all the way to her elbow.

"I have an idea. Will you hear me out?"

"Sure," she said after a short pause.

"Tomorrow morning, we'll walk through the base and see what we can do. Ask around, see if anyone needs some help, so you can get to know some of us better. You're the best mechanic I know and there's tons of work to be done as we are over capacity now. Most people here don't know you yet, they only heard stories. But many were there in Stillwater when you freed everyone there. Even Scar."

I forgot. He was there too, I remember now. That's why he's so friendly…

"People have already started to see that there's… more to you. If you show them who you really are, you'll see that they will accept you. And if you help us build our future then maybe the voices will be satisfied as well. That you're helping their loved ones move on. And maybe they will start to fade in time."

She shoved his arm aside angrily and sat up cross-legged, turning towards the exit.

"That sounds like a fairytale."

She placed her feet on the ground, ready to stand up and take her leave when she felt him reach for her hand. She stopped but still refused to look him in the eye.

"It doesn't have to be a fairytale," he pleaded with her. "We can make it a reality. What do you say? Let's make this your new safe place. Together."

"And what am I supposed to do until then? I can't even get two hours of sleep a night, Ekko. I'll just die from exhaustion before—"

She felt his arms tighten around her waist as he sat up as well, his legs beside hers, pulling her into a hug. "Until then, let me be here for you. Let me be your safe place."

Her eyes widened in shock.

"What…"

"You've just said it's much worse when you're alone. Easily fixed."

"So what? You think you'll just protect me from them with hugs and sweet words?"

"Pretty much. I'll shield you from them until you get comfortable here. And if you still see or hear any of them, tell me and I will smack them so hard they'll think twice about haunting you again."

She snorted.

"You're an idiot."

"You're right. We don't have to stop after you get comfortable. It's not exactly a punishment, you know."

"A giant idiot."

"My nicknames are reaching new heights every day."

He tried softening their embrace to give her a reassuring smile, but she quickly reached for his arm, making him revert his course of action. She couldn't look into his eyes – she knew that she had no chance to win against the way he looked at her, but she still didn't fully believe him.

"I can't be the innocent girl you saw in your alternate timeline, Ekko. I won't magically turn back into Powder, no matter what happens."

"No, you won't. And I wouldn't want you to, either. I came back for a reason." Her heart skipped a beat. "But you can't deny that she's still in there. The Powder in you isn't gone. Neither is Jinx. You're both. And that's fine."

Why are you like this? Why do I believe you when you say it? And why does it feel so good when it's coming from you?

Something finally clicked for her.

Both.

"Okay. Let's try it. Tomorrow," she finally said in a hopeful tone, sinking into his arms. His body also eased up, relieved that they could come to a solution that meant she would stay — much closer in fact than he would have dared to suggest the day before.

"Thanks for coming to me to talk about this. I was worried you might just run away if you found it hard to stay here."

She thought back to their childhood days when they used to comfort each other the same way — before they grew old enough that it became weird to do so — and couldn't help but smile.

"It's your fault that I didn't."

From that night on, Jinx didn't sleep alone. She still had nightmares of Isha and all the people she had killed. She still woke up in the middle of the night, hearing the voices blaming her. But Ekko was there to comfort her, and the amount of peace she found in their embrace also grew as she began to find her way around the Firelights, slowly, day by day.

It wasn't perfect.

But it was a start.