Act Four
It was the middle of the day, and both Silco and Jinx were in his office like usual. Oftentimes they spent their days in each other's company, enjoying the peaceful silence as they went about their own tasks. Silco always seemed to have a pile of manifests and paperwork to go over, while Jinx had claimed the rafters of the room as her own personal space.
Every day around the same time, for as long as she could remember, Silco used a metal contraption that pierced his bad eye with a needle, injecting a small amount of Shimmer. It was so he could have some sort of functionality of the damaged eye. It used to scare Jinx when she was a child, but that had been some years ago.
"Can I try?"
Silco held out the contraption as an offering. "If you'd like."
Jinx swung down onto his desk, all lithe limbs and grace, finally having gotten used to her stronger young teenage body. Taking the needle from him, she sat cross legged while he leaned forward with his elbows on the table, tilting his head up to look at her.
"Will it hurt?" she asked softly.
"Only for a second," he replied.
She knew it was a stupid question, because she'd seen him do it countless times, grunting in pain as the purple liquid leaked from his eye. Jinx couldn't stop the slight shake in her hand at the thought of being the one who caused Silco pain.
Nodding once to herself, working up the courage, she carefully placed the ring over his damaged eye, proud when her hand became steady. Silco watched her with his good eye, the unwavering trust in its depths telling her that it was okay. She pressed the button on the side and the needle sliced into his iris in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it motion. He jolted back against the chair with a hiss and Jinx instantly dropped the contraption like it had burnt her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she chanted, hoping off of the table when he turned the chair away, rolling back a little. It was something that happened every day, but being the one to do it, to cause him pain, made her heart hurt in her chest. "Are you okay? I'm sorry!"
Reaching out to her so that he could hold her hand in his, Silco managed to give her a small smile, though his expression was forced. He wiped at the oozing liquid from his eye with a handkerchief before settling back in his chair once more. Jinx stood in front of him, biting her bottom lip in worry.
"It hurts less when you do it," he told her after a short while.
She knew he was only trying to make her feel better - and it worked. If this simple thing was something that she could do for him, then she'd make sure to be the very best. Silco rarely asked for help or needed it. He'd given her so much over the years, it felt nice to be able to give something back.
"By the way," she started, changing the subject once she remembered something, "there's something I want to show you."
He didn't get a chance to respond before she raced out of the room. Jinx grabbed the item from her bedroom but paused on her way back when she ran into Sevika in the hallway. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Jinx fled back into Silco's office, Sevika trailing in behind her.
Jinx placed the metal bomb that resembled an angry monkey on the desk and shouted, "Ta da!"
"What is it?" asked Silco.
"This'll be good," scoffed Sevika as she rested comfortably on the couch in the corner of the room.
"A new bomb I made. The last few were too weak, not explosive enough. I've been working on a new prototype for the past month."
Silco picked up the bomb, careful not to move it too much in his fingers. "This may come in handy. Later tonight Sevika will be leading a small group down to the docks. A… little friend of mine hasn't paid back what he owes."
The leather of the couch groaned as Sevika sat forward with an incredulous look on her face. "You can't be serious. You want me to take her?"
"Correct." Turning back to Jinx, he placed the bomb back into her hands while conveying a silent message with his eyes. "Use this."
She immediately knew the hidden meaning behind his words. Silco wanted her to destroy whatever was down on the docks, the place where the person was who owed him money. What other use could a bomb have? It was a big step in their relationship - him entrusting her with something like this - and she wouldn't let him down.
Jinx glanced down at her brightly painted bomb, a little unsure. "What if I mess up?"
"Just follow Sevika's lead, and you'll be fine," he instructed.
Sevika stood suddenly to leave the room, snapping to Jinx as she passed, "We leave in three hours."
Sure enough, three hours later, Jinx stood in the empty bar with five other men who she'd seen before, all of them working for Silco. They each side eyed her and muttered amongst themselves. She didn't care what they had to say about her going with them. Jinx needed to prove that she wasn't a little kid anymore, that she could be of use.
No-one spoke once they'd left for the docks, and it was a peaceful walk through the back alleys of the Undercity. Once they made it to their location, everyone fanned out, seeming to know their roles without having to speak to one another. That left Jinx floundering a little, taking a step back to watch as Sevika led two of the men to the front of the small building.
Her eyes darted to the right of the building, settling on a charred warehouse across the docks, looming against the hazy night sky lit up by the smog of Piltover. It was the very same place where Jinx's entire world had changed. Mylo and Claggor died from the explosion she'd caused. Vander had died protecting them.
It was the night Vi had left her - and the night Silco had saved her.
A flurry of voices rushed into her head, all vying for her attention, but she refused to let them control her. Not tonight. Silco trusted her enough to do this one task, and she would not disappoint him. Jinx steeled herself against the mental onslaught - the memories and voices of everyone she'd killed - that was brought on by the image of the burnt down warehouse.
"Stop him!" Sevika shouted from somewhere inside the building.
Right before Jinx took a step forward, the back door swung open and an unfamiliar man darted out, not paying attention to where he was going, crashing directly into her. They tumbled to the ground, and she was immediately crushed under his larger form.
Jinx shoved at his shoulders and kicked out as much as she could. He went to get back up, but didn't stand a chance when Sevika shot a bullet through his head. The man collapsed onto Jinx with his full weight, blood from the head wound leaking over her chest, soaking into her clothes.
"Get him off of me!"
One of Silco's men hauled the dead guy off of her, and she rolled over while sucking in gasps of air. There was no way she'd ever be able to get the image of the side of his head being blown off out of her mind. Just like she'd never be able to remove all of the blood stains from her clothes.
Sevika smirked at Jinx when she finally rose to her feet before turning to the others. "Is that everyone? I only counted six inside."
"One of the guys tried to escape through a window, but he's been dealt with," answered a man with jet black hair.
"Good. Let's head back."
They all began walking back towards the street at the end of the docks, probably heading back to wherever it was they all slept since the bar was closed. Jinx remained behind, though, eyes glued to the dead body at her feet. No-one waited for her, because no-one cared if she would be okay or not.
Stepping over the body, her fingers caught the metal pin on the side of the monkey bomb, sliding it out in one swift motion. It ticked twice in her hand before she threw it through the open door. Jinx raced away from the docks as she counted in her head, hoping that she'd left herself enough time to get away.
Hearing her racing towards them on the street, Sevika stopped walking. "What are -."
The ground shook with the intensity of the explosion, tiles coming loose from nearby houses and raining down onto the street. A few windows shattered, and one of the men shouted as the shards sliced his arm open. The night sky lit up in a brilliant orange glow, flames from the fire-engulfed building licking at the air as it grew in size. If it wasn't put out in time, there was no doubt that the fire would spread and destroy most of the businesses along this side of the river.
Jinx placed her hands on her hips and gave Sevika a pointed look. "Lucky I waited until after you were outside."
"Luck has nothing to do with it," she growled, knowing full well that Jinx would've blown her up without a second thought if she could.
"I made a promise." Jinx was referring to the night where she'd told Silco that she'd try to get along with Sevika. Ever since then she'd put in effort towards building somewhat of a relationship with the gruff woman, even if it just meant not killing her. "And now we know my bombs work."
Back at the bar, they both went their separate ways without a word, with Sevika saying that she'll give Silco a full report in the morning. Despite the early morning hour, JInx was too keyed up to sleep. She'd never had much of a sleep pattern, and Silco had once said that she has insomnia, but there wasn't much to be done about it.
Not wanting to wake Silco up, she made her way into his office and sat in the large office chair, curling herself around her knees. The room smelled like cigar smoke and the usual dampness of the Undercity. Swiveling the chair around to face the giant glass window, the fire from the explosion glowed faintly in the distance.
"Jinx?"
She looked over to find Silco standing in the doorway, the loose-fitting pants and half buttoned shirt a clear indication that he'd been in bed, but there was a heaviness to his face that told Jinx he hadn't actually been asleep. Silco had just as much trouble with getting a good night's rest as she did.
"Why did you want me to blow it up?" asked Jinx.
He moved closer to her, eyes trained on the soft glow of orange from the docks beyond the window. "To avoid any of the evidence being traced back to me - to us. They were no longer of use to me, anyhow."
He'll do the same to you.
Jinx squeezed her eyes closed and muttered to the voices, "That's not true."
"Are you hurt?" Silco asked abruptly, gripping the chair to turn it around, his good eye frantically searching her body.
"It's not my blood," she answered softly, still refusing to get up.
He was about to say something else when he decided against it, instead shifting the chair so it was angled towards the desk, which he leaned against with his arms crossed. Silco stared down at her, and she could only imagine what he saw. A broken little girl sulking in his office that he now had to deal with. Jinx couldn't stop the raw emotions spinning in circles throughout her entire body.
"What is it?" It was so quiet in the room that you could hear a pin drop, and Silco somehow made his raspy voice blend into the silence.
Jinx hugged her legs tighter to her chest, refusing to look up at him. "It was right there. Everything changed that night, on those very docks. I almost lost control, and I wasn't paying attention. I can't be of any use to you when I'm… broken."
"You think so little of me," he countered, not giving her the chance to rebuttal before continuing. "That night when you ran into my arms, not once did I think of a way to use you. The world cast us both out, Jinx. I know what it's like to go through that alone, but you didn't need to suffer the way I did. You're here because… I care for you."
Water ran down her cheeks before he'd even finished speaking, the sweet words out of place coming from Silco, but the genuine emotion in his tone couldn't be faked. He wasn't that good of an actor. A small voice told her that she was weak for crying, but Jinx shoved it to the back of her mind. Now was not the time to dwell on her own insecurities. For now, she'd let herself believe in what he was saying.
That he truly wanted her.
He lifted her chin up and brushed at the tears, tickling her skin enough that she let out a chuckle, batting his hand away. They shared a single look that conveyed a million messages in that moment, and Jinx knew that she had nothing else to fear.