Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She ruined it, jinxed it, just like everything else that was good in her life: her brothers, Vander, Vi, Silco, Ekko…Isha. Gods, what was the point of living, why was she fighting so hard to continue on when everyone around her left.

ISHA!

Isha, please don’t leave me. COME BACK!

jinxJiNxJinXJinxJINXJINXJINX

She felt herself break free from Vi’s grasp in one last desperate attempt to reach Isha in time, to save her like she was unable to save anyone else. Isha was different. She wouldn’t fail her, she wouldn’t JINX her, she’d die before she let herself lose anyone else.

DON’T LEAVE ME

(Why did you leave me?!?)

The shimmer in her blood raged, igniting her senses as she felt her body shift through space faster than anyone but her could comprehend, saw the flash of blue as the hex-tech gems ignited in her gun held in Isha’s small hands. She screamed in pain (terror) as she wrapped her arms around Isha before her mind succumbed to oblivion.

———————————————

Powder knew that Ekko was different. No one else seemed to notice except for her. Claggor just shrugged and blamed it on stress, Mylo was never that emotionally observant (he tried but her brother was hopeless most of the time). Even Vander, Silco, and Benzo didn’t seem to grasp the changes in the boy genius.

She saw them clearly though.

This Ekko was paranoid, constantly scanning his surroundings for threats like they used to do when they were kids (before the Lanes healed, before Vi). Powder watched as his eyes would widen with every new street they walked down as if seeing it for the first time. Not to mention the aggression and fear that day she came to grab him from Benzo’s place. It was like he wasn’t even seeing her. Or he was seeing someone else.

Then there was the project and the mural of Vi (but not her Vi she thinks).

Powder wasn’t stupid. And she knew how to read people, situations, emotions (considering all the work she had to do to understand and control her own after the incident). Ekko was Ekko. But not her Ekko. Which meant there was another time, another reality where her sister was alive. And she was some kind of monster if Ekko’s initial distrust and hatred were anything to go off of. How cruel could this other world be, to turn them into enemies? She couldn’t even fathom such a world.

And if this Ekko wasn’t her’s, then where was he? Or when?

Powder pulled herself from her thoughts as she scanned the bar for the boy occupying her mind, spotting him in the corner with Mylo as the two drank and laughed together. She was glad to see him taking a break. Enjoying the moment. This Ekko didn’t seem to know how to stop. Like the concept of rest was as foreign to him as peace in Zaun.

On autopilot Powder slid a finished drink to the regular at the end of the bar before going to her next task, seamlessly working around Vander as the two took care of the last straggling customers in the Last Drop. She liked the monotony of the work. The consistency. It helped her to order her thoughts and feelings.

Powder lost herself in the familiar routine, the time passing quickly until it was only her and their little found family left in the bar as they went through the motions of closing up shop for the night. Laughter and conversation flowed easily, even with the addition of not Ekko in their midst. Powder felt her heart tighten with love and loss. Love for her life as it was, the family she adored. And the always present shadow of grief as she wished her sister could be here with her. See how far they had come from barely surviving to thriving.

She hopes Vi would be proud of them, of her.

Crash

Powder’s head snapped up as she heard the glass she had just finished drying shatter against the floor seemingly on its own accord. Silence fell as The Last Drop started to shake beneath their feet, the smell of smoke wafting through the air from an unseen source.

Before Powder could react, an explosion of blue and purple light flashed throughout the bar. Powder ducked behind the counter for cover and clutched her hands to her ears as she heard the screams of hundreds of people and the sounds of metal clashing violently in an overwhelming cacophony for the briefest moment echoing throughout the inside of the bar before the world went silent again.

Powder poked her head from around the bar barely registering Vander’s comforting voice checking on the family in the room. Her heart rate pounded in her ears, disrupting the sounds around her as her eyes locked onto the two figures collapsed in a heap in the middle of the bar. A girl, no older than six, with dyed blue hair and small hands grasped around a pistol. Wrapped protectively around the small girl, a young woman with long twin braids covered in soot and blood. A young woman with her face.

It was her, but different.

—————————————————

Jinx groaned as she tried to claw her way back to consciousness. She couldn’t remember why, but she had to wake up. It was important.

It was life or death.

Gods her head was killing her. The voices of her dead family hissed in annoyance, only adding to her confusion and pain. Fuck, she wished they would just shut UP so she could THINK for one second. She just needed to remember what was so urgent.

Jinx squinted her eyes open but immediately shut them again as the light lanced into her mind sending shockwaves of pain through her head. She let out an involuntary groan, which caused the voices to frenzy as they argued back and forth.

Jinx clawed at her hair and began to pull at the roots hoping the familiar pain would quiet the voices long enough for her to think, to get up.

The voices got louder. Hands gently pulled at her fingers, forcing her to release her grip.

Hands. Real, physical hands.

Danger.

Danger.

Isha.

Jinx shot backwards in a blur of shimmered speed, away from the grasping hands trying to restrain her. Hurt her. Her eyes rapidly tried to take in her surroundings while desperately looking for Isha.

There. Lying on the ground surrounded by creatures. Unconscious, but, Isha’s chest was rising and falling. Jinx didn’t stop her movement as she rushed back towards the hands that were still reaching out to the space she had occupied half a second before and grabbed Isha from their midst before scurrying back as far as she could with Isha cradled in her arms. In a blink, she had placed Isha against the wall and moved to stand protectively in front of the younger girl, her gun pointed steadily at the threat despite the trembling reverberating throughout the rest of her emaciated frame. 

The voices got louder.

Reality refused to solidify in front of her. She was seeing the Last Drop, but not. It looked like Vander’s version from when she was a child but cleaner, brighter. She slammed her free hand against the side of her head trying to get her broken fucking brain to focus on reality. They were in danger. Isha was in danger and she had to protect her. She needed to think. The voices roared drowning out her thoughts.

“Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!”

Silence.

The voices were actually cooperating with her demands. Odd, but she wouldn’t complain now that she could finally process what the fuck was going on.

The Last Drop wasn’t dissolving from her vision, that was concerning.

Even more concerning were the group of people staring at her with various expressions of shock and horror.

Jinx flinched as she saw the hallucinatory versions of Vander, Claggor, and Mylo (though she had never seen them looking so alive before, at least not since they were alive of course) and zeroed in on the strangely familiar blue-haired stranger and the very alive (though lacking his signature hourglass war paint) figure of Ekko.

She automatically dismissed the hallucinations of her dead family and locked eyes with her once friend, now enemy. She never hallucinated Ekko. So odds were good that he was real even if everything else in the room besides her and Isha were up for debate.

She allowed a sinister smirk to grace her lips as she cocked her hip to the side in a display of overconfident nonchalance. Her gun never wavered.

“Well, if it isn’t the boy savior back from the dead,” she drawled as she angled her body to hide Isha from his view.

She had no idea what was going on but her body was thrumming with the familiar adrenaline of imminent death. She didn’t survive this long by ignoring her instincts.

“Jinx.” 

The boy raised his hands in surrender (oldest trick in the book, like she’d fall for that) and took a hesitant step forward.

He looked different. Taller but less muscled. His ear was pierced (when did he get that done?) and his hair was styled in a way she’d never seen on him (not that she cataloged Ekko’s appearance). It didn’t make any sense. Maybe she’d finally lost it completely.

“Don’t come any closer firefly. I’m not in the mood to play today.” Jinx hissed, her pointer finger resting lightly on the trigger.

Ekko smiled softly like he used to when they played tag near Jericho’s shop.

“Firelight.”

“Huh?”

“Firelight, not a firefly.” Ekko corrected with a shrug of his shoulders, hands still held placatingly above his head. No sign of his stupid (but kind of cool) hoverboard or his nasty club anywhere in sight. Not that she trusted her sight all that much at the moment.

Jinx scoffed, unable to disguise her annoyance. Her finger pressed lightly against the trigger, the slightest twitch would put an arcane blast between the boy savior’s eyes. She flicked her eyes to the blue-haired girl then refocused back on the firelight leader. There was something unsettling about her. Something she couldn’t bring herself to focus on, not while she was still trying to figure out how she and Isha got from underneath Vander’s metal claws to wherever here was.

“I know this is confusing, Jinx, but I need you to calm down and I’ll explain everything. We’re not going to hurt you or the kid, I promise.”

Jinx studied the boy in front of her. Ekko was a lot of things. Annoying. Self-righteous. A pain in her ass. But he was never a liar. His promises were sacred vows never broken.

“Talk. I don’t like what you say, I paint the floor with your brains.” Jinx sing-songed, hoping to unsettle him. She needed every advantage, she couldn’t appear weak. Not with Isha counting on her.

Ekko exhaled nervously, “Always a dance with you,” he chuckled shakily.

She raised an eyebrow, hoping the boy understood the implicit impatience in the gesture.

“Alright, the quick version then. I don’t know how you got here or where you were before, but we’re not in our reality anymore. This is a different timeline, things didn’t go down the same here like they did back home.”

Jinx couldn’t help herself. An unsettling full-body laugh erupted from her chest as she stared incredulously at the boy savior.

“And they say I’m the crazy one,” Jinx cackled madly. 

Her amusement vanished as quickly as it came. Her eyes began to glow with eerie pink light as her rage surged.

“It’s true, Jinx I swear…”

“LIAR!” Her voice cracked as she screamed at him, betrayal clogging her throat with hurt and fear. Why was he lying? Why was he lying? He’s not supposed to lie.

LiarLIARLiArliarLIAR!!!!!

“Powder?” Vander called softly his voice piercing through the haze of her spiral.

Her gun whipped to the Vander hallucination, in her distress not caring if she was threatening a specter of her own mind.

“Don’t call me that. My name is Jinx. JINX!”

The Vander hallucination walked towards her, laying a hand on Ekko’s shoulder as he passed him (why did Ekko react to his touch? Could he see them too?). She was hyperventilating, could feel her emotions spiraling out of control. The only thing keeping her grounded was Isha’s unconscious form behind her. She had to hold it together. Focus. FOCUS.

Her gun started trembling as fake Vander got closer. He looked good. Not the monster she had just seen ravaging through people. Not the decomposing corpse of the man who often screamed at her in her waking nightmares.

He looked like her Vander. Soft kind eyes, his hair longer than she remembered, scars flecking his knuckles from past fights. Her visions were never this bright. This kind.

Vander’s hand came up slowly and pushed the barrel of her gun down until it was pointed at the floor. She didn’t fight it.

His other hand came up towards her face and she flinched back instinctively, waiting for the pain. Hands hurt. She deserved it. She killed him, killed him twice technically (she thinks).

The pain never came as she felt the familiar, real, calloused thumbs of Vander as he brushed away the tears from her cheeks she hadn’t even realized she had shed.

“What happened to you, little one?” Vander whispered brokenly as he continued to wipe the ever flowing tears from her face.

Her gun clattered to the ground as she surged towards Vander, pulling him as close to herself as she could as she buried her face into his chest. His arms came around her instantly, holding her tightly as she sobbed.

“Are you real?”

Vander’s arms tightened around her in reply. “I’ve got you kiddo. I’m right here, real as ever.”

She gripped onto the straps of his overalls, burying herself impossibly further into his embrace. The jean fabric was rough in her grasp. Real. Tangible. Solid.

“Don’t leave me, dad. Please don’t leave me again,” she pleaded her voice thick with tears. “Please, please, please don’t leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

Chapter Text

Vander clutched Pow-, no Jinx she wanted to be called Jinx, to his chest as the girl continued to sob. Her cries of distress clawed at his heart.

Everything about this version of his little girl broke his heart. He could feel her ribs as he hugged Jinx to him, felt the scars that littered her skin under his hands. Janna, she was so thin. What was she eating in this other world? How often did she sit down and have a meal? And she was so pale. Pale like he and Silco used to be when they spent every waking hour in the mines down in the fissures. They would go weeks, months sometimes, without feeling the sun on their skin. And sweet Janna, her eyes. Her speed.

“Are you real?”

It was so painfully clear that this version of his Powder never received the help she needed to deal with the voices in her head. He hugged Jinx tighter to his chest hoping the pressure and physical contact was as comforting and stabilizing to Jinx as it was to his Powder.

Vander lifted his head looking for Powder to reassure himself that she was still there. She smiled sadly at him, her blue eyes examining this other version of herself in shock. Powder was still the same as ever, her cheeks were full and filled with healthy color, her clothes clean and well tended, her eyes grayish blue just like her mother’s.

Vander wasn’t clear on exactly what was happening. He had vaguely registered Ekko’s rushed explanation after the two girls had materialized, unconscious, in his bar. Alternate realities. Arcane anomalies. Timeshift possessions. None of that made any lick of sense to him.

But what was crystal clear was that the girl on the floor was one of his kids. Even through all the grime and blood, he recognized her immediately.

Without thought he had tried to rush to her side, but was intercepted by Ekko.

“She’s not who you remember, not Powder. She’s Jinx and that makes her dangerous, unpredictable.”

An argument had started, Vander wasn’t proud of the fact that he raised his voice at the boy, but Ekko was standing between him and his injured daughter. Nothing else mattered.

Vander wanted to break the hug, if only so he could start treating Pow-, Jinx’s, wounds but he refused to pull away until Jinx made the first move. He remembered after Violet’s death how his Powder barely left his presence. So afraid that if she lost sight of him for even a second he would disappear forever.

“Why did you leave me?”, Powder screamed at him.

Vander pulled the girl in close, “I didn’t leave, I just stepped away for a second. But I’m back now, I’ll always be here when you need me.”

He had a sinking feeling that the Vander of this other world wasn’t able to keep that promise. And his kid had suffered for it.

Jinx tensed in his arms before abruptly ripping herself from his grasp to stand protectively, once again, in front of the child she had propped so gently against the wall. He needed to get them both looked at, Jinx and the child. They looked like they’d been through a war zone. Based on the sounds he had heard during the flash he didn’t think his guess was too far off.

Vander followed Jinx’s gaze, looking to see what had startled her back into agitation.

Powder, who had slowly begun moving towards the child on the floor, came to an abrupt halt as Jinx took a defensive stance in her path. Thankfully, the gun remained abandoned on the floor at his feet.

Jinx bared her teeth in a snarl, tear tracks staining her cheeks. “Stay away from her,” her voice cracked from the strain of the last several moments.

Powder didn’t flinch, her head tilted in the way she always did while trying to solve a particularly complex puzzle.

Jinx mirrored the movement, a shadowed projection. Their expressions were so eerily similar.

“I was going to check on her. She needs medical attention. So do you by the looks of it.”

Jinx shook her head violently, her eyes looking around wildly before recognition and startling clarity lit behind her unnatural pink eyes.

“It’s you,” Jinx hissed venomously, her movements becoming more predatory by the second.

Vander stepped between his two girls, breaking their line of sight of each other.

“Powder,” Vander noted the slight flinch at the name from Jinx. She was balanced on the balls of her feet, a predator ready to strike at the first moment of perceived threat. He remembered those instincts, how his blood had raced with adrenaline constantly. Nerves walking a razor-thin wire as his senses fought to keep him alive through the madness of war. “Run upstairs and grab the emergency med kit from the office.”

Powder clenched her jaw and for a moment he thought she would argue, but his Powder was observant. He knew she could sense the volatility of her alternate self. Sighing out a quiet fine, she turned on her heel towards the stairs.

Vander faced his sons and Ekko, still standing in shock. Both of his sons looked like they were itching to help but had no idea how to step into this powder keg of a situation. His mind flashed to Mylo’s devastated expression when Ekko revealed the other girl went by Jinx.

That word had been banned in their household for quite a while.

“Boys, run over to Jericho’s and see if he’ll do a spread to-go? Tell him to put it on my tab.” Mylo and Claggor nodded immediately, happy to be given something constructive to focus on, but Ekko clenched his hands into fists as he stepped forward.

“I’m not going anywhere. You don’t know her like I do.”

“I know all I need to know at the moment. Take a walk Ekko, come back with a clear head. We’ll be here when you get back.”

Ekko huffed, his features mixed with a spectrum of conflicting emotions as he took one last look at Jinx before reluctantly leaving the bar. They clearly had history. Most of it fraught if their brief conversation was anything to go by, but Ekko obviously still cared for her.

The awkwardness of Powder and Ekko’s interactions the past few weeks was starting to make a lot more sense in hindsight. 

As the bar emptied, Jinx visibly started to relax. Vander didn’t let that draw him into complacency. From what little he’d seen, he knew the girl could switch right back into survival mode at the slightest provocation.

“What’s her name?” He asked gently, stepping towards the two girls again.

Jinx inhaled sharply, before turning to pick the child up into her arms (she was stronger than she looked).

“Isha,” two syllables filled with so much adoration, love.

Vander smiled in acknowledgment, holding his ground.

“What is she to you?” He asked. Isha was dressed just like Jinx, paint-spattered across her little overalls. Brown hair dyed blue to match her protector. She was a cute little thing.

“Mine.”

Simple enough.

“Then it looks like we’ve got a new addition to the family.”

———————————

Jinx held Isha close as she followed tentatively behind Vander taking in her new surroundings with a slightly clearer head. It was all so achingly familiar but paradoxically different at the same time. Like a dream overlayed with reality making everything look brighter, happier.

Except her dreams were never pleasant or comforting. If she could figure out a way to do it, Jinx would never sleep again. That dark wasteland was where Powder lived.

Down the well, never wake to tell

Needless to say, this was definitely not a dream. At least not one of her dreams. That was something to consider when she had a moment to herself.

Vander led her to a changed part of the bar, with couches set up cozily around a low table. Designed for comfort, not practicality. Another difference.

She laid Isha down on the couch next to her as she sat awkwardly across from Vander #2 (maybe Vander #3?? Did the wolf-man version of Vander count as a separate version if they came from the same person?)

She placed her hand on Isha’s chest, taking comfort from the steady rise and fall as she breathed. Isha was alive. She didn’t jinx it, she didn’t fail. Everything was okay, for now.

Jinx shifted uncomfortably on the fancy upholstery of the couch. With a huff, she slouched back against the plush cushions throwing her feet up against the center of the table in a full sprawl. She was so fucking tired. Today was neverending, so much had happened. And her attacks always left her feeling drained once the panic and mania had faded away.

Plus, Vander was staring at her. More specifically he was staring at her hand.

She grinned at him.

Then flipped him off, the painted smiley face on the tip of her prosthetic matching her own expression.

“What? Never seen a metal finger before? I thought I did pretty good on the design, considering I was working one digit down, ya know?”

Vander just shook his head, his smile looked forced but she could tell he was trying to stay nonchalant. Big softy was probably trying not to spook her.

“I’m almost afraid to ask,” Vander said wryly. His expression was curious though.

She shifted her gesture into a finger gun and shot at an invisible target with a bright laugh.

“Vi’s enforcer lady shot it clean off, pew!”

Her mood darkened suddenly as she felt Isha’s chest rise and fall. Still breathing. 

“Almost got Isha in the process. She coulda killed her.”

Up, down. Still breathing. Still with her.

“Vi?” Vander’s eyes welled up and Jinx registered the tattoo on Vander’s hand. Pieces were starting to fall into place about this new, shiny world.

Jinx didn’t say anything for a time. She didn’t know what to say to navigate through these emotions until she eventually landed on a vague but extremely true, “It’s complicated.”

She could feel Vander assessing her, trying to fill in the grainy picture of her life with the sparse details she had offered. It had always been difficult to hide things from Vander.

Luckily, Vander let the topic drop. Good, she didn’t want to talk about Vi right now.

The heavy silence was disrupted as a light cadence of foot falls echoed from the staircase and walked purposefully towards the alcove Vander had chosen. Jinx’s shoulders tensed, but she made the conscious effort to remain in her reclined position. She had nothing to fear from the other girl. After all the girl was still Powder.

And Powder was weak.

Her alter ego approached with steady steps, a legit med kit held in her hands as well as a bowl of water and several clean rags thrown over her shoulder.

Jinx uncrossed her feet, spreading them out on the table to purposefully take up more space. She felt the taunt pull the corner of her lips up in glee (and ignored Vander’s sigh of disapproval). Would sweet, innocent, coddled Powder rise to the challenge, or let Vander solve this little problem?

Jinx smirked triumphantly for a moment as Powder paused, the bundle in her hands jostling slightly as she readjusted the load. The smile quickly morphed into a scowl as Powder reached out with a booted foot and forcefully pushed her feet closer together, creating just enough space for Powder to set the bowl and med kit easily onto the table’s surface.

Without missing a beat, Powder took one of the rags from her shoulder and dunked it into the clean water before tossing the now damp rag at Jinx’s torso. Or it would have been her torso if she hadn’t snatched the rag out of the air with a sneer before it could make contact.

So Powder wanted to play.

(Up, down. Still breathing, still with her)

Good, Jinx needed the distraction.

Chapter Text

Jinx tossed the rag up and down, unconsciously matching the rhythm of Isha’s breathing with every toss as she stared at Powder. The girl she had killed, come back to life to haunt her. She waited for Powder to break her stare, to meekly cast her eyes down in submission or silently ask Vander for help.

But this Powder was not the same as the little girl she remembered being. The one who cried and whined for Vi’s attention, who hid cowardly behind the bigger kids, who couldn’t even take a lousy punch to the noggin.

Nope, prissy, pampered Powder held her stare. Had the audacity to evaluate her in return. Jinx could see it in the squint of her eyes, the tilt of her head, the crinkle in her brow. Powder was assessing her, judging her. Like she had any right. She had nothing to prove to Powder, they were the same person after all if all this timey-whimey, heebie-jeebie magical dimension stuff was to be believed.

Jinx killed Powder, but her ghost still lived on inside of her. If that was true, then a Jinx lived inside perfect Powder.

The other girl was just better at hiding it.

So how to get this Powder’s Jinx to come out and play with her?

She tossed the damp rag once more before catching it in her hand and turning to Isha. With as much gentleness as she could muster, she began wiping down Isha’s face and exposed limbs, cleaning off as much dirt and blood as possible. She was relieved to see that the blood didn’t seem to belong to Isha, besides a little bit that ran from the scrappy kid’s elbows. Must of scraped them up when they were sliding heroically to take out the beast (it wasn’t Vander, it wasn’t Vander, Vander wouldn’t hurt them). She’d have to have a stern talking to with the kid about the stupidity of playing hero. Maybe she could recycle some of the old wise shit Silco used to tell her when she was growing up (not that she listened to Silco much back then, but hey some of it must of stuck if she remembered it, right?).

Once Isha was cleaned up as good as she was going to get at the moment, Jinx tossed the rag at the bowl, the small splash breaking the silence holding the room.

She brought the manic smile back to her lips, the one that sent all the goons with a lick of sense running. “So,” Jinx let the word linger in the air for a moment enjoying the slight tension it created. “Baby Powder’s all grown up. Managed not to completely jinx it up in this world huh?”

Her smile sharpened as she caught the slight flinch from Powder at the word.

JinxjinxjinxjiNXjINxJINX

She ignored the muffled chanting of Mylo over her shoulder, her name echoing in a distorted hum around the edges of her hearing.

Powder clenched her jaw, her eyes narrowing. That assessing look was back and Jinx didn’t like it. This was her show, not Powder’s.

“Is that why you call yourself that? You know we’re not a jinx, right? That it was just a stupid childish insult. Mylo never meant it, he was just lashing out at us.” Jinx couldn’t place the emotion in Powder’s face, but it made her uncomfortable. Angry.

She lurched forward, hoping the sudden movement would startle Powder. It didn’t. But she was more wary. That was good. Keeping people off-balanced was her specialty.

Jinx shook her head in mock sympathy. “Still living in a fantasy world. Let me give you some advice, Pow-pow," the nickname dripping with disdain. "We always jinx things up in the end. Better to own it than run from it, trust me on that. You’re going to ruin things here.” Jinx gestured to Vander, ignoring the flash of guilt she felt as she glanced his way before returning her attention to Powder. She didn’t need to dwell on what Vander thought about her. About Jinx. It didn’t matter. It didn’t.

“It may not be today,” Jinx shrugged. “But it’s inevitable. Fated. Nothing you can do about it.”

Jinx felt her blood thrumming through her veins as she set up the kill.

“In fact, I’d bet an entire barrel of paint that the little Jinx in you has already struck.” Jinx drawled, her eyebrow cocked in mock curiosity.

Powder leaned forward in her chair as well, matching her intensity. The anger was simmering under the surface, just waiting to be released. She was so close to meeting the other Jinx. She could taste the victory.

“I’m not like you, and I’m not whatever or whoever you think I am,” Powder ground out. Jinx could appreciate the other girl's effort in keeping her voice even. “We may have started as the same person, but I’ve grown up. I’m not a jinx, and I never will be. It must hurt, to see yourself that way. But that’s your issue, not mine,” Powder finished firmly, confidently.

Rage and hatred surged, clogging Jinx’s throat. Powder thinks she’s better than Jinx? Jinx kept them alive. Jinx was strong in all the ways Powder was weak. Jinx was the most feared person in Zaun. Jinx survived while Powder was dead.

Jinx inhaled slowly, leashing her anger behind a mask of acquiescence. She relaxed her posture and resumed her reclined posture on the uppity couch. Her hand drifted back to Isha’s chest (up and down, up and down, a steady rise and fall).

She angled both hands up, palms out, in a sign of surrender.

“You got it, Pow-pow. Not a jinx,” she nodded her head exaggeratedly in agreement. Jinx snapped her fingers as if she just had a thought of inspiration.

“So, when do I get to meet the goody-two-shoes version of Vi?” Jinx asked sweetly.

She reveled in the grief in Powder’s eyes before the other girl regained control again (she ignored Vander’s sharp intake of breath).

“That wasn’t my fault.” Powder grit out.

Jinx had no idea what had happened to VI in this world, but she knew for a fact it was Powder’s fault. It always was.

Jinx opened her mouth to press her advantage, ready to pull the pin on this entire conversation regardless of the collateral damage (Jinxjinxjinxjinxjinxjinx) when a loud thud reverberated across the bar as Vander slammed his hands onto the table. The bowl wobbled on impact, more water spilling across the surface of the wood.

“Enough.”

Vander didn’t yell, didn’t raise his voice. But that made the command all the more intimidating.

Shit. She didn’t mean to piss off Vander, but she guessed the Vi card was probably a sore spot for him too. She hadn’t thought about that. Hadn’t thought about much beyond making Powder squirm.

Now she was the one squirming. It had been so long since she had heard Vander’s disapproving and disappointed tone, especially directed at her. Some old instinct had her lowering her eyes in shame, her shoulders hunching in on themselves as she waited for Vander to berate her for needling his precious Powder.

———————————

Vander exhaled slowly, taking in Jinx’s shrunken form. It concerned him how quickly Jinx’s moods and body language could flip on its head. One moment, she was cocky bordering on cruel. And the next, a scared girl trembling in fear of getting in trouble.

“Jinx, look at me please,” he called calmly.

Unnatural pink eyes flicked up at him, partly covered on one side by the blue bangs dangling in her face.

Why was she so afraid of him? He couldn’t stand being looked at with fear from any version of his daughter. But the argument had to be stopped. Jinx had gone too far, picked at a wound that was off-limits. His Powder didn’t deserve to be hurt just because Jinx needed a target to lash out at in her fear.

“I understand that you’re afraid right now. That things are confusing and you’re worried about Isha. But picking a fight with Powder isn’t going to fix any of that. We’re on your side, we want to help you.” Vander waited for Jinx’s response, but she just continued to stare at him. Waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“You’re not in trouble, but you need to apologize to Powder.” That got a huff out of the girl, her glance shifting over to Powder before stubbornly looking down at Isha.

“Sorry,” Jinx muttered, the apology barely audible and not genuine in any capacity. Vander silently checked in with Powder who indicated she was fine with what little Jinx was willing to give at the moment. Vander shot the girl a proud smile, she was handling this situation so well. He’d check in with her more in-depth once things calmed down and they had a moment alone.

Vander reached for the bowl of water, removing the used rag and replacing it with a clean one. He felt Jinx’s eyes on him, tracking the movements of his hands with waryness that made dread curl inside his chest.

He kept his calm, moving slowly and deliberately as he reached across the table to Jinx and waited for her to take the damp cloth from him. In a flash, the cloth had disappeared from his grip and was now clutched anxiously in Jinx’s own hands as she twisted the material back and forth, still watching him closely.

“Thank you, for apologizing,” Vander began slowly. “I’ll be honest, I have no fucking idea what’s happening. I don’t know how you’re here or what Echo was on about, but I recognize you. You’re my kid, and I’m going to help you in any way I can. But you’ve got to work with me, work with us.” Vander studied Jinx’s face, it looked like he had her attention. The wariness was starting to fade, morphing into confusion. She looked so lost. Like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“This world you’re coming from, it seems like it wasn’t the safest place. And I get having to be on your guard all the time, having to look out for yourself and yours regardless of the consequences for those around you.” Vander paused as he took in the hand still placed reassuringly above Isha’s heart. Jinx obviously needed the reassurance that the kiddo wasn’t gone. Was still with her.

“But the rules are different here, have been for some time. It may take a while to understand it in your head and in your body, but you are safe here. Isha is safe here. And I will keep you safe for as long as you are with us. We’re going to figure this out, together. As a family. Am I clear?” Vander waited patiently for a response. He’d give her all the time she needed. Powder reached out a hand, clasping it gently in his own as they waited for Jinx. He would make it a priority to check in with Powder as soon as possible. Physical contact was always how she sought out reassurance and comfort.

Jinx sniffed loudly, trying and failing to hide her distress.

“You’re not gonna kick us out?” Jinx whispered.

“Not a chance,” Vander reassured immediately.

“If you did kick me out, can you still take care of Isha while we’re here?” Jinx asked, her voice cracking midway through her question. “She’s a good kid, I promise. Never done anything to anyone.”

Powder sent a soft look towards the child lying partly in Jinx’s lap. It seems little Isha didn’t even need to wake up to already have the other version of her protector wrapped around tiny fingers.

“I’m not gonna make you leave,” Vander reiterated. “But, of course, we’ll take care of Isha. Like I said, she’s a part of the family now.”

Jinx bit her lip, looking back and forth between Powder and himself. Likely looking for a trick. She wouldn’t find one. Vander had never been more sure of anything in his life.

When she didn’t find a lie, Jinx's expression shifted again. Her face went completely blank, emotions locked behind a mask so quickly that if he hadn’t been watching so carefully he would have thought she had never been upset in the first place.

Her voice was pitched low when she spoke again the words sending stabbing pain directly into his heart.

“I killed you, where I’m from. Claggor and Mylo too. Then I got Silco. Just need Vi to finish off what's left of the family.” There was no inflection in her voice. No playful melody to her words. Just cold truth.

Jinx clenched her eyes shut, hands flying to her head as she struck herself in the temple too quickly for him to intervene.

“I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to, I didn't mean to.” Her voice was desperate now, high-pitched and panicked.

Vander sat in shock, he wanted to tell Jinx something, anything that could pull her from this distress. Reassure her that he wasn’t going to abandon her because of whatever tragic accident befell their family in the other, crueler world.

Janna protect her, is that what had happened to turn his Powder into this shattered version of herself? 

He couldn’t find the words, couldn’t make his voice speak what his little girl so desperately needed to hear.

But Powder didn’t hesitate.

She was up and moving before he had fully processed the meaning of Jinx’s confession. Powder strode with purpose around the table towards Jinx, her expression unreadable.

Powder’s hands raised and Jinx instinctively flinched away, her body expecting violence.

Powder ignored the reaction, her arms wrapping around the other girl's shoulders as she pulled Jinx into a hug. Powder held Jinx tightly as the girl slowly returned the embrace. All previous animosity was momentarily forgotten as Powder quietly whispered soft reassurances that it wasn't Jinx's fault.  

That’s my girl.