I'm laying low
A stray dog in the street
You took me home
We're sister cities
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"My mum," Caitlyn says.
The whole of the Undercity is silent. Half the capitol building is torn open— I can't even tell where the Council room used to be, but wherever it was, it sure as hell isn't anymore.
"My mum," says Caitlyn. "Jayce— my mum—"
"Powder," I say, and I drag us to the railing before I can think too much about what I'll find. All at once, the noise below us cuts in, and I'm not certain it was ever actually quiet at all. Every single trencher is either outside or making their way there. Their shouting melts together into something like its own entity, part horror and part confusion and part disbelieving glee. Their words are mostly the same: "Capitol," "bomb," "Topside," "Zaun," "enforcers," "Silco," and "revolution."
As for Powder, all I can see from here is a blue braid curling into the street.
"Can you keep walking?" I ask Caitlyn. "We have to get down there."
"Down there? I have to get across the river. Someone else can handle Jinx. Every enforcer we have will be here in minutes—"
"Then we have to get down there right now. They'll kill her."
Caitlyn pulls away from me, stumbles, and catches herself on the railing. "You don't think— she's just— do you not see what she's done? She assassinated everyone on the Council and you want to protect her?"
I'd have no coherent argument even if I hadn't been knocked out cold an hour ago. What I manage is: "She's my sister."
"And my mum is dead because of her!"
"I'm sorry."
Caitlyn gapes for another moment before her eyes take on the quality they carried when she and I first met: caution, fake calm, the tools you use when you're faced with something wild. This time, she mixes them with pity. But if that's gonna bother me, it's not gonna bother me right now; all that counts right now is: "Okay. We'll go get her. And we'll— do something."
"Can you walk?" I ask again, already knowing the answer.
"You can go ahead of me. You can probably just jump down, can't you? I'll meet you in a second."
If she's right that we only have minutes, I should accept that. "No," I say. "It's fine. We'll go together."
I draw her arm back around my shoulder and we take the long way down, back past Powder's grotesque tea party and Silco, who I refuse to look at.
She's like his daughter.
How badly do you have to hurt to let a man like that into your life?
"Vi?"
"What?" I kick myself and carry on, and we eventually reach the street. Powder's sprawled on her back, and it's honestly a miracle she hasn't been trampled yet by the crowds— no one pays her any mind, maybe because they don't notice her. Maybe because they no longer care who's doing what anymore, just that we're in the fight for real now and the future is coming.
I let go of Caitlyn as carefully as I can and drop down at Powder's side. She's unconscious, a small streak of blood on the pavement under her head, but she's breathing. The recoil on that missile was enough to push her straight off the platform. I wonder if she knew.
"Her shoulder's dislocated," Caitlyn says.
"Yeah, I know. Come help me."
"You know how to fix it?"
"You don't?" Topsiders are painfully ignorant. "Just hold her. I'll do the rest."
Caitlyn kneels with a distinct look of discomfort and allows me to ease Powder up against her chest. Her hands stay drawn away, but her arms settle around Powder's rib cage and her knees support her hips.
I yank Powder's pointy shoulder back into its socket without much ceremony, conscious of our lessening time. She whimpers as I scoop her up, but stays asleep. Caitlyn stands after me, uncharacteristically clumsy, red moonlight slicing across her face, and says, "Where are you taking her?"
"Ekko's place. They'll have a medic." On a whim, I add: "You should come. You have a concussion."
"I have to go see what happened to my mum and Jayce."
"I can check on them after I drop Powder off," I say. I can't and won't explain why I say it, but I do.
"You have a concussion too," Caitlyn says.
"Yeah, but I wear it better than you. I'm used to them."
She rolls her eyes. "I'll walk with you to Ekko's, and then I'm going back home. You should... lay low for a little while. And stay with her. Nobody in Piltover wants to see you right now."
I nod and set off. Caitlyn has no weapons, and she's still unsteady, but she guards me and Powder with an enforcer's poise as we make our way through the side streets, past clusters of people muttering and laughing and collecting various materials for fighting or hiding out. Powder's braids drag across the ground and get stepped on until Caitlyn clinically winds them up and piles them in my arms. Enforcers quickly start pouring in, but they're kept occupied enough that none get close.
Ekko grabs us as soon as we show up at the back entrance. He only spares Caitlyn one suspicious glance. "Why the hell would you bring Jinx here?" he hisses, heaving the door back into place almost before my foot is through. "Someone just blew up the capitol building and she'll be the first one they go for, after Silco."
"She's the 'someone,'" I say. "Silco's dead. So, yeah, probably. But she's hurt and I didn't know anyone else who could help her."
"You don't know anyone, period. She killed five Firelights. I tried to tell you she was bad news, and you're still—"
Powder whimpers again and his gaze falls to her dirty face, then the knot of bloody hair at the crown of her head. The adrenaline I've been running on all day curdles without warning and panic spills over me. "Ekko, please."
His eyes are wide. "I can't. We can't. I can't put my people at risk."
"I'll protect your people," I say. "I'll do whatever I have to to protect them if you let her stay."
He's in visible pain with indecision, but I probably am too, so we're at a stalemate until Caitlyn says, "As will I."
We swing around to gawk at her. "I have influence," she says, fidgeting. "And I can handle a gun."
"You're an enforcer," Ekko says. "You should be arresting us right now."
"Well, I'm not, am I?"
Even though there are way more important things for us to be doing, we keep gawking at her until she crosses her arms. "If you don't want my assistance, then—"
"No," Ekko says quickly. "No, we appreciate the offer. But if you turn on us..." He glances over his shoulder, to where a small crowd is starting to collect— quiet, but with the same threat written all over their faces. I can't blame them.
"I won't," Caitlyn says. "As long as you control her. She can't be allowed to cause any more damage."
Ekko looks at me. "Control" has a very specific meaning when Caitlyn uses it. But if it's between locking her up here and locking her up in Stillwater, it's here all the way. I nod.
"Deal," he says. She holds out her hand, and after a second, he gives it a firm shake.
"I have to go," she says, turning back to me. "Will you be okay?"
"Yeah, cupcake. Thanks for your help." I adjust my grip on Powder and feel one of her braids unwind over my arm and hit the floor again. "Hey."
"Yes?"
"Come back. If you can. And let me know... what it looks like up there."
Caitlyn inclines her head once and slips out the door. When I face the room again, the first thing I spot is a short figure stepping off the end of the tree stairs, and I leap back as if I can still somehow disguise all of this. "Is that Heimerdinger?"
"He's with us now," Ekko says. "He won't turn you in. Right?" he says, looking back.
Heimerdinger is coming closer. I'm backing farther away. "This is tonight's perpetrator?" he says.
"Yeah." We're already screwed, so I suppose I might as well talk straight.
"And she was working alone?"
"As far as I know. Maybe Silco was involved. I don't know."
"A matter like this can't be swept under the rug," Heimerdinger says. "But it wouldn't be fair to make any irreversible decisions regarding someone who can't even defend herself. Your secret is safe, at least until she's recovered."
"Heimerdinger's not on the Council anymore," Ekko adds. "So he doesn't have to report anything."
Never in a million years would I have expected a councilor— well, ex-councilor— to help me hide my most-wanted serial killer sister from their own government, and if it were any other day, I'd demand another hour of interrogation before I even thought about buying it. Today, though, I say, "Okay. Fine. Fine, then."
"Come with me. I'll show you to a room."
While Ekko gathers the Firelights to tell them the plan, I stupidly follow Heimerdinger to one of the color-streaked shelters at the outskirts. All it has inside is two cots. The walls and ceiling are made of thin wood boards with an inch of space between them in some places and there's no lock on the door, so there's zero protection whatsoever from outside forces, which makes me insanely uncomfortable, but I get the idea they trust each other too much around here to care about things like that. Must be nice.
"I'll send the physician," Heimerdinger says. "Try to make yourselves at home."
I lay Powder on one of the cots and sit down on the other, only now realizing as my arms shake that it took any effort to carry her. She felt hollow-boned, like a bird, scrawnier than I was after seven years of prison rations. She's always had trouble eating when she's stressed. I bet Silco never fed her, either.
An uproar comes from the ground, probably general disagreement with harboring the most dangerous fugitive this city has ever had. Ekko's calm voice rises over them and they quiet down remarkably fast.
"We're safe here," I hear him say. "We'll protect each other, same as always."
Powder gives a soft moan, her head listing to the side. I dart over, but she seems to relax as soon as I touch her hand.
I kneel on the floor instead, leaving my hand on hers, and whisper that she's okay, everything's okay, she'll feel better soon, and I'll protect her, same as always.
She'll know they're all lies when she wakes up. But now she sleeps, fingers tight on mine, and she believes me.
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The intro lyrics are from "Sister Cities" by The Wonder Years.
if u read this, i love u
Header art by my fav sister @/sarahdoesclownart on Instagram!!