Work Text:
After being in Zaun for some time, Lux heard more and more snippets of what happened with Piltover. Zaunites may not have given the slightest care about them, but chatters of the blown-up council building still flittered around to that day.
They were recovering. The building Jinx had blown up with a hextech powered rocket was in the midst of rebuilding, and council meetings were appointed to a temporary location that wasn't public knowledge. There had been many serious injuries, scrapes, bruises, broken bones. But only one death of a council member Lux wasn't familiar with. That didn't seem so bad to Lux. Yes, there was the explosions on the bridge, and in Piltover, but they were almost deserved. So for a while, Lux wondered what all the uproar against Jinx was about. But after spending months in the city and idly listening and conversing with the more conversational Zaunites, she found out the real reason why. Turns out, the lingering fear was more aimed at who had Jinx under their wing - who helped shape her, and what it meant now there was no one to rein her in.
Silco. A crime lord and industrialist with a life goal of making Zaun a great nation separated from Piltovers oppression. Someone who enabled Jinx, allowed her to wreak havoc and taught her the fundamentals of why what they were doing was so important. He may not have been a good man, but from everything Lux had learned, he cared deeply. About Jinx, about the future of Zaun. His views were morally grey, but whose weren't? It's his methods that were questionable. Using Shimmer to control beings was almost as toxic on the city as Piltover, and whilst she did not like that Jinx had to go through the pain of losing him, and that he had left an empty, power-filled space behind, she was glad he no longer had clutches on the people, his own daughter included.
Jinx was free, and that knowledge held everyone in a constant state of worry, and that kind of hold over them was something powerful - useful.
Today, however, held a different rumour, a new one.
Lux caught wind of a new enforcer joining the recently appointed Sheriff Kiramman, a name she had heard before. A powerful political family whose daughter defied expectations to become an enforcer instead, now fighting the corruption of the organisation from within. The Sheriff of the city, alongside her new partner, was determined to make it a better place.
If only it were that easy.
But it wasn't Kiramman that caught her interest, her worry, and it wasn't the news that there were new enforcers after how numerous corrupt officers had been fired. It was the description of Kirammans partner that had Lux itching to return to Jinx and tell her about it.
So after realising she wasn't going to find what she was looking for that day, she does.
Lux arrives back at their home after a few hours of being out in the city, shedding her black cloak and mask that covered the lower half of her face as soon as she closes the rusted door behind her. Jinx had said she was so bright it was impossible not to notice her, so she'd switched up her wardrobe for the sake of anonymity.
Immediately, she's greeted by the sound of Jinx's music blasting through the place, and when she walks further in, she spots the girl focused on the workbench in front of her, sparks flying past her as she works on her latest project.
More weapons. Explosives with such intricate designs it truly showed her genius.
Recently, they'd discussed it being time to move out of the shadows. Show the enforcers they can't just roam Zaun like it's their own anymore, like they had any control. Jinx was well into her plans to come out of hiding, well aware of how tired Lux was of staying where they were. She's promised a brand new home in Zaun, worthy of a princess like her - even though Lux had told her multiple times she wasn't a princess. They just had to make their return and show everyone they were not to be messed with. Jinx wanted to see who had scrambled for Silco's position in power, and if they weren't worthy, she would rip it from their grasp and claim the territory for herself.
Whatever it takes.
Lux's steps are quiet as she walks towards Jinx, and she's almost sure she hasn't noticed her arrival, but soon enough, blue hair sways to the side as her head perks up, even while continuing to weld pieces of metal together.
"Hey, Blondie!" Jinx calls out, voice almost muffled by the blaring music playing next to her. "Got anything good?"
"Not today, I'm afraid," Lux replies with a sigh, feeling a little guilty. She had been out looking for certain parts Jinx had wanted, but not all days were successful. "The streets were scarce today. New enforcers lingering apparently."
"Ugh, those guys?" Jinx replies with a fake gag.
"That wasn't the interesting thing, though," Lux gets to her point casually, seeing Jinx nodding along. "It's the Sheriff's new partner that I'd heard about."
Lux keeps her gaze on Jinx's back as she works, steady and unassuming, "The description of this new enforcer caught my attention because the word is she's from Zaun. Pink hair, a little rough around the edges, a Kiramman by her side. It sounds a lot like what you told me about your . . ." Lux pauses, saying the next word tentatively, knowing it was risky to say it at all.
". . . Sister."
Suddenly, the sparks come to a stop, Jinx's shoulders visibly tense, and the music is cut off with a dwindling whine.
The chair Jinx sits on swivels around to face her slowly, and hard bright eyes gaze back at her in a tense silence that almost makes her nervous until she speaks with an eerie calmness.
"Did you go near her?"
Lux stares, quickly confused, "No. I heard the rumour from a street vendor."
"So she didn't touch you?" Jinx presses, leaning forward seriously. "Couldn't know you exist? Come after you?"
"No, of course not," Lux tells her, caught off-guard from how serious she was being. From what she'd learned about Violet, the girl never had poor intentions, but Jinx seemed unusually disturbed at the thought of someone getting to her.
Jinx stares at her with a frown that makes the darkness under her eyes more visible, "Promise?"
"I promise."
And then Jinx promptly slumps back in her seat, letting out a dramatic sigh of relief, hardness leaving her so fast in nearly gave Lux whiplash, but she was used to it by now, "Phew!" Jinx exclaims, chuckling slightly to herself, realising she was still holding a scrap of metal and throwing it onto the table, the clink echoing around them. "For a moment there I thought I'd have to kill her. That would make for an awkward reunion, or re-reunion?"
"You think Vi would, what? Hurt me?" Lux questions, trying to understand whatever Jinx was thinking. As if that was something anyone was capable of. Then her eyebrows dip into a slightly offended frown. "I could take her."
Jinx waves her hand around, "I know that! But you shouldn't have to. Chivalry isn't dead, y'know?"
"How charming," Lux replies, lips quirked. So Jinx was being protective, she didn't want anyone to touch her. Interesting.
But then Jinx straightens again as a thought seems to occur to her, "Wait, she was in Zaun?" she asks.
"I think so," Lux shrugs lightly. "Might be looking for you. She won't find you though. She'll have to go through me."
"She not looking for me. She left me," Jinx stands abruptly, almost startling Lux by the sudden switch to anger. "She just wants Powder. But that girl doesn't exist anymore."
"I know," Lux agrees simply, staying calm and letting Jinx pace a little before turning towards her.
"She couldn't love me like she used to," Jinx mutters angrily, though the wideness of her shimmer-tinted eyes and the hanging of her head spoke volumes of her sadness.
"We're not sisters anymore."
Lux lets out a breath. As much as she wanted to take this pain away, it wasn't something easily done. She couldn't wash it away with a few false assurances or use violence to get rid of the problem, but what she could do was stay by her side every step of the way - try to show that she could be just as incredible without Vi. Because God knows that's what she was doing in spite of her own brother.
So she gently reaches out, brushing her fingers under Jinx's chin and prompting her to tilt her head up towards her, trying to ignore the way her heart cracks and almost fills with an obsessive rage at the raw emotion on her face as she cups soft cheeks in a featherlight touch, whispering quietly but fiercely between them, trying to urge Jinx to hear her next words and never ever forget.
"Vi may not love you like she used to. But, Jinx, I swear to the Gods I'll love you like you deserve."
Jinx almost visibly shudders at her words, leaning into her hands in a manner that almost seems like she's giving up, but the way her eyes focus on Lux's say otherwise.
"And what do I deserve, Flashlight?" Jinx murmurs.
Lux leans forward, keeping her hands on Jinx as she brings their foreheads together, watching Jinx's eyes fall closed slightly at the contact. Like her touch calmed her, soothed her. Grounded her.
"Everything," Lux breathes quietly, intimately. "Anything. I'll burn the world for you. I'll build a world for you."
They're so close now that Lux can almost feel the way Jinx's lips curve into a small smile.
"Hey, Lux?" Jinx asks, and the notion of her using her name isn't lost on her.
"Yeah?"
"How about we just start with you?"
Lux's heart thuds in her chest so loudly she's almost afraid she'll start glowing on the spot when she feels lips press against hers, her own eyes fluttering close as the ever-lasting sounds of Zaun that always accompanied them fade into nothingness. She's no longer in the crevice of a dark, dirty corner of the city. She's no longer hiding. She's no longer alone. Instead, she finally felt a sense of peace she didn't think existed, not for her.
The kiss isn't hesitant or tentative like she might have expected. Jinx's lips were firm, insistent against her like she wanted to reassure she was there, imprint herself on her skin, sink into her as long as she could.
Lux's hands naturally trail away from her face now, brushing past lean shoulders and blue clouds to rest on Jinx's waist with a grounding pressure that makes Jinx groan into the kiss before they slowly and reluctantly part, slow heavy breathes passing between them as they watch one another.
After a moment, Jinx licks her lips and grins.
"You said you were mine, right?"
"In every way," Lux promises.
Jinx latches herself onto her then, head tucked into her shoulder, arms wrapped tightly around Lux's waist and she relaxes into it with a sigh.
"Good, 'cause I called dibs. And there's no take-backs."
Lux laughs softly, "Like I ever would."