Chapter Text
All it took was one second, a mere fraction of time.
She didn't know what had come first– The blinding blue light or the ear deafening shatter of concrete walls that housed the inventor's office they'd intruded. But all she did know in that fleeting moment was to raise her arm in protection of her little sister, while her other one pushed the kid away to safety, far removed from where the heavy blow would be impacted.
Ringing noises and desperate cries washed over her, like an avalanche of heavy snow, and her vision blurred so much, she could no longer bear to keep her eyes open. An unfamiliar warmth started to spread over her body, although not like a blanket or a loving hug, but rather scorching rain.
Blood.
Vi could vaguely recall the feeling of the thick liquid all over her rough skin and Powder's wails as tiny hands cradled Vi's face. And in some horrible, screwed up way the moment felt like peace to her.
Just plain nothingness to slowly succumb to.
“And what do you need this one for?”
A big copper gear got picked up by slim fingers among all other items in the box that had gotten thoroughly questioned earlier.
Jayce chuckled. “That's just a gear, Cait.”
“I can see that," The teenager huffed. "But what do you need it for ?”
The same project we've discussed when I answered you about all the other parts in that box. Now that you've covered the contents of it, would you want me to explain what the box is used for as well?” Jayce earned himself a playful shove from the young girl as he grinned sheepishly at her.
“I'm just curious.” The girl pouted. “Mechanical engineering has never really been an importance in my education, so I haven't had the opportunity to explore it much.”
Jayce's grin fell from his face almost immediately, though his younger sister didn't notice– too occupied spectating his strange purchases from Zaun she was holding in her arms. One of the items threatened to spill from the box, but the girl quickly straightened the carton upright, elating a small sigh of worry. He wordlessly continued their walk toward his apartment door, the short girl trailing behind him like she usually did.
“You should ask your teacher if she's willing to cover more subjects besides politics and history, Cait,” Jayce finally said and fished his keys from his chest pocket. “You're smart enough to understand what I'm doing once you set your sights on it. Hell, you'd probably even surpass me.”
His remark made the girl's blue eyes sparkle. That youthful glee apparent on her round face as he's seen many times before during their secret escapades from her parent's galas and balls, when they both had enough of endless and needless gloating from stuck ups and snobs. The last time, he had witnessed her being crowded by her family's guests, all trying to gain her mother's esteem by showering her with compliments and gifts for her birthday. He had never seen his sister-figure look that distressed before, so he had once again saved her by dragging her away from the fawning mass to his private office, where they'd spent the rest of the evening discussing blimps and airships.
The key to that same office rattled for a bit and got stuck in its lock, causing something, or rather, someone to hiss out a small “ shit” from inside his room. But before Jayce could call out to them, a dangerous crackling sound infiltrated his ears. He spun around in a reflex to cover his younger sister with his own body before the explosion hit, the only thought floating through him that he needed to protect that youthful glee no matter what it took.
The north side of Zaun basked in the sun. It's the only part of the Undercity that even touched the surface enough to be illuminated by daylight. The newest part of town existed proudly with modern buildings cemented in their place and its broad streets tidy and quiet.
Powder eyed the Piltover skyline up ahead, her hands idly hanging from the marble railing of her balcony. The loft she and Ekko had purchased a few months ago finally started to feel like home– like the Lanes. Small trinkets and graffiti paintings reminiscent of where they grew up decorated their space, along with self-designed furniture that were made of collected scraps. They’d always liked to be resourceful after all.
“Happy Progress Day,” Ekko whispered to her, placing a mug of steaming coffee next to her idle hands. “Ready to show off our work to all those bootlickers?”
Powder groaned in exasperation. Even though she was proud of what they'd created over the years, she'd always resented Progress Day. Showing off– as Ekko had put it– was exactly what they never had wanted to do. Their company Zaun Gadgets was meant to better lives in Zaun– to help the people from Zaun. There was a selfish part of her where she just wanted to keep it all to herself, to the undercity, and not those slimy industrialists that were trying to make a business out of their products.
“I refuse to give a speech.” Powder nodded in thanks to the delivered beverage as Ekko laughed at her remark.
“Got you covered.” Ekko leaned against her, his head resting on her shoulder. “You think ms. Grumpyhead will make a ruckus out there today? She never really likes it when people look at... her.” Ekko backed up a bit, but remained physical contact by placing a gentle hand on the small of her back. “Speaking of the devil. Where even is she?”
“Ugh, she's probably still in. I told her not to make it late!”
Ekko calmed her down by relocating his hand to her shoulder instead and gave her a light squeeze. “She's probably recovering from last night. I don't mind that she's sleeping in so much, but do remind her we need to be at the Last Drop in about an hour.”
“Don't worry, I'm getting her right now .” Powder set the mug down with a growl and returned inside their bedroom.
She then started her stampede downstairs to the open space of their living room, practically gliding off the glass staircase. Her eyes were set on the door that led to her sister's bedroom, adjacent to the living room, so that the couple had the entire upper floor to their own privacy. An arrangement her adamant big sister had insisted on so she didn't completely feel like intruding their space.
Powder stopped right outside the bedroom door and stomped her boot down on shiny hardwood floor.
“Vi! Wake up you slob head, we'll be late to our exposition!”
From inside the room, Vi grumbled into her pillow, Powder's shrill screaming not making it any easier for her to rise, nor the bright sunlight peeping through her curtains and reflecting off her left arm. Her cheek throbbed painfully, black face paint lingering on the same skin. A fine aftermath of her won fight last night, and her right arm draped over something warm and soft, and– oh. Another fine aftermath of her fight.
The girl next to her stretched and giggled, “Good morning, handsome.”
“And a very good morning to you .” Vi gave the half-naked lady her typical boyish smirk, the one that frequently made all the women swoon around her, and moved to go hover over her so she could–
Her door got kicked wide open.
“Violet, you absolute brute! You promised Ekko you'd be on time today.” Powder leaned in the doorframe, a scowl on her face and her arms crossed in her cropped leather jacket. Her little sister didn’t seem fazed at Vi's random company for that night and Vi herself couldn’t even blame her. It was probably normal for her at this point.
Then Powder's scowl repositioned to said random company. The woman muttered a small "goodbye" and even a smaller "call me" to Vi as she scrambled her clothes and fled the bedroom under Powder's watchful glare. Vi watched her leave with a content sigh and leaned back on her palms to smile at Powder. “Morning, Pow-Pow.”
“Do not Pow-Pow me,” Powder scolded, but her face softened ever so slightly. “Get dressed, please. I've seen your tits this week more than I would like.”
“You know the pitfights work me up.”
“Yeah, like some feral dog that chases women like they're a piece of meat. I thought all the fighting would get most of that out of your system.”
“Hah!” Vi almost snorted at her sister's misconception. “The fighting only adds to it. It gets the adrenaline pumping, y'know? And I need to release it elsewhere. Makes the sleep so much better too.”
“I can see that,” Powder grumbled, pointing at her watch Ekko made for her all those years ago. “It's literally not even morning anymore. Now get the fuck up and take a shower too while you're at it. There’s paint all over you and you reek like cheap perfume.”
“You judging my bed partners on their expenses now? Should I snog someone more refined to your tastes instead?” Vi taunts.
Powder’s face fell flat. Almost an unreadable expression dawned upon her pale complexion. It was a touchy subject nowadays; Powder's newfound success. Ever since Ekko and her started their joined company Zaun Gadgets, their wealth skyrocketed immensely. Investors from all over Runeterra– even Piltover – wanted a taste of their inventions. And though the couple remained themselves, humble as ever, it did prickle Vi somewhere, somehow , that she was just not as... valuable.
She glanced at her left arm and was met with the familiar sight. A sleek platinum prosthetic with her tattoo design engraved on the back where it matched her biological arm. Powder had personally sketched and etched the entire tattoo that ran over both her arms and back, down to her hips and calves. An entire body suit of cogs, gears and smoke that was sufficient at covering her scars from the explosion.
The marks looked like blue lightning and travelled from the left side of her collarbone, over her shoulder, all the way down to her lower back and hip. In some places there seemed to be cracks in her tattoos where blue light faintly shone through, although Vi always prayed for them to stay dull. Whenever her scars flared up in that aqua blue hue, it felt like her body was a livewire– ready to snap at any given moment. So, it wasn't the sight of the scars that bothered her, they could easily be covered up, she'd always wanted tattoos anyways.
No , it was losing her goddamn arm. It had sabotaged everything she stood for– everything she'd wanted. Vi had been a fighter all her life. Loved the thrill of boxing itself as much as how good she was at it– how good she was at protecting her family with it.
Then the explosion happened.
“You okay, sis?” Powder's voice snapped Vi out of her spiralling headspace. Her eyes blue and bright, but less than the scars adorning her skin. “Is it the arm again? Does it hurt?”
She automatically rolled her shoulder. Besides the bruises and lingering exhaustion from yesterday's clash in the pits, she felt fine... physically. She reached her fingers upwards to touch where platinum met flesh, a rough pink texture connecting the two.
“No,” Vi managed to breathe out. “Let me just wash her stench off me and I'll be good to go.”
Powder rolled her eyes affectionately at her sarcasm. “You don’t even know her name, do you?”
“Nope.”
The Last Drop was neatly arranged, almost unrecognizable as the bar it generally was. Festive decor hung all over the place and the usual beer clattered tables were full of intricate machines and fancy mechanical creations. People were scurrying around, hopping from display to display, conversing loudly and clinking glasses filled with champagne and wine, a stark contrast to the drinks that were usually served at the Last Drop.
Vi sat on one of the exhibit tables, legs clad in her favourite ripped black jeans dangling off the edge so that only the tips of her scuffed maroon boots were touching the polished floor. She lazily let her gaze travel the room, picking out ridiculous costumes people were wearing– probably Piltovian, she thought with a snicker. Those people always tended to look absurdly out of place, especially when visiting Zaun.
Still needing to find a way to appear superior.
She could distinguish the other foreigners quite easily. Noxians with their red and gold pride sewn into their fabric, Ionians with their silken details and the deep fancy blue getups of the Demacians. All these people, from all those faraway places, gathered in their silly old bar, just to snatch a glimpse of Zaun Gadgets– of her sister, who is currently presenting one of Ekko's newest projects with him. A ‘Firelight Hoverboard’ he’d called it.
These two kids made her so goddamn proud.
“I can tell you're enjoying this more for her than for yourself, kid.” Vi smiles at Vander's deep voice shows up next to her. Her dad had opted to make a pitstop at her table, taking a small break from playing waiter all afternoon.
“You mean, I don’t appreciate being displayed like some case study, but will gladly endure being stared at all day so these profiteers can see the genius that my sister is? Yeah, no, I’m having a blast.”
“Oh, alright, calm down with the sass,” Vander laughed gruffly. “How many times have people asked you if you can feel them when they touch you?”
Vi groaned. “ Too many times.”
Naturally, both of their glances fell to the platinum limb, the metallic bicep bulging when Vi clenched her fist. A miracle , inventors and entrepreneurs had stated upon seeing the prosthetic react along to Vi's body movement.
“Bio-mech,” Vander muttered. “Can't say I understand how those two smartasses have done it, but I'm glad they were able to give you this.”
“Advanced Bio-mech,” Vi corrected her dad, then smirks. “Powder and Ekko don't like being clumped together with 'basic' engineers.” She waved towards the other stands, where far lesser inventions were being demonstrated. It was almost laughable how much better two random Zaunite teenagers were than the world's smartest and most decorated innovators.
“Alright, advanced Bio-mech then.” Vander set down his plate of empty glasses, a big hand landing on Vi's forearm, carefully tracing the metal until he grasped her hand fully. “It still works properly? No mishaps or anything since you got it?”
“Not really. But I feel like I've finally gotten used to it. I can even do those combo’s you taught me now.” She jabbed the air a few times and flexed her faux bicep.
“I'm glad, Violet, I really am.” Vander smiled warmly, before his thick eyebrows changed into a slight frown. “We were all really worried that it might not work. That we'd give you false hope again after you worked so hard to process everything–”
“I know.” Vi cut him off. “I'm just... I'm just glad they allowed me to fight again. I've really missed boxing. Proper boxing.”
“Well, since your sister’s design makes the prosthetic adapt to your biological body, there was no reason for them to deny you.” Vander hesitated before voicing that which Vi already had dreaded in anticipation, but knew was going to come up eventually. “We just don't want you to push yourself too hard, you know? It's been a while since the accident and you've gone through so much– so many changes. Yet you immediately started going to the pit so often...”
Vi wanted to snap back how she’s been feeling like a wet towel all those years. How everyone had found their place in this world, except for her. How her little sister had to take care of her sometimes like she was some senile old lady. How that, without Powder and Ekko's almost impossibly inventive brains, she'd probably never have bounced back from that dark place she was trapped in after the explosion and the horrifying discovery of her arm having been brutally blown off.
That she really lost more than just one part of herself during that incident, and although she'd regained that limb, she felt like she’d never be complete at all.
Getting her face and fist bloody and beaten in the cage was a near satisfaction she'd longed for all those years of despair. Made her feel like she belonged somewhere, at least.
Vander seemed to notice how Vi had clenched her jaw shut, unable to retort, so continued softly, “Now, I haven't come here just to lecture you. I wanted to introduce you to an old friend of mine. She's visiting the exposition today; I think she'll be arriving soon.”
“An old friend?” Vi mused. “And here I thought your diverse friend list consisted of Benzo and Silco.”
“It expands, only by one, I fear.”
“So, who is it then? Why haven’t they just visited the bar if you're friends and all?” Vi raised a brow. Every Zaunite knew the Last Drop– every Zaunite visited the Last Drop. That's how it had always been since Vander took over the Lanes, and Vi had spent so many days in the bar working, serving all their loyal customers, she was damn sure she knew every Zaunite by now.
“That's cus she's not from here,” Vander explained with a sly grin, watching Vi's scrunched up face unravel in slow understanding.
“A... a topsider?” Vi either wanted to laugh in disbelief or sneer at him. She wasn't so sure herself. “You're friends with a Piltie ?! ”