Always With You
Ekko sat on the roof for the better part of an hour before he found the strength to stand. Even as he rose slowly, the world moved around him as if he were a spinning top set loose. He put a hand to his head to stabilize the vertigo and it came back sticky. Red. He wiped the blood on his cropped shirt and took a look at the world around him. He was above it all, surrounded by the metallic bodies of Viktor’s army, the remains of his z drive shattered beside him. Below him, the world lay in ruin. Fires raged, consuming the bodies of the fallen. Blood coated the earth in a thick layer of crimson. Cries of agony rang out all around him as the injured lay in pain and the survivors met their loved ones in the slaughter. This had to be what Hell looked like. Ekko took a step towards the roof’s ledge and fell over himself as his ankle shot with pain. When he looked at it, it lay in a very unnatural position, definitely broken.
“Careful sir, don’t stress it too much.”
Ekko had to wonder who would be calling him sir, when he was very clearly one of the much younger members of this army, but when he turned his throbbing head, he noticed Aro, one of the newer Firelight soldiers. The girl had to be a young teenager, if not even younger than that. She barely came to Ekko’s chest when he stood up fully, but that didn’t stop her from going up beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist and hoisting him up. Aro led Ekko back across the roof and down two sets of emergency stairs onto the ground below. His dizziness only grew as he moved across the battlefield towards the council building, all the sounds and smells a cacophony, making his head pound more and more by the second. Was this it? Did Piltover…did he and Jinx win?
Awareness slammed into him in that moment. Jinx—his Pow Pow. He found her, stopped her from suicide, they bonded. Shared clothes, shared paint, shared kisses. He had become hers, and she his. But where was she? Where was Vi, where was Jayce and Viktor?
Where was everyone?
He remembered seeing the ceiling fan craft crashing into the Hexgates. With a sudden burst of adrenaline, he pushed himself off of Aro, stumbling as he regained his balance. He had to find Pow Pow.
His limp grew worse and worse as he moved across the courtyard as fast as he was able. The smoke in the air burned his eyes and lungs, and his ankle screamed, but he couldn’t stop. Pow had crashed, Pow was trapped in that building that looked to be slowly caving on itself. He could feel the familiar twinge in the air, magic. Magic had been here, done something. Ekko wished he still had his z drive, wished he could use it to go forward, just so he could make it to Pow Pow’s side sooner.
The doors fell off their hinges as Ekko slammed into them. He ran inside, now numb to the pain in his ankle. He looked around quickly, for any sign of the two girls who had crashed. There was none. He made his way forward, towards the elevator. Maybe by some miracle, it would still worked.
“Stay where you are!” A feminine voice came from beside him. The click of a gun. “Who are you and why are you—Ekko?”
Ekko turned to face the voice when it used his name. Caitlyn Kiramman stood a few feet beside him, gun now down at her side. She was dirty, her clothes were torn and blood flowed freely from her right eye, or more accurately, the hole where it once lived. Ekko continued towards where the elevators he knew had to exist may have been.
“They’re gone. Blown to bits. Come with me, I was about to make my way up when I heard you barge in. I have faster ways of getting up.”
Ekko was slightly worried about what these faster ways may have been, but he didn’t have much else to go off of. His board was gone, and he had no idea where it may have ended up, or if it was even in one piece. So he reluctantly agreed to go with the enforcer. He still had very mixed feelings towards the woman; Vi loved her, Pow hated her, and both had good reasons. Ekko himself had nothing to go off of. And she could bring him closer to his Pow. For now, that was good enough in his book.
“Grab on. It’ll be a fast jump.” Caitlyn took a hold of Ekko’s shirt, which was even more cropped now compared to before the fight. He wrapped an arm around her waist and held on with an iron grip as a line shot from a second gun in her hand, and up they went.
The two of them landed with a harsh thump, and Ekko bit his lip to stifle a scream, feeling the moment the bone in his ankle shifted even further out of place. He stopped then to remove his boot, before the swelling kept it permanently fixed to his foot. He left the other on for now, just on the likely chance something sharp would be in his path. Better to lose one foot than both.
Caitlyn shouted for Vi as Ekko trailed close behind her, desperately looking for the familiar shock of blue and violet hair. There was none. The two of them both paused when they heard a violent scream ring out just below them. They both recognized the voice immediately; Vi. The two didn’t spare a second, both making their way down from the ledge they stood on to the remains of the crashed fan-craft below them. The thing looked one wrong move away from collapsing completely. The balloon was deflated and flat along the wall, and half the propellers and deck were crushed. The center pole was mostly intact, along with a single propeller which was clearly missing a screw. Hanging on by a prayer.
Caitlyn landed first. She ran to Vi’s side as if nothing else mattered in that moment. Ekko lowered himself down more slowly, hoping to avoid further injuring his ankle. It now laid twisted fully on its side, and Ekko had seen injuries like this before. If he wasn’t careful, he would have to remove his foot.
Vi only continued screaming even as Caitlyn knelt at her side. From where Ekko stood beside the two, there were no severe injuries, no bruises to indicate internal ones. There was only Vi’s pained wails, tears leaving makeup flowing down her face. Ekko looked around, and still there was no sight of Pow. He had a horrible feeling he knew why Vi was in so much distress.
“Violet, you need to talk to me. Where are you hurt? I can’t help you if I don’t what’s going on.”
Vi coughed, trying to calm herself. Ekko could tell it was a battle. Vi never expressed any sort of pain where others could see her. She always choked it down, and when it finally boiled over, it was ugly. He had only seen it once, and she had been delirious with pain, leaving her nearly too exhausted to cry. This was unfiltered, raw rage. Ekko’s dread only grew.
“She—Jinx. She…” Vi was barely able to form a coherent word, but the little bit she got out said enough. His Pow Pow was gone. Vi was here, and Pow was dead. Somewhere down in that pit.
“Oh, gods,” Caitlyn whispered. “She…”
Vi nodded, erupting with a new fit of tears. “She saved me. She…she fell. I tried to save her but she had to let go like the fucking hero that she is. Was.” Vi whispered, as if daring Caitlyn to challenge her description. She didn’t, wisely.
Ekko couldn’t stay here. He was so tired. He had witnessed so much. When Benzo was shot, Ekko had seen it all. Had been the one to mourn as best as he could, alone in that alley with his fathers cold, bleeding body. When the accident had happened, he watched from the shadows as Vander had fallen to his death, as Vi had walked away and been arrested, as Silco had intercepted Powder, wanting so badly to step in but knowing what Silco would do to him if he tried. He had tried hard, so fucking hard, to save Powder turned Jinx from what Silco had turned her into, had been sliced by her knife when he refused to go away. He had seen her die three times. He saw her spiritual death the day Vi had left, the psychological death when Jinx was born from her ashes, and the physical death at his hands on the bridge, only reversed by shimmer. He had witnessed enough. He would not stay to witness her death a fourth time. So as Vi and Caitlyn cried together, a couple who were still whole, Ekko walked away, the living half of a pairing, his girl taken too soon.
When he made it safely to the floor, something in him had snapped. He picked up the first metal shrapnel he laid hands on and sent it flying. And another, and another. Why did the gods hate him? Why was he so destined to live a life where everything around him crumbled? He felt Jinx in that moment, saw the world the way she did if only for a brief second. Everyone he loved, everything he touched, gone. Pow. Benzo. His parents. His baby brother. Vander. He built a life from nothing, a haven for lost Zaunites, and the Arcane made the haven its home, forever tainting it. He built a society, his firelights, his soldiers, who had once been homeless but now had another shot at life. And most had given their lives this morning. Why couldn’t he get that, another shot? Every time he tried, something came along and took it from him. But he would not be Jinx. He would not fight the ones who wronged him. All he would do is prolong the cycle, his suffering. But that didn’t mean he didn’t get to be angry. So as he continued his walk towards the broken doors of the hexgates, nothing within arms reach was spared from his rage. His hands bled as he ripped at the fallen walls, screamed at the black sky, kicked through termite-eaten floors, took closed fists to his head, staining his locs red. Pow had put those locs there. Rather than rip them out, the way she may have in this situation, he left them. They were a piece of her that he could carry with him. The thought of her fingers in his hair brought Ekko back to himself. He lowered his hands slowly, wiping the tears from his face. Tantrums would not bring his love back. Nothing would ever bring her back.
Ekko almost missed it. He had been reaching through the rubble, trying to carve a path back to the doorway. Had been fumbling blindly, not paying attention to what it was that he grabbed. But this felt oddly smooth compared to the rest of what he’d touched. He turned the metal shrapnel over in his hand. It was Mouser’s head. The cap of Pow’s monkey bomb. The very same one she had blown herself up with. The same one Ekko had failed to hide. He had it in his pocket, but then he had changed his pants and forgotten it and allowed himself to sleep while Pow had twisted his hair. She must’ve snuck it. That thought was what shattered Ekko completely, and the Boy Savior found himself collapsing to his knees, letting out a shriek to rival Vi’s.
———————————
“Hey, Little Man.”
Ekko opened his eyes to Vi hovering over him, Caitlyn Kiramman by her side. After he had somehow come to terms with what Pow had done, he made his way outside, leaning his weary body against the stone wall. He hadn’t slept, not that he wanted to, because no matter how desperately he tried, he couldn’t escape the sight of Pow behind his eyes. His body felt as if it were full of sand; heavy, overloaded and so, so numb. He wasn’t completely sure he was even in his body anymore, the sand had taken over so fully. Fitting, considering he wore the hourglass on his face. What was an hourglass without sand? Timeless, just like he and Pow— there he goes again. He can’t escape it.
“Hey, Vi.” He whispered. Even his voice felt grainy. Was this what drowning felt like? “I know what happened.” What else could he say? To share his time with Pow, as short as it was, felt like a violation. The moments they shared were intimate in their own way, and Ekko wanted to hold those moments close. They meant more kept hidden. So Ekko stayed silent. If he opened his mouth again, he would wail and never stop.
Vi let out a pained sigh. “She went out doing the only thing she ever wanted to do in the first place: saving me. I’m just glad she got her closure, after all these years.”
And what about Ekko? Where was his closure? Where the fuck was his peace? After all he had suffered, hadn’t he earned the right to be selfish for once in his life? Apparently not. But he could only hope that wherever Pow was in the afterlife, she was happy. Happier than she was here, happier than she was with him. As long as she was happy, he would find a way to move on, just as he had every time before. He could still taste the gunsmoke of her lips. Mousers head weighed heavily in his pocket. That would be her new home.
“I’m going with Cait back to the council office.” Vi continued when Ekko hadn’t responded. “They need to figure out next steps. You should come. You’re the leader of the firelights, right?”
Ekko scowled. “Fuck the firelights! And fuck the council! Go on without me, I’m out of here! I hope I never see any one of these people again!”
Ekko truly wasn’t sure where the words came from, but was shocked by the truth of them. He didn’t want to stay here, seeing all the same people, going to all the same places, always searching for her face in the crowds only to never find it. And it wasn’t just about her, either. Mila, his lieutenant. Kane, Sho, Jax, Quinn, and the rest of his firelights who wouldn’t get to see tomorrow. Jayce, a colleague who had become something of a friend to Ekko. He had faced loss, but never to this capacity. He couldn’t handle living in a place where his people had once lived but now don’t. No matter how hard he tried to escape his past, it always clung to him like ozone on his tongue, and he knew that a catastrophe like this would never leave him.
“Fine then! Go fuck off to whatever sad little hole you crawled out of while the rest of us try and make this right!” Vi sneered. She made a move to walk off, but Caitlyn took a firm hold of her arm.
“Responding to grief with rage is what got us here. I lost my mom and resorted to anger and revenge, and now because of my actions, so many have died. Don’t forget that you aren’t the only one who lost someone in this war.” Caitlyn told her girlfriend. Ekko had to say, for all her flaws, she was a very level headed woman. When she wasn’t blind with grief-fueled rage. The same way he and Vi both were now, he supposed. But he didn’t want to let it go, not this time. He wanted to sit in his anger for a while. He was done burying his emotions. His grief over Pow may have been too big for him to bury. “Ekko, I can’t make you join us. But your input would be invaluable to us, and to the undercity.”
Ekko growled. “I don’t care anymore. Everyone I cared about is gone. The firelights are down to a single handful of members. I just want to let go and let someone else take control.”
Caitlyn’s face wore a number of emotions that Ekko couldn’t quite place. “Vi, I’ll catch up with you soon. I want to talk with Ekko.”
Vi nodded silently, leaving her girlfriend to make her way through the wreckage to the council building. Caitlyn turned a one eyed face to Ekko. When Vi was a safe distance away, Caitlyn reached into her coat’s pocket and pulled out a book. It was the same book that Pow had locked away in the fan-craft’s cubby. Ekko hadn’t gotten much of a chance to really look through it. He took the book from her, and already his tears had begun to dampen its cover.
“The drawer was blown open in the crash. I didn’t look through it. Much,” Caitlyn explained. She opened to the last page, where lay a drawing that Ekko hadn’t seen before. It was he and Pow in the outfits she had drawn out, that much he was familiar with. But rather than individually posed, the two of them stood side by side, hands intertwined. Pow had even gone over the drawing in pink pen, little scribbles and tidbits, even a small pink heart by Ekko’s head. “She seemed to really love you. And I can tell you love her too. It’s hard, when you lose someone you care about so deeply. Whatever you need, you can always count on House Kiramman. If you want to just escape it all, say the word and I will get you a one way ticket to Demacia, or Ionia or wherever it is you’d like to go. But if you decide to stay, I will personally invest in rebuilding for the Undercity and for your firelights.”
Ekko was shocked. This Piltie councilwoman wanted to invest in a Zaunite resistance group? He could guess that Caitlyn had realized just how much the Firelights and the Undercity had contributed to winning this war, but at the end of the day, it was still Piltover versus Zaun, Topside versus Undercity. “Thank you, Councilor Kiramman. I’ll think on it. Go be with Vi. She lost her sister, and she needs you right now. I’ll be okay, in time.”
“I mean it, Ekko. Whatever you decide, you will always be welcome in House Kiramman. And you can call me Caitlyn.”
Caitlyn left then, walking the same path towards the council building where Vi waited. Ekko thought about her offer. He really, really wanted to stay and work with Caitlyn to rebuild the Undercity, he wanted to see it prosper, the way it did in the Other World. But he was so tired of being the hero. He was tired of burying his feelings, being calm and taking control while inside the voices of Mylo and Claggor, Powder, Benzo were screaming to just be grieved. He didn’t see them the way Pow did, they never manifested as visible apparitions, but he could feel them in his soul nonetheless. He could feel Mylo’s attitude stirring whenever something didn’t go the way he wanted. Claggor’s passive calm when other people beat him into the dirt with their words. Powder’s big demeanor to make himself feel threatening, larger than life even when he was at his lowest. Benzo’s loving words, coaxing at Ekko gently to let his walls down a little and grieve. He felt it all, and whether he liked it or not, his ghosts had shaped him. He was tired of hearing them. He wanted to make a world they would’ve loved, but they weren’t here to experience it so why did it matter? Besides, it didn’t matter how much he tried, it would never happen. He also didn’t want to just give up. For all of Ekko’s love or hate, Piltover was his home, Zaun was his home. He didn’t want to give up on them. He had no idea what to do.
Ekko sighed. He made a move to stand but collapsed. His head was pounding, his ankle was swollen and hideous purple, and he had the sudden need to just lay down and sleep. Sleep seemed heavenly in that moment. He knew it was probably the concussion talking though. He wanted to sleep. But he didn’t want to die. He missed Pow so much it hurt, but he wasn’t entirely sure he was ready to join her just yet. Instead he simply cradled her book in his hand, full of her thoughts, her admiration for the world, her love for him. This was all he had left of her, and it would have to be enough. But it wasn’t. It never would be. Nothing would be enough, short of her miraculously coming back to life and joining him in that moment, kissing him on the cheek, telling him she loved him one more time. He just wanted to sleep. Maybe then the pain would stop.
“Sir, are you injured?” A voice asked. His head pounded, couldnt people just leave him alone? He opened his eyes slightly, seeing that Zaunite enforcer from earlier, Hira. The blue in her hair had washed out with her sweat, leaving tendrils of blue trailing down her face. “We have a healing hut set up, come with me.”
“Fuck off. I can handle myself.” He knew he was harsh, but he could feel Powder and Mylo tickling his soul in tandem; anger at how everything is wrong, and the knowledge that there was no one to blame but himself. And now, he needed to fix this mess alone. Maybe if he hadn’t been so afraid all those years ago, if he hadn’t tried standing up to Silco, if he could’ve just done that one thing differently, things may be different. Pow may still be here. “There are others wounded who need help more than I do.”
“This is the last of our checkpoints since its furthest from the heart of the battle,” Hira explained. “Everyone else who needed healing has already received it. Come with me. You look way too gray to be safe.”
Ekko didn’t have it in him to argue. He let the girl take him by the arm and pull him along the battlefield towards this supposed healing hut. Part of him didn’t want to be healed. Pow couldn’t be, so why did he deserve it any more than her?
———————————
Ekko was sore, but already in less agony than earlier. The healers had seen to him surprisingly quickly, and Ekko hated the implications behind that. They set his ankle back into place and splinted it tightly, and bound his head with gauze, commanding him to go easy for a few weeks on both fronts. He didn’t think he would.
He had taken Caitlyn Kiramman up on her offer to stay in her manor. The firelights base had been burned down, and the few remaining members had abdicated, taking time to be with or grieve over their families. Ekko was well and truly alone now. The room he stayed in was grand, moreso than any he had ever seen before. Right down the hall was the very room where Jayce Talis had kept his lab, his life’s work on magic, where Vi and Powder had taken his tip and raided. The beginning of the end. He made every effort to not be anywhere near that room. It held too many ghosts.
His room came with a balcony. Apparently the massive bed, hand carved dresser, full closet and designer floors were not enough, this room needed a balcony too. Ekko enjoyed it though; most of his nights were spent there. Staring across Piltover at the setting sun, at the fallen Hexgates, Pow’s final resting place below the rubble that had yet to be unearthed. The memorial had taken place weeks ago, a name burned and blown away in the chill
wind, yet every night, Ekko waited hopelessly for Pow Pow’s smiling face to reappear by his side. He enjoyed the clean air, the cool night breeze. Even the smell of the potted plants that shared the space with him. But none of it could ever come close to the ceiling fan fortress that he had shared with Pow for that one blessed night. He hated this, his every waking thought somehow led him back to Pow. The feeling of her lips on his, her arms around his waist, his head on her lap. Her boisterous laughter, constantly fidgeting hands, gorgeous Shimmer eyes. Everything about her, constantly on replay in his mind. Some of the details had begun to slip away: the smells that had always clung to her, the exact shade of blue in her hair, the slight tilt of her eyes. Ekko was desperate to hang on to anything he possibly could, even the slightest hint of her. He was going insane, but at least he still had his memories of her.
“Sheesh, what’s got you thinking so hard, space boy?” A voice came from above him.
Ekko had barely registered the pebbles landing on his arm. He counted four beside him. That voice was achingly familiar, so perfectly sweet, but he had to be crazy. There’s no way it was her. And yet when he looked up to see who it was that so desperately wanted his attention, he found her familiar blue buzzcut, now slightly grown. The violet in her hair gone. Her pants now shorts. But that pink painted chest binding still covered her ribs. When he met her eyes, her manic grin melted into something softer, something reserved only for him.
Ekko couldn’t help it in that moment, the sobs were alive as the forced their way out of him. He was frozen, his body wouldn’t let him move, the sand had never really left him but now it felt heavier than ever. He had done lots of crying lately, as if his body and mind wanted to make up for all those lost years, but in this moment he was paralyzed. Pow seemed to notice, and after a quick look through the balcony doors to make sure the way was clear, she made her way down to Ekko, curling tightly into his side.
“Where have you been?! We thought you—”
“I barely made it out. Even with the Shimmer, the explosion took a lot out of me.” Pow lifted her head to meet his eyes once again. They were red and rimmed with tears, matching Ekko in the pain. “It took me weeks to recover. But like I said, I just can’t seem to die. You should’ve known I’d be back.”
“But you could’ve healed here, you could’ve stayed with me! Do you have any idea how terrible it’s been without you?! We were supposed to stay together after the war, you were supposed to stay with me! But you decided to be a hero and sacrifice yourself and you were all I had left, Powder! You were all I had and you were gone! You don’t have to be the hero all the time!”
“You called me Powder.” Was all she said.
“And I’m not fucking apologizing. Why didn’t you come back?! I needed you!”
Ekko was dizzy with everything he had felt. He had gone from being numb, not feeling a thing for weeks, to feeling every emotion he could name and then more. Leave it to Pow to make him a wreck of himself and still make him love her anyway. Gods, he loved her so much.
“It was better if I waited for the excitement to cool down first. Besides, Vi needed to see me go. I remembered what you told me, about Vi’s death in the Other World. It made me realize that a world with both of us in it…is a doomed one. I needed to remove myself from the equation.” She ran a hand through his hair. “But I remembered my promise to you on the way down. I needed to live so I could come back to you. It didn’t matter what world this was, we were meant to be with each other. So as soon as I pulled the pin, I got myself out of there.”
Ekko sniffed, wiping the tears from his face. “So, I’m guessing Vi hasn’t seen you? You realize this is her and Caitlyn’s house we’re at, right?”
“Of course she hasn’t seen me. Kinda defeats the purpose of faking my death, ya know?”
Ekko sighed. “I’ve spent my whole life just living one day at a time. When my parents died, I buried their memories and moved on to Benzo. When he died too, it hurt. But I moved on, because Vander needed me. Then the accident happened, and I thought I lost everything. So I rebuilt my life from scratch, and I created a place where other people could too. And a month ago, I lost that too. But I realized that I didn’t lose everything until I found out that you had died. Sure, I had Vi, but she had moved on with life. She was more a mother than a friend to me. But you were all that was left for me. I thought I had done so well living in the present moment and just laying my ghosts to rest, but now, all I want is the past back.”
Pow took his hand. This was a lot of physical contact for her, and Ekko was grateful that it was all for him. “I was thinking.”
“Should I be scared?”
“Ha ha, Big Man. I was thinking about leaving Piltover. Heading overseas somewhere. Starting fresh. Going somewhere where I wasn’t Powder, or Jinx, or the Loose Cannon or whatever it is the people here know me by. I could just be a nameless woman, with no rumors trailing behind me everywhere I go. That’s another part of why I…did what I did, a month ago. Let everyone here think I’m gone, and start a new life.”
Ekko knew where she was going with this. “You want me to come with you.”
“You seem like you could use a second chance as well. And it would be nice to do life with you, without everything else coming at us from all angles.”
Ekko knew he would love nothing more. He wanted to see Piltover and Zaun rebuilt and unified, he wanted the people to know peace. But he decided that he didn’t want to be the person to lead the charge. He had done it once, he had finished his time, and now he wanted to settle down and rest. He thought Caitlyn’s idea of fleeing the country was astronomical; he moreso wanted to just go off the grid and lay low. But if Pow had been feeling similarly to him, and if this was what she wanted, he was all for it. He would follow her to the ends of Runeterra.
“Caitlyn found me, the day we lost you. I told her some of what I told you. She offered to supply me a one way ticket out of Piltover, as a thanks for all I’ve done. Being friends with politicians has its perks, I guess. If you want to do it, I can go cash that in. Last we spoke on this, I was undecided, and she’s been letting me stay here until that changed. What do you say? Take one of those blimps you’ve always wanted to ride on, and sail off to Ionia?”
Pow smiled fondly. “I would love that.”
Ekko sat up straighter, stretching his back. He reached for his cane beside him and stood. Even with the help from Piltover’s healers, his ankle never did fully heal, and the doctors said it would never return to it’s former state; the break was too severe. He would walk with a limp the rest of his life, and would have to wear a compressive sock to keep the bones, which had healed crooked and only partially, from rebreaking. But he didn’t mind too much; his fighting days were over, bad ankle or not.
“I’ll speak to Caitlyn and Vi in the morning. I have a few errands to run before we go. And you’ll have to find somewhere else to stay. About this time every night, Caitlyn comes by to debrief the day’s rebuilding efforts. As of now, I’m still Zaun’s primary representative as the former firelight leader. She insists that even if I’m on the bench, she still needs my input.”
Pow nodded, standing up as well and silently climbing back up onto the roof. “You know where to find me. Go be the Boy Savior one last time.”
Sure enough, not thirty seconds after Pow had gone, Caitlyn was knocking on his bedroom door. He limped into the room and over to unlock the door for her.
“There you are! I thought I heard your voice in here,” Caitlyn said. “I’m surprised you’re still awake, you’ve been exhausted lately, I know you haven’t been sleeping well.”
Ekko nodded, licking his lips that had grown dry from the cold night air. “I don’t usually end up sleeping until my body makes me. How’s the rebuilding going today?”
Caitlyn gestured to the bed. “You might want to have a seat for this one. I’m afraid it’s not great news.”
Ekko’s heart dropped into his stomach, but he did as he was told. Caitlyn sat beside him. She opened her mouth to start again, then only coughed. She looked like she was holding back tears.
“Ekko, I was approached by a man at the meeting. Claimed he worked for Silco at one point.”
“And?”
“He says he’s seen Jinx. Says a couple of his men have too. Maybe we should look into the possibility that she isn’t actually—”
“Get out.” He whispered through gritted teeth. He had already been so angry ever since the war ended, even when Pow came back the anger still lingered, so it wasn’t hard to channel in that moment, to keep Caitlyn off of Pow’s trail, keep her from knowing that the very woman she was speaking of had just been in her house.
“I don’t mean to get your hopes up but it can’t—”
“I said GET THE FUCK OUT!” He screamed. He found that these feelings, this rage towards Cait was genuine. He hadn’t quite forgiven her for everything that had happened, and though she had been nothing but kind and hospitable as of late, her need to walk on eggshells around him was infuriating. Sure, he hated the idea of Pow being once again treated like some monster, that there have been sightings, that she needed to be searched for, but he hated more the idea of Pow’s wish for anonymity going unmet. If they wanted everyone off their backs, Ekko would need to act the part. “GET OUT! You don’t get to come in here after the only person I had left to love DIED and tell me that there’s a chance! If you’re here to give me false hope, you can shove it up your rich, Piltie ass and take it somewhere else!”
“Now don’t you dare talk to me that way in my own home! I gave you everything! And you have the nerve to insult me?! I know you’re angry but you don’t get to take that out on me!”
“Just like you did to her?!”
Cait flinched, hit by an invisible hand. “She killed my mother.”
“And you led the charge against her, that cost her her life. So I guess the two of you are even.” Ekko took his cane again. It was a simple wooden staff with a rounded, horizontal hourglass grip for him to hold onto. Vi had gone to Mel to have it crafted, similar to the way she had done for Viktor. “I had planned to come find you tomorrow morning. I made my decision. I’m leaving Piltover. But if you felt the need to come in here tonight to try and recruit me for a wild goose chase to search for my dead girlfriend, you must be on some strong shit. Go ahead and waste your time, but don’t waste mine. You can give me a flight out, or dont. That’s your decision. But I’m not going to feed into your fucked up fantasy that Jinx is out there somewhere. Jinx is gone, and she’s not coming back.”
That was one thing Ekko had been overjoyed to say out loud. Jinx was gone. Pow had taken her place. A balance between Powder and Jinx, born when the woman in question had made the decision to stop tearing herself apart, trying to assume one identity or another, and allowed herself to embrace who she was as a whole person. Jinx was gone, and she was never coming back.
Caitlyn sighed. “I would’ve offered you a seat on the council beside me. But I respect your decision. I can see why this would be hard for you. But whether you stay or go, the search for Jinx will continue. I can have a flight ready for you in three days. It will fly out from the air field beside the council building.”
Ekko nodded. “I didn’t want this to be a fight. But since you may not see me again before I go, I just want to say a couple things. One, never mention Jinx to my face again. Never mention Jinx to Vi’s face again. That woman has already lost her sister too many times, and she wouldn’t take as kindly to this as I am. Two…take care of Zaun. Especially the Lanes. They’re leaderless and sick. They need someone to speak up on their behalf.”
Cait smiled grimly. “Of course, Ekko.”
Something about the look in her eyes told Ekko that she would not be keeping her word, but that wasn’t his problem anymore. He had errands to run, a few more bridges to burn, and then he would be taking Pow by the hand and leaving Piltover behind for good.
“Now get out. I mean it. I need to shower.”
Cait obliged him. She stood up from the plush mattress and walked slowly over to Ekko’s door, bumping the wall with a shoulder. It seemed she hadn’t quite adjusted to partial blindness, even after a month of practice.
“Caitlyn?”
She turned back around to face Ekko. “Yes?”
Ekko hesitated. Vi knew him, and she knew Pow. He knew their secret would only last so long before Vi learned the truth. He almost felt guilty for what he and Pow had planned to do, but this was what they both needed. Vi would live a comfortable life with her lover, and he and Pow would have the second chance they needed to start over. “Tell Vi that I’m sorry.”
Caitlyn grimaced, but didn’t respond. She walked out of the room silently, closing the door gently behind her.
———————————
The Lanes smelled about as disgusting as Ekko remembered. He almost missed the fresh air of Piltover. But this place was home to him, even if it wasn’t quite home anymore. He would never outgrow it. He had so many things he wanted to do. He wanted to stop by Jericho’s diner for one last good, old fashioned Zaunite meal. He wanted to scout the remains of Benzo’s shop for any little reminders of the man who raised him. He wanted to dig up every last piece of the night he’d spent with Pow, search every inch of the Last Drop until he could say he held every piece of her in his hands. But he was on a mission, and he was here for one reason only.
The Firelights’ base was still intact, by the mercy of Janna. It had been converted into a rehabilitation center for those who had been displaced following the war, both Zaunite and Piltovian. Ekko strode through it with all of the confidence he had gained over his years of ruling over this place, a counselor in his own way. A counselor who actually fought, who led his people in battle and bled alongside them. He made a straight shot for the center of the fray, where Sevika stood, speaking with a young Zaunite family who had lost even the clothes on their backs. As soon as she had finished speaking and sent them on their way with a bundle of clothes, Ekko approached.
“Sevika.” He stood on her left side, so that if she were to try and make a swing, he would have the opportunity to dodge. Thankfully, she didn’t. It seemed even this steep woman knew when to bow.
“Ekko. What brings you down here? Last I heard you were living the dream in the Kiramman house.”
“That’s only one part of why I’m here. I wanted to talk to you about a couple things.”
Sevika seemed to consider this. She flagged down another Zaunite man who was operating nearby, pulling him to her post.
“Take over here. I’ll be back in ten.”
Sevika followed Ekko to an empty corner of the yard. He sat on the ground first, a show of docility. She sat beside him. He picked at the fraying hem of his pants. They had very little life left to them. When he landed in Ionia, he’d need to bargain for a new pair. He’d cut the bottoms of these and lend them to Pow. Part of him still couldn’t believe she was alive, but it was either that, or he had begun hallucinating across all five of his senses.
“First off, I wanted to let you know that I’ve made the decision to leave Piltover. I’ll be leaving for Ionia in three days. I’ll need someone to take care of the Undercity while I’m gone, and it seems like you’re already doing a great job of that.”
“Darn right, someone had to do it. But would it be too personal to ask why?”
“I just have too many bad memories here. It’s always been my goal to just live in the present and take life one day at a time, but I think I speak for everyone when I say there’s so many ghosts here. I need a fresh start.”
Sevika hummed. “I can understand that. I would think you a coward, but even I can recognize all you’ve done for this place.” She rubbed at what remained of her metal arm. “At first, when I had met you, I thought you were just another Silco. Always talking big about how much you’d done for the Underground, how much they needed you, when it was all just straight out of your ass. But when I came across this place, when Hira told me that you were the brains and brawn behind it, that you had poured you soul into this place, I realized that you really were something. You’ve kept this city alive. I’d love to take your place, I’d rather do something meaningful than try and be another Silco.”
Ekko nodded. “Thank you for that. There is…a second thing. Quite possibly even more outrageous than the first. Feel free to say no, but…Caitlyn Kiramman spoke to me a few hours ago. She wanted someone to represent the Undercity, to make sure they were being cared for properly. She offered me a seat on the council. But obviously, with me leaving, I can’t—”
“You got it, Ekko. Can’t be much more paperwork than Silco had me doing. I’ll need to work things out down here, keep the relief effort going while I stay up there, but I’ll get it figured out.” Sevika surprised Ekko by leaning close, mouth to his ear. “You just focus on flying off into the sunset with your little girlfriend Jinx.”
What was with everyone hopping on the “Jinx is alive” train? He opened his mouth to retaliate but Sevika cut him off.
“Cut the shit. Jinx is like a baby sister to me, of course I’d know where she’s at. Who do you think cared for her while she recovered? She told me all about you two, by the way. I assume she’s leaving with you?”
Ekko sighed. He should’ve know that Sevika of all people could sniff out a lie like a shark could sniff out blood. “Yes. No one else is to know about this. Not even Vi knows about it, or about…us. As far as she is aware, her sister is gone.”
“Your secret is safe with me, Hero Boy. Now is that all? I can see Iman getting anxious from here, I need to get back to work.”
Ekko laughed. “Yes, that’s all. I was going to leave the council thing up to Caitlyn and Vi, and honestly they probably would’ve chosen you anyway, but I figured you’d like the heads up, or the chance to back out if you so chose.”
“Thanks for that. I’ll see you around someday. Take care of Jinx for me.”
Ekko smiled warmly, standing up slowly as Sevika dusted herself off.
“Jinx is dead. It’s Pow now.”
Ekko wasn’t sure Sevika even heard him.
———————————
Caitlyn had gotten Ekko his transport out of Piltover. It was a blimp, one of a few owned by House Kiramman. A smaller one that had little use to the family, that Caitlyn insisted would not be missed. After she had given Ekko her nightly debrief, which included her joyous news that Sevika had offered to take Ekko’s place leading the Undercity’s recovery without being asked, and jumped at the opportunity to join the council with her, she passed the key to the blimp over to Ekko with a gentle goodbye. Vi’s goodbye, however, involved many more tears and good wishes. For the tough front she put on, Vi could get really emotional when she let herself.
Ekko had to stifle a laugh when, as soon as Caitlyn and Vi had left the room, clicking the door shut behind them, Pow rolled out from underneath his bed. She had spent the last two nights here, sneaking in under the moon’s dim gaze, sleeping curled up in Ekko’s arms, and slinking back out before the sun rose, back into hiding. But tonight, no one would be seeing them. The blimp needed to take flight early to avoid the usual air traffic, and Ekko and Pow would already be gone by the time Piltover woke up.
“Sheesh, those two talk forever,” Pow whispered.
“Pow, you know I love you, but are you sure it’s a good idea to keep this a secret? If Vi finds out, it would crush her.”
Pow got up off the floor and sat beside Ekko on the bed. “I already told you, Big Man, Vi’s better off without me. I heard her in here, she was happy. She got everything she ever wanted out of her life. She gets to go on fancy little dinner dates with the love of her life, she’s helping Sevika rebuild Zaun, and she doesn’t have to sleep with her back to the wall anymore. She doesn’t need me.”
“So did you just happen to zone out for the ‘I wish Jinx were here to see this.’ part of the conversation or what?”
Pow sighed. “I know she thinks she misses me. But she’ll move on. It’s what she always does. Its better for all of us if her and I just go our separate ways. But you know her, if she knew I was out there she wouldn’t stop searching until she had me.” Pow laid down, sitting a lazy hand on Ekko’s hip. “Now lay down. We get two hours of sleep in a real, comfy ass bed before we’re flying for probably weeks. I don’t plan to waste it talking about senseless bullshit.”
“Fine. Whatever you decide, you know I’ll have your back. I just want you to understand what kind of decision you’re making.”
The two of them lay together in the large bed. It had enough space for them to both stretch out comfortably without bumping each other, but Ekko chose to spoon her anyway, and Pow was not complaining. Ekko felt it in his soul, that this was where he was meant to be. Not here in this mansion, not in Piltover, living luxuriously, but here with the woman in his arms. For the first time in so long, he felt whole again.
“This reminds me of when we were kids,” Pow whispered. Ekko tickled her ribs slightly in reply. “When I would sneak out of the bar to meet you at Benzo’s. Oh, it made Vi so angry. She hated when I snuck out without telling her. Said I was too young to be wandering the streets in my own, even if I was only walking a few doors down.”
Ekko chose not to point out that she was doing exactly that right now; sneaking off in the dead of night, but rather than across the street, she would be an ocean away. “I remember the first time you did that. You swore you had told her and Vander where you’d be, and yet I had Vi kicking down my door at one in the morning because you were missing and wanted to know if I had seen where you went.”
Pow laughed silently, her frail body shaking in Ekko’s arms. “She saw me sitting in your bed and screamed so loud I thought all of Zaun had to hear. She brought that up at least once a week for the next year.”
Ekko sighed contentedly. “She definitely knew we were into each other. We weren’t even close to that back then, but Vi could somehow smell anything we did a mile away.”
“Oh, for sure. She never acted like that when I’d sneak into Claggor’s room after a nightmare.”
The two were silent for several minutes. The only sound was the slight hum of wind from outside the open balcony doors. The only smell was the freshly washed hair of the woman in
Ekko’s arms, who had snuck a shower when Ekko claimed to Caitlyn that he was “sticky and gross after working with Sevika all day.” He could’ve just showered with Pow, he supposed, but he wasn’t sure either of them was ready to take that step. This was all still very new to them.
The silence stretched long enough for Ekko to think Pow had fallen asleep, when she spoke into the empty night. “I’m gonna miss her. I’ve spent so long trying to be with her again. I’m just glad I got a taste of what we could’ve had before I had to leave. She’s always been the most amazing person in my life, and the best sister ever, even when we were apart. I guess…part of me…all of me was scared to admit that.”
Ekko hugged her tighter, closer to his body. “It’s because you’re healing. It will take time, it’ll hurt for a while, but eventually the wound will close around the grief and you’ll be able to breathe again. And when that day comes, if you want to come back home to Zaun, I’ll be right there with you.”
———————————
The night was black when Ekko and Pow snuck out of the Kiramman manor. Even the moon had hid its face. They had taken the balcony, climbing down over the rail and hopping down to the dirt below. Pow went first, catching Ekko so he wouldn’t aggravate his ankle. He had to say, for such a frail woman, she was strong.
Just as Caitlyn had promised, Ekko’s blimp waited for him in the empty airfield, hatch open and ladder down. Pow entered first, then Ekko behind her. He passed the key off to her as he pulled the ladder up and sealed the hatch door. The blimp was small, a heat filled balloon powered by a diesel engine, and a single room. The room was cramped but homey. It held a narrow double bed, a bucket likely meant to be used as a toilet, and two small chests. One was empty, Ekko decided to pack the contents of his and Pow’s small backpack in it, and the other was stocked with food, likely packed by Caitlyn the night prior, given that it all seemed very fresh.
When he had gotten a bearing on this room that would be his and Pow’s home for the coming weeks, he made his way out to the steering wheel where Pow had gotten the engine started. Ekko took her hand and sat beside her on the wide bench, and together they had gotten the mechanism in the air. As the sky grew closer, as the sun grew brighter, and as Piltover shrunk behind them and they were engulfed by a swath of blue, they didn’t speak, didn’t move. Ekko simply drank in his girlfriend’s presence. As the horizon grew further away and Piltover forever faded from view, Ekko allowed himself to shed the skin he had worn for so long, leaving this new, raw layer of himself to take the shock of the world that awaited him in Ionia. He could tell Pow had done the same. As she watched the last strip of land fade from view behind them, she let out a deafening whoop, and Ekko felt Jinx and Powder as they fully merged in that moment, becoming one. She had truly become Pow. Not Powder the genius, not Jinx the mad, not the Pow who attempted to balance, but Pow who was the perfect equilibrium between her two former lives. Ekko felt the same for himself. His trauma may never fade. He may never see a day where Benzo’s face doesn’t appear behind his eyes when he lays down to sleep, he may never be able to look at the color red the same way again. But he didn’t have to live day to day anymore. He could acknowledge his past, could embrace the future, and could savor the present, because in all of it, Pow would be there too, fighting the very same battle. He would never be alone again, and neither would she. He let out a cheer of his own, and the two’s voices were the only sound for hundreds of miles.
———————————
Caitlyn wished she could do more for Vi. Even if she hadn’t fully shown it, Ekko’s departure had shattered her. She would never admit it, but the kid was like a brother to her. She wanted to do something to help Vi feel better, but they were both still wounded from battle so unfortunately, sex was off the table. Thankfully, Caitlyn had other ideas.
The Kirammans were always the smallest of the elite families of Piltover. While the others had prided themselves on a large family of many talents, the Kirammans had found honor in raising up a single gifted woman to take the crown. Because of this, the manor that the Kiramman line had been assigned was far too large for their needs. There were plenty of spare rooms. Many had already been filled; Jayce’s former lab had been destroyed beyond repair, and the room had been forever condemned. The next room over had been taken by Vi. Even though the two shared a room most nights, Caitlyn had seen the conditions in which Vi grew up, and wanted her to have a space of her own to retreat to should she ever need it. The next three were all being used as safe spaces for displaced Piltovians. Even Zaun had a haven of its own, but most of Piltover had been leveled and the people needed shelter, so Caitlyn had furnished the rooms and offered them up as free accommodations for anyone who may need a place to sleep for a night or two.
The final room had been Ekko’s. Caitlyn had yet to go in it since the boy had fled Piltover a week ago. The need for public rooms was diminishing, so rather than turn Ekko’s room into another bedroom, she decided she could convert it into a sort of rage room. She had recognized how cathartic a little bit of punching and fighting could be for her girlfriend, and she would greatly prefer her take out her rage in a controlled environment rather than an illegal Undercity boxing ring.
The room still smelled faintly of Ekko when Caitlyn walked in. The boy had manners unfitting of a Zaunite boy, she noticed. The bed had been neatly made, the dresser cleaned and empty besides the head of Jinx’s signature monkey bomb. Caitlyn decided she would donate all of it. The dresser, the mattress, the blankets and pillows. There were refugees who needed them far more than she. So, while Vi was in the kitchen eating a small breakfast, Caitlyn got started. She had already told Vi about her plan for this room, and Vi was very much on board. She had promised to come help as soon as she finished the food. Caitlyn pocketed the monkey bomb shell, then gently peeled the blankets off the bed, folding each one carefully and setting them in the corner of the room. Vi had walked in as Caitlyn removed the last pillow.
“Looking pretty good, cupcake. Need some help with that mattress?”
Cait smiled and nodded. She really didn’t need help, she mostly just wanted to see the swell of her girlfriends muscles as she lifted the large cushion. She stood opposite Vi and together, they picked up the mattress and slid it on its side towards the door. They both turned back to the place where the bed frame waited and froze in sync.
Beneath the wide spread beams which once held the bed, painted on the wood floor in neon pink, were a few short words.
Always with you, sis
Vi sank to her knees.