Archive of Our Own

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” 

Caitlyn froze, her breath catching in her chest at the words, jerking her head to look behind her. Violet eyes seemed to shine in the dark. It reminded her of a time better forgotten. 

“About your mom,” Jinx elaborated after a moment. “I didn’t know she was in there.”

“What are you doing here?” Caitlyn asked in a breathy tone. She took a hesitant step back and flinched when Jinx held out her hands to try and assure her she meant no harm. 

“I come unarmed!” Jinx promised before pausing, removing the gun from her side, and setting it down. “Okay, now I’m unarmed. Wait— that’s a lie too. But I won’t use anything!” 

Perhaps Jinx could have used the front door like a normal person, but she couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized. If Caitlyn saw the lights were on then she’d probably get her gun. That being said, Jinx had to acknowledge that waiting to spring on her in the dark probably wasn’t a good idea, especially in her bedroom.

“I thought we agreed we’d never see each other again,” Caitlyn said. Her face twisted into a stoic mask to hide the fear that creased it. “You’re breaking your agreement.” 

“I didn’t come here to cause trouble, pinky promise!” Jinx swore. She crossed her finger over her heart in an X to prove it. “I just…” She didn’t know how to put it into words. “I wanted to talk to you?”

Caitlyn was tense, her eyes flickering toward the door as if someone else would come in at any moment. Jinx already knew that nobody would be coming for a while. 

“Talk,” Caitlyn ordered sharply. 

“Right.” Jinx dropped her hands and leaned back against the desk in front of the window she had crawled through. “Um…” The words she had planned were all jumbled up in her head. She resisted the urge to smack it to knock them loose. “So, kinda like I said already, I’m sorry.”

“What makes you think I want an apology from you?” Caitlyn spat. 

Jinx shrugged slightly. She hoisted herself onto the desk to sit, swinging her feet in thought. “I didn’t know your mom was in there. It… probably wouldn’t have changed anything… but I didn’t know.” 

“Great. Now get out.” Caitlyn shoved a finger toward the window impatiently. 

“I also wanted to, um, thank ya,” Jinx continued. That got Caitlyn to freeze. “Ya got me outta Smeech’s place. Let me sleep here.”

Caitlyn’s jaw clenched before reluctantly saying, “I did it for Isha.”

“I know.” Jinx gave Caitlyn a lopsided smile. “Thanks for not putting a bullet in me.”

“I’m still debating that,” Caitlyn said hotly. “You agreed to stay away.”

Jinx reached into her pocket and Caitlyn tensed up, her back hitting the wall as she took a stumbling step back. Jinx raised an eyebrow but slowly pulled a folded paper out of her pocket before tossing it at her. “Here.” 

Caitlyn looked down at the piece of paper. She met Jinx’s gaze for a brief moment before she bent down and picked it up, slowly unfolding it. She stared at the drawing scribbled on the paper in pastel crayons. 

“What is this?” Caitlyn whispered. 

“Isha drew it,” Jinx said. The paper contained a figure with a rifle in its hands, and a second smaller figure clinging to its back. There were red splashes all over the page, deep in color from the crayon being pressed too hard. “It’s you.” 

Caitlyn swallowed hard. She stared at the piece of paper to soak up each little detail. 

“You and me, we don’t like each other,” Jinx said. “But you protected my kid, even when you knew she was mine. You told her to close her eyes…” Jinx took a breath. “So… thanks.” 

“I didn’t do it for your thanks,” Caitlyn said firmly. The paper crinkled slightly under her grip. “It was the right thing to do.”

Jinx shrugged, twirling a piece of her braid around her fingers. “Other Enforcer piggies have shot kids for less.” 

“Are you done?” Caitlyn gritted out, a half-hearted plea in her tone. 

Jinx jumped off the desk onto the floor. “Yup.” She brushed imaginary dirt off of her clothes before she crawled up onto the open window sill. “Oh! Wait, one more thing.”

Caitlyn let out a groan. 

Jinx patted her various pockets before she pulled something shiny out and chucked it at Caitlyn. “Catch!” 

Caitlyn looked torn between lurching forward to catch it or running away for cover. But upon seeing how small it was, her hands shot out and she caught it between her clasped hands. Caitlyn looked down at what it was and her eyes widened. 

“I found it. In the wreckage. I was… lookin’ for something else. I dunno why I kept it. ‘Cause it was shiny, I guess.” Jinx shoved her hands into her pockets, shying in on herself. 

Caitlyn rubbed her thumb over the piece of jewelry in her hand. It was one of her mother’s earrings. Her favorite pair. 

“If anything ever happened to me, I hope that Isha would be able to live a very long life despite everything. I just want her to be happy.” Jinx looked out the window. “Your mom probably felt the same, I think.”

She didn’t even see Caitlyn move before a fist smashed across her face and she stumbled off the sill back into the room. She pushed herself to her feet, forcing herself not to pull her weapon. She didn’t come there planning to kill. 

“You bastard!” Caitlyn spat at her, grabbing at her top to pin her against the wall. “You are a monster! You— you deserve to die! You deserve—”

Caitlyn fell into tears and Jinx had no idea what she was supposed to do. She thought she’d be gone long ago. She flexed her hands, unsure of what her role was. Caitlyn wasn’t hurting her, just pinning her to the wall. 

“Why can’t you just be evil?” Caitlyn sobbed. “Why do you have to love her?” 

Jinx grimaced as she got Piltie tears on her skin. It would be the perfect time for Vi to intervene. Too bad she wasn’t going to be back for a while still. She could taste the bitterness of shimmer and blood as she sucked on her lip, running her tongue over the split that Caitlyn’s punch had made.

She decided to just hold still and let Caitlyn cry on her. It was better than yelling and threatening to shoot her. If she was certain that Caitlyn wouldn’t try to kill her, she might have even placed a hand on her back like she did with Isha when she cried. 

Caitlyn’s head fell forward, her forehead pressed against Jinx’s chest as she completely broke down. It made guilt and something sour churn in Jinx’s gut. She didn’t like it at all. She wanted the feeling to go away and to go away that instant, please. 

Caitlyn’s cries eventually petered out and she was left gripping the straps of Jinx’s top so hard her knuckles turned white. Jinx could feel her fingers flex from where her knuckles pressed against her skin. She felt trapped even though she knew she could escape with one well-aimed blow. 

“You ruined my life.” Caitlyn’s voice was quiet and hoarse. 

“I tend to do that,” Jinx mumbled. “Jinx. Stands for Jinx. That’s me.”

Caitlyn pulled away quickly and Jinx stayed still against the wall. She watched as Caitlyn swiped her sleeve over her eyes in a vain attempt to clean herself up. To be honest, she looked like a mess, and that was putting it nicely. 

“Don’t ever mention my mother again,” Caitlyn demanded, her voice cracking. 

“Okay.” Jinx might forget but she’d try not to, honest. 

“You’re not welcome here,” Caitlyn told her firmly. “Don’t come back. I mean it. I’ll shoot you next time.” 

Jinx shoved her hands into her pockets to try and quell the uncomfortable feeling welling up within her. “What about Isha? Can… can she still come?” 

Vi was a great spontaneous babysitter. Isha always raved about how much fun the woman was. Vi wasn’t afraid to horseplay or rough house with Isha, something that Jinx always hesitated with because of her shimmer enhancements. 

Caitlyn looked away and took a deep breath. “Just her. On the doorstep on her own. Without you.”

Jinx nodded. She was glad she hadn’t jinxed everything and ruined it for Isha. Isha liked coming to the Kiramman manor. It was a taste of high-life that was foreign and even though Jinx despise Piltie’s with her soul, she was secretly glad that Isha got to be a little spoiled while Topside. 

“Get out of here,” Caitlyn whispered. 

Jinx didn’t bother with a teasing salute, swiping a gloved hand over her mouth to get rid of any remnants of shimmer before she climbed back onto the window sill and dropped out. 

The first thing that Vi noticed when she got back was that Caitlyn had been crying. It was hard not to notice, it must have been a heavy crying jag. 

“Hey, Cupcake,” Vi greeted her, carefully navigating her arm around her shoulders. Caitlyn immediately slumped into her and Vi readjusted her grip to hold her. “You okay?”

Caitlyn took a few deep breaths before shaking her head. Vi wished she knew how to make it better, but all she could do at the moment was offer her presence. 

“Wanna talk about it?” Vi offered after a moment. 

Caitlyn debated it briefly before she whispered against her shoulder, “I’m just… tired.” 

Vi knew she wasn’t talking about the kind of tiredness that was solved with rest. Caitlyn was seeking out peace, not sleep. Vi tucked her tighter against her and pressed a kiss to the side of her head, letting Caitlyn burrow away. 

Her gaze swept the room to try and determine how long Caitlyn had been crying alone. Her eyes fell onto the desk where a piece of paper was left. It had a childish scrawl on it and Vi’s heart thudded against her chest. Her eyes fell to the open window. 

“Are you okay?” Vi couldn’t help but question again, a sinking feeling in her gut about what happened. 

“Better now,” Caitlyn mumbled into her shirt. Vi had no choice but to believe her.

Vi wasn’t sure when it happened. Maybe sometime after her latest crying jag. But Caitlyn’s board of research that took up so much of her office wall had changed. The biggest difference was that the wanted poster of Jinx was gone. 

She wasn’t sure how to bring it up at first. She didn’t want to upset Caitlyn. But there was a kernel of yearning and dread mish-mashing in her chest and she didn’t want to get her hopes up.

“You changed your board,” she managed to comment off-handedly as Caitlyn flipped through paperwork in her office. 

Caitlyn paused her work to glance up at her. She then glanced at the board. She looked away. “Isha comes in here to draw on the chalkboard. I took it down for her.” 

Vi tried to think of how to reply to that. She didn’t believe it. Caitlyn could be obsessive at times and she knew that a child would not get in the way of her research. 

But if Caitlyn didn’t want to talk about it yet, Vi wouldn’t force her. Instead, she approached Caitlyn and bent over to press a kiss on her forehead. “Love ya, Cupcake.” 

A smile finally graced Caitlyn’s face as she reached up to loop her arms around Vi’s neck to yank her down into a proper kiss. 

Vi couldn't help but feel relieved at the semblance of stability that Caitlyn seemed to have found. 

She just wondered what Jinx said.