"Remind me how you got kidnapped again?" I called out at the other two as I tried to unlock the chains around my wrists

"I knew it was a mistake trusting you" I heard Caitlyn say as she struggled against the binding herself

"You've been a real picnic yourself" Vi said as she stayed still, I couldn't hear any restrain from her side

"I'm not the one who walked us into Silco's trap"

"This isn't Silco. It's someone else"

"How do you know?"

"Because we would have already been dead. Got that?" I tried to yank the chain from behind my back but it was to no avail. We were stuck

"See? It's called braincells. And I thought you knew"

What had this come to that I had to be the voice of reason? Oh my god we were screwed

"Guys, snap out of it! If we continue this useless fighting its just going to waste the energy that we might need later to escape. Plus my ears are hurting"

Just after I had said that I heard footsteps approaching towards us from above. I froze and slowly lowered the chains down so they wouldn't make much of a noise. Something shifted and I could feel my body being pulled somewhere outside of our holding cell

"What's going on?"

"Hey! Get your hands off of me"

"Leave her alone!"

"Bastard!"

"Don't hurt her!"

"Let me go!"

"Vi? Y/n?"

Then it was quiet

I wasn't alone at least. The only sound I could hear were the metallic chains behind my back as we got pushed forward

I was just planning on how to get the chains off before the person behind me tripped and fell back, their body hitting mine and causing me to bump into somebody else. Both of us fell down and something hit what I could only assume was a metalic pole on the side

"Ow" Vi mumbled from beneath me

"You good?"

"Just peachy" her voice was strained but other than that she pushed herself up as much as she could "Are you gonna stay there all day sunshine?"

The noise of clothes shifting just a few meters behind me told me it was time to go "Not a chance" I could barely utter before I was forced back up again

This time their grip was stronger, the hand wrapped around my arms twisting and squeezing harder "Are you trying to break my hands?"

No response

"If you try to hurt her I swear to God I will..." Her voice was cut off by a hard thump

"Vi? Vi!"

Somebody pushed me down and forcefully removed the bag that had been placed over my head for the past couple of hours. I snapped my eyes closed at the sudden peak of light, trying to block what little remained in the dark room

"You look good for a dead girl"

* * *

I looked up at the boy, his right hand holding a white mask that he carefully placed on the table next to him "Are you working with Jinx?"

"Her name is Powder. And I just found her when you and your goons showed up"

"I hate to butt in but who the hell are you" I looked up as he shifted his attention to me instead "You look like Santa. No offence" Totally meant that

He didn't roll his eyes but I knew he wanted to "Like I'm telling you"

Vi yanked her chains, receiving the attention once more " Ekko, It's me. Vi"

As they continued the talking I started working on the chains behind me and leaned slightly against the pole, ignoring the pain it sent trough my back as I watched as the conversation unfolded before me. I had hit something harder than I could remember, apperantly

"Are you working for Silco?"

"Fuck. You"

"Yeah we are working for Silco" I smiled up at Ekko as he shifted his gaze towards me, his shoulders going forward like he was just bursting to say something "Obviously after he murdered her family, killed my friend and forced Vi's sister to work for him, working with Silco would be the best decision in our lives. Obviously"

His shoulders saged as he sighed and took a step back. His eager stance was gone, instead replaced by a tired face that belonged to someone too young to be dragged in all of this

"And why I'm I even here?" I looked at Vi as I inspected the chains "Cait is down there, probably getting scared by some random rat passing by meanwhile I'm up here, chained to some random pole. Why?"

Ekko put his hands behind his back, his expression neutral and relaxed "I knew you before. Remember when you were at the last drop with Vi?"

I blinked "Son of a bitch you were spying on us??"

"So why now?" Vi stood up and yanked the chains "Were you following us now too?"

"...Yes. But I didn't know what to say ok. If I could trust you" Ekko started pacing back and forth, his hands now back to his sides as he tried to figure out what to say

"So you just come out swinging?" She took a step forward, her voice slightly raised until I heard a silent click. I looked down at the chains and supressed a small grin. Bingo

"Gee wonder who I learned that from?"

"Well you shoulda learned more, you still punch like a little boy"

"And you still block the face"

Both of them were on the verge of screaming which only made me wonder if I should even be here

"I remember when you wouldn't even stand up to me. I missed you little man" With that Vi put her hands around him, her chains dropping down to the floor

I waited for about a couple of seconds as they hugged each other, but the white haired man was starting to cry so I cracked my recently stiff neck and massaged my wrist as I stood up "So I'm happy for this little reunion and all but I want my weapon back"

Ekko pulled away from the hug to narrow his eyes at me "I still don't trust you"

"Your choice man" I grinned as my hand felt the little dagger I had strapped on my back in case of emergencies. It was still there. Those people really need to do a better job at this "Anyways you have some cake?"

Vi patted him on the shoulder and smiled "Come on little men, let's eat"

I walked beside Vi and shoved her shoulder with mine "So, is he on our side?"

She nodded "I think so. I know he's not against us"

I pursed my lips and sighed "Hopefully" after a couple of beats of silence I grinned "Little man? Really?"

"Hey it's a good nickname" She smirked, pretending to be offended by the whole damn speech

"Uhuh"

"And what do you have for anyone? Nothing. At least I can think of a nickname"

"I have nicknames"

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile playing on her lips "Let's hear them"

"Pinky"

"No. No you're not calling me that"

"The deal is sealed then. I'm calling you pinky from now on"

"Sunshine, no"

"Sunshine yes"

"No"

"Yes"

"No"

"Then I will make you"

"Trust me, it will not be a punishment"

I didn't even realize our surroundings had changed until I saw a child crying next to a giant tree- wait a damn minute there's a TREE in here?? Hello did I miss a book and a sequel? I shared a look with Vi before I walked away from her and kneeled down before the boy

"Hey kiddo what happened?" I tried to put on my best child expression but with zero experience with kids it was hard, to say the least. Somehow tho he didn't seem to notice nor care at the moment

"My toy broke" He handed me the wooden carved body, it's head was split in half trough the middle of the face. I took it and looked over the crack

I turned over to Vi who was watching from a distance, unmoving. Then I spotted Ekko down to the bottom of the tree, talking with someone I didn't know

"Can I take it? Just for a minute" I said as the kid brushed his tears away

"Ok" he mumbled and ran, probably to go find someone else. I straightened up and made my way down the stairs, pinky following close behind

"I hope the toy was worth it" She grinned, her shoulder brushing against mine as she tried to take a peek at the toy

"We shall see" I raised my eyebrows at her and ran up to Ekko "Hey little man"

He sighed "Not you too"

"Do you have glue by any chance?"

He frowned "Yeah but it's only used to glue some of the parts on our machines. Wait is that a toy-"

"Thanks. I will find it myself" I yelled as I jogged away. New mission. Find a glue gun. It shouldn't be that hard right? How big could this place be?

* * *

I've been running for THIRTY MINUTES

I finally grabbed the damn glue gun and waltzed back to the tree room as I dodged the bodies on the way. I was never doing this again. Screw helping people

"Here you are I was getting worried" Vi pushed herself off the railing and crossed her arms "So this is the infamous glue gun" She pointed at it and I chuckled

"You know it" I mumbled as I put one foot on the railing and pushed myself up to snatch a couple of leaves off the branches. They were big and I would need no more than three to cover up the head

Apperantly Caitlyn had showed up a while ago because she was talking with someone in the corner of the room. A blonde from what could see and gosh she couldnt get anymore gay with that interaction

I sat down and crossed my legs as I got ready to work. From what I heard once this thing was on it will stay forever. You can heat it up, slice it or do whatever you want but at the end of the day, it will not budge. I was counting on that

I glued the leaves vertically to the head, leaving the pointy tips to point at the ceiling. Then I glued the whole leaves, enveloping the wooden surface as only the three pointy ends were left to form a little circle on the top

Vi raised her eyebrows "This looks better than I had expected"

"I know right? Points for me"

"Let's give it back" She stood up and offered her hand "Want some help Y/n?"

I looked up at her as she smiled slightly, eyes sparkling and bright against the peeking rays of sunlight that came from the top of the  ceiling. Should I? Even with the small doubts that came to the surface of my mind I accepted her hand and let her pull me up to my feet "Thanks"

"No problem princess"

I rolled my eyes "Aaand I take it back"

"Your loss"

"Where the hell is that boy?"

* * *

The human was jumping up and down once he saw the finished product which surprisingly made me smile. For once I didn't think that would happen

"Oy thank you! Thank you so much" He grinned from ear to ear and ran towards his mother to show her what he had just gotten, his feet practically dancing in the air. I doubted they even hit the ground at this point

"You helped him" Ekko's voice loomed from over us. He was leaning against the railing before he jumped down next to us "Why?"

What's up with people and railings?

I raised an eyebrow "What was I supposed to do?"

Vi looked between me and him before narrowing her eyes slightly. This was gonna be fun

"I just didn't expect it. That's all" He put his hands over his hips as he smiled, his eyes sparkling for some reason. This had meant something to him

"Uh huh"

"Ekko why don't you go and check if you have any food? I don't think we ever got to eat anything"

"Right. I will see what I can do"

Vi watched as he left before turning around and grabbing my hand. I blinked and the next thing I knew we were walking away from the crowded room and into a much quieter place which my ears gladly appreciated

"Are you going to try and murder me? Damn Vi I'm hurt. I'm bleeding even. See?" I pointed at an invisible wound in my stomach as she shook her head, definitely done with me by this point

"Oh no what I'm I going to do" Her voice was so robotic and out of any emotion it genuinely made me laugh

"Send me to that neighbor kid four years ago. He was an asshole"

"Gonna give him a panic attack from the dead huh?"

"Anyways" I sat down on one of the metal boxes that seemed to fill up the left side of the room and leaned back on my arms "Why did you bring me here?"

"Do you not want to be here?"

Far from it

I cleared my throat "I don't mind it but that's not an answer"

She sighed and sat next to me "To tell you you're beautiful?"

I raised an eyebrow. She smiled "Fine. I just wanted us to get out of there for a while"

"Well I'm not complaining" I chuckled and put my back to lay against the cold metal as I looked up at the ceiling "It's nice. Finally alone you know?"

Vi pulled one leg up and adjusted her position so she can put her head on her knee, her right hand wrapped around it like a blanket "I know"

I started tracing the cracks in the ceiling, analyzing the different patterns they had used to seal the whole thing together until I got lost in my thoughts "Do you think we will get out of here?"

"What do you mean?" Her voice seemed far away even if she was just a couple of inches away. Even trough the small distance I could still feel her warmth

"Our home" I sighed "I just... I had always wanted to try and become an artist. Maybe graffiti or open up a bakery. It sounds stupid"

"No. No it doesn't"

I turned my head to the side. I had wanted to do that ever since my friend died "You know, I used to have a friend. He had a shop tucked behind the alleys, selling the best cake in the whole city. But he got killed"

Vi frowned and leaned forward slightly "Who killed him?"

I looked back up at the ceiling, not particularly aware I had taken my dagger not so long ago and I was  throwing the blade in the air before I caugh it once again "That's the thing, I don't know. And ever since it happened I had tried to find them. But of course why would I? It's not like the world would work with me for a change"

I slammed the blade into the metal crate and was surprised at how easily it slid trough. What was this shit made of? Diamond?

"I will help you find them"

"Promise?"

"Promise"

I smiled and put a hand over hers. Maybe it really did mean something after all "Thank you"

She shook her head even tho I knew she couldn't stop smiling "Hey don't thank me we still have a lot of shit to do"

"Don't remind me"

"When this is over maybe I could buy you some cake"

"Like a date?"

"If you want it to be"

A moment of silence. Nothing beside our breathing could be heard and only the faint noises in the distance to disrupt the peaceful quietness "Sure"

"Really?"

"Why not? You have to do everything at least once right?" I chuckled and looked up at her. I never thought I'd want to kiss her but here I was, staring into her eyes until I forgot how to breath. God I was falling for her. Hard. So instead of doing something I knew I would regret I got closer and hugged her "But I'm getting an extra piece"

Why was I dissaponted? Why was my heart not cooperating? Stop beating so fast!

She laughed and hugged me back, her hand lightly running down my back "Deal"

I never thought I would be here after all those years with the one person I had grown to hate and wanting to kiss her no less. But, I couldn't. Or I risked getting my heart broken

I was on fire, not just because of the tension I had been ignoring since we first met. But in that hug, it felt like so much more. Like an actual promise. Like she would never actually leave me

Like my heart won't be left to break once again

And like maybe, just this once, I had a future beneath the dusty city walls with the one person I never thought I would meet again

Sheesh a long chapter but by far one that I really enjoyed writing. I have to get the whole thing going but hey we need emotional connection first right?

Also tell me if you want fanfic recommendation haha. I have a couple

*Warning useless info ahead*

Also last but not least I'm planning on re writing the book once it's finished. You know how when you do something that you enjoy but instead you are left with the feeling that you could have done more?

Yeah it's not just my Virgo moon or hyperfyxation talking. Well or self criticism. Gosh how do people deal with this? Oh wait I'm one of them 😂

Maybe alter the story line here and there, a bit more tension on the side etc etc. Maybe jealous Caitlyn? Ha I would pay to see that

Power of fanfic writers unite!

Ba dum in leviosing myself out. Byee