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marivenah · 2 years

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Animosity - Chapter 1

Pairing: Marcus x f!OC Word Count: 13.3k Rating: Mature Warnings: language; mentions of sex; canon-typical violence; no actual interaction of the main pairing in this chapter; looong

Summary: Takes place during Act 1, episode 1. The MC witnesses the chaos happening in Piltover. She makes her way back to the Undercity, determined to report her observations to Silco.

Chapter 1 || Next Chapter >>

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1. What do you seek?

Piltover, the city of progress. The gilded view of a prosperous place drawn across the landscape. Illuminated by the sun resting above in the clearest sky one will ever see. Bright rays of sunlight dancing over the roof- and treetops. Airships floating through the sky like fishes in the deepest seas. The golden centre is marked by the Academy of Piltover; towering aloft several feet higher than the city. All of it encircled and protected by a wall of white, fluffy clouds, isolating it from the rest of the region, from the unknown, from the danger that lies beyond, what slumbers below. Affluent, flourishing, healthy.

Zoiya remembers it differently, knows its true face. She sees through the façade of innocence and purity, because beneath it you only find repulsiveness. Stopping at nothing to achieve their greatness. She has seen it without the pretty disguise; the city painted in red.

“There you are.” Deckard appeared behind her. The nasal tone of his voice giving him away. That and the lack of sense for personal space. He’s the only boy who dares getting this up close to her. Much to her dismay.

She turns and shoves him out of the way with a small push to his shoulder. “What about the kids? Have they returned yet?” She walks past him through the dull brown of the alleyway, leaving the view of Piltover behind.

“Wouldn’t still be here otherwise”, he states.

She stops in her tracks. “Then why did you call me out here?”, she asks through gritted teeth, her jaw clenching.

“You still owe me something”, he bursts out with full confidence. His tone almost demanding. Almost.

She tilts her head before slowly turning to face him. Her eyes bore into his and instead of saying anything, she simply raises an eyebrow.

Deckard takes the tiniest step backwards, swallowing hard before he corrects himself. “I, uh, asked you for something and you said you’ll provide me with it.”

She crosses her arms, contemplating whether she lets him get away with his misbehaviour. In the end, he’s just a boy who doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. Silco says the same about Zoiya, but at least she knows she’s in a high position. Everyone who raised their voice at her has yet to crawl back out of the sewers again. However, she has no actual interest in harming Deckard, but he doesn’t need to know that. “Well, that depends. What do you have for me?”

He doesn’t answer, unable to speak of his own incompetence. His eyes roam the alley, looking everywhere except at Zoiya. With the way he scratches the back of his head, it seems as though he is trying to find a plausible excuse, his confidence all but gone.

“You found nothing?”, she asks, though it sounds more like a statement than a question while repeatedly tapping her foot on the ground.

“What did you expect? This is a pile of garbage”, he exclaims as he throws up his arms in protest.

“That doesn’t sound like you’ve put a lot of effort into it.” Zoiya frowns and takes a step closer, so they’re face to face. “I’m in need of every little thing you can find. I thought I made that clear last time.”

“Why don’t you dig through the dirt yourself then?”, he snaps back at her.

Zoiya huffs out a humourless laugh. Then she quickly pulls out a knife from behind her back.

Deckard flinches slightly at the movement. As Zoiya approaches him, his feet drag him backwards until he hits a wall. He blinks rapidly and tries to turn his head away from her.

She may have to reconsider her attitude towards him. Perhaps it’s time he finally learns a lesson. So, she slowly raises the blade to his throat. “You know for someone with your track record of inefficiency, you sure do have a foul mouth, boy.”

Again, there’s no follow-up to the previous remark. He stares at her with widened eyes. The colour of his already pale face draining completely.

“Isn’t this what you wanted from me?”, Zoiya asks, voice calm but sinister. “Where do you want me to put it? Stomach? Back? Perhaps your head? Or will your neck suffice?” She presses the knife closer to his neck, careful not to actually harm him. Her face now a hair’s breadth away from his. “Here’s some worldly wisdom from me; if you cannot use your brain to think before you speak, you shouldn’t be speaking at all.” With that, she pulled away from him completely.

A small puff of air escapes his lungs. She takes a good look at the boy in front of her; posture slightly sagging, brows furrowed with a puzzled look on his face. As if the question ‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ crosses his mind, but he decides to keep quiet. For once. She wouldn’t be able to answer that question anyways.

“You see, I don’t think you actually deserve this”, she says with a slight pout, tapping the blade on her cheek. She then holds the knife out in front of her, more so to present it rather than to give it up.

Deckard’s eyes are fixed on the weapon, hand slowly reaching out for it.

With a swift motion, Zoiya pulls it out of his reach. She turns it in her hand, blade now pointing at him and raises an eyebrow. “You didn’t stick to your end of the bargain. You get this and I’m going home empty-handed?”, she asks, raising her voice an octave as she crosses her arms. “I suppose you were right after all. I shouldn’t have expected anything from a pile of garbage.” She drags those last syllables out as she looks him up and down.

He opens his mouth, ready to counter her condescending remark, but his words are drowned out by the low rumble of an alarm. The alarm of Piltover, reverberating through the streets of the city, even reaching the Lanes. Zoiya stares into the distance, eyes widened but not focusing on anything. The noise seemingly rattles all of the bones in her body. The pace of her heartbeat gets faster by the second. What came after this again? A pang.

She forces her thoughts to wander to Silco, pushing what he’d taught her to the very front of her mind. While keeping her expression neutral, she inhales deeply and exhales again as she turned to look back at Deckard, putting on the biggest fake smile she could, cheeks slightly hurting from the strain.

“Oh, would you look at that, your cue.” The smile vanishes from her face as quickly as it had gathered. “See what’s going on and then report back to me”, she says with a jerk of her head.

“You know the alarm means a bunch of Enforcers are out there right now?”

Zoiya rolls her eyes to the back of her head. She puts her face in her hands, then drags her palms over it. “So far, complaining has shown to be your only quality. I’m starting to lose my patience with you.”

“And what am I supposed to do? The alarm going off wasn’t part of the plan. I’m not risking my life for this”, he says, speaking louder and faster with each sentence. A mix of anger and confusion painted over his face as he grimaced.

A smirk appears on her face, as she hums, “Risking your life for this? A funny way to put it. Have I ever told you about what happened to the last person who failed to deliver? ”

He doesn’t answer. His look is still confused, though his body stiffens ever so slightly.

Seeing that the insinuation doesn’t leave him completely unaffected, Zoiya tries to push it further, taking it over the top. “Have you ever been in the lab before?”

He furrows his brows.

She takes a step closer to him again. “Have you noticed all of the fish swimming around outside of it? Beautiful creatures.” She puts a finger on her chin, as she starts to round him. “I want to share a little secret about them. You see, the bigger the creature, the more food they need. Makes sense, right?” She pouts, “We care deeply about our big friends and would never want anything bad to happen to them, let alone starve. Your predecessor was kind enough to help us out with that .”

She comes to a halt behind him. “I’m offering you this friendly push of mine in the right direction, and I advise you to generously accept it. Unless you not only want to decline this offer but also want to turn down your meal and give it to someone else instead.” She huffs out another laugh, though this time it’s a joyful one. “Or you want to end as someone else’s meal.” Her tone turns sinister, as she whispers, “Your choice.”

She can basically hear him gulp, before opening his mouth again. His voice cracks slightly, “How—”

“I don’t care how you do it. I want results. So, you better get me results”, she says sharply.

Deckard doesn’t even attempt to argue with her again, though he is still hesitant to leave. Zoiya simply points in the direction of his destination. And eventually, finally, he moves.

“And remember”, she calls after him, making him turn one last time, “your task is to observe.” She hands him the knife. He takes it, not nearly as eager as he was at the beginning of their little conversation. Perhaps that would keep him from actually using it. “So, do not get caught.”

As soon as he’s out of sight, Zoiya drops her shoulders with a sigh, leaving her arms hanging loosely. She clenches her jaw and her gaze flicks upwards for a moment. She grunts before leaving the alley with heavy steps, scuffing her feet over the pavement. Will there ever be a guy who doesn’t give her an instantaneous headache?

With a swift motion, she pulls up the hood of her cloak, hiding the very striking yellow of her hair. Zoiya may not evoke attention more than anyone else, but she’d rather not have Vander know about her sneaking through the Undercity. Not after their last encounter. The main reason why she only visits Benzo’s shop very early in the morning. She hates him for it.

She was originally headed for one of the hidden elevators but decides to instead make her way to the descent that shelters the Undercity. The cliffs are a lot more dangerous compared to the ones on the other side in Piltover. They even have railings to protect people from falling. Killjoy.

Zoiya stretches her arms upwards, feeling the familiar strain of the muscles in her upper body. With a sigh, her arms drop back down. One good look at the cliff below her feet and she finds a decent spot to safely make her way downwards. She smiles widely while her heartbeat quickens, a lightness growing in her chest. She crouches at the spot, moves her legs forward into an almost-sitting position and steadies herself by resting her hands on the rocky surface. Luckily, she remembered to put on gloves today. She shoves herself forward carefully until she’s sliding down the slope. The wind brushes over her cheeks, a cool sensation tingling on her skin. Her palms, feet and back drag along the stonewall and before it becomes too steep, she pushes herself off and jumps to the opposite building. The fleeting moment of being in the air always gets her blood pumping.

Barely making a sound, Zoiya lands safely on her feet, supporting the landing with her hands. She immediately rises back up, starts running to the edge of the roof and jumps to the next one. With each leap to the next building, she gets closer to the very bottom of the Undercity. That is until she trips slightly before taking off. Only her upper body lands on the next rooftop, the rest of her hits the wall, making her release a sudden puff of air. She starts to slowly slip off but manages to grab onto the ledge by stopping the slide with her feet. It’s moments like these where she’s actually thankful that Silco made her wear knee and elbow pads. She examines the area under her. The next roof isn’t too far away, so she lets go and drops onto it, about two floors away from the ground. She decides to stay on this level.

The streets are full of strange shapes and figures. Seeing them bustling about through the mist of greens makes the previous exertion fade away completely. Her limbs feel as light, almost weightless as ever. Different shades of any colour imaginable, some she doesn’t even know the exact names of, shine through the windows of the many buildings on the streets. You could never find half of these anywhere in the great City of Progress. Zoiya would never trade her life in the Undercity for one in Piltover, not for anything or anyone. This is where she belongs.

The prettiest shade of red and pink one can only find in one place only; the brothel. After the short-lived yet still gratuitous meeting with Deckard, Zoiya needs someone to vent to. Her friend Meneli always has a sympathetic ear. She truly has the patience of a saint, although she couldn’t be further from one.

Zoiya continues her way over the roofs, making sure she stays hidden in the shadows. After a few moments of strolling, the familiar vitreous paintings come into view. Out of all the people who are standing next to the entrance of the brothel, none of them resembles Meneli. She must still be at work.

Having no choice but to wait for her friend, Zoiya’s view roams the streets. Numerous stalls and booths are filled with all kinds of goods. Some even sell living animals. Before she met Silco, Zoiya would often sneak around the streets and free some of the animals. Now that she’s older and a lot taller, it wasn’t possible for her to keep on doing that undetected.

At one of the stalls, she spots a kid with a familiar white spot of hair. The sight of Ekko brings a wide smile onto Zoiya’s face. A sudden burst of warmth radiates through her chest. He seems to be talking to a vendor. Or rather bargaining for something. The boy holds an object in his hand, a piece of machinery or something like that. Oh, tinkering. It’s been years since she’s last tried herself on it and she doesn’t miss it one bit. Both the vendor and Ekko make all sorts of sharp arm gestures, pointing at the object in the boy’s hand. Until the man grabs the piece and puts it back down onto the table, at the very front of his booth. Ekko says something before stomping away.

It is then that Zoiya notices the two Enforcer Wardens standing a few feet away from the stall. She realizes they are the first Enforcers she’s seen in the Undercity ever since she came back. Usually, there are a lot more of them down here. The thought of them makes her stomach twist. Coldness runs down her whole body. She closes her eyes for a moment and forces her mind to go back to Ekko. Ekko! Her eyes open up again.

Instead of going straight back to Benzo’s shop, the boy stops in his tracks and looks to the ground and then back at the vendor. Knowing who his friends are, Ekko’s source of inspiration might not be the most ideal premise to come up with a solution to his little problem.

Whatever Ekko wanted to get his hands on, Zoiya knows where it’s placed at. Examining the situation, maybe there’s a possibility for her to do something, and taking the two Enforcers into account, she has a plan. No one would notice her on the streets. Her staying in the shadows is more paranoia than caution anyways. She hasn’t seen Ekko for days and needed an update on how things are going for him. Meneli was still nowhere to be spotted outside the brothel, so Zoiya figured, before the boy does something stupid, she’ll help him out. She ignores the shaking of her hands and mentally pushes herself to start moving. She climbs down from the remaining two buildings and finally reaches the ground.

The streets are so crowded, Zoiya has to take a step back to not get pushed over. As soon as she finds a gap, she rushes through the masses, twisting and turning so that she doesn’t touch anyone. After reaching the other side, her heart starts to pound in her chest at the sight of the Enforcer Wardens. The beating is so heavy, that she can not only hear but feel it in her ears. She quickens her pace, fear growing into determination, and walks straight up into the officers.

One of them grunts and turns around. He complains about her intrusiveness, calls her derogatory names and pushes her off him. Zoiya catches herself on the stall. The vendor yells at her, but she pays him no mind. As she gets back up, she grabs the object Ekko was previously interested in and hides it under her cloak. Before leaving, she glares up and scoffs at the Enforcers.

One has a harder time stealing from kids down here. At least they are somewhat attentive, or rather alert? Cautious. Unfortunately, they have no other choice. Zoiya still remembers it well.

While she walks in the same direction she saw Ekko go, she whips her head around in hopes of spotting him somewhere. It doesn’t take her very long to find him, only a few steps from where she last saw him. She taps a finger on his left shoulder. He turns to look behind him and when he notices no one is standing to his left, he turns to look over his right shoulder and spots Zoiya. Before he can say anything, she smiles at him and jerks her head to a nearby ally and disappears.

It's a dead end. Filled with nothing but wooden crates and boxes. A small amount of useless scrap is scattered across the floor. They don’t have to fear anyone sneaking up on them.

Ekko follows her and as soon as he catches up to her, his eyes light up and he calls out, “Zol! ” He’s the only one to call her that and also the only one who’s allowed to. Without knowing, the boy constantly mispronounced her name at first. It turned into a nickname for her.

Zoiya smiles widely, “Hey Little Man! Long time no see.” On the other hand, Ekko insisted on her using his codename, because all of his friends call him that.

Both of them reach out to shake the other’s hand; their special handshake. It’s a little routine they thought of a few years ago. There’s something about it that puts a big grin on Zoiya’s face. While growing up, she never got to play with or even meet other children. It was always only her, the Doctor and Silco. And before that… she doesn’t want to remind herself of what she’s lost. This time she would do it right.

“What are you doing out here? Looking for a good deal today?”, she asks as she removes her hood.

Ekko only scoffs and rolls his eyes. By now he knows about Zoiya’s observative abilities and doesn’t even question how she knows of his failed trade. He walks further into the alley and drops down onto one of the crates. Judging by the frown on his face and his slouched form he’s clearly upset. There’s also that little pout he does whenever something didn’t quite go his way. “He wanted to charge me double”, he says while throwing his arms up into the air.

Zoiya crosses her arms, shifts her weight and leans onto the wall next to her. “Oh, you mean, the same way you always do?”, she asks with a playful smile on her lips.

“We had a deal! With a set price and he changed it last minute”, Ekko complains and folds his arms over his chest. “I already charged this other guy double price from the start, and it was only this one time.”

“Ah, Piltie?”

Ekko hums in agreement.

“What was it you were trying to buy anyways?” Zoiya’s left hand disappears under her cloak, gripping the object she stole. The shape of it doesn’t seem in any way familiar. Probably another part to tinker with.

The boy tells her what the thing is, something about pinions? She was never good with the terms, so she doesn’t even bother trying to memorize them.

Every time Ekko explains his crafts, it reminds her of Viktor. He really tried his best to demonstrate his work step by step, so that Zoiya was able to follow or at least kind of understand what he was doing. It never worked out, but it is still fascinating to watch both of them work and listen to their seemingly endless rambling.

“It’s an important part and I need it for repairs.”

Zoiya takes the object out from under her cloak, holds it up in the air and inspects it with half-lidded eyes. “Good thing I have a spare one.” She then tosses it to Ekko.

He catches it and his face lights up. The surprise fades as he squints his eyes at it, “Did you—?”

“Let’s just call it Karma”, she says with a smile.

He turns the piece around in his hands, inspecting it. “What if he notices it’s missing?”

“As if that dude could tell it apart from the other trash he sells”, she says and rolls her eyes. She notices Ekko’s stare into nothingness, as he still absentmindedly fiddles with the item in his hands. There’s something else on his mind now, but he doesn’t want to share it. “What is it, Ekko?”

He glances up at her and back to the ground a few times, acknowledging her, but trying to avoid eye contact. He’s never been good at hidings things from her, especially feelings.

She sighs, “Let me guess, Benzo?”

Ekko doesn’t answer, but his posture shifts.

“Does he still think I’m a bad influence for you?” There’s bitterness in her voice. How are Vander’s kids a better company for him? Benzo never seems to complain about them. Technically, they’ve done worse things than Zoiya if you look past the few workplace accidents. No one can prove it was her anyways.

“No”, he says weakly.

“But he still doesn’t trust me, right?” She sighs and continues talking without giving Ekko a chance to respond, “I’ve noticed it, you know. Every time I come by to trade, he hesitates. I see how his body stiffens, how he watches my every step. I’ve noticed how he carefully inspects the things I bring him. He checks them three times over, something he doesn’t do with other customers. Every time I step foot into the shop, any trace of cheerfulness washes off his face.”

Ekko fiddles with the object in his hands and looks at Zoiya with a frown. “Oh, don’t worry about that. He never smiles.” His eyes widen as he only now realizes what he just said.

She raises an eyebrow at the statement. The boy’s really trying his best. At least he made her smile.

“Uhh, at least not often. Usually only when Vander is around.”

“So, all it would take for him to like me, is for me to be more like Vander?” The annoyance in her voice clear as day. She doesn’t even try to hide it.

“No, he never said anything bad about you.”

“Then what did he say?”

“Nothing. He just… uh, said that he doesn’t know anything about you, so he asked… questions”, he stammers.

Zoiya crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows, while slightly shaking her head.

“About you”, he scratches the back of his neck. “Where you’re from and what you’re doing besides scavenging.”

Her body goes rigid. If he finds out who Zoiya is with — if Vander finds out… She feels her throat getting dry, so she swallows hard. It does the opposite of helping.

“I told him you’re a foundling from the Sump like us and that you’re on your own.” He lifts his hand to his chin. This is where he’s starting to get creative. “And that you’re really good at keeping an eye on everything. You always know what’s going on in the Undercity and sometimes even Piltover. Maybe…”, he drifts off.

Zoiya knits her eyebrows together. She’s not sure if she likes where this is going.

Ekko’s eyes start gleaming while his whole face lights up as if something struck him, “You could start working for Benzo!”

Out of all the things he could have said, this one she definitely did not expect to hear. Her eyes widen in surprise — or in shock? She can’t really tell.

He jumps off the crate. “We’ll become partners and you won’t have to steal anymore!”

“So, I was right then. He really doesn’t trust me.” Ekko stammers out a protest, but Zoiya continues, “What makes you think he’d want me to work for him? Let alone concern himself with me.”

“Or Vander?”, the boy asks hesitantly, eyes squinted.

Zoiya grimaces and huffs out a humourless laugh.

The boy starts bouncing from foot to foot and a smile spreads across his face. “Right, that’s it! Vander can take you in! You can work in The Last Drop!” He speaks without a single break between sentences.

“I don’t think—”

“Oh, and I can finally introduce you to the others! I’m sure you’ll like them. Especially Vi! She can teach you some moves. Do you want to see what she showed me?” He starts punching and kicking the air.

If the whole idea wasn’t this overwhelming, Zoiya would enjoy the little show, but all she can think of now, is how to get this idea out of his head without upsetting him too much.

“Ekko!” She grabs his shoulders, stopping him from moving around. “Listen, I—”,at this point she has no other choice but to tell him, “I’m not alone.” She bites her lower lip and takes a deep breath before continuing, “I’ve got my…”, the word ‘grandfather’ passes her mind for a brief moment when thinking of the Doctor, but she decides to not make it too complicated, “two fathers with me. And they need my assistance.”

The boy frowns, “Wait, what?” The surprise in his voice overshadows the faint offence that’s creeping its way through him. “How come you never told me before?”

“They’re not that interesting. Not really worth the mention.” She dismisses them with a wave of her hand. What do they even like to do in their free time? Zoiya believes — no she’s certain — they don’t know what that means. Neither of them ever stops working. Not a very exciting topic. Well, aside from the plans of a revolution in the making.

“And what do you assist them with?”, he asks. His curiosity growing by the second.

“Well, they’re so frail and vulnerable.” Technically not a lie, from a certain point of view. It always takes Zoiya a lot of effort to get them to eat. “…Lanky”, she mutters through gritted teeth. She clears her throat. “I’m taking care of them. Senior citizens. One of them is a megalomaniac and the other one is… just a maniac. You know, the usual.” She grimaces while pointing her index finger to one of her temples, drawing a circle next to it.

“So, that’s what you’re doing whenever you aren’t around?”

“I’m with them, yes.” She lets go of the boy and places her hands on her hips. “But don’t worry, we can be partners regardless. I can still help you with your projects. Speaking of which, what is this piece for anyways?” She takes the object into her hands. “Is that for your hoverboard?”

He looks at her with a blank expression as if she just said the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard. “What? No, airhead. This is for repairs at the shop. I just told you.”

“Sorry, I drifted off because it was so boring.” She dramatically holds her hand onto her forehead. “You know what would be really exciting instead? Thrilling even? Seeing you zoom through the Lanes. On your hoverboard.” She tries to hype it up as much as she can, to get him to cheer up again.

“That was just an idea.”

“A sick one.”

“A stupid one. It’s impossible. No one has ever built something like it before.” Ekko sits back down on the crate with his arms crossed over his chest. The frown and pout find their way back onto his face.

Zoiya purses her lips, “Hm, then you’ll be the first one.”

“I don’t even know how.”

Her expression softens and she sits down next to the boy. “If someone can get it to work, it’s you.”

“I can’t even get the moves right Vi showed me. Powder keeps on beating me in fights.” His view stays focused on the ground.

That catches Zoiya off guard. Her smile fades, leaving her with a puzzled expression. “Now you’re comparing apples with oranges.” She never knew. Him being insecure about his fighting abilities? Usually, he’s so full of energy, optimism and determination, so seeing Ekko this dejected makes her heart ache.

“Look, for the majority of my life, I’ve tried to be someone I’m not. It frustrated me to a point where I thought that I’m useless, a waste and I’d never be good enough. I had to experience so many lows before I was finally able to rise back up again. But in the end, I found out that I have other qualities.” Since there is no sign of a change in mood, she sighs.

“What I’m trying to say is”, she examines the part in her hands and smiles, “your strength doesn’t necessarily have to be physical.” She takes Ekko’s hand, opens it and puts the piece into it. “You have a gift, Ekko. You’re a little boy wonder.”

He looks up at her. Still no sign of cheerfulness, but at least the frown is gone.

“Besides, I think your moves looked pretty good already.” She softly bumps her shoulder into his.

“Thanks, but your assurance isn’t really worth much. You’re not exactly a fighter”, he snorts.

Zoiya opens her mouth in a gasp, playfully offended, “Wow, I take all of this burden upon me, coming down here and helping you and this is the thanks I get?”

Ekko laughs, “Hey, I’m only pointing out the obvious.”

“I don’t look like a fighter to you?”, she asks with a smile.

He grins smugly, “Not even close. From what you’ve told me, you’re probably taking more after your dads.”

“Okay, now I’m offended.” She pushes him playfully. “You better take that back.”

He doesn’t and instead laughs at her. If he doesn’t comply, she has to opt for revenge. So, she starts poking him where she knows he’s most sensitive to tickling. The boy shrinks in on himself, trying to shield his body with his arms, to no avail. After a few seconds, he surrenders, “Ok, maybe not that lanky.”

Zoiya stops the attack and raises her chin triumphantly.

Ekko pants softly. Now, he is the one to push Zoiya.

His view wanders back to the object in his hands. While looking at it, yet another thought seems to cross his mind. His brown eyes meet Zoiya’s grey ones. “Now that you mention it, what are you even doing at the market at this time?”

“Being here while the streets are overcrowded wasn’t exactly part of my schedule today. I wanted to meet up with a friend way later on, but the alarm went off and—”

“What?”, Ekko interrupts her with bulging eyes. “Did you see what happened?” He grabs her arm with a lot more force than he probably intended to.

Zoiya rocks back from the impact. “Ow”, she says playfully.

Realization hits him as his view jumps to his hand around Zoiya’s arm. He releases her, but his eyes bore into hers again.

Zoiya raises an eyebrow, “Is there something you know? Something you want to tell me?”

His lips press into a thin line, and he quickly turns away. “No.” He is a horrible liar. Since he doesn’t want to reveal his friends’ visit to Piltover, their mission has to be quite confidential.

There is one way to get him to talk immediately — not Zoiya’s preferred way of operation, but sacrifices have to be made. “Is this about your girlfriend again?”

“Powder’s not my girlfriend”, he protests.

“So, it is Vi and her gang who are in Piltover right now, yes? What are they up to this time?”

“Uh, they’re scavenging. You know, the usual.”

“Mhm, and while digging through the dirt, they set off the alarm?”

“Do you know it was them? What happened?”

“No, I know about as much as you do now. I wasn’t in Piltover.”

His eyes roam the alley, and he frowns, “Right, the alarm.” He looks up at her, “You ok?”

“Yes, I… have it under control now. Don’t worry about me.” Hearing how concerned he is, warms her heart. But she doesn’t want to bother him with her problems, so she brushes it off. “Instead, you should worry about your girlfriend”, she says in a sing-song voice. “Who knows, maybe she and her siblings are already in Stillwater. The verdict; they had the audacity to touch the holy piltovian garbage.”

Ekko says nothing, as his concern quickly shifts.

She doesn’t know what offends him more; calling Powder his girlfriend or joking about his friends being in prison. “I’m just messing with you, Little Man. It’s been a few hours already. If someone had been arrested, we would’ve heard of it by now.”

Suddenly, he jumps off the crate. His eyes widened in shock, and he grimaces, “Shit, I need to return to Benzo. I told him I’d be back in a few minutes.” The boy storms off but comes to a halt before leaving the alley. He flails his arms to not fall over from the sudden stop. “Thank you for this, Zol. I’ll see you around?”

“I hope so.”

The boy waves at her and then disappears into the crowd.

Even after her little meeting with Ekko, Meneli is nowhere to be seen. So, Zoiya waits.

After some time, she climbs onto the rooftops again. They’re by far more comfortable than the alley. And the view is prettier from up there.

Every now and then she spots another Enforcer leaving the brothel. Seems like the Undercity has something worth visiting after all. Though that isn’t exactly the most interesting thing she spots. Among the late afternoon crowd, she spots the infamous group of kids walking through the streets, the blue hair of the youngest being very hard to miss. At least their presence means they didn’t get arrested. They either got away or they weren’t responsible for the alarm in the first place. Zoiya doesn’t know what would be worse.

At some point, later on, she spots a small group of people in front of the brothel. The pink light shining through the stained glass hugging their silhouettes, complimenting their different shapes and sizes. In contrast to the cold green atmosphere and dull brown walls, the brothel feels extremely inviting, almost comforting. No wonder even Enforcers come to this place.

Among the workers, Zoiya catches sight of her friend. Finally. She jumps down from the building, and back into the alley. Before crossing the streets, she puts her hood back on.

Meneli leans on her shoulder next to the entrance, hand propped on her hip. While her expression is fairly neutral, her eyes are discernibly weary.

Zoiya tilts her head, drawing her eyebrows together. Meneli has never been the type to be exhausted, especially not at her job.

The scavenger makes her way to the other side of the street, snaking through the small crowd of people.

“Out of work?”, Zoiya asks cheekily, trying to lighten the mood.

Meneli answers with a roll of her eyes and slightly shakes her head. Before leaving, she leans toward her colleagues and whispers something to them Zoiya can’t make out from her position. Then her friend jerks her head towards the entrance of the brothel, disappearing through it. Zoiya glances at the people around her before eventually following Meneli inside.

The brothel is dimly lit, red and blue illuminating the hallway. Meeting in the middle, intertwining to become a playful shade of purple. It always reminds Zoiya of earlier days, when her own skin was covered in the same colourful hues. She lowers her gaze with a faint sigh.

Luckily, Meneli’s room is close to the entrance. Not only is the walk short, but there’s also the big glass-stained window that gives a good view of the streets. To Zoiya, it’s the best spot for observations. It’s also safer than the rooftops. Not that it matters much to her, but it keeps Silco somewhat reassured.

He never mentions it, of course. But Zoiya clearly saw him tense up at the few times she tripped or slipped and almost fell to her death, though he never addressed it. He isn’t a perfect parental figure, but at least he somewhat tries to do the bare minimum, and she appreciates it.

The familiar sweet smell of red berries drags her out of her thoughts. Every room smells differently, scents ranging from fruity to musky. Zoiya inhales deeply and lets out a content sigh. Meneli’s room has always been her favourite. The Docks never smelled this good, or good at all, really.

She removes the hood, takes off her cloak and throws it to the ground. Then she drops onto the red sheets, messing up the freshly made bed.

Meneli shoots her a glare, “Thanks.”

Zoiya smiles up at her friend as she puts her hands under her head. “I’m surprised you had enough time to clean up already. Little traffic today?”

Only now does she notice that Meneli’s hair was a different colour than the last time they met. She must’ve changed it again. From blue and purple to a faint pink blending into white. This one suits her freckled rosy cheeks better.

With a sigh, Meneli falls onto the bed as well. She props a hand under her head.

Before she gets the chance to speak, Zoiya cuts her off, “Were they being a dick? Did you have to kick them out again? Wouldn’t be a surprise.” Her body goes tense at the thought. “I know of a way to get rid of Enforcers”, she says sternly.

Meneli chuckles, “I appreciate it, but I can’t let you get rid of all of my clients. Though you should be surprised, we never had to kick out Enforcers before.”

Zoiya hums out a Hm, not quite content with her friend's decline and little defence of Piltover’s finest.

“No, something happened topside. All of the Enforcers left around the same time”, she complains while rolling her eyes.

Zoiya blows a raspberry, “Yeah, the alarm went off earlier. Probably a group of kids who stole some food again.”

“Haven’t you heard yet?”, Meneli asks bewildered. “People are saying there was an explosion.”

Zoiya shoots back up. “What?” How did she miss this very important piece of information?

“Apparently a whole building got blown up”, Meneli says with big eyes.

That changes things, a lot. The alarm going off is one thing, but a whole building getting blown up is a huge problem, not only for the culprits but for the whole Undercity. Zoiya puts a hand on her chin, filling the room with silence for a moment. “The troublemakers went to Piltover today.”

“What, you think it was them?”

“They have quite the talent to get themselves into all sorts of trouble. But a whole building? Not even they could fuck up this badly, can they?” It’s a possibility. They gave them the title for a reason. Then again, how? They don’t have access to any sorts of explosives, let alone weapons. They don’t even carry knives. Zoiya dismisses the thought with a wave of her hand. “No. That must’ve been someone else then.”

Meneli’s view roams the red satin linen instead of looking at her friend when she starts speaking again, “You know that means—”

“Even more Enforcer Wardens down here, yeah”, Zoiya groans with a grimace. She turns to the window and drops her head with a heavy sigh, face hitting the windowsill. “Honestly, at this point, I just hope this doesn’t interfere with our project. We’re not really making any progress right now. It feels like we’re running in circles. And it’s… tiring.”

Meneli leans in closer. “What about that stuff you were working on?”, she asks in an almost whisper.

“It’s never been tested before. I mean, I do trust the Doctor with it, but there’s no guarantee it’ll work the way dad wants it to.” They never address Silco, Vander or anyone else by name. People complain about the small sewer rats all the time when in reality one has to be wary of the bigger ones. The majority of the Undercity is still very supportive of Vander and his ‘reign’.

No words follow. Instead, a hand finds Zoiya’s head, making her flinch. Her shoulders tighten, but eventually, her arms sink back down, melting into the touch.

As Meneli softly strokes the yellow hair, Zoiya hums in appreciation, “How much do you take for an hour again?”

Meneli huffs out a laugh, “What do you want me to do?”

“This is just fine actually.”

The gentle touch of her friend’s hand wanders from the top of Zoiya’s head all the way down her back. “I’ll gladly do it for free.” The smile on Meneli’s lips clearly audible with the way those last few words dance on her tongue.

“If that’s the case, I’ll occupy you for the whole day.” She reconsiders. “You know what? No. I’ll just keep you to myself.”

Another laugh escapes Meneli’s lungs, “I’m afraid Babette won’t be very happy with that.”

“I mean it. You’ll never have to see another Enforcer in your life again, let alone touch one.” Zoiya lifts her head, to put her hands on the windowsill and rests her chin on them. She sighs, “I still don’t know how you do it.”

“I don’t mind them.” Meneli shrugs. “We charge them extra.”

Zoiya chuckles. “No, I mean being alone with one.”

Her friend’s hand stops for a moment. Zoiya looks up at her and catches the concerned look on Meneli’s face, her gaze lowered. The scavenger hates that her friends have to be so careful around her, she doesn’t want to be a burden to them.

Meneli releases a sigh, “It’s not like I have to worry about anything. In here I have the upper hand, you know.”

“Really?” It’s not that Zoiya doesn’t believe her friend to be capable of that. Moreso that Piltovians would voluntarily give up the power they hold over Trenchers? Unlikely.

Meneli’s expression softens and the faint smile returns to her lips, “You’d be surprised how obedient they can get. How… vulnerable almost. Give them what they desire most, and they’ll eat right out of your hand.” She gathers the yellow hair and pulls them into a ponytail, securing them with a hair band. Then she lays down on the bed next to her friend.

“Even the big ones?”, Zoiya whispers. The image of the Wardens making her heartbeat quicken, the words almost stuck in her throat.

“As soon as they take the uniform off, they’re just like everyone else”, Meneli all but shrugs.

“I’m having a hard time believing that.” Zoiya raises one of her hands to lazily run her index finger along the creases of the window.

"They’d never admit it of course, but a lot of them are actually scared of the Undercity, of the unknown. They fear what they can’t control. Because Uppside, it’s the opposite for them.” She pauses for a moment. “The council controls everything”, the faintest sign of venom in her voice, as she bites out the words, “they’re the law. And who enforces the law? It’s literally in their name."

She tucks the loose hair strands she left out of the ponytail behind Zoiya’s ear. For a moment no one says anything until a grin spreads across Meneli’s face.

“What?” Zoiya asks, dragging out the syllable.

“You could try it”, Meneli says, her eyes glinting.

“What?”, Zoiya deadpans.

“It’s the best way to get intel out of people. Some of them are very talkative.”

Zoiya squints her eyes for a moment before realization hits and they widen instead. “No.”

“You have to live up to your name, don’t you think?”, Meneli asks with a smug grin.

“As if I’m to blame for that.” Zoiya raises her palms. “It holds no truth. Well, at least partly.”

“It’s never too late to set the record straight”, Meneli snickers.

Zoiya gets up into a sitting position, grabs her friend’s arms and softly shakes and pushes her. “You are so vile and insensitive”, she moans through gritted teeth, trying to stay relatively quiet. She stands corrected, she wants the pity back.

“The small ones, I mean”, Meneli laughs. She falls onto her back and takes Zoiya with her. They have a little brawl, softly grabbing, swinging and slapping each other’s arms and the occasional push.

“You can try yourself on the small ones”, Meneli says between laughs. She grabs both of Zoiya’s wrists and pulls her close until their noses almost touch. “They can get quite… compliant”, she breathes out with glinting eyes.

Zoiya breaks free and sits back up. She furrows her brows and scoffs. “No, I’ll never fuck an Enforcer. Like, ever.”

“Hm, wouldn’t be your first lie”, Meneli says with a playful smile on her lips. She gets up and adjusts her coat. Then she goes through her hair, trying to fix the mess. “You are especially irritable today. Did anything else happen?”, she asks.

Zoiya groans and drops backwards onto the bed, “Don’t give me another headache, please.”

“Ah, the boy.”

With a little too much force Zoiya grabs one of the pillows and presses it onto her face. “He had the audacity to demand something from me. He said I owe him something. Hello?”, she grumbles, voice muffled.

“Sounds like a charming kid.”

“Boys. Men. I’m so tired of all of them.” She takes the pillow off her face and throws it back onto the bed. “There are like three decent boys I know. That’s it.” Or well, knew. Only one of them is left. It makes her chest ache for the short duration of a heartbeat.

Meneli shakes her head slightly and smiles. It fades again within seconds as she turns to look outside. “Is that—?”

Zoiya sits back up and her head whips in the direction her friend is looking. Through the red-tinted glass, she spots two figures; from head to toe covered in the most shimmering tone of blue, ornamented with gold accents. They aren’t regular patrolling Wardens. One of them is wearing a very obvious shiny badge. “That’s the Sheriff!”

“If she’s here already, then the talk about the explosion must be true. She wouldn’t be here for less.” The two women cower behind the window.

“Well, she definitely isn’t here for investigations either. That’s what her errand boys are for”, Zoiya says bitterly and jerks her head at the Investigator next to Grayson.

“Maybe she already knows who did it?”

“Then she’d have her dogs with her. No, I bet she’ll go for the safe route and ask her big friend for help.”

Their eyes follow the Enforcers as they pass the brothel. The sight of them makes Zoiya surprisingly nervous. She bites her lower lip as she starts tapping her fingers on the windowsill.

“I still can’t believe he’s working with Enforcers, with Piltover.” Meneli shakes her head in disbelief. “What has he become?”

“Weak”, Zoiya spits out.

“I looked up to this man when I was younger.” Her friend’s voice is full of anger, strained since they are still whisper-talking. But the look on her face is different; hurt. “I actually believed he could change things.”

The look on Silco’s face as he talked about his former ‘brother’ flashes through Zoiya’s mind. “He’s betrayed his own people before. It was only a matter of time before he’d do it again. I just never expected it to be because of Piltover and Enforcers.”

Silence followed.

After a short moment, Meneli moves her head closer to her friend, “Speaking of getting intel from Enforcers—”

Zoiya snorts, “Yeah, I don’t think the Sheriff’s that easy.”

A light-hearted laugh filled the room, “I wasn’t exactly referring to her, but if you’re feeling bold?”

“What, you mean her arm candy over there?” Zoiya raises an eyebrow and points her index finger at the window.

Meneli smiles at the remark.

“I have standards, you know.” Zoiya crosses her arms and frowns.

“That would be news to me”, Meneli taunts.

Zoiya scoffs and pushes her friend, this time with a little more force than before. Meneli bites back a laugh.

“Ok, if he was the Sheriff, sure whatever. But I’d never stoop to bother with an Investigator.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers.”

Right now, Zoiya has no idea whether her friend is being serious or not. Her previous suggestion was obviously more of a joke (she hopes). But this is ridiculous.

“He’s with Grayson while she’s on her way to meet up with her secret friend from the Undercity. He has to know something”, Meneli points out. “But maybe he has some better use than information. Do you see how his stance is kind of hunched?”

“Yeah, looking like a little wet Poro next to the Sheriff”, Zoiya snickers.

Meneli clicks her tongue, “Uneasiness, Zoiya. See how he’s constantly looking around?”

“Right. A suspicious little wet Poro. That’s a new one.”

“Who knows. Maybe that little guy is just what you need.”

“Doubt it”, Zoiya deadpans. Then she sighs, “I’ll go after them, see what they know.” She gets off the bed and jumps to her feet. With a swift motion, she picks up her cloak and puts it back on, ready to rush out of the room.

“Be careful”, Meneli calls after her friend.

“You should know me better by now”, Zoiya says with a grin on her face.

She pulls up her hood and storms out of the brothel. The streets are less occupied than they were a few hours ago. Not even close to being empty, but it’ll be a lot easier to follow the Sheriff. Zoiya looks around, making sure no one had the same idea as her. The Trenchers on the streets stopped whatever they were doing as soon as they saw the Sheriff. Now, everyone has already gone back to doing their business, the usual suspicious behaviour.

She finds a good spot to climb up a wall until she reaches the roof. From up there, she spots the Enforcers standing in front of The Last Drop. Unlike expected, they don’t go back the way they came from, but instead, head into an alleyway. Perhaps Zoiya was wrong, and Grayson isn’t here for Vander after all. She shakes her head empty of any doubt and starts going after them.

Climbing and jumping from one building to the other, Zoiya followed them all the way down the Lanes. They haven’t said a single word to each other, which technically makes sense given their circumstances.

In the distance, she spots Ekko again and one of Vander’s boys in front of Benzo’s shop. Ekko moves around frantically, kicking and punching the air, showing off his moves once more. Zoiya can’t keep herself from smiling and shakes her head at him.

Vander’s boy. The smile washes off her face in an instant. Vander must be inside the shop, that’s why the Enforcers didn’t stay at the bar; the man Grayson was looking for wasn’t there. That means, whatever may happen in that shop, Zoiya has to witness it.

By quickening her pace, she makes sure she arrives first. At a gap between two houses, she turns around, toes glued onto the building while her heels stand on air. She bends her knees slightly and jumps backwards off the building. Her hands grab a hold of the edge, stopping the fall. Her bent toes rest on the wall. Then she drops off completely, landing safely and without making a sound. She remains crouched and watches as the Enforcers pass Ekko and enter the shop. Vander’s kid is nowhere to be seen.

Zoiya sneaks up to Ekko and greets him with a quick pat on the back. Both of them eavesdrop on the meeting inside the shop.

The Enforcers took off their respirator masks already, giving her a good look at their faces. Grayson hasn’t changed much in the past years. She basically still looks the same as the last time Zoiya had seen her. The other one though doesn’t seem familiar. She’s never seen him before.

The Investigator is so up close to Vander, that he could basically sit on his lap, and it wouldn’t make a difference. Yet another guy who doesn’t know anything about the concept of personal space. At least Deckard has the excuse of being a boy who doesn’t know any better. This one, however, is anything but a boy. He looks a lot younger than Grayson, but he seems to be already older than Zoiya.

From one second to the next, the man almost jumps at Vander, pointing a finger at the big man. The Enforcer is acting out like this because he’s in the Undercity. Probably doesn’t act like this in Piltover. And if he does, well, that’d be even worse, embarrassing even. No one seems to be fazed by the little outburst. Zoiya can’t help but grimace at the very entertaining performance. Though it immediately washes away as the Enforcer’s now headed for the door.

Both she and Ekko retreat from the window, quickly climbing onto the canopy above them. A few years prior, Ekko would’ve needed Zoiya’s help. Mainly because he was much smaller than he is today, but he did have some trouble with climbing at first. He’s improved so much that he reaches the top a lot quicker than her.

Just as she gets to stand up, the Enforcer bursts through the door. He’s quick to put his mask back on, the faint hiss sounding through the streets as they’re completely empty.

Zoiya crosses her arms, shifts her weight and leans onto the wall of the building. Ekko has since disappeared to the back of the shop, spying on the adult’s conversation. He’s shown it to Zoiya before. A construction he made all by himself. The things he could build if only he had the same resources as the kids in Piltover.

During the time of Grayson and Vander’s meeting, the Enforcer outside doesn’t really know what to do with himself. He can’t keep his feet still; turning back around to the door, waiting for his boss to return, wanting to know what they’d have discussed. Walking up and down, keeping an eye on the streets, checking both directions ever so often. Fists clenching and relaxing again. All in the span of a few minutes.

One of the most impatient Enforcers Zoiya has ever encountered. He’s going to make every effort to find what he needs to finish the job. Considering what her friend pointed out earlier, now she notices how nervous the man beneath her really is. He is prone to frivolousness, or rather reckless stupidity. There’s definitely potential in that. Probably not great for either Vander or Grayson in the long run, but even more so for her and Silco. Meneli might have been right; this one could be all they needed to finally make a step forward after so many they had to take backwards. Ironic that it had to be an Enforcer, but power demands sacrifice. At least it’s only a small one.

A shit-eating grin spreads over Zoiya’s face at the thought of it. She’s already thinking about telling Silco. Finally bringing him good news makes it feel like her insides are vibrating. They wouldn’t need his intel, but perhaps his aid. Though they would sell it to him as something else entirely. Play the greedy, honourless trenchers an Enforcer like him expects them to be.

Grayson barely closes the door behind her as the Investigator — whose name is Marcus as Zoiya had just learned — is already on her. They exchange a few quiet words before leaving again. To everyone’s surprise, Vander didn’t say anything. Zoiya doesn’t know what to think about that. Something in her stomach begins to churn. Is she weirdly content with Vander’s decision or is she worried that this could potentially ruin everything?

She follows the Enforcers as they head back topside. Again, they don’t speak for the rest of their walk to the train. And since Zoiya can’t possibly join them on their ride, they part ways.

She decides to return back home to the Docks, though this time she takes the elevator. She would tell her friend about everything sometime later. First, she has to report back to Silco.

Zoiya had missed the sunset, thankfully. Instead, the moon now rests where the sun had been reigning before. Its light being the only thing to illuminate the Fissures. Without the moonlight, one can barely see their own feet while walking. Funny how this was never what sends a shiver down her spine and leaves goosebumps in its wake. The gloomy darkness feels rather comforting compared to the bleeding horizon that burned its fire into her brain.

Before entering the ally that leads to the old cannery, Zoiya looks behind her, scanning her surroundings. No one has ever successfully followed her home before, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. With the way the Docks are usually deserted, she would have noticed any uninvited guests by now.

As she makes her way through the big warehouse, she looks out for the residue of Shimmer on the floor. She comes to a halt as soon as she spots the sludge that graces not only the ground but also the walls and ceiling. Once they reach their goal of freeing the Undercity — turning it into the Nation of Zaun — they will probably move somewhere more central…and pleasant. This place reeks and it gets quite freezing on colder days. It’s basically a dumpster but it’s still their home. They have been living here for years. She fears it won’t be as easy leaving it behind as it should be.

But just like the Shimmer, they have to expand their ways out of the safety of their isolated home. It grew over time, spreading through the building like veins through a body. It broke out of the lab, out if its original bounds, finding its way into the world. This is the journey that lies ahead of Zoiya and her little family.

She smiles to herself before she purposefully steps onto the pink residue. A crack under her foot echoes through the empty hall, followed by smoke billowing from under her boot. Her smile turns into a bright grin. She bites her lower lip and steps on the sludge again, this time with the other foot.

She makes her way to the lab by balancing on the Shimmer, every step producing more creaky sounds and pink dust. When she reaches the hallway, she stretches out her arm and softly brushes her fingertips over the residue on the wall that’s snaking its way into the lab.

The heavy door takes all of Zoiya’s strength to open. Not necessarily her best ally when trying to sneak up on either of the two men to spook them. She has declared it a traitor ever since.

Once in the lab, Zoiya spots the Doctor on the other side of the room, working on perfecting the Shimmer formula, as per usual. She lifts her hand in a wave and he greets her with a firm nod.

She grabs the railing and with a swing, jumps over it and lands right next to Silco. One leg folded over the other, he sits at his desk (if you can even call it that), syringe in his hands. His face is completely shrouded by the darkness, merely his damaged eye can be seen. Like a tiny flame trying to illuminate the blackness that crawls out of an endless void. The Eye of Zaun; the tiniest hope for the Underground to rise to the surface.

Zoiya takes off her cloak and throws it somewhere to the back of the room and then brushes the dust off of her. She opens her mouth to greet the man but stops when she spots a plate with a very familiar meal on it. She frowns and purses her lips, “Is this the meal I made you for dinner today?”

“Where have you been? You should have been back for hours by now”, he says, ignoring her complaint.

Zoiya pouts and crosses her arms. If he won’t answer her question, she wouldn’t answer his.

“Spare me, Zoiya”, he addresses her with a sigh, voice vibrating lowly.

She scoffs and begins to walk away from him.

Silco releases another, more audible sigh. “I’ll just ask the boy then. He’ll have some explaining to do anyways.”

She turns on her heels and comes back to his side in an instant to face him again. “I was doing my job”, Zoiya calls out and places a hand on her chest. “And I just so happen to have some interesting observations to share.” She rolls her eyes excessively, “Because unlike Deckard’s incompetent self I was out there getting actual results.”

“Which are?”

By shifting her weight onto her left side, Zoiya leans on the table and crosses her arms. “You’ll have to eat first,” she jerks her head at the meal, “and then, maybe I will tell you about my day.” Her goal wasn’t exactly to get on his nerves. She simply wants him to eat, because he rarely ever does. Talk about lanky. Well, annoying him was more of an unfortunate yet amusing little side effect.

Silco runs his hand over his face before lifting his head to look at her. For the first time since her return, his gaze meets hers. The light behind her passing her form and illuminating his face. The area around his injured eye is an ashen grey compared to the naturally very pale colour of his skin. The furrows running over his cheek flow into deep, red-coloured cuts. “You’re really taxing my patience, dear.”

“Likewise”, she says with a smile while scrunching her nose.

He moves to lean back in his chair. A look of amusement grows on his face. He would never admit defeat when it comes to the constant back-and-forth between the two. He, unfortunately, also knows how quickly she loses her temper. “Since you went to meet up with the boy, I take it whatever you know, he knows as well. That means your cooperation isn’t needed, so you might as well leave and brood somewhere else.”

It’s things like these that drain Zoiya of any cheerfulness. She knows that Silco’s only taunting her at this point, but simply the implication of someone else taking her spot, essentially her not being good enough is making something within her ache. “He is the one you don’t need”, she exclaims with a frown, more aggressively than she intended. She takes a quick breath before continuing, “You don’t need anyone for this. You’ve got me. I’m your eyes and ears.”

Silco turns his attention back to the syringe pieces in his hands. He raises his eyebrows, eyes as expressionless as ever, “Only that your eyes and ears don’t exceed the borders of the Lanes.”

Zoiya snorts. A smile graces her face, but amusement was nowhere to be found. “Please. He’d never dare to cross the bridge either.” She can’t decide whether she wants to laugh or cry out, “I— he—”, so, she stammers, “As if he’s ever been to Piltover before. You’re clearly overestimating him.”

“If my ears aren’t deceiving me, I’d say it sounds like you are rather dissatisfied with his efforts”, he says, slightly raising his pitch at the last word, making it sound like a question rather than a conclusion.

“Calling them ‘efforts’ is a very bold statement.” She drops her face into her hands and sighs deeply. “He gets on my nerves.”, she says while dragging her hands to her temples and rubbing the spots.

“Did he cause you any trouble?”, Silco asks. The bitterness in his voice was faint but still discernible. It’s almost as if the thought of someone mistreating Zoiya wouldn’t leave him completely cold after all.

Her heart skips a beat at the sentiment. To play it off, she rolls her eyes, “No, he’s…”, she could go on about the boy and her annoyance with him, but since he didn’t actually mistreat her, she decides to instead leave it be. She takes it, he isn’t completely useless. At least Vander and his pack don’t know about him. Still, he’s far from being of any help to her right now. “He doesn’t work as efficiently as he’s supposed to. That’s all.”

“Hm, perhaps you don't inspire him enough?” Again, he thinks he’s sly about his barely-there emotions, but Zoiya can very clearly hear the playfulness in his tone.

She smirks, “Well, why don’t you try your luck then? Give him one of your little speeches about the importance of power. I'm sure that'll get him inspired.” She grabs a strand of her hair and twirls it around her finger. “I would know. It worked pretty well on me, after all. Don’t you think?” Turn the pain into power. And that she did. Right?

He sighs, “Well then, miss eyes and ears of Zaun, since you are so much more efficient than everyone else, what exactly are your results?”, he asked without looking up at her. The first title Silco ever gave her, even if it is of a taunting nature. Though, it does sound ridiculous when he says it.

Zoiya takes one last good look at the meal she had prepared so many hours ago. The one that started this discussion. Unbelievable how hard it is to get two men from the Undercity to eat. So, she finally gives in.

Since Silco had hinted at Deckard’s failing, Zoiya assumes he already knows what happened. It discourages her, taking the joy out of reporting her observations to Silco. If he already knows, he’d have no reason to praise her. She hesitates but decides to tell him anyways. “There was an explosion in the city.” She crosses her arms. “But I take it you already knew that given it’s basically spreading like the toxins in the Sump.”

“Do we already know who’s responsible for the alarm?”

“Not yet. I’ve sent Deckard to check it out.” Zoiya’s view wandered to the door above them. “And who would’ve thought, he hasn’t returned yet”, she says in a sing-song voice.

“That means he knows more than you do?”, Silco asks with genuine curiosity. “It seems someone is challenging you for your title.”

Zoiya’s heart drops into her stomach. Is it possible for Deckard to know who’s responsible for the explosion? It should get her excited, but the thought makes her chest burn instead. She presses her lips into a thin line. “We don’t know what he knows. What he may have found out. If he even has anything to report.” She shrugs, “That’s not even what I was hinting at earlier anyways. As the eyes and ears”, she lifts her hands and puts the words between air quotes, “of Zaun, I observe everything that happens in the Undercity, not in Piltover. And one of the many things I saw down there was the Sheriff striding through the Lanes. And I just so happened to be around when she met up with Vander.”

Silco turns around to face Zoiya yet again. Now she has his attention.

A big smile played on Zoiya’s lips. “I overheard her saying that he kept quiet. He didn’t give her anything.”

He taps one of the syringe pieces on his chin. “So, he knows who’s responsible for the chaos caused topside.”

“Which means he’s covering for them. Could become another problem.”

“Or the solution to the rest of them.” His eyes glint as he lowers his brows. The darkness giving him a sinister look.

The door to the hall opens with a clank. The muscles in Zoiya’s ears twitch at the noise and she whips her head to its source. Three of the many thugs that work for Silco enter the lab, Deckard trailing behind. Though, ‘dragging him in’ would describe it better.

“The boy was caught”, one of them says.

Zoiya’s mouth falls open slightly at that. Her face goes slack before she turns to look away. Then she presses her lips tight into a grimace and makes a noise in her throat without letting it escape her mouth. He failed. And since she is, in a way, responsible for him, it is also her failure. She swallows hard and her eyes find Silco again, who’s still looking at her.

They’re extremely rough with Deckard; dragging him down the stairs and pushing him to sit down. The manhandling is necessary for someone like him, he’ll never learn otherwise. Zoiya doesn’t pity him. Not when she clearly told him what to do earlier. He has no one but himself to blame.

The big window emits just enough light for her to get a good look at him. He was panting heavily, eyes widened in terror and his face was full of bruises, dirt and a few cuts. Did the others beat him up before bringing him in? Something at the very back of Zoiya’s mind tells her to say something, to make them stop. But this burning sensation in her chest is holding her back.

While Silco lectures the boy, Zoiya catches the glistening of the syringe in her periphery. He has pieced it together by now. As he moves it up to his injured eye, a shiver runs down her spine, spreading goosebumps all over her body. He has asked her to do it for him once. She tried but couldn’t pull through. Stabbing his eye with a needle is not on her to-do list of ‘fun family activities’. The risk of accidentally hurting him is too high. One of the few things she’s actively trying to improve on.

The mention of Vander’s kids snaps her out of her thoughts. Her head jerks up. Turns out they actually were responsible for the explosion. The word ‘surprise’ must be written all over Zoiya’s face as she genuinely did not expect them to be the culprits. What the hell did they do up there?

Silco dismisses Deckard after he finished his report. He and the others leave the lab.

What a turn of events. Vander protecting none other but his own kids from Grayson and Piltover. If Silco and Zoiya can get the Enforcer to unknowingly do their work for them and put enough pressure on Vander, this could be it. After so many years of crawling through the darkest depths of the Undercity, they have a chance to emerge from it.

In her periphery, Zoiya spots The Doctor walking up to the terrarium where he feeds rats with Shimmer. He lifts the cat and places it in the crate. Poor thing. So far, the rats have never survived the procedure and neither did their opponents.

Cat doesn’t have a name, because Silco is an unfun man. If he were the one responsible for naming Zoiya, she probably wouldn’t have received a name either. Maybe he would’ve been generous enough to give her a number. She herself didn’t bother giving Cat an actual name, since no animal in this lab survives for long.

She isn’t very fond of these little ‘quarrels’ between the animals, but curiosity gets the better of her. So, she makes a beeline to the two men until she stands between them.

The demonstration is gruesome and nasty. The little rodent writhes in pain. Its eyes and veins turn purple, glowing just like the substance itself. Zoiya’s body goes rigid at the little squeaks of pain and agony. Coldness shoots through her, making the hair on her nape stiffen. The rat grows in size…and muscle. The high-pitched sound turns into a low growl.

Pang.

Zoiya flinches and, to her surprise, Silco does, too. She watches the rat, or whatever it may be now, with a grimace on her face, eyebrows knitting closer together the more the tiny beast moves around.

“You have a subject in mind?”, The Doctor asks.

Solely Zoiya’s eyes move to look at him. The violent display left him quite unfazed. Though he barely ever shows a lot of emotions to begin with, even less so than Silco. Regardless, it’s nothing he hasn’t seen before.

As she turns to look at the other man next to her, the muscles in her body and face slowly relax again. Mouth slightly agape.

Silco smiles, irritating Zoiya to turn her shock into a frown. His smile was never a good sign. For others, that is. “Someone just volunteered”, he finally says.

In an instant, Zoiya’s confusion washes off her face. She looks back at the rat and a smirk forms instead. Someone still has to compensate for his mistake. The thought makes her smirk grow into a triumphant smile. As long as she comes out on top.

“I hope I now made it clear why I prefer sending out anyone else but you into the Lanes”, Silco says, looking at her through the reflection of the glass.

If this little show is supposed to tell her about what’s going on in Silco’s mind, then she doesn’t catch on.

“There are many things distinguishing you from the others”, his view wanders from the glass to look directly into her eyes, “but weakness is not one of them.”

She frowns at that. It still doesn’t explain his reasoning. Or maybe it does? If he doesn’t think she’s weak, what else could it be? The only option left was trust. Does he not trust her?

“They’re like lab rats”, he simply states.

Tousled?

“Disposable.”

Oh. Oh?

While she doesn’t fully agree with the statement, regarding the lab rats, heat radiates through her chest. The kind of feeling that makes her want to jump and pull Silco into her arms. She keeps herself from doing so. He wouldn’t like it. So, she tells herself that he doesn’t deserve a hug since he disrespected rats. Kind of ironic, since she named every single rat friend she made in the past — by freeing them, much to the Doctor’s dismay — after him.

Still, a ‘you are not disposable’ is as close to any kind of affectionate words she’ll ever get from him. It’s more than enough for her. She smiles.

“So, tell me”, Silco says as he moves away from the crate, “what did your eyes and ears pick up on in the Lanes?” He comes to a halt in front of the window, view roaming the endless abyss that lies ahead.

The fish are pretty to look at, but the smell is horrendous, even here. He must be used to a lot worse from the mines, so this may even be pleasant to him.

Zoiya walks up to Silco. “As we already know, the Sheriff paid her good friend a visit. But she wasn’t alone, obviously. She had an Investigator accompanying her.”

“And?”

She raises her hand to silence him, “I don’t accept questions until after I’m done, thank you.” She then clears her throat. “As I was saying, the Enforcer, whose name is Marcus, is the very textbook definition of a Topsider. He seems to be very desperate to prove himself, he threatened Vander. Or well, he at least tried to seem like more powerful person. To put it simply, he hates this place and doesn’t trust us. Oh, and he’s extremely impatient, of course.”

Silco doesn’t say anything and just stares at her instead. Maybe his age is starting to get the better of him, thus having a harder time understanding her.

“In other words, he’s the perfect candidate”, she says.

“You’ve already said that about the last Enforcer and what happened to him?”

She snorts, “Funny. You of all people should know very well what happened to that one.”

“Precisely. One missing Enforcer may look like an accident, but more will draw in unwanted attention”, he says sharply.

“Well, this time it’ll work out. Could read him like an open book.” Zoiya crosses her arms and lifts her chin up.

“Your choice in men has always been immaculate.”

She squints an eye at him.

He releases a sigh. “I'll send him an invitation.”

In one quick motion, she grabs his arm, turning him around slightly to look into both of his eyes. “I'll take care of that."

Teal and orange stare into Zoiya’s own grey eyes. “And how are you planning on doing that?”, Silco asks through partly gritted teeth, his voice low and raspy.

She grins back at him, “Oh, you should know me better by now.”

“What I do know is that you need to work on your people skills, dear. You're not exactly pleasant to be around.”

The smile vanishes from her lips as quickly as it had formed. Knitting her eyebrows together in confusion, she opens her mouth to protest but doesn’t find the right words to defend herself. So, she swallows them back down. Instead, her thoughts drift back to the Enforcer, and she scoffs. "He doesn't seem like he's a delight to be around either."

“Ideal prerequisites for a successful partnership.” He sighs again and pinches the bridge of his nose. “How exactly do you plan on getting him to grow interested in making a deal with us? Your charms leave a lot to be desired.”

“I am extremely charming!”, she exclaims. “I’ll appeal to his pride and honour. How brave he must be to come down here. Doing his duty as an Enforcer, stopping criminals. And I’ll play into his vices; how far we’d go to satisfy our greed. The crimes we’d do for a few Washers and so on.” She accompanies her ideas with over-the-top hand movements, trying her best to imitate Piltovians and the mannerisms she’s seen on them. “He’s honourable, we’re dirt, something along those lines. Should be enough motivation.”

“You seem to confuse charming with manipulative”, his gaze is fixed on hers and lingers for just a moment. Due to the gloominess that filled the room, his eyes almost turn sinister as if to silently scold her.

He must’ve noticed Zoiya tensing up ever so slightly at the remark, more of a reflex than genuine fear because the creases on his forehead partly fade, and his muscles relax. As far as Zoiya can remember, those creases have always been gracing Silco’s face. One may assume he’s just perpetually discontent with everyone and everything. Which isn’t necessarily untrue. However, if one has seen him genuinely happy before, you can tell the difference. And Zoiya certainly can, for all it’s worth.

His expression softens before he turns away, eyes roaming the depths of the deep blue water that's sealed behind the glass. A faint smile tugs at the corner of his lips, “But I suppose it will do either way." After a moment of silence, he continues, “Invite him.”

Zoiya nods swiftly and Silco leaves her side.

----

a/n: just want to point out that Silco is not supposed to be a bully or something, Zoiya is a brat and deserves to get called out by him <3

#do I even want this in the offcial tags lmao #arcane fanfic #mywriting*#marcus arcane x oc #zoiya x marcus #fic: animosity #I'm horrible with titles #I truly said 'I will write something in english that is so german'#sigh #I created this post on june 21 LMAO #I was very optimistic with that one #just a heads up I have a bad habit of pointing out the obvious #i'm still working on it #I've checked this so many times I really hope I didn't miss anything #I hate that this is so long I'm so sorry #with the amount of times silco has to sigh at zoiya no wonder he's so lanky #no air left in that body #fyi whenever I'm writing silco I imagine his german voice that's why it's described as raspy here

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