#honestly scared to tag further than that because of the randomly banned trigger tags

[jammatown919]

Please Don’t Take My Sunshine Away

Jinx rather enjoyed her reputation. She was The Loose Cannon, one of Zuan's most feared criminals, the terror of Piltover, and gods was it fun.

Everywhere she went, she carried an aura of danger, discouraging anyone too boring from messing with her while simultaneously attracting worthwhile playmates who would give her a good, exciting fight. Only one person was fully immune to it, and that suited Jinx just fine. Lux was all she needed, the only person who truly mattered in any capacity.

As long as she had Lux, the entire rest of the world could hate and fear her. In fact, she preferred it that way. Her reputation was her second favorite thing, after all.

Until, of course, it put her first favorite thing in danger; and in the middle of date night, no less.

The first few hours had gone by smoothly, and with a tameness that Jinx could only stand if Lux was around. Lux had bought them dinner from Jericho's, the real nice stuff that Jinx had tasted only one or twice throughout her childhood, and then brought Jinx up to a rooftop near the top of the fissures for a sort of picnic.

Their conversations shifted wildly by the minute, just the way Jinx preferred. One minute it was Lux's hilariously low spice tolerance (but she looked so cute trying to pretend the food didn't bother her), the next it was Jinx's current pet project, then it was astrology and suddenly Lux was squinting up through the fissures trying to place constellations she couldn't see.

They stayed well after their food was finished, and Jinx would have been more than happy to stay all night, had she not noticed Lux beginning to fall asleep. In an effort to keep the night going as long as possible, she had suggested something a bit more exciting, and presently the two of them were walking back to Jinx's workshop so that Lux could be properly introduced to that new beloved project.

Keeping to the backstreets to avoid Jinx drawing too much attention, they made their way at a leisurely pace, ducking their heads together to continue their conversation in hushed voices.

In that moment, they were completely relaxed, fully focused on each other, and then Jinx suddenly straightened, acutely aware of unwanted eyes on them.

"Jinx?" Lux inquired softly. Though she'd yet to notice the source of Jinx's agitation, her hand went to the hilt of her sword, tucked safely into a scabbard at her side. "What's the matter?"

"I don't think we're alone." Jinx absently plucked Zapper from his holster, eyes flicking about, searching for movement.

There.

A silhouette in the alleyway they'd just cut through, frantically scuttling backward in a futile attempt to avoid detection.

"Blondie, light," Jinx requested in a whisper, and a moment later the space was illuminated by a tiny ball of light sitting in Lux's palm.

Their stalker surged forward at the same time Lux threw out her other arm, sending a bolt of bright gold that struck his chest and stopped him in his tracks. His body went rigid, though Jinx could see muscles straining against Lux's invisible hold, and only then were they able to get a clear look at him.

He seemed about their age, muscular and among the better fed of Zuan's people. In his hand was a very nice little gun, almost as well-kept as Jinx's collection, pointed directly at her head.

"Looks like I owe you one, Blondie." Jinx turned to the mage, more praise on her tongue, only to falter at the rare, magnificent sight before her.

She could recall very few times in which she'd seen Lux as utterly pissed as when she marched up to that frozen man and, in a single motion, snatched the gun from him and pressed it firmly to the underside of his chin.

"You've got about two seconds to explain what the hell you think you're doing," she hissed, eliciting a pleasant shudder from Jinx. Oh, she loved it when Lux got like this.

"I'd say something if I were you," Jinx said lightly, because the man was taking far too long to respond. "Or y'know, don't. I think I'll like what happens if you don't."

Their captive's eyes darted between them briefly before settling on Lux, cold and calculating and dangerous, but before either of them could really process this, he was moving again. He seized Lux by the wrist, forcing the gun up and away from him, and after a brief struggle wrenched it back from her entirely.

The light in her other hand expanded, ready to be used offensively, only to go out in an instant as he pistol-whipped her so hard that she immediately lost consciousness.

Jinx's eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness (small perk of containing more Shimmer than blood); enough so that she was able to see with decent clarity as Lux hit the ground with an unpleasant thud. Even worse, she could see the bastard raising his gun again, ready to pull the trigger and send her one good thing somewhere she could not follow.

"You gonna let her die too?" Mylo's impish voice demanded from somewhere in the back of her mind.

Absolutely fucking not.

With Lux on the ground, Jinx could now shoot without fear of catching her in the crossfire, and she did so readily, relishing in the advantage that her target could not see nearly as well.

Zapper caught him in the shoulder, sending a jolt throughout his entire body. He stumbled back, and Jinx darted forward to deliver a swift kick to his gut that forced him even farther from the prone mage. In a panic, he fired three shots, each missing her by a spectacularly embarrassing margin.

Without much effort, Jinx knocked the gun from his hand and shot him in the knee, watching as he collapsed heavily onto his back. If he'd been hired to kill her, she almost thought his client deserved a refund, but then she remembered that this client would be partially responsible for what had just happened to Lux, and suddenly she hoped they'd been ripped off as much as humanly possible. Not like this guy would ever get to use the money, after all.

Briefly, Jinx considered keeping him alive long enough to inquire about this potential client, but with a glance over her shoulder she realized that Lux still hadn't moved, and that concerned her infinitely more. She shot the man in the head and, slipping Zapper back into his holster, turned away without another thought.

"Blondie!" Jinx shouted, and quickly closed the distance between them. She dropped to her knees at Lux's side, nauseated by the dark, wet spot at the mage's hairline. "Shit, Blondie."

Her fingers hovered over the wound, hesitant to touch anything for fear of making it worse. Should she try parting the hair to better inspect the injury? She thought it best to know exactly what she was dealing with, but it would be sensitive and, if Lux was at all conscious, painful to touch.

"You with me, Sunshine?" Jinx asked softly. She opted to avoid the head and instead give Lux's shoulder a few gentle prods.

There was no response, and so she decided to risk it. Gingerly, she took the sticky clump between her fingers and began to pull it from the damaged skin. More blood rushed down Lux's face as it came away, to the point that Jinx didn't even get to see the wound before she felt compelled to let the hair cover it again.

Oh, this was bad. Terribly, horrifically bad. She'd seen people dead from injuries like this.

"No, no, no, please," Jinx muttered frantically as she began to rock Lux's shoulders. "Blondie, please, wake up. I need you to wake up."

Several agonizing moments passed. Nothing.

"Don't you dare," she hissed for lack of anything better to say. "Don't you dare leave me. What am I supposed to do without you, huh?"

She hated that she already knew the answer to that, because it had happened twice before. She knew exactly what it was to lose everyone who gave a damn about her. It felt like the end of the world, and it was, in a way. The end of her little world, where she was safe and happy and loved and actually okay for once in her goddamn life.

Her world with her sister was long dead. Her world with Dad had been torn apart by her own hands. But her world with Lux? Somehow, she thought losing that would be worst of all.

And just when she thought she would, that Lux would remain still and vacant beneath her, a soft groan reached her ears.

"Lux?"

"Mm?" Lux moaned back, brow furrowing as she struggled to open her eyes.

"You hear me, Blondie?"

"Mmm..."  Lux hummed, and finally managed to look up at Jinx. She seemed dazed, and perhaps not entirely aware, but she was awake and responding, and that was enough for the moment.

Relief flooded through Jinx's body, manifested in tears pouring down her face. She brought Lux close to her chest and held her tight, nuzzling into the side of her neck.

"Don't scare me like that," she murmured into Lux's ear, unable to contain her watery laugh as the mage nuzzled back and lifted her arms to weakly encircle Jinx's middle.

"Jinx?" Lux's chin rested heavily atop Jinx's shoulder, and her jawbone dug in as she spoke, though Jinx couldn't have cared less.

"Yeah, Blondie, it's me," she said.

"No, I know," Lux replied, perhaps more aware than Jinx had initially thought. "Just... what happened to him?"

Jinx pulled away, momentarily confused until she realized that Lux had been staring over her shoulder, directly at the body she'd left behind. Unsure of how much Lux remembered and unwilling to say anything that might upset or frighten her in this state, Jinx opted for the simplest explanation she could think of.

"He wanted to take you away from me," she whispered. Lux's brow furrowed, and she kissed it gingerly. "But I didn't let him. I wouldn't let anyone."

"I wouldn't either," Lux replied, as seriously as one could with that exhausted, vaguely slurred voice. "Not ever. 'Cause I'm yours."

The declaration of loyalty did not go unnoticed, but Jinx's relief was quickly giving way to some notion of guilt. She had done absolutely nothing to do deserve such devotion. What she had done was unintentionally put Lux in this situation in the first place. After all, that man had only been after one of them.

"You're too good for me, Blondie," she sighed, and pressed their foreheads together. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this."

"Not your fault," Lux murmured.

"He wasn't here for you," Jinx shot back, far more assertively than intended. She tried to lose the tone as she continued, but it merely shifted into something smaller and more pathetic. "He hurt you because you were with me. I dragged you into this, and I couldn't even keep you safe. You could have died and it would have-"

Lux's hand on her face effectively shut her up. It was gentle, trembling and threatening to slide right off her cheek, but determined to stay there and provide comfort Jinx was certain she didn't deserve.

"You didn't hurt me," Lux said firmly. "You saved me. I'm still here because of you."

Jinx laid one hand over Lux's, holding it in place. She kissed it once, on the wrist, and leaned into it.

"I'm here," Lux continued with what was probably the biggest smile she could manage. "Right here. Not going anywhere."

"I'm gonna hold you to that," Jinx replied. "Now what do you say we get out of here?"

Lux hummed in agreement, and Jinx slipped her arms beneath her girlfriend's body to lift them both off the group. She took a moment to steady them, then set off in the direction they'd been going before the attack.

She watched Lux carefully as they went, partially to ensure she didn't fall asleep and partially because she didn't know what to do with the rest of the protective energy built up in her chest. She wanted to take Lux away and hide her somewhere no one else could ever get to her, but she had a feeling that wouldn't go over well.

In fact, pretty much any method to prevent Lux from defending Jinx at her own risk was less likely to be accepted than to start a fight that Jinx wouldn't win. It was just Lux's nature to protect her own.

So, it would have to be Jinx's nature too.

"I'll do better," she murmured, low enough that she didn't think the half-conscious mage could hear. "Next time, they won't get near you. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again." ---- If you enjoyed this, please reblog to share it with others! That is literally the only way content creators get any recognition on this site; likes unfortunately don’t really do anything. Thank you for reading!