It was crazy. She really didn't have one thing that said she wasn't a kid anymore. It hurt having to play the card of getting her to realize there was no way back. Even when he and Heimerdinger had been so sure, she seemed to still have an inkling it would turn around. Like, maybe they needed to read more books or something.
Heimerdinger said it would probably take time, and gave her some journals, papers, and drawing tools. She knew exactly what to do with those. When Sevika came, then a lot more things needed to be discussed. Like . . .
"How the hell did you find all of that?" Ekko asked, seeing the pile of things Sevika pulled there. No way. "She doesn't need any of that."
"I beg to differ," Sevika said. "Jinx's main job for Silco was-"
"-I know what she did!" Like he didn't know what she did?
"Fine. I'll shove some of it in a closet," Sevika said. "You want this stuff."
Great. Clothes. Bedding. A broken mirror. "Bedding."
"What, do you plan on going shopping with her?" Sevika pointed out. "She got a lot from Bilgewater."
Bilgewater. Yeah, that would make sense. "Fine, clothes. Does she have anything more normal? The other version is in control right now."
"Oh yeah? Having fun coloring?" she teased.
"That would be Heimerdinger right now." No joke.
"You've got these." She had some old hoods. "Until you find time to get some."
Hoods were something at least. "No weapons."
"Do you see any?" she asked.
Not really, but she could make weapons out of anything. That's what she did. She had real skill, but she invested her time into creating weapons. "I'll go through it later."
He went back inside. Right now, strolling in and out was fine. Soon it wouldn't be. Sevika came in and started taking things upstairs.
She was on the floor, kicking her heels up and down and coloring. "Big Man?" She looked toward him.
Meanwhile, he looked more away. She still wasn't grasping the limitations of that dress. He went and grabbed a hoodie from the pile and handed it to her. "Put that on."
She did what he said and put the hoodie on. "Whoah, I feel all spooky," she chuckled a little. "You can barely see me in this big hood."
That was the point.
"It's been a long while," she said to him.
"A long while since what?" he asked.
"Since you were a kid," she said. "That's right. Right? You aren't just in a man's body. You became one, didn't you?"
"Yeah," he admitted. "I've been here awhile. Kind of grew into the role."
Her eyes. Such a dead giveaway. "Is this really home now?"
"Yeah. If you want you can move your stuff to your room upstairs," he said. Yeah, he saw her eyes get really wide. She was always with Vi. She had kept it together pretty well so far, but-
"A room here. In a home that's not home." She grabbed her head.
He went over toward her and bent down. "Hey, I know it's tough. It'll be okay, I won't be far."
"None of the rooms had anything, it was like they were just carved to be there like a blue print." She was trying to wipe her eyes. "This isn't your home. Where was your home?"
"It was somewhere different." He couldn't hide that. "You're back though, and your other self, really made a mess of things. You can't even go down the street without problems."
"That's why this Vi wanted to arrest me. This version deserved it." She was still crying. "While she was taking me in though, she was still saying how much she would still visit and how much she loved me and-"
"She was taking you to jail." He had to stop that line of thinking. "Look? With me, you get to stay here. With her, you'll see her an hour each day, from a cell. Which do you want?"
"You are sooo much older," she called him out. "I hate it."
"But, I'm still Ekko." He rubbed her head. "If I wasn't, then I'd know how to freaking braid that hair for you." He was trying to get her to smile. That wasn't easy right now. She was really starting to curl up.
He went over closer, grabbed a crayon and started drawing a clock. "See? We can draw." She wasn't uncurling at all. "Hey."
Heimerdinger came downstairs from Sevika. He came over to see her. "Miss Powder, are you okay?"
"I miss Vi," she said through her tears. "I miss my family. Everyone's gone, Vi's an enforcer, and my best friend is all old now. He can't even play the same way anymore."
"Hmm." Heimerdinger snapped his fingers. "Miss Charlotte Kay is about the same mental age," he said to Ekko.
"If I can see the accuracy of the changes." He couldn't leave her playing with Cake if she was going to change. Bear might even be able to play too. Although, he could see Heimerdinger's point. Until memories started to come, she was going to be exactly like a child. And, even if he wanted to, he just couldn't play the same way. Even trying to go through the actions of coloring, didn't really help her. It just made her more aware of how distant they were.
"We should look into that, I think Miss Charlotte Kay would also feel better having someone familiar to play with."
"The Firelights are taking care of them. We'll look into it later," he said.
"We also have the clear sign of 'PJ' first," Heimerdinger warned him. "She will return between each one."
"How much longer?" Sevika asked.
"It's been about four hours, but that move of Dr. Schwartz pouring magic in the wound didn't help," Heimerdinger said. "We should go over the plan one more time. It is imperative we get it right."
"Not really," Sevika said. "Both of you are still overestimating her. What Silco said, went with her. No questions asked."
Ekko looked toward her again. "It's getting later. Why don't you take your stuff to your room for a little while." Oh, that look from her.
"So grown up, you are so grown up!" She complained as she grabbed all of the stuff Heimerdinger gave her and went up the stairs.
Sevika laid out the letter again. They each started to cover the plan again. Until-
Ekko started to open his eyes. He was bound and gagged with his arms and legs outstretched on a table. What the fuck?!
"Oh look, the sleeping beauties woke up."
Who was that? Ekko watched as a presence came into view. He was reminiscent of Heimerdinger. Jinx. Everyone. He started to struggle.
"Nah, nah, nah," he insisted as he came closer. "So, your name is Ekko, huh?" He held the deed to the shimmer factory. "Just carrying around a deed in your pocket? Not smart in this business. Welcome, by the way. O-o-oh!" He laughed. "Boy oh boy, the leader of all those annoying Firelights always messing up our deliveries. Ugh." He breathed smoke into his face. "Been waiting to get my hands on one of you bugs."
Oh, crap. Ekko didn't recognize him but he definitely knew him. He wrinkled his nose, stuck not being able to say anything.
"Now, let's talk about this deed." He removed Ekko's gag for a second.