Not My Name

Part 6

After hanging out with each other for a few weeks they seemed to have their own routine set unconsciously. Anytime Jinx would wander around the back area near the last drop for over 10 minutes Cora would suddenly appear from somewhere and then they would go to a random part of the undercity to hang out away from prying eyes (mainly Silco's men trying to follow them).

They talked about multiple things, but at the moment Cora was trying to ignore how excited Jinx was about her next job.

"It's just so obvious that Silco trusts me more than Sevika, for good reason of course." Corabel could hear how smug she was with her tone but she only gave a noncommittal hum as she kept going.

"He really trusts me enough to basically run the entire thing, he even told her that she's only backing me up. She looked so mad!" That led to her laughing out loud and the other girl bit her lip but still didn't react much.

"You should totally join me on my next job!" Jinx threw that out of nowhere while bouncing in place looking even more excited with the idea while looking over to Corabel who was drawing shapes in the dirt the same way she was when Jinx first found her. It took her a few seconds before she responded without changing her nonchalant tone.

"Yeah, no thanks."

"What?! Why not?" Jinx whined before shifting to be closer to the orange haired girl. She only gave her a side glance before looking back to her shapes.

"For one, you dad already isn't fond of me, and two... I'm not the biggest fan of those 'jobs' you go on." She glared at the dirt as she spoke and the other furrowed her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

Corabell stopped what she was doing to make a face, "Lets just drop this Tails I would rather not talk about it."

"No no no, why don't you like my work?" Jinx looked offended and tried to stand directly in front of her childhood friend but the other girl continuously avoided eye contact. Jinx started shaking her head the longer Cora didn't answer.

"I-I... I think I should-" "No!" At this point it felt like Jinx had a sixth sense for when Corabell was about to leave and hide away after the amount of time they spent together and so she had quickly grabbed her wrist before she could move.

"Let go." Cora still wouldn't look at her but there was a bite to her tone.

"No, no, you're gonna disappear again and I won't find you again, and you're gonna stay mad at me and and I can't lose you again Cora, I just can't." Her eyes were pleading and this time Cora actually did look at her and she felt her building irritation leave immediately. She carefully placed her other hand over Jinx's and without any resistance, she pulled it away and watched sadly as the other broke down. Jinx was a lot more emotional than she used to be, but Corabell had come to accept that. She wiped a few of her tears away before she sighed.

"I need to cool down, I'll see you tomorrow." She wasn't the best at offering comfort after being alone for so long, but she wanted to at least reassure the other she would come back. Without even giving the other girl a moment to respond she left.

...

Corabell leaned against a wall with a hand to her head. She closed her eyes tightly before opening them again, "I would never work for the man who killed them." She'll always hate how those kids treated her, but they were still one of the closest things she had to family, and Vander? He was the only adult she had really grown to trust. Silco is the reason they're gone and she could never forgive him for that. The hand dropped to her side as she continued moving.

"I'm sorry Tails."