Prison Break

Part 5

Well, that happened. Cait had literally been about to shoot Powder in the back... While her hands were up, nonetheless! Yeah, something other than just her job was going on here, and Vi felt she had a pretty good idea of what it was. She'd have something to say to her abou it later, but for now, her concern was just getting her sister back to the apartment.
For something so urgent, though, getting there was a pretty slow process. They had to keep out of the city lights as much as possible, and the full moon overhead didn't do them any favors, either, especially with the way it caught Powder's pale white skin and long blue braids. Not much of anything could really be done about that, though, so Vi did her best to keep them in the dark most of the time, ducking between the shadows cast by one building and the next. The streets being almost empty did help a little, and though she maybe didn't need it, Vi still kept a hold on Powder's hand. The last thing they needed now was another incident like with Cait back there.
At length, they came to the right building. The front door was out of the question for obvious reasons, so naturally, a climb up to the window was very quickly in progress. When they were kids, Powder was always way slower at climbing, but now, she all but flew up the wall, almost two floors at a time! Vi had to call out to her when she got near the window to the right apartment, so she wouldn't pass it. "You got faster," said Vi as she made her way up to her.
"I've been a lot faster since, um..." Powder stopped and looked down, more than just her hands shaking.
"Powder? Hey. You okay?" Vi took one hand off the wall as she reached the window to put it on her sister's shoulder. She would've put it on her cheek if she didn't have the gauntlets on. "What's..."
"No! N-no, no, no!" Powder clutched her head, her voice getting just a bit too loud for Vi's comfort. After all, they were still outside. "St... Stop! Just..."
"Powder!" Vi tried to keep her voice just low enough not to attract any unwanted attention. Powder quieted and looked up at her. "It's okay. Y-you're okay." Her sister took a short breath. "Come on... Let's get inside." Powder gave a small nod, then opened the window, and they climbed inside.
Once she'd closed the window and taken off her gauntlets, Vi looked at Powder, eyes facing her feet. "Are you doing?"
Powder didn't look up. "Yeah. Y-yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine."
"You sure?" Vi went up to her and tried to touch her shoulders, but Powder turned away. Okay. Not ready to talk about it yet.
"Yeah. I'm sure. I'm fine."
Vi sighed. "Okay." A few seconds of awkward silence followed. "Y-you must be pretty hungry. You want something to eat?"
Powder looked up at her a little. "Sure. That would be... Yeah."
"Okay. Go have a seat, I'll see what I can find you." Powder went and sat down on the couch, and Vi headed over to the kitchen.
Looking through the fridge, Vi spotted some soup in a to-go container on the top shelf she hadn't seen before. Must've been what Cait had for dinner. Well, it was the only thing she could see that would taste alright heated up and was quick. She was far from a cook. "Sorry, Cupcake," she said pulling it out. "Hope you don't mind." She emptied the container into a bowl, then put it in the microwave.
As she was waiting, she could hear Powder on the couch talking, fighting, it sounded like. "No, I... Look, we... It might be able to be fixed! I-I don't know. Sh-she won't... N-no, she promised!"
Vi shook her head sadly. Whatever, or... whoever Powder heard in her head now, it was keeping her from knowing she was safe. It sounded like she was still scared Vi would leave her again. She wished she knew how to reassure her that wouldn't happen. Even if it turned out Powder was... The microwave beeped, and Vi had never been happier to have a thought interrupted. She took the bowl out, grabbed a spoon, and went out to her sister.
"Okay, Powder, here you go." She put the soup on the coffee table in front of them as she sat down, then held out the spoon.
"Thanks." Powder put out a hand to take it. Vi wasn't sure if it was just her, but it seemed to be shaking worse than before. "It's... It's still pretty hot. Be careful."
"I'm fine!" It was way more aggressive than Vi was expecting. Why was she suddenly like this just since they'd gotten in here? Maybe something to do with what happened outside the window?
Powder slowly put the spoon into the soup, then started to bring it back up. All the while, it shook terribly, and was empty again before it was even halfway to her mouth. Vi was getting scared she might burn herself. "You... need some help with..."
"No! I've got it, I'm fine!" Powder shot her a glare.
Vi took a breath. "Okay..."
The spoon went in again. This time, Powder tried grabbing her wrist to steady it with the other hand. The result was slightly more successful, but looked even more horrifying and unstable! Still, she managed to get it almost to her mouth before it spilled. When it did, though, it landed on her leg, and she let out a loud scream! "Powder! H-hang on!" Vi ran back to the kitchen and got a towel!
Getting back, she sopped up the liquid on her sister's leg as fast as she could, ignoring the bit that had dripped onto the floor. "You okay?"
"Y... Yeah." Vi looked up to see Powder's hands pulled in close to her, almost like she was trying to hide them. She guessed she'd dropped the spoon in her pain. "Yeah, I'm... I'm fine! I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. Where's that..." She looked down, then reached out and picked up the spoon.
"Okay," said Vi putting the towel down on the table. "Now, do you want help wi..."
"No! No, I'm fine! I've got it, I just... It's fine, I've got it."
"Powder, you could've just burned your..."
"I can do it! I mean, I have to be able to do it. I mean, it's just... feeding myself, I have to be able to do something as easy as feeding myself! I mean... Come on, I... I make bombs and explosives and... What good would it be if I can't even do a silly, little thing like..." Nervous laughter was sprinkled throughout her words, then stopped as her eyes went down to her hands. "I-I mean, why would you want me if I can't even do that? Y-you have to wait me, I mean... i-if you don't want me, you'll... you'll just leave me again and then..."
Vi put her hands on Powder's shoulders, she stopped talking and looked up. Even though this was what she'd suspected was going on in her sister's head, it still hurt to hear. Vi sighed. "You really think I'd break your out of prison just to abandon you again?"
"No? I-I mean, I guess not. I don't know!"
Vi's hands went up her sister's cheeks. "I won't. I meant what I said earlier, I'm... I'm never leaving you again."
Powder's eyes went back to her hands, then Vi's face. "P... Promise?"
Vi rubbed her cheek with her thumb. "I promise."
Powder held her gaze for several moments, then, somewhat unexpectedly, threw herself at her, almost, wrapping her arms around her neck! Vi froze up stunned for a moment, then hugged her close to herself tightly. "I-I missed you! I..." Powder's voice was shaky and cracked.
Vi rubbed her back. "I missed you, too, Powder. I almost thought I'd..." She took a breath, then held her tightly.
"I don't... I-I'm not... I don't need to be her, right? They... They say I need to be... I-I don't need to be her, right?"
Vi ran her hands up and down her sister's back. "No, no, no... No, you're not a... No."
She heard Powder swallow hard. "I... It... It was just a mistake, I... I-it was a mistake!"
"Shhh... I know, I... I know. You didn't know it would... You were just trying to..."
"I-I just heard... H-he was gonna shoot, I just... I..."
Vi closed her lips and swallowed softly, realizing what her sister was talking about. She quickly searched for what to say. "I know... You just reacted, I... I know." It took just about everything in her to keep any resentment or indifference out of her voice. She couldn't make herself feel sad about Silco's death if she wanted to, but he clearly meant a lot to Powder.
There was a loud sniffle behind her. "He... H-he took care of me, you know? After you... left, he... took me in, and... k... kept me safe, and... gave me a new..." She stopped.
"Powder?" Vi said after a minute of silence. She was met by a hand feeling the side of her neck.
"What..." said Powder as Vi felt her slowly pull away. Her hand went from Vi's neck to her shoulder, then down her back, lifting her shirt a little. Vi smiled, realizing her sister had noticed the gearwork tattoos all over her body. "Wh... When..."
"When I was in Still Water." Vi took a deep breath thinking back. "I kept hearing you... seeing your face... that night. I thought about that... every day. They... did things... to me there. I wanted something to remind me of... of why I had to pull through it. So... So I could get out, and find you, and..." She reached a hand forward and held her sister's. "... And let you know you're not a jinx." Powder looked at her, then away. Vi brought her free hand back to her cheek, and gently lifted her head up again. "You're not, Powder. And... I'll keep trying to convince you you're not until you believe it." Powder moved her eyes down, but as a small smile crossed her lips, and just a bit of a giggle escaped. Vi couldn't help smiling, too, she moved her head to her sister's shoulder. "Sometimes, I... I was so sore, I could barely move. No matter how much I hurt, though, I'd... I'd always at least try to get a hand up here." She let go of Powder's hand and touched the gears on her neck. "I'd think how... when I found you, I'd hug you up close to me and... never let anyone separate us again."
Powder brought her eyes back up to her sister, then moved in a bit closer to her on the couch. She opened her mouth to speak, but then started coughing. Vi rubbed her back, then handed her the towel she'd used to sop up the soup. A minute later, she could see that same glowing purple blood appear on it, and felt pain in her chest at the sight of it. At length, the coughing stopped, and Powder slowly caught her breath. "You okay?" said Vi. Her sister gave a slight nod, and Vi got up to get her some water.
As she helped her drink it, Powder looked up at her, both tired and fearful. "What... What's happening to me?"
Vi shook her head. "I don't know, I... All I can think is... Well..."
"What?"
Vi swallowed hard. "I've gone over it a thousand times. That night on the bridge. Silco picked you up, I... I thought you were dead, but..."
"But?"
Vi looked down. "The next time I saw you, I was tied into a chair." Powder bit her lower lip. "Whatever he did to save you... I-I don't know if you're... Your eyes, they..."
"I know. They're purple, right?"
Vi gave a nod. "I keep thinking he gave you shimmer, but... I can't think why it would still be in you like this."
Powder looked down. "All I remember is... just..." She stopped, her face suddenly going dark.
A minute passed, and Vi saw her sister starting to shake again. "Powder? Powder, It's okay." She reached a hand out for hers again. "You don't have to..."
"No! N-no, no,no, no!" Powder pulled her arms in and clutched herself. "Stop! Stop, just... Stop! No! NO!"
"Powder!" Vi grabbed both her shoulders! Powder's eyes snapped up to meet hers, she went quiet. "It's okay. You're... Y-you're okay."
A long few moments passed, the only sound in the room being Powder's shaky breathing. Then, all at once, she let go of herself and threw herself forward, arms grabbing around Vi tightly. "It hurt! It... It wouldn't stop, he... I-I just kept seeing you, and... and then her and..." Her body started to shake violently with crying. Vi put her arms around her sister, and pulled her in close. "I-it wouldn't stop!"
Vi tightened her arms around her as she felt Powder's head find her shoulder. "Shhh... Shhhhh... I know. I know, I know, I know. It's okay. It's okay, I've got you. Shhhhh... I've got you, Pow-pow. I've got you."
Minutes passed, and Powder slowly started to catch down. The tears quieted and stopped, but she didn't let Vi go right away. "That's... why I'm sick, isn't it?"
"I think so," said Vi with a heavy breath. "But... it might be able to be fixed."
"Wh... What if it can't? What if it's... J-just gonna get worse?"
Vi sighed, then looked at her as she lifted her hand off her shoulder. She put a hand up to wipe Powder's tears. "I guess it'll just... be a bit easier to keep my promise then." She tried her best to smile, but felt like the attempt was pretty bad. Powder didn't seem to mind, though, and a calm, warm smile spread across her face. A mix of sadness and endearment came over Vi as she saw it, she brushed her sister's bangs away from her face. "Months, weeks... Even if it's just days... I'll be here." Powder leaned her head onto her shoulder again, and Vi felt her neck being nuzzled just a little.