Fight and Flight (Lux/Jinx)

Chapter 3: The Secret

The sounds of crinkling canvas and whispering wind fell into the background as Lux pressed her ear to the tent, focusing on her Commander's voice.

"... sounds to me," she was saying, "like Searchlight did exactly what she was supposed to do."

Instantly, Lux felt vilified. Her actions on the ground may have been questionable, but she'd done well where it really mattered.

Not that Jinx would see it that way.

"Are you kidding me?" Jinx's disbelieving, angry laugh poisoned the air. "I've been flying longer! Doesn't that mean she needs to listen to me?"

"When you give reasonable orders, yeah." A chair creaked, and Lux found herself imagining the pair seated on either side of the Commander's desk. Commander Sevika would have that hard look on her face from earlier, whereas Jinx would wear her eternally pissed-off scowl. "Like the part of your story when you told her how to fight the enemy," the Commander continued. "That was reasonable.

"But the part where you told her to sit out? The part where you told her to take her Gladiator – her expensive Gladiator, which will be a sunk cost if it's never used – and do laps on the sidelines? She was right to call bullshit."

"You know why –"

"I do know why you're doing this," the Commander said in a low voice. "I know exactly what's going through your head when you tell perfectly good, well-trained pilots to stay out of your way. And it's stupid. It's selfish –"

"SELFISH!?"

"Yes, Jinx, it's selfish. Everyone came here to fight, just like you –"

"Then they can fight without me!" Jinx's voice took on a frustrated tone. "C'mon! Triple Searchlight with some other pilots! Let me fly alone! You know I'll be fine; I've been doing fine for weeks!"

"Don't start with that again!" The Commander snapped. "It was irresponsible of me to let you fly alone in the first place. That discussion is over. You're not flying solo again. Besides, we both know – whether you're willing to admit it or not – that you fly better with a partner."

Jinx snorted. "You think it helps to have to babysit a fledgling and fight at the same time? Today would've gone down the same – might've even gone better – if I'd been flying solo."

"Didn't you tell me that Searchlight spotted the enemy first?"

Lux blinked with surprise.

Considering that her last interaction with Jinx had been akin to a scrap between feral cats, she hadn't expected Jinx to report anything positive to their Commander. Go figure... If Jinx had chosen to be a bitch, at least she'd chosen to be an honest one.

"I could've won the dogfight without her," Jinx retorted confidently. "I could've taken them all, even without Searchlight's early warning! You know I could've!"

Frowning, Lux considered Jinx's words.

As much as she hated to admit it, Jinx might be right. Lux had seen the way Jinx flew – the infuriating pilot was amazing, a savant of the sky. She'd simultaneously dodged the enemy's shots and landed her own without a sign of struggle! There hadn't been a single bullet hole on Jinx's Gladiator, not one!

Even Lux's trainers hadn't been that good!

"You're good, Jinx," Commander Sevika conceded, a stream of exhaustion trickling into her weary voice. "But do you really think you'll never have an unlucky day? Do you really think Piltover doesn't have a single pilot who could give you a run for your money?" Her voice took on an insistent tone as she continued, "I'm not doing this to annoy you. Someday, you're going to need someone by your side. Your recklessness is going to land you in trouble, and when that happens, either your partner will be around to help, or you'll go up in flames."