𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 || A Timebomb Fanfic

Fractured Hearts

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

The city was alive, an ever-constant hum of machinery, sparks flying from factories, and the distant rumble of trains. But as Ekko stood in the middle of the darkened tunnel, with Jinx staring him down, the noise around them seemed to blur. The only sound that filled his ears was the erratic beat of his own heart.

Jinx's laughter had faded into silence, leaving a thick tension in the air. She was still holding the bomb, but the playful menace that had once defined her was gone, replaced by something harder to read. Her eyes, wild and unfocused, flickered between him and the chaotic world around them.

"Careful, Jinx," Ekko warned, his voice low. "You're gonna blow this whole place up."

She tilted her head to the side, a slow, mocking smile curling on her lips. "And what if I do? You think I care?"

"I think you care more than you let on," he said, stepping closer, his eyes never leaving hers. "You don't have to do this. You don't have to be the villain."

Her laughter came again, but it was hollow this time, empty of the usual thrill. She dropped her gaze to the bomb in her hand, running her fingers across the sleek surface, as if inspecting it. "Is that what you think I am?" she asked, her tone barely above a whisper. "A villain?"

Ekko paused. He hadn't meant to push her that way, but there it was. The question that had been brewing between them for so long. What had she become?

"I don't know what you are anymore, Jinx," he said, his voice softening. "You used to be... you used to be Powder. My friend."

The air between them shifted, the old name hanging heavy in the space. Jinx's fingers clenched around the bomb, her expression tightening.

"Don't say her name," she spat, her voice sharp, like broken glass.

Ekko flinched, but he didn't back down. "Why not? Because it's the truth?" He was closer now, just a few feet away from her, and he could feel the heat radiating off her. The tension between them was electric, pulling at his chest like a magnet. He wanted to reach out to her, to pull her away from the chaos, from this life she had thrown herself into. But he couldn't.

Jinx's eyes narrowed. "I'm not her anymore," she snarled, taking a step back, her voice low and venomous. "I'm Jinx. I'm chaos. I'm freedom."

Ekko's throat tightened. He could feel the weight of her words, the way they twisted inside him. She was right, in a way. She wasn't the same girl he had once known-the one who had laughed and dreamed with him under the stars. She wasn't Powder anymore. But that didn't mean she had to be Jinx, either.

"Chaos doesn't set you free," he said, his voice steady. "It's just an excuse to hide from the things you're afraid of."

Jinx froze, her eyes locking with his, and for a moment, Ekko could have sworn he saw a flicker of doubt in her gaze. But before he could say anything more, the moment shattered.

"Enough talk," she growled, her hand tightening on the bomb as if to remind him of its existence. "I'm done listening to you, Ekko."

Ekko knew he was walking on the edge of a precipice. He knew he was pushing her, but he couldn't stop himself. Not when it felt like she was right there-so close, but so far away. This was the only way he knew how to reach her. The only way to get through to the girl he once knew.

"You don't have to do this, Jinx," he said again, his voice softer, almost pleading. "You're not broken. You're just-"

"Don't you dare say it," she hissed, her eyes blazing with fury. "I'm not broken. I'm not some lost little girl anymore. I'm not Powder."

She threw the bomb into the air and caught it effortlessly, her eyes narrowing in on him. "I'm better than her. I'm stronger."

Ekko took a breath, letting the silence stretch between them for a moment, the weight of her words hanging in the air. He could feel the tension coiling in the space, but beneath it, there was something more-a flicker of something that felt dangerously like hope.

"You don't have to be stronger than her, Jinx," he said, his voice low, almost reverent. "You just need to let yourself be... you. The real you."

Jinx's laugh was bitter, sharp like a knife. "You want me to be me?" She took another step back, her expression twisting into one of mockery. "You don't even know who I am anymore, Ekko."

Ekko felt his heart clench at her words. She was right, and that realization hit him harder than he'd expected. He didn't know her anymore. Not the way he used to. But that didn't mean he couldn't try. Didn't mean he couldn't reach her, even if she didn't want to be reached.

"I don't need to know you the way I used to," he said, stepping closer, his voice filled with a quiet intensity. "I just need you to stop running from this, from us."

Jinx looked away, her jaw tightening, and for a brief, fleeting moment, she seemed vulnerable. For the first time in what felt like forever, she didn't have a smile plastered on her face, or a bomb in her hand. For just a moment, it was as if the walls she'd built around herself were crumbling.

"You don't get it, do you?" she muttered, her voice barely audible. "There's nothing left of us. Nothing left to save."

Ekko stopped, just a few feet away, his breath catching in his throat. He wanted to say something-anything-to stop her from sinking further into the darkness, but the truth was, he didn't know how. He didn't know how to fix what had been broken, or if it was even possible.

Jinx's eyes flicked up to meet his, and for the briefest second, he thought he saw something flicker in her gaze. A crack in the mask she wore. But it disappeared as quickly as it came, replaced by the wild, untamable look that had defined her for so long.

"Maybe it's better this way," she whispered, her voice barely above a breath. "Maybe we were always meant to be enemies."

Ekko shook his head. "I don't believe that."

Before Jinx could respond, the sound of approaching footsteps broke the silence. Silco's voice crackled over a communicator. "Jinx," it called out, cold and distant. "Get the shipment and get out. Now."

Jinx's hand went instinctively to the bomb at her side, her eyes narrowing. She glanced back at Ekko one last time, as if weighing her options, before turning and disappearing into the shadows.

Ekko stood there, his mind reeling. Her words echoed in his ears, twisting and turning like a knife. Maybe we were always meant to be enemies.

But he couldn't accept that.

Not yet.

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·