Welcome to the Bakery!

(My take on the Timebomb (Jinx/Ekko) theories starting with the scene in Arcane S2E9 and beyond. – Originally posted on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61371472)

The acrid scent of gasoline hung in the air like a perverse perfume. A sharp click pierced the silence before her hair was blown back by the force of the hextech explosion. Just as the skin began to disintegrate from her bones, Ekko’s hand skittered in a panic to find the cord.

**yank**

The pain had come and gone so quickly; Jinx was in shock. After all this time Death had gobbled her up with such haste, it felt no different than being alive. It wasn’t until she heard a familiar voice cry out, “Wait!” that her eyes widened, and her breath caught. Inexplicably, she was still alive with the flashing lights from the monkey bomb dancing across her face. Was it mocking her? His footsteps were punctuated by the words, “I just want to talk to you.” The weariness of existence settled on her shoulders like the massive boulder Atlas was doomed to carry and the brief shock and joy of Ekko’s presence seeped away.

She kept her back to him, hardly sparing a half glance over her shoulder. Every inch of movement felt like an impossible labor. Ekko was taken aback by her usual braids shorn off into a short bob. Hair gone, mascara smeared across the part of a cheek he could see, and missing her usual adornments of belts and laces, Jinx looked unraveled. It felt as if a hand clenched his heart so visceral was the pain at seeing her like this. Powder or Jinx, it mattered little, as he now knew the answer to the question that had been eating away at him since his time far away, in another universe, with a Powder who had not suffered as much as his Jinx had. His Jinx. Could he love her as she was? As the shape of a person the world had beaten her into? Yes. Yes, he could. Yes, he did. It was always yes. But she had reached her end, had lost everything or so she felt, and had nothing left to give.

Ekko may be able to love her, but she could not love herself. Not enough to fight any longer. It had always been a fight. Always somehow been a loss too. Even feeling Ekko’s presence behind her, all she could think was ‘when would it be his turn to leave her?’ If there was one absolute in life, at least in her’s, it was that no one stayed. And she couldn’t blame them. “Get out of here, Ekko,” Jinx muttered as she released the pin on her monkey bomb once more. As the air was filled with the concussive blast from the bomb Ekko called out, “I just….” But the words were swallowed up in the detonation as his hands reached back behind him.

**yank**

Again, she was standing there, monkey bomb in her hands, alive. Still. “I just wanna talk to you, Pow-“ Ekko winced. She had been Powder and somewhere deep down was that gentle little girl, but she had become so much more, had not had a choice. He corrected himself and ended the sentence by calling her by the name she’d chosen, if only as a reminder of all the things she couldn’t take or get back. “Jinx.” Again, only a glance over her shoulder. Less so because of the effort and more so because she couldn’t handle looking at him. Not after he’d said her name and the weight it carried. Not after she’d heard the emotions intoned in one single syllable. She detonated the bomb again. Jinx would not, could not face him.

**yank**

This time the realization of her explosive end not coming to fruition did not surprise her. In fact, she expected to be exactly where she was. Jinx was still looking back at Ekko, a quiet curiosity blooming unbidden in her chest, a small spark of light against the deluge that never seemed to relent. Blood splattered at Ekko’s feet. He’d almost been too late, his heart racing with adrenaline at that knowledge. She closed her eyes and said, “You’re too late, Ekko”. That brief curiosity forcibly snuffed out, again Jinx’s hand strayed to the pin. Again, Ekko yelled “wait!” but she did not.

**yank**

He had been ready, had had the cord primed. Ekko rested a hand on the railing next to him, exhaustion was beginning to settle in his bones. Not the fatigue that came from running or fighting or anything physical, but the weariness one faces when emotions were too high for too long. “Always a dance with you,” He quipped, recalling the dance he’d had with Powder. A dance that was not him, had been the wrong Ekko, but it had felt too right. Jinx paused and he continued, “I think I’m just gonna sit here a minute. You know, catch my breath. See if I can talk an old friend out of blowing us up.” He leaned against the railing as he sat, hands in his lap. Jinx knew enough to know that whatever contraption he had hanging at his side was the key to why they were reliving this moment over and over and over, a dance she had not asked for.

Jinx looked at the monkey bomb in her hands, its eyes pulsating – ready. She had been willing, hoping death was like falling asleep, just drifting off into blissful nothingness. No pain. No loss. No broken hearts. No disappointment. No nothing. Jinx made her choice. But the realization that her choice was also sending Ekko to that same fate made her vaguely nauseous. Something in her was trying to make sense of it, in truth already had. But she would not allow it to finish. Could not. “I’m tired of talking,” She said, voice breaking as she leaned forward and let gravity do its bidding. Ekko was on his feet reaching for her with one hand, saving her with another.

**yank**

Time reversed again, Ekko standing at Jinx’s side and Jinx staring blankly into the depths below where the rest she sought was waiting. “You know, I learned from someone…” He paused, watching. Would she jump again? Should he stop her? And more so, was it selfish to? Instead, Jinx could not deny the quiet heat that was him standing all too close to her now. Choosing to turn away from her inevitable end, Jinx turned towards an uncertain future. Ekko could not meet her gaze, but said, “…very special..that no matter what happened in the past, it’s never too late to build something new.” Midsentence their gazes locked, and it was Jinx who broke first, the weight of the contact too much for her. Her eyes fell to the assumed time machine at his waist and could see what looked like her handiwork inside. A ring of monkeys whirring to a stop, but how? As she pondered this new mystery Ekko’s word felt like a dagger to her heart. “Someone worth building it for.”

With everything inside of her begging for the quiet she knew she would not get in any waking moment left to her, Jinx shoulders slumped. Her hands went limp, resulting in the monkey bomb ricocheting off of the ground at her feet and rolling off the edge she had stepped off of just moments ago. Unsure if touch would make her feel better or worse, Ekko hovered awkwardly alongside her. He was so close that it made less sense that they weren’t touching. Jinx made the decision for him and sagged backwards. If he had not caught her, she’d have fallen to the ground.

For a moment they stood in silence, Ekko embracing her from behind, holding her tightly against his chest. Jinx felt so light, almost as if she wasn’t there. And she almost hadn’t been if he had arrived even a moment later than he had. She did not fight the contact, in truth did not have the energy to break free if she’d wanted to. But almost as if to signal to Ekko that the touch wasn’t unwanted, she gripped his forearms with her hands, hugging him back the only way they were standing would allow. His Jinx. And even though she had no concept of what he’d lived via the hexgate, this was her Ekko. Neither were anomalies to one another in this universe. They belonged like two pieces of the same convoluted puzzle.

Jinx reeked of gasoline and despite the fairly nice weather, a loose term for Zuanites due to their being underground, she was cold and clammy to the touch. Unwilling to let her go for several reasons, Ekko lifted her into his arms and again she did not fight him. Instead, Jinx pulled her arms to her chest and caved inwards on herself. Her head rested against his chest, listening to the metronome of Ekko’s heart. There were no tears, no energy for them, Jinx had cried enough. Instead, she acquiesced to wherever it was he was taking them and closed her eyes. It was not the rest she had wanted, but something deep down within her told her it could be the rest she needed.

Ekko had carefully navigated his way back to the home he’d created. The home of the Fireflies. He looked down at Jinx, sleeping soundly in his arms, a look of peace and innocence he’d not seen on her face since they were both young, since he’d known her by another name. His face softened at the sight of it. It’s why he’d hesitated that day on the bridge. Ekko had the upper hand, but he just couldn’t bring himself to strike the final blow. She lay there bleeding, looking up at him, and he was no longer looking at the Jinx Zuan and Piltover alike would come to hate, to fear. In those eyes looking back at him was memories of a better time, a more innocent one, where Vander was still alive and Vi and Powder were thick as thieves. She’d had to close her eyes to detonate the bomb that day, remove herself from the reality of having to kill someone she loved and cared for. The lines had been drawn, and they were on either side of them, but emotions cared not for such things.

As he allowed himself to be lost in the memories of what was, Ekko came to two realizations at once. The first being he had been gone, living the life of himself in another time, for how long he did not know. It was very likely that his people here thought him dead. The realization came with a painful constriction around his heart but also meant he could not simply come walking through the front door. There would be questions, conversations, and all things in good time, but right now he wanted to focus on the sleeping girl in his arms. Which brought him to realization number two. He could not walk into his sanctuary with persona non grata number one in his arm. Alone, it could be a lot of climbing to take the back entrance. Carrying Jinx and doing that would be impossible.

It took a few tries to find the balance needed to hold her and not be flung off from his hoverboard. Ekko rose carefully, not only worried about the precarious positioning of them both to stay atop the board but also concerned someone may inadvertently see them, ruining his careful plans for secrecy. But the pair made it safely up to the ledge required without too much trouble and no one wandered by during their traversal. Ekko stowed his board and finally they were both safely in the space he called home. Jinx’s eyes had fluttered a time or two, including one somewhat terrifying moment when she realized she was inexplicably in the air, but the general malaise that had come over her did not allow for much alarm. She mostly trusted Ekko. Another part of her did not care what happened to her, so if this was all some elaborate ruse to harm her, Jinx cared not.

His place was as he left it and after making sure Jinx was comfortable on his bed, Ekko headed into the bathroom to draw a bath. She looked around briefly at the walls decorated with scraps of art, drawings, and plans she could not comprehend with a brief glance. But the warmth of the blankets around her called her back to unconsciousness quickly. She was simply uninterested in being awake or the world around her. The exhaustion she felt had sunk so fully into her bones, Jinx felt as if each limb was impossibly heavy. Any movement felt like a Herculean effort, and she did not have the energy.

The heat was almost too much between the bathwater, him still being fully clothed, and Jinx being pressed to the front of him. The positioning wasn’t ideal for trying to bathe her, but when he’d put her into the bath alone, she kept sliding down into the water. She was conscious, her glimmering violet eyes open but unaware as if she could not hide from the waking world fully instead relegating herself to burrowing inwards. Ekko had moved slowly and deliberately, waiting for her consent at every turn. She’d not spoken but instead would nod. It was important to him that he not take any of her agency away, even when she was so deeply lost in her shattered mental state.

Ekko had never imagined that the first time she’d be naked in front of him would be so that he could wash away the dirt and heady gasoline smell from her skin. Despite his feelings towards her, or maybe rather because of them, there had been nothing sexual about helping peel her sweat-encrusted clothing away from her skin. He’d done it with reverence and the care one only has for someone they love deeply. It was because of this that he remained fully clothed once he realized he would have to be in the water with her. He did not want her to feel as if he was attempting to take advantage of her in any way.

Jinx felt like she was watching someone else through a window from outside as Ekko carefully disrobed her. His touches were gentle and slow. She knew that at any second if she could find her voice to tell him to stop, he would. But she also knew by the careful set of his face, the concern in his eyes, that she was safe with him. And she was so tired. So, she relented. She was not much help, was using the last ounce of strength her body possessed to stand upright. Once he lowered her into the bath, the hot water began to lull her to sleep. She kept her eyes open but barely and could not stop her body from sliding down the side of the tub, Ekko fishing her from below the bubbles on the surface several times before he removed his shoes and socks so he could slide in behind her.

Both the water from the bath and the heat from Ekko’s body were not enough to warm her, not completely. The cold Jinx felt inside was not rooted in anything bath water or body heat could fix. As he patiently scrubbed the caked in dirt from beneath her fingers, Ekko noticed the torn skin and broken nails. It was an unconscious habit of hers, Jinx’s anxiety leading her to pick away at the skin surrounding her polished nails, now chipped and fallen into their own state of disrepair. The biggest shock to him was her hair.

Powder had had short hair, but as she’d grown into Jinx, he’d never not seen her without her long double braids. They were as much a part of her as her right and left arms. As he began to massage shampoo into her scalp, Ekko could see it had been hastily cut and by scissors not quite sharp enough for the job. Up close, he could see the various jagged lengths, the places she cut too short and moved on from instead of attempting to fix. Ekko imagined her doing it in a fit of rage or more likely in a dissociative haze, hands moving as if possessed by a will of their own as her glassy-eyed stare took in nothing more.

Her mind swirled with the faces of every single person she’d lost – Mylo. Claggor. Vander. Silco. Isha. Vi – alive still but lost to her just like the rest. She was a Jinx, no good for anything or anyone, always spoiling, forever ruining. Everything she ever tried to fix, everyone she ever tried to save – broken, lost, gone. The pain arose fresh and more excruciating than before. Numb no longer, quiet tears welled in her eyes that turned quickly into heaving sobs so aggressive she struggled to breath. Ekko, at first, did not know how to react. But almost instinctively wrapped his arms around her in a hug, holding her against him but differently than before. This embrace was to let her know she was not alone, that whatever she was feeling, he was there. Initially, Jinx was rigid, her mind rejecting the comfort she felt she did not deserve. But as the heartache gave way to fatigue once more, she rolled onto her side and rested her head in the space between his jaw and shoulder. The heat from the water was no longer a factor as Ekko pulled her tighter, no longer focusing on the menial task of a bath and instead embracing someone he had thought was lost to him forever.