A/N: This is a somewhat related sequel to my story "Tragedy & Time".
For those of you that haven't read t&t, that's fine. However, if you like the way I write and the storylines I come up with here at least a little, I would recommend you read it ;) There is an OC, I know, but I swear to the birdly deity it's not a Mary Sue and if you give it a shot (until like chapter 4) you might actually like it!

For those that don't want to read the main story (or those that don't mind spoilers) I will leave a short summary at the end of this chapter. Just so you won't be getting confused ;)

Other than that: I hope you enjoy the teaser! :P

"Ekko, date me again, will ya?", Jinx asked, a little out of breath.

Ekko spun around and stared at her, wide-eyed and obviously in shock. That had come totally out of the blue. She saw him fight for words, a mix of emotions carelessly splashed across his face. Then, he quickly got a hold of himself and shook his head.
"No, Jinx.", he replied briskly, dismissing her. "And you know that.", and turned again to continue walking, his long stride hard for her to keep up with.

"Awww, why?!", she wailed, trudging along, stomping a little more than strictly necessary.
"You know why.", the boy just repeated, refusing to look at her. "And why would you even ask that?!"
But Jinx had never been one to give up early. Hell, she probably didn't even know what that word meant.

"Is it because you 'still haven't dealt with it'?!", she mocked, doing a terrible impression of Ekko. "You said you were getting over it."
Ekko stopped dead in his tracks, shoulders tensing. "I never said that. And dealing with it and getting over it are two completely different things."
Jinx sulked in reply and Ekko didn't feel like saying anything else, so the matter seemed to have been dropped. As the silence stretched on however, the girl felt more and more on edge. Being quiet was not her forte and the silent-treatment was not having the desired effect.

"But Ekko!", she burst out again when she couldn't hold the words back any more.

"No buts.", he cut her off straight away. "I don't wanna date you, Jinx. For many reasons."

With that, she flipped, running to stand in front of him, arms crossed, feet apart and dug into the ground, blocking his path. Nobody told her off like that and lived to tell the tale and she sure as hell wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"You didn't mind before!", she exclaimed, trying to provoke him enough to at least fight about it properly. "I can't be that bad. I know you like me, Cookie." She was using the old term of endearment like a weapon, finger stabbing at his chest like a knife.
"Of course I do.", Ekko huffed, looking intently at anything but Jinx, gaze trailing over the brushes and trees around them. "You're a good friend and I am very grateful for what you did for me."
"That's not what I meant!", she yelled, fully ignoring Ekko's flinching and panicked expression, her voice growing louder by the second. "What can possibly be so bad about me that you wouldn't give me another chance?! Even fishbones says I..."

At that very moment, Ekko tackled her to the ground, burying her underneath himself.
It wasn't only the pressure of his bodyweight or being suddenly knocked onto her back that had Jinx gasping for air, an oddly familiar smell surrounding her.
Ekko's body was warm, especially compared to the damp forest moss underneath her. The rough fabric of his shirt scratched against her bare tummy, a piece of cold metal from a belt a few centimetres right of her belly-button. The contrast only helped in making the sudden warmth beneath her skin seem more hot. Her left arm was pinned to the ground beside her head, wrist held tightly by an old, worn glove. And in the crook of her neck, she could feel the soft puff of a warm breath, urging on the blush that was making it's way up her cheeks already. All this information registered within fractures of a second and Jinx's eyes flew wide open in surprise, just in time to see the bullet whizzing past where the two had stood just now.

"Oh.", she managed.

Carefully, Ekko lifted his head from where it had been pressed against Jinx's cheek to stare at her, anger clear on his face.
"For one, you always ask at the worst times.", he ground out as he got up, pulled her to her feet and then sprinted off in what he hoped to be the opposite direction to where Caitlyn was currently taking aim from again.

Jinx stumbled behind Ekko through the thick forest. He hadn't let go of her hand yet, dragging her along in the knowledge that he was the faster runner. She struggled to keep up, Fishbones and Pow-Pow hitting against her leg and back with every step, weighing her down. After 3 minutes of solid sprinting, she ran out of adrenaline and gave up, letting herself drop to her knees, gasping for air. Ekko was standing in front of her, only slightly out of breath.
How unfair, she thought, the stinging in her lungs too painful to even try for a comment.

The boy was watching their surroundings cautiously, surveying the area for possible pursuers. But neither Caitlyn nor her team mates were anywhere to be seen or heard.
Ekko let out a sigh of relief.
"I think they lost us.", he said but motioned Jinx to follow him into one of the thick brushes between a group of trees regardless, where he settled down beside her.

"God, that was close.", the boy sighed, finally relaxing a little. "You always get me into such terrible situations, Jinx."
She just shrugged dismissively, finally recovering somewhat. "We got the turret, durr. I'm calling worth." Punching Ekko's shoulder a little harder than necessary, she added: "But I'm not doing that kind of sprint again. Or you'll have to carry fishbones for me."
Ekko laughed one of his quiet hoarse laughs that made Jinx's scalp tingle. "In films girls ask for their handbags to be carried and you complain about the many guns you drag around on a daily basis."
"What would I need a handbag for?", Jinx asked bewildered.
"You could put more bullets into it?", he supplied, leaving her to mull it over. "We should recall back to the fountain though. Maybe Braum has respawned by then and we can head back out together. We really need him in these fights… "
Ekko took the little device from where it was attached to his hip to start the recall sequence.
The screen displayed the usual runes, emitting a faint glow, a row of three different sized indentations marking the functionalities of a champion's port-core: a large one for recall, two small ones for Summoner Spells. Next to him, Jinx was doing the same, humming something terribly off-beat and out of tune. Ekko pushed the centre button of the three and immediately felt the core in his hands go warm, gathering up energy and enveloping the boy in cold blue glow.

The sensation of teleporting was quite different to his z-drive jumps and his flickers and Ekko hated it to hell and back.
It made his skin itch and his chest tight but nothing could beat the eight seconds it took to get you back to the fountain, into safety.
Eight seconds really was not a long time at all, compared to most things. If you could sprint 100m in eight seconds, you were really good. If you were to brush your teeth for only eight seconds, you were doing a pretty shitty job at dental hygiene.
This was what crossed Ekko's mind as he watched the timer on the port-core count down, Jinx next to him counting out loud at the same speed, like a child at new year's. This and many other things were the only things he could think of as he saw Jinx's lips form the word "eight" and the bullet slam itself into her forehead.

"Headshot."

A/N: Birb is back! And so soon, too :D (just don't expect any consistent updates this time...)

Here's the promised #SPOILERS TO TRAGEDY & TIME:

After a terrible end to his last relationship Ekko is left to his own devices in the League of Legends and he still has one goal: make Zaun a better place. And he is willing to invest his very everything into it.
Coming here has had a few nice side effects for him, too. Years after he broke up with Jinx back when he was barely a teenager, their paths cross once more and they even become friends again, spending a lot of time on the League's Island together, often in company of their good friend Braum. Although his latest love has been the one to give him the chance to come here and actually change things for the better, Ekko is still struggling to move on, a sublety that goes totally unnoticed by Jinx.