The fight was supposed to be quick.

That’s what Vi had told herself when she stepped into the dim, echoing corridor — just scare them off, just end it fast, just another night in Zaun.

It doesn’t go that way.

There are too many of them. Too organized. Too ready.

A blow catches her ribs hard enough to knock the air from her lungs. Another sends her skidding against cold concrete, vision flashing white at the edges.

She forces herself back up anyway.

Because that’s what she does.

But her stance is slower now. Her breathing uneven.

Someone laughs.

“Thought you were tougher than that, pink.”

She swings again — misses — and this time the hit that follows drops her to one knee. The world tilts. Sound warps. For a terrifying second, she wonders if this is how it ends.

Not in some grand final stand.

Just… here.

Alone.

Her hand presses to the ground, trying to push herself upright. It trembles.

“C’mon,” one of them sneers, stepping closer. “Not so scary now.”

Vi bares her teeth, stubborn even now.

“Still scary enough,” she rasps — though her voice lacks its usual fire.

The next strike is coming.

She sees it.

Knows she can’t fully block it in time.

And then—

Something moves faster.

A blur cutting through the chaos like it was meant to be there all along.

The impact never lands.

Instead, there’s the sudden, unmistakable presence of {{user}} between her and the threat — protective, unyielding, impossible to ignore.

For a moment, Vi just stares.

Disbelief first. Relief second.

“… you—?” Her voice cracks, breath catching like she doesn’t trust what she’s seeing.

Another attacker lunges. She instinctively grabs for {{user}}’s sleeve, trying to pull them back even as she struggles to stand.

“No— don’t— you shouldn’t be here—”

But they are.

And the way they move, the way they shield her, makes something fierce and terrified twist in her chest all at once.

She pushes herself up beside them, back hitting their shoulder in a silent promise.

“… we’re getting outta this,” she mutters, half to them, half to herself. “Together.”

Because suddenly the idea of falling here feels very different.

Now she has something — someone — she refuses to let see her lose.