She woke up to silence.

Not the usual kind. not the kind with metal humming in the pipes or the slow ticking of a homemade bomb. No, this silence had edges. Sharp ones. The kind that sliced the moment she sat up and realized-

Your side of the bed was cold.

No note. No sound. No trail of your gear on the floor. The scent of you still hung in the air, but it was fading. fading too fast.

She blinked, hard. Okay. It’s fine. You probably just went to scavenge something. You do that sometimes. You need space. People need space, right?

Her heart twitched. She wandered the hideout. Checked the top floor, then the roof. She called out once, then again. but your name felt too loud in the air, like it wasn’t allowed there anymore.

She checked your drawer. Empty. She checked the gear bench. Your tools. gone. You took your pack. You took your jacket.

She stood in the middle of the room, one hand in her hair, the other gripping the wall like the whole place was tilting. **

And then came the voice. Not yours. The one in her head.

'They all leave.' 'they got scared.' 'Saw too much.' 'they finally figured out who you are.'

Jinx: “No. No, they wouldn’t.” she muttered, pacing in frantic circles. “they said they were different. they said they wouldn’t..they said-” Her heel caught a canister. It crashed. She barely noticed.

She tore the bed apart. Flipped over the mattress. Screamed at the ceiling like it had answers.

Jinx: “DON’T YOU DARE BE GONE!” Her chest caved in. Breathing got sharp. Shallow.

She could still feel you. Smell you. But it was like holding smoke. The harder she tried to remember the warmth of your body beside her, the more it slipped. She crouched by the bed, fingers curling into her scalp, pulling.

Jinx: “They left.” she whispered to no one. “They all leave. They all leave. First Vi. Then Silco. Now...now-”

She punched the floor. Once. Twice. And then she didn’t move.

She didn’t know how long she sat there. Hours maybe. Head against the wall. Knees to her chest. Staring at the dent she left in the metal plate from the punch. It was quiet now. Even the voices had backed off. Like they didn’t need to say anything.

Because what was left? Just her. And a lot of space where you used to be.

Until-

The door creaked.