Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Just a simple patrol of Zaun, my ass.”  Caitlyn grumbled to herself as she started on her third stack of paperwork that night.  A stack of paperwork that was supposed to belong to her partner.  Her partner that would do almost anything to avoid said paperwork.  “‘Be back before sundown, I promise!’  How many times have I heard that before?”

She really shouldn’t have been complaining.  For as headstrong and quick tempered as her partner was, Vi had probably done more for establishing the tentative peace between Piltover and Zaun than any of the other enforcers that they worked with.  If her biggest flaw was the nasty habit of avoiding writing up reports, then Caitlyn could live with that.

In reality, Caitlyn knew she was far more on edge today because she finally, finally asked if Vi had wanted to get some dinner after work.  The issue being that Caitlyn hadn’t really specified whether or not it was a date, and it wasn’t like Vi was the kind of person to initiate “feelings talk” as she called it.  Caitlyn knew that was what was really bothering her, she didn’t really deal well with puzzles she couldn’t figure out on her own.  Working with a consistent partner was helping her with that, but old habits die hard.

Finishing up the last of the forms, Caitlyn leaned back in her chair and rubbed at her tried eyes.  How long had she been at this?  She grabbed her phone and checked the time, eyes widening when she realized how late it was.  It was several hours past when they had planned on heading out for dinner.  Hell, it was several hours past when it was acceptable to still be in the office.  Where in the world was Vi?

Caitlyn grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and left her desk in hopes of finding someone that had hopefully worked as late as she had.  She could always ask someone on nightshift, but she was worried that they may have missed Vi if she has arrived earlier.

But if she had come back to the station earlier, why hadn’t she come back to their office?  Had something happened?  Was Vi hurt?

She shook off the sudden barrage of mental questions.  Panicking now would do her no good, she needed more information.

A quick scan of the station reveled that she was here later than anyone else working the day, and as expected, none of the enforcers currently in the office had seen Vi.  Okay, that was fine, Caitlyn reasoned.  She could always call the bridge checkpoints to see if Vi had made her way back over to Piltover yet.  It may have been a little overkill, but Caitlyn wasn’t sure she cared at this point.

But when none of the checkpoints had any record of Vi coming back from Zaun that night, Caitlyn felt her anxiety reach a new level.  Logically, Caitlyn knew that Vi could have been held up and didn’t want to try to travel too late at night between the two regions.  But Caitlyn also knew that Vi was far too stubborn to not sleep in her own bed, and that if for some reason she wouldn’t be back by nighttime, she would let Caitlyn know.

Which left Caitlyn with three options. 

One, she could just go home and see if Vi came back by the next morning.  Not exactly the most appealing of choices, but Caitlyn always worked best when she considered all the possibilities.

Two, she could file a missing person’s report for Vi.  The problem with that option was that it hadn’t been long enough for Vi to actually be considered “missing”, and Caitlyn dreaded to think of what the reaction would be if Vi actually did show up before tomorrow morning.

And third, she could grab a shuttle down to Zaun and look for Vi herself.  Best case, she would just find her nursing a beer at the local bar, Caitlyn could berate her for being so irresponsible, and they could go back to Piltover without any further issues.  Worst case-

No, Caitlyn refused to continue that train of thought.  Even if something was physically preventing Vi from coming back to Piltover, she would be alright.  She had to be alright.  Vi was too damn stubborn to die.

All in all, there was really only one feasible option, so Caitlyn shed her enforcer coat and threw on something that wouldn’t draw as much attention in Zaun.  For safety, she grabbed her rifle case and slung it over her shoulder, hoping most people wouldn’t be able to tell what the nondescript leather pack on her back was.  Pretty much everyone carried weapons in Zaun, but that didn’t mean she needed to advertise the fact she was armed with an advanced Hextech rifle to every gangster she passed.

Soon enough she was reaching one of the several checkpoints between Piltover and Zaun.  With the official separation of the two regions, everyone had to present identification to cross the borders.  Zaun hadn’t fully established any official police force as of yet, so Piltover was still providing law enforcement for Zaun as needed.  Considering everything, Caitlyn had to wonder if it was only a matter of time until the undercity refused their help altogether.  Zaun hadn’t magically become more accepting of enforcers just because of the new freedoms and space.  Her station had a wall dedicated to fallen officers, and the majority of them were lost down in the undercity.

“You’re crossing kind of late.”  Caitlyn was pulled out of her musing by the young enforcer handing her back her ID.  “Everything alright?”

“Oh, yes.”  She tried to shoot him a smile, not quite sure why she was lying before she could even think about it.  “I was just working late and need to meet up with Vi to finish up a case.”

“Right, of course.”  He looked down quickly, but not before Caitlyn could see the faint grimace on his face.  She had half a mind to snap at him about biases and judging people based off of something they couldn’t control.  But luckily for him, she was still a bundle of nerves way too focused on finding her partner.  “Be careful out there, we all know what Zaun is like at night.”

She just nodded and began making her way into the other city.  As she walked, she tried to figure out what her plan was going to be here.  Vi’s patrol was in the warehouse district, but that was a pretty large area to cover without any leads.  Luckily for Caitlyn, Vi did a pretty good job of teaching her how to find said leads down in Zaun.

Unluckily for Caitlyn, it took nearly an hour of asking around, along with a few mild threats, to finally find someone willing to talk to her.  Even without the uniform, mostly everyone here could identify her as a “Piltie”.  It took finding a desperate child and offering some coin in exchange for any information about a pink haired woman to get the lead she was searching for.

Apparently, the kid had seen some gangsters dragging a person into one of the warehouses a few hours ago.  While they couldn’t make out many details about the person, the kid did mention that two of the gangsters were holding “weird robot hands”, and there was really no mistaking who that body was at that point.  Caitlyn definitely gave the kid more money than she first planned, thankful that she had something to go on.  Sure, this could be a giant trap, but it was something.  She would just have to be careful.

The warehouse in question wasn’t anything special.  Officially, it was a small storage area for any rare minerals found by the miners.  The kind of materials that would be moved within 24 hours of being found to prevent any theft.  As was common with the warehouses here, there were no windows and only two entrances: a front door and a loading dock door.

Caitlyn actually recognized this particular building due to the rumors of it being a Shimmer den.  An official enforcer investigation revealed no concrete connection between the drug and the owners of the warehouse, but Caitlyn still had a hunch.  It would also make more sense as to why Vi was taken.  Both of them were working tirelessly to find evidence to shut any Shimmer supplier down, becoming dual thorns in the sides of several gangsters taking advantage of the chaos after the separation of the cities.

That did mean that this particular building was going to be quite the challenge to sneak in to.  A quick scan of the area revealed four guards in clear sight, two by each door.  And that wasn’t counting any hidden, or anybody that could be inside.  Caitlyn could try to wait until a shift change, assuming there would be one, and try to sneak in the back.  She’d probably have to take down a guard or two, but if she timed it right, then there wouldn’t be a call for more help. 

And the wait would give her more time to try to recall the layout of that building.  If Caitlyn was remembering correctly, there was a main room, a small receiving area in the back, and a hall leading off to the manager’s office to the right.  She couldn’t believe that all the “wasted” hours spent investigating every inch of the building was actually going to end up being helpful.

About a half an hour had passed of Caitlyn carefully watching the warehouse, but there was no change.  Her patience was starting to run out, the anxiety for her partner beginning to cloud her judgement.  Logically Caitlyn knew that it could be hours before there was any change, but reminding herself of that fact was getting harder and harder with time.

Her internal war was interrupted by a sudden, rather loud explosion that literally shook the ground under Caitlyn’s feet.  Eyes widening, she saw the warehouse guards kick open the door, only for thick smoke to begin pouring out.  The two guards didn’t hesitate, immediately entering the building and disappearing into the cloud.

Well, it wasn’t exactly her plan, but Caitlyn figured this was going to be her best bet.  She pulled up a some fabric over her nose and mouth, drew her rifle from its case, and slipped through the still-open back door of the warehouse.  The second she stepped through the door her eyes began watering, and she cursed the fact that she didn’t have any goggles on her.  Maybe she’d talk with the new sheriff to see if eye protection could be added to the standard uniform for enforcers that didn’t wear helmets.

Shaking the random thought, Caitlyn flipped a few switches on her rifle, the scope quickly reconfiguring into infrared mode.  She sent a quick silent thanks to Viktor and Jayce for the upgrades, and made her way deeper into the smoke, using her scope to keep an eye out for anyone in this room.  The receiving room was empty, so Caitlyn made her way along the wall towards the main room of the warehouse.

There were several more explosions, thankfully smaller this time around, along with the near constant sounds of people shouting out in pain.  Whatever was happening in there, it wasn’t pretty.

As she moved slowly into the main room, Caitlyn realized there was another sound mixed in with the sounds of combat.  After nearly every explosion was a peal of laughter.  Very familiar laughter.

“Fuck.”  Caitlyn muttered, scanning the room for any sign of movement.  The smoke had finally started to dissipate, but the only shapes she could make out were the unmoving forms on the floor.

“Boo!”

Caitlyn whipped her rifle to the left just in time to see a Chomper grenade far too close for comfort, snapping its metal jaws at her.  Knowing she didn’t have time to get out of the way, she slammed the butt of her rifle into the panel on her shoulder, a bright blue barrier appearing just in time to stop the explosive from killing her outright.

However, it did send her flying backwards into the far wall.  The barrier kept the impact from knocking the wind out of her, but it definitely still rattled her.  Not bad enough to miss the sound of a large weapon spinning up, however.  She just had time to dive behind a stack of metal crates before bullets tore into the ground she was just occupying.

“Here kitty, kitty, kitty.”  Jinx’s voice seemed to echo all throughout the warehouse, making it impossible to figure out where she was.  Caitlyn had a vague idea of where Jinx had been due to the grenade and bullets, but with how fast Jinx was, she could easily be anywhere by now.  “I was worried this was going to be boring!  These gangsters were pathetic.  At least you’re harder to kill.”

“Where’s Vi?”  Caitlyn called out, hoping it could buy her a momentary distraction, at least. 

She was decently certain Jinx wasn’t the one who kidnapped Vi.  They hadn’t heard much from her in months, and any crime that hinted to her involvement was pretty minor, all things considered.  Caitlyn had actually strongarmed Vi into taking a guest room in her family home right after everything had happened with Jinx and the council, just so that if Jinx tried anything else they would at least be close to one another.  But after several months of silence, they began to wonder if she really was done with Vi just as she had claimed.

Assaulting a warehouse so violently like this was the first concrete crime Caitlyn would even be able to pin on her.  Other than the attack on the council, but that was a whole mess that no one had really been able to sort through, even after an entire year.  There wasn’t even a warrant out for her arrest due to all the chaos.

“Why should I know?”  Jinx laughed as the spinning sound of her gun slowed to a stop.  “Isn’t it your job to obsess over the meathead now?”

Caitlyn took the opportunity to flip her scope back to normal, no longer needing help to see.  She opened her mouth to say anything else she hoped would buy her another moment, but the metallic sound of pins being pulled had her whipping her rifle over the crate instead.

Three Chompers were flying in lazy arcs towards her hiding spot, and Caitlyn took a deep breath before shooting all three out of the air, debris raining down in the middle of the room.  Jinx was somehow standing in such a way that the raining debris framed her perfectly, a wide smile on her face and excitement sparkling in her eyes.

“There you are, Princess.”  In the blink of an eye, Jinx had sped to the top of the metal crate, hand moving towards her pistol.

Only this time, Caitlyn was expecting her sudden burst of speed.  The second she saw Jinx twitch, she was already slamming her shoulder into the crate in front of her, causing it to topple just as Jinx had her pistol off her hip.

Jinx had enough coordination to roll backwards and back to standing as soon as she hit the ground, but the fall had caused the gun to fall from her grip and clatter to the ground.  Caitlyn was already moving, the butt of her rifle striking the other woman directly in the face before she could stop it.  By the time she recovered from the blow, Caitlyn had taken a step back to give herself a little space, and pointed her gun right at Jinx’s chest.

“One more time.  Do you know where Vi is?”  Caitlyn demanded.

“Wow, you hit like a Piltie.”  Jinx mocked as she lifted her hands up, a single bead of blood falling down her cheek.  In the low light it almost looked like there were threads of shimmering purple mixed in with the red.  “Let me guess, you do all the talking, and the meathead does the punching.”

“Jinx.”

“Yeah, yeah.”  She didn’t even have the decency to look concerned about the weapon pointed at her chest, if anything, she seemed annoyed at the situation.  “We both know you won’t kill me.  Especially if you need information from me.”

A bullet grazed Jinx’s arm suddenly, and the annoyed expression gave way to surprise.

“I am off duty, and really not in the mood for whatever this is.”  Caitlyn snapped.  “If you don’t know where Vi is, then I don’t need you.  And yes, you’re right, I won’t kill you.  But at the moment, I’m not above putting a bullet in your leg and getting myself out of this warehouse safely.”

“You actually shot me.”  Wide pink eyes stared at Caitlyn before Jinx suddenly doubled over in laughter.  “Didn’t think you’d ever actually surprise me, Princess.”

“Last.  Chance.”

Jinx actually seemed to get serious as she straightened back up, and Caitlyn was hoping it was the magnitude of the situation finally getting through to her.  She tilted her head side to side for a moment, as if trying to recall something.

“Haven’t seen her in a year.”  Jinx shrugged, smirking suddenly.  “What, did she leave you, too?  She’s really good at that.”

“No.”  Caitlyn ignored the jab at her partner’s character, knowing that would only lead to more fighting.  “Did you see her in this warehouse?”

“Nah, no one here looked like her.  How long has she been making you chase her?”  Jinx needled again, clearly trying to get a rise out of Caitlyn.

“Jinx…” Taking a deep breath, Caitlyn took a chance, knowing she needed a new lead now.  “She was taken by the gang that own this warehouse.  I know this isn’t the whole gang, where do I find their leader?”

“If I answer that, do I get to leave?”  Jinx asked with a quirked brow.

Caitlyn briefly glanced around the warehouse, seeing at least six bodies on the ground.  People that Jinx had personally killed.  Could she really just let her walk away after all this?

But on the other hand, what if Jinx could actually help her find Vi?  Every second Caitlyn wasted fumbling for a new lead was another second Vi was held captive.  Could she trade her conscience for the safety of her partner?

Yes.  She absolutely could. 

“If you can get me a real lead on where Vi is, then yes.”

Jinx’s eyes narrowed at Caitlyn, as if she was seeing a complicated puzzle for the first time.  It honestly made her more uncomfortable than the maniacal laughter.

“I think I had you entirely wrong, Princess.  Still can’t stand the sight of you, but hey, it’s something.”  Jinx went back to her standard grin.  “And what happens if I tell you that the gang is mine, and you will absolutely be collateral if you try to go after them?”  She chuckled at Caitlyn’s narrowed gaze.  “Last question, I promise.”

“I will be finding the gang.  Whether it’s a result of you telling me where to find them, or a result of me cuffing you just to try to get a few hours of investigating without you causing problems.”  Caitlyn laid out Jinx’s options as clearly as she could, trying to move this along quickly.

“Save the cuffs for Vi, I’m not interested.”  Caitlyn sputtered, thoroughly embarrassed at that thought.  “And you didn’t tell me the third, and most obvious option: I drag you along with me in case I need a disposable body or distraction.”

“Excuse me?”  Caitlyn’s voice was still a tad higher than normal, but she at least managed to steady her grip on her gun.  It was a miracle Jinx hadn’t taken advantage of her flustered state to escape.

“Yeah.”  Jinx shrugged as if it were obvious.  “I don’t need you ruining my plans, we both want to end this gang, and I think it would be hilarious to force you to work with me.  Not to mention, worst case, a gangster gets a lucky shot, and you die.  Best case, I get to blow you up by the end of all this.  Win-win.”

“In what world is that a win-win?”

“I mean, both options are appealing to me.  So mine, clearly.”  Jinx explained as if Caitlyn was a moron.  And, in a horrible twist of logic, Caitlyn supposed that her reasoning almost made sense.

“And why would I trust you to not kill me before we even got to the gang?”  Caitlyn argued.

“I just told you, I’m proposing that you’re a disposable body once we get to the gang.  Why would I kill you before then?”  Jinx scoffed.  “And you need me to find them, so as long as I keep that little tidbit of information safely in my own head, you can’t kill me.”

“And I should believe you, why exactly?”

“Come on, I’m waaaaayyyy too crazy to also be a pathological liar.”  Caitlyn huffed, not buying it.  “No?  Huh, that works most of the time.  Fine, look…” Jinx grimaced, actually looking uncomfortable.  “If I tell you that I just want to know that Vi safe, would you believe that?”

“I thought you didn’t care?”  Caitlyn countered.

“Yeah, fine, whatever.  You caught me.”  Jinx just smirked and wiggled her fingers at Caitlyn again, her discomfort disappearing so quickly it almost gave Caitlyn whiplash.  “Let’s do it this way then: You’re smart.  I’m smart.  Both of us know that taking on an entire gang alone would be rough.  Doable, sure, but not easy.  So, if I point you in the right direction, and have you try to rescue your damsel when I’m bombing gangsters to high hell, their forces are going to have to split.”

“What happens when I get to Vi?  You’re just going to let us both leave?”

“As long as you outrun the explosives.”  Jinx crossed her heart with an innocent smile.  “It’s not like I’m invested in your safety, Princess.  This is just an alliance of convenience.”

“Last question, then.”  Caitlyn waited for Jinx to acknowledge her, still amazed at herself that she was legitimately considering this.  “Why are you going after this gang in particular?”

“I can’t just bomb a random warehouse because I feel like it?”  Jinx kept up that innocent look as she asked.

Caitlyn shook her head.  “No, I don’t think you would.  I’m not going to work with you if you can’t tell me why we’re working together.  What did this gang do, exactly?”

“They’re looking to make my life very difficult.”  Jinx rolled her eyes.  “They keep leaving fake evidence at other gang’s crime scenes.  Evidence that makes it look like I’m supplying explosives to at least three different gangs.  Only a moron would believe it’s my work, the casing material is cheap, the residue is just charcoal, the detonator-”

“Jinx, focus.”

“Well excuse me for being upset that these gangs are stupid enough to fall for garbage with “Property of Jinx” scrawled on the side.”  Jinx snapped.  “I’m going to show them exactly what happens when you fuck with me.”

“But why would they do that?”  Caitlyn asked, knowing that Silco’s gang acted as the de facto leaders of Zaun for years.  Even with Silco gone, Caitlyn had to believe going after Jinx was practically a death sentence.

“Things changed down here after… everything.”  Jinx let her hands fall to wrap around herself, gaze falling to the floor.  “There are plenty of people Silco pissed off.  Plenty of people I pissed off, too.  They finally decided to do something about it.  I get it, it’s just how things work down here.”

Caitlyn felt a twinge of pity, and began to lower the gun.  What happened in Zaun that caused Jinx to think wiping out a whole gang was the easiest way to keep herself safe?  Were the enforcers really failing the people of Zaun that badly?

Of course, when Caitlyn caught the briefest flash of Jinx’s eyes on her, she knew the other girl was waiting to see what her reaction was.  She was quite the little actor, but Caitlyn still felt like most of her argument held up, as loathe as she was to admit it.  Ignoring the fact that this ploy for sympathy was most likely fake, at least Caitlyn could depend on the logic of the rest of her argument.

“Say I agree to work with you.”  Caitlyn decided to make a very stupid decision, and lowered her rifle completely.  “What’s next?”

“I restock, and we give them hell.”  Jinx grinned, throwing an arm around Caitlyn’s shoulders suddenly.  Which probably looked hilarious considering the noticeable height difference, and the fact that Caitlyn was hunched over from the force of Jinx pulling her down.

“That’s your plan?”  Caitlyn asked as she harshly shook Jinx’s arm off of her.  Working with her was one thing, but she didn’t trust her not to attach an unpinned grenade to her back at the first opportunity.  “That’s not a plan.”

But Jinx was already strolling casually towards the back room.  “You coming, Princess?”

“This is a mistake.”  Caitlyn muttered, but followed after anyway.

Chapter Text

Ten minutes later, after almost losing Jinx four separate times as she dashed from roof to pipe to roof, Caitlyn found herself in a “safehouse”.  She was hesitant to use the word “safe” specifically, considering the sheer volume of explosives and chemicals contained within.  The one blessing was that everything seemed to have its own separate place on the shelves.  Caitlyn would have believed Jinx’s workshops would have been as chaotic as her, but apparently even she knew to keep explosives and volatile chemicals apart from each other. 

Really the only “mess” were dozens of papers strewn about.  Caitlyn picked up one off a table out of curiosity, seeing a rough sketch of a boy’s face with a pointy face and even pointier hair.  The paper was torn out of her hands a moment later, Jinx directing a glare at her, then towards the paper itself.

“Don’t touch them.”  Jinx snapped.  “Just sit, and don’t touch anything.  I’ll be a bit.”

“I didn’t mean to pry.”  Caitlyn just did as she was told, not wanting to start a fight here of all places.

“Yeah, cause you’re really good at keeping your nose out of other people’s business.”  Jinx sneered and left to the one other room before Caitlyn could say anything in response.

Caitlyn just sighed and leaned back into the worn couch, taking a second to study her surroundings.  She was closer to the door than Jinx, so that was one positive.  She had, reluctantly, let Jinx have her pistol back after they left the warehouse, mostly due to the fact that Caitlyn was relatively certain Jinx would have ended up with the gun back on her hip within 5 minutes of leaving anyway.  Vi had explained that it was basically a rite of passage to learn pickpocketing in Zaun growing up, and Caitlyn fully believed that Jinx could steal a gun off of her without her ever noticing.  Especially with her enhanced reflexes.

Other than the couch and table she was by, there was a workbench pushed against a wall right next to a mat on the floor that probably acted as a bed.  The workbench contained the majority of the papers in the room, but they did seem relatively organized.  There was another drawing stuck to the wall right at eye level, this time the pointy-haired boy was next to a rounded boy with a large pair of goggles drawn on.

“I had two brothers growing up.”  Vi had told Caitlyn one night early into her living with her.  Several people had pushed Vi to start opening up about Powder and Jinx in an attempt to begin working through her own trauma, but Caitlyn was still the only one she’d talk to about her sister.  “Mylo and Claggor.  They… died at the same time our dad did.  All because I made Powder feel like I didn’t trust her to help.  She tried to prove herself, and everything went wrong.”

The conversation didn’t progress much past that, Vi shutting down when too many feelings came too close to the surface, but it was progress.  Caitlyn remembered being so honored that Vi would open up to her at all, and she was more than happy to let her do it at her own pace.

And now, seeing several drawings of these two boys in Jinx’s workshop, she had a feeling she knew exactly who they were supposed to be.  It seemed like Vi wasn’t the only one haunted by the mistakes of the past.

Caitlyn sunk back and rubbed at her face again.  How long had she been awake now?  Her sleep schedule wasn’t exactly the most consistent, especially lately, and she was pretty sure she had clocked a grand total of 10 hours over the last four days.  Pulling out her phone, she groaned and mentally corrected that to 10 hours in the last five days.

“Is there a reason you’re huffing and puffing out there, Princess?”  Jinx stuck her head out the door, eyebrow raised and trademark grin back on her face.  Apparently, all it took to get her to smile was Caitlyn’s misfortune.  “Anything I can do to make it worse?”

“Why do you keep calling me that?”  Caitlyn finally asked, fully ignoring the other questions out of spite.

“What, ‘Princess’?  Cause you’re some privileged kid born into a stable home and lots of money.  Sounds like a princess to me.”  Jinx had disappeared back into the other room, but made sure to call out loud enough that Caitlyn could hear her.

“I swear, your family and nicknames.”  Caitlyn grumbled as she let her head fall against the back of the couch.  After several minutes of hearing Jinx rustle around and mutter to herself in the side room with no more conversation, Caitlyn felt her eyes slowly closing.  She shook her head and tried to fight against the wave of exhaustion, but felt herself quickly losing that battle.

“Did you seriously fall asleep?”  Caitlyn shot upright, nearly tripping over her own feet trying to stand suddenly.  “I swear, if you tell me Vi kept you up late last night, I’m pulling the pin on a Chomper and ending us both here and now.”

“What?  No!”  Caitlyn felt her face heat, her reactions slightly more extreme with how tired she was.  “Your sister and I are work partners, and I would appreciate if you would stop making inappropriate comments about the nature of our friendship.”

“Is that what you Pilties are calling it these days?”  Jinx grinned, clearly enjoying herself.  “Look, Princess, you’ve made it abundantly clear how much you care about Vi.  It’s gross, really.”

“Regardless of any behavior I may or may not have exhibited, what I told you is the truth.”  Caitlyn ground out through her teeth, trying to stop her reactions.  The only reason Jinx was teasing her so relentlessly was because of the rise she was getting from Caitlyn.  So she just needed to stop reacting.

Even if part of her craved the exact kind of relationship with Vi that Jinx kept alluding to.

“I’m sorry, did you get even more formal all of the sudden?”  Jinx let out a snort of laughter.  “I gotta know, is this ‘cause you’re embarrassed or tired?”

“Do you have what we came here for?”  Caitlyn asked harshly, patience now at its limit.

“Nah, I need to do a quick supply run.”  Jinx slung a bag over her shoulder and looked Caitlyn up and down quickly.  “I’ll be back.”

“Now, hold on.”  Caitlyn reached out and grabbed Jinx’s wrist before she could really think about it.  The next thing she knew, she was on her back on the floor, Jinx looking down at her with a cocky smirk.

“Yeah, no, you’re going to stay here and not get yourself killed before it’s time.”  Jinx tapped her side with a boot.  “Any kid down here could put you on your ass in a second.  I’m embarrassed that you knocked me over in the warehouse, fuck.”

“Adrenaline.”  Caitlyn offered as an explanation.  “But you really think I’m going to let you just leave without me?”  Caitlyn pressed as she got to her feet with absolutely no help from Jinx.  “I’m already trusting you to not shoot me in the back the first opportunity you get.  Now you’re asking me to trust that you’ll come back to get me, trust that you’ll stick to the plan, and you won’t just destroy the gang’s whole hideout and leave Vi buried-”

A sudden, very solid force slammed into Caitlyn’s chest, sending her sprawling ungracefully onto the couch.  Looking down, she saw a very familiar gun now resting in her arms.

“There, now you have collateral.”  Jinx made her way to the door.  “You and Pow-Pow take good care of each other.”

“You named your gun after-”

The heavy sound of the door locking cut off Caitlyn’s question, and she threw the gun to the side before rushing to the door.  As she feared, Jinx had somehow locked her in from the outside.  What kind of safehouse locked on the outside?

Forehead resting on the cool metal door, Caitlyn considered what to do.  If it were anyone else, she would have believed that they were actually concerned for her health and were forcing her to take a moment to rest.  But this was Jinx, and Caitlyn knew she didn’t think like an “average” person.

But Jinx was smart, Caitlyn would never argue that fact.  She weaponized Hextech with a stolen notebook and a workshop that any Piltover scientist would have scoffed at.  And the smart move was to make sure that your allies were up to full strength before a dangerous mission.

Which meant that, most likely, Caitlyn would be safe until Jinx got back.  And considering that she had gone as far as naming the gun, Caitlyn could believe that Jinx had enough attachment to it to come back for it.  Especially considering what Caitlyn knew about the name “Pow-Pow”.

So, while she wasn’t particularly happy about the situation, she let herself collapse back into the couch.  As soon as her head fell back onto the couch, Caitlyn felt herself nodding off again.  She was sure the latest shock to her system would have woken her up, but apparently, she had run her body to the point where it couldn’t keep going without sleep. 

She lasted another minute before slumping over on the couch, not even enough energy to push away the gun that she was now laying halfway on top of.  Caitlyn had the fleeting thought that she was glad Pow-Pow wasn’t actually loaded at the moment before losing consciousness completely.

XXXXX

Caitlyn woke some time later to the sound of metal clicking together and quiet muttering.  There was a moment she felt panic until she remembered exactly where she was.  She opened her eyes to see the fact that apparently, at some point during her nap, she had started to cuddle with the gun Jinx left her.   It was a miracle that the small menace hadn’t woken Caitlyn up just to mock her.  Or to tease her about the fact she wished she was cuddling Vi’s “guns” instead.

“Shut up!”

Caitlyn snapped her head to the workbench where Jinx was, worried she had somehow said that out loud, but as far as she could tell, the other woman wasn’t talking to her.

“This is what I want.”  Jinx’s voice was steadily raising in volume, but she stayed hunched over the table.  The metallic clacking increased in volume and frequency for a few moments before she tossed something onto the mat next to her.  “You were always the one that told me to think first.”

Suddenly feeling like she was seeing something she wasn’t supposed to, Caitlyn opened her mouth to let Jinx know she was awake, but her companion continued her one-sided conversation before Caitlyn could say anything.

“Who cares if she ‘stole Vi’?  Not like my dear old sister ever cared enough to stay with me, anyway.”  Jinx’s movements were getting more agitated, shoulders hunching and hands moving far too fast to be precise.  “I said SHUT UP!”

A screwdriver was flung suddenly, and embedded itself in the wall a foot to Caitlyn’s left.

“Oh, you’re awake.”  Jinx tried to slip back into her normal persona, but Caitlyn could see the tension in her frame and the slight waver to her grin.  “About time.”

“I…” Should she say something about what she had just witnessed?  Caitlyn may not have trusted Jinx, but that didn’t mean she could just dismiss her trauma outright.  Jinx was clearly wrestling with her own set of scars.  The one glaringly obvious problem with saying something was the fact that Caitlyn had absolutely no idea how the blue-haired woman would react to her digging.  “How long was I asleep?”

“Like ten hours.”  Jinx shook her head.  “I’m amazed you can sleep when your girlfriend is being held captive by gangsters.”

“What!?”  Caitlyn shot up off the couch, completely awake and panic rising.

Of course, when Jinx burst out laughing, that panic turned into annoyance.  “Oh, that was golden.  You should have seen your face!”

“I’m so pleased that you take such great enjoyment from my pain.”  Caitlyn rolled her eyes and sat back on the couch.  She took out her rifle and began going over her basic maintenance checklist to have something to keep her hands busy.  “How long was I actually asleep?”

“Look, it’s either make you miserable or make you dead, your choice.”  Jinx shrugged and spun her chair back to face the desk.  “I was gone for like an hour.  It’s been maybe another hour since I got back.”

“Was that so hard?”  Caitlyn muttered as she worked.

“Excruciating.”  Jinx happily chirped back.

Several minutes passed with the two women working in silence before Caitlyn saw Jinx twitch her head to the side suddenly in her peripheral.  A moment later she just shook her head as if to clear it and went back to work as if nothing happened.

“Are they still here?”  Caitlyn wasn’t sure why exactly she had asked, but she kept her eyes firmly fixed on her rifle, hoping the lack of eye contact would maybe make Jinx more comfortable.

“That’s the thing, Princess.”  Jinx let out a humorless huff of laughter.  “They’re always with me.”

“Oh.”

“We’re not having some big heart-to-heart here.  So whatever else you want to say, just keep it to yourself.”  Jinx clearly was trying to put an end to any further conversation, and Caitlyn just went with it.

Maybe she should have pushed more, but Jinx did have a point.  This was neither the time, nor the place to try to talk through any trauma.  And Caitlyn was probably the last person Jinx would even want to open up to, anyway.

“How much longer do you need?”  Caitlyn asked instead, placing each individual piece of her rifle on the table as she inspected and cleaned them.

“Not too much longer.”  Jinx threw another object on to the mat next to her.  “Needed to make a few more smoke bombs.”

“Alright.”  Caitlyn nodded to herself as she finished dissembling her weapon.  She began the process of reassembling as she continued.  “Do you need the gun back?”

“Nah, loading Pow-Pow is always the last step.  Besides, you looked so comfortable holding it.  Though I could have done without you muttering ‘Vi’ in your sleep.”

“I did no such thing!”  Caitlyn argued before she could really think about it, grimacing as she saw Jinx do a full spin in her chair, smirking at her as she briefly made eye contact before finishing her spin facing the workbench again.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”  Jinx chuckled and began working on another explosive.

Caitlyn kept silent after that, checking the different scopes once the weapon was in one piece again.  It seemed like Jinx had the same idea, and the two worked in relative silence as they finished up their respective tasks.  It would have almost been nice to work side-by-side with someone like this, if not for the fact that Caitlyn was forced to be here, and just being near Jinx put her on edge.

“Alright, I’m all done with my prep!”  Jinx suddenly called out, jumping so that she was standing on the chair as it spun to face Caitlyn.  “Who’s ready to cause some chaos?”

Chapter Text

Soon enough, the two were off again, Caitlyn mostly able to keep up with Jinx this time around after her nap.  True to her word, Jinx wouldn’t speak a word of their destination to Caitlyn, but it was quickly clear that they were headed towards the mines.  Light was beginning to filter through the heavy haze of the upper regions of Zaun, but down here it seemed just as dark as it had been at night.

“Can you tell me anything else about your plan?”  Caitlyn asked as they walked.

“Send you in first.  Start setting off bombs as far away as possible to split their forces.”  Jinx explained, all of which Caitlyn already knew.

“Can I ask the general layout of the base?”  Caitlyn pushed.  “I do my best work when I have some time to prepare.”

“Old, abandoned mining facility.”  Jinx said after a long pause.  “She’s being kept in the old foreman’s office.”

Caitlyn stopped and glared at the back of Jinx’s head as she kept walking.  “And why do you know that?”

“I told you, I had some errands to run.”  Jinx looked over her shoulder, continuing along and forcing Caitlyn to move to keep up.  “Even I’m not crazy enough to attack a gang’s main base without knowing the details.”

“Is there anything else you want to share?”

“Hmmmm, nope!”

“Numbers?”

“Nah.”

“Defensive capabilities?”

“No dice.”

“Jinx!”

“What?  I already told you that I want you to die in there.  Not my fault you’re using me as an informant and not one of your little enforcer friends.”  She rolled her eyes at Caitlyn.

“You’re the one that wanted to work together.”  Caitlyn reminded her.  “And if I die before getting to Vi, then what?”

Jinx’s eye twitched slightly, and Caitlyn took that and ran with it.

“Best case, we go in there, split up, and we don’t have to see each other again.  But if I can’t get to Vi, she and I will both end up dead.  And while I’m sure your feelings are… complicated in regard to her, Vi is still your sister.  And I doubt you want her to die in some shitty gang’s base just because you were being too stubborn to just tell me what we’re walking into here.”

“Don’t try to tell me how I feel.”  Jinx snapped.

“I have no idea how you feel, Jinx, I would never assume that I did.  But based on the last time we were together, can you blame me for assuming that you care about Vi?”  Caitlyn was practically pleading with Jinx at this point, but she didn’t care.  If it meant a better chance at getting Vi back, Caitlyn would beg if she had to.

“Why should I care?”  Jinx’s voice was quiet, loosing the earlier anger quickly.  “She chose the Pilties.  She chose you.”

“Because you didn’t give her an actual choice.”  Caitlyn shook her head, getting rather sick of hearing that argument.  “You told her to either murder an unarmed, defenseless woman tied to a chair, or to lose her little sister forever.”

“I needed to know.”  Jinx stopped and leaned against a wall suddenly, glaring at the ground.  “I needed to know how important you were to her.  Needed to know if I was already replaced.”

“Why do I have to ‘replace’ you?  Why can’t we both be in Vi’s life?”  Caitlyn countered.

“You really think she’s going to be able to be an enforcer who’s dating another enforcer, and what, spend the weekends hanging out and committing crimes with me?”  Jinx huffed.

“It’s Vi, you and I both know she’d find a way to make it work.  Probably a little less crime than you’re implying.”  Caitlyn chuckled.  “She’s stubborn enough to force it to work if she had to.”

Jinx actually let out a short burst of laughter at that comment, and it may have been the first time Caitlyn had heard her laugh without the manic edge to it.  Even Jinx seemed surprised, her smile turning to a grimace quickly.

“Fine, whatever.”  Jinx groaned and let her head fall back against the wall, staring up into the haze and pipes above.  “It’s a bunch of rooms dug into the rock surrounding the mineshaft.  I saw six floors from the outside, but I don’t know if any are dug deeper and just don’t have doors on the outside.  Foreman’s office is on the second floor down from the surface, north end.  There’s a ton of metal walkways and staircases leading between the rooms and the abandoned equipment.  I’m going to set the explosives on the opposite side, with the plan to collapse the walls.  Happy now?”

Caitlyn bit back a sarcastic comment, not wanting Jinx to regret her decision.  “Thank you, Jinx.”

“Gross, no, you do not get to be sappy with me.”  Jinx fake gagged and began walking quickly away.  “Save that for your girlfriend.”

“Fine, fine.”  Caitlyn couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.

“Don’t just agree with me.  You’re supposed to be all embarrassed that I called her your girlfriend.”

“Well, if everything goes right…” Caitlyn trailed off, enjoying Jinx being the annoyed one for once.  For a fleeting moment, it almost, almost felt like bickering with Jayce again when they were kids.

Jinx did an overdramatic full-body shudder at that thought, but didn’t try to continue the conversation.  They walked in a surprisingly comfortable silence after that, Jinx occasionally giving short directions when they had to change their course.  The closer they got to the actual mine, the more gangsters that were patrolling the streets, and neither wanted to be caught before reaching their destination.

Finally, the two arrived, Jinx bringing them to the east end of the large pit in the ground that led down into the mine.  Caitlyn opened her mouth to say something, though she wasn’t quite sure what, before Jinx just shook her head and mimed drawing a gun, motioning to a box next to her. 

Caitlyn took the hint and drew her rifle, setting it down on the box and swapping the scope to an experimental one that could scan through walls.  The angle they had stopped at meant that they couldn’t see down into the pit, but the scope could see thought the small amount of rock blocking her line of sight.

The image wasn’t particularly clear, but it was quickly obvious that there were guards standing just on the other side of a wall, and one unmoving blob farther into the room.  If she had to guess, that was the office she was looking for.

Glancing to the side to try to coordinate, Caitlyn saw that Jinx had already disappeared.  She shook her head and sighed, not sure what exactly she was expecting from the other woman now that they were at the mine.  Caitlyn just sighed and snuck around to the north end, figuring she was on her own from here on out.

Once she was above her target, Caitlyn pulled the rifle again, scanning as much as she could of the mine.  It didn’t look like anyone was out in the open, adding to the “abandoned” look.  She took a steadying breath and grabbed an anchor from her pack, attached the included line to her belt, and descended into the pit, not wanting her footsteps to be heard on the stairs.  Her heels hit the second floor walkway, and she unclipped the line from her belt, letting it retract up to the anchor.

One more quick scan of her surroundings revealed that no one had noticed her entrance.  Caitlyn quickly made her way to the door, not trusting her luck to last.  Reaching in her pack, she drew out a tripwire device, laying it down on the outside of the door.  There were only a few feet that she could back up from the door, but it would have to be enough.

Now or never.

Her shot struck the catwalk right under the door, making enough noise that the door was ripped open, and a gangster took a step forward only for his ankle to hit the tripwire she had laid.  His body convulsed as the electricity coursed through his body, and he was falling to the floor a moment later.

The second man in the room was smart enough to not join his friend, pulling a gun from his belt.  It would have been a great plan if not for the fact that Caitlyn had already lined up her shot, the bullet striking him center of mass and causing him to collapse as well.

Caitlyn felt her breath catch as she saw the familiar form of Vi tied to a chair in the center of the room.  Her face was a mess of bruising and blood, and her left arm was hanging limply at her side, but her eyes were open and looking to Caitlyn in surprise.  She was gagged, but still trying to speak as she struggled in her bonds.

But a moment later, they both heard the results of Caitlyn’s noisy entrance.  There were suddenly voices shouting out and doors being flung open, so Caitlyn stepped gingerly over the body in the doorway and quickly pulled the closest piece of furniture to block the door.  Then she set herself up in front of Vi and got ready.

In a move that made it look like they actually coordinated, Caitlyn heard the rapid explosions sound from the other end.  Vi’s struggling began to raise in volume, but the first gangster had just reached the doorway, and was quickly put down.  Caitlyn would have felt bad for taking fatal shots, if not for the fact that she knew they weren’t getting out of here alive if she pulled her shots now.

Another three bodies appeared in the door and were quickly dropped before they finally realized that she had managed to bottleneck them.  Looking through the scanning scope, she saw at least 10 more bodies lined up against the walls outside the office.  More explosions rang out, now accompanied by the sound of crumbling stone.  A few of the shapes Caitlyn could see began to shift, looking as if they were debating bolting.

“Come on, come on.”  Caitlyn murmured, repeatedly scanning back and forth.

Four of the shapes on the outside did finally leave, clearly not interested in being buried in a mineshaft.  The one to the left of the door began to move, and Caitlyn got ready to fire if they tried to peek around the door.  Their head didn’t move, but a grenade did get thrown at an awkward angle.  It was easy enough to step between the grenade and Vi and activate the shield, and apparently these grenades had nothing on Jinx’s, because it didn’t even move her.  Shifting did give her a shot at the one that threw the grenade, as he was apparently waiting to see if it killed her, and he quickly fell as the bullet hit him between the eyes.

The problem now was that they evidently had grenades of their own, and didn’t mind throwing them into this room.  Vi’s struggling got to the point that Caitlyn turned to look at her, but her eyes were on Caitlyn’s waist.  She glanced down and saw a Chomper, teeth clamped on her belt, but pin still firmly in place.

“Your sister ruined my belt.”  Caitlyn didn’t know why that was what her brain decided to come up with, but she couldn’t take it back now.

She had to rip the contraption off of the leather, grimacing as she saw the indents and scratches all along the material.  The door swung in, so Caitlyn could drop the explosive and try to barricade the two of them in the office.  Hopefully it wouldn’t be a big enough explosion to completely destroy the catwalk, but they could always use the other floor’s if needed.

It was her best option, so Caitlyn did one last scan with her own weapon, then rushed forward, shouldered the bookcase out of the doorway, pulled the pin, and rolled the grenade just outside the door.  Someone took a shot at her as she finished, the bullet just missing her, and she slammed the door closed in their face.

There was the sound of people trying to run, but the grenade detonated before they could get too far.  The force was enough to knock Caitlyn away from the door, and she used the momentum to keep moving towards Vi.  She ripped the gag form her mouth before starting to untie her.

“Cupcake?”  Vi’s voice was hoarse, but it was music to Caitlyn’s ears.

“I’m here, Vi.”  Caitlyn assured her as she got Vi’s right hand free.  “I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”

“I told them you’d show up and give them hell.”  Vi chuckled, her hand reaching out and grabbing Caitlyn’s.  “They told me they could ‘handle one more enforcer’.”

“I’m going to appreciate their arrogance for the time being.”  Caitlyn let out a breathy laugh and squeezed Vi’s hand before dropping it to finish untying her.

“Fair ‘nough.”

“Hopefully they’re distracted enough by the explosions that we’ll be able to sneak out of here.”  Caitlyn said as she stood and wrapped an arm around Vi to help her up.  “Can you walk?”

“Yeah.  They broke my arm, but didn’t do anything to my legs.”  Vi explained as she accepted the support.  They made their way to the door and Caitlyn pulled it open. 

Fortunately, the catwalk was still in one piece. 

Unfortunately for her, it looked like at least a dozen bodies were stood on the catwalk leading directly away from the door, all with weapons trained on the door.

“Did you really think a few explosives were going to be a good enough distraction to sneak a prisoner out from under my nose?”  A man stepped forward, clothing slightly more ostentatious than his comrades.  Probably the leader, then.  “We knew you’d come for your partner, all we had to do was wait-”

“I’m sorry, are you really doing an actual villain monologue?” 

All eyes shot up to see Jinx hanging upside down on the catwalk above the gang.  Before they could react to the bizarre situation, Chompers were raining down on them.  Several detonated into clouds of smoke, but a few were definitely explosive as bodies flew from the cloud and into the abyss below.

The sudden sound of metal tearing apart rung out, and the catwalk that they were all standing on began to collapse.  Caitlyn’s eyes widened as she felt her and Vi began tilting down.  Knowing that she couldn’t move them both quickly enough to safety, Caitlyn just pulled Vi in close and tried to cushion her fall.

Caitlyn’s back hit the floor of the walkway below, and Vi slammed into her chest, fully knocking the wind out of her.  She laid there wheezing as she heard the solid impact of several more bodies.  By the sound of it, not everyone had managed to catch the lower walkways after the collapse, and their screams echoed as they fell.

“Vi?”

“I’m fine.  Not like the arm can get mush worse.”  Vi tried to joke, but the pain was evident in her voice.

“You little bitch!”  The leader screamed as he straightened up, staring up at Jinx as she continued to swing.  He moved to take a shot at her, but she was dropping down in front of him before he could even raise his gun.

“I’d say ‘Next time, don’t fuck with someone who’s smarter than you’, but you won’t have a next time.”  And with that, Jinx shoved her pistol under his ribs and pulled the trigger.  His body slumped to the floor as she took a quick step back to avoid him falling onto her.

“Well, I’d say that was a successful venture.”  Jinx turned back around as faced the two on the ground.  “Really, couldn’t wait until you got home?”

“Shut up, Jinx.”  Caitlyn groaned and started to get her and Vi up off the floor.

“Well, it’s been real Princess, but looks like you have your hands full there.  I’ll just be leaving-”

“Powder.”  Vi interrupted Jinx’s rambling, staring in wonder at her.  “You helped Caitlyn rescue me?”

“No, I used Caitlyn to draw the leader of the gang out so I could kill him.  Very different things.”  Jinx corrected.

Vi let out a huff of laughter.  “Still, thanks.”

“Yeah, well…” Jinx rubbed at the back of her head awkwardly before suddenly rushing forward.  Caitlyn was concerned for a brief moment before she realized that Jinx had wrapped her arms around Vi.  “I’m glad you didn’t let some no-name gang kill you.”

“I do my best.”  Vi maneuvered her good arm to hug Jinx back, but the second her hand made contact Jinx took a step back.  Vi stayed standing on her own after that, only needing the support when they were moving.

“I’m good to go, then?”  Jinx asked Caitlyn.

“I mean, I’ve had quite the past two days, and my hands are going to be quite full getting an injured enforcer back to the station.”  Caitlyn mused; feigning being lost in thought.  “I don’t think anyone is going to blame me for losing you.”

Jinx grinned at her, and Caitlyn smiled back, but it fell when she saw a flash of the gang leader pointing a gun at Jinx’s back.  Without even thinking, Caitlyn rushed forward and shoved her out of the way, the bullet slamming into her shoulder and sending her sprawling back over the railing.

“CAITLYN!”

Caitlyn looked up as she fell, not able to twist due to the shock, so she saw Vi reach a hand over the rail mouth still open from her scream before a flash of blue launched over the side.  Jinx was falling faster due to being vertical, and managed to grab Caitlyn’s arm before catching the lower catwalk’s edge.  Her arm felt like it was being torn from its socket as she came to a stop dangling over what looked like an endless pit below.  The other floor’s catwalks were built at different angles, so if Jinx hadn’t caught her, Caitlyn would have just kept falling.

“Why did you have to go be all self-sacrificing?  I am not letting you join the voices in my head, dammit.”  Jinx grit out.

“He was going to shoot you!  What did you want me to do?”  Caitlyn yelled back up.

“Shut up.”  Jinx muttered.  “I’m going to start swinging you, okay?  I’m strong, but not strong enough to pull us both up with one arm.”

Caitlyn nodded and tightened her grip on Jinx’s arm.  The shorter woman began to swing them, and eventually Caitlyn was able to grab the walkway, her shoulder screaming in agony as her injury made itself known.  She somehow managed to force her injured arm to pull her chest over the edge, Jinx letting go of her other hand as soon as she did.

“Are you alright?”  They both looked over to see Vi stumbling down the stairs, making her way towards them as quickly as she could.

“Just great.”  Jinx huffed and stood, shaking out all her limbs with no issue.  “Tell your girlfriend to stop being so self-sacrificing.”

Vi shook her head and rolled her eyes in Jinx’s direction before dropping to Caitlyn’s side, placing a gentle hand on the back of her head gently and resting their foreheads together.

“Cupcake, please don’t do something like that-”

Caitlyn wasn’t quite sure what had come over her, though it was probably the multiple near-death experiences in the past few minutes, and she surged forward, pressing her lips to Vi’s.  Vi let out a squeak that Caitlyn found absolutely adorable, but soon caught up and reciprocated happily.

Of course, a loud, over exaggerated gagging noise quickly ruined the mood.  They broke apart, both blushing furiously to see Jinx miming gagging herself with her fingers.  “Can you save it for the bedroom?  We still have to leave, remember?”

“Right!”  Caitlyn yelped, scrambling up to her feet and helping Vi up as well.  “You don’t suppose this place has an elevator?”

“Not anymore!”  Jinx chirped happily, and Caitlyn just sighed.

“Stairs it is.”

XXXXX

As expected, Jinx had bolted up the stairs and out of the base without waiting for either Caitlyn or Vi, but she did manage to shoot a small, unsure smile at Vi before running, so that was progress.  They didn’t see a single trace of her as they made their way back towards Piltover.  Even with Vi only having one good arm and Caitlyn having an obvious injury in her shoulder, no one tried to bother them on their journey through Zaun.

The second they reached the checkpoint people were swarming them and an ambulance was called, the two whisked off to a hospital for treatment.  Vi nearly took off a doctor’s head when she tried to put them in separate rooms, and no one else dared to try after that.  Caitlyn couldn’t really blame Vi, the two were even less willing to separate after what they just went through.

Caitlyn had mild injuries in comparison to Vi, a cracked rib from the fall and the bullet wound in her shoulder.  She was discharged after a day of observation, but Vi wasn’t so lucky.  Caitlyn still cringed as she remembered the list of injuries: her left arm was broken in three places, her nose and cheekbone were broken, and three of her ribs were cracked.  That wasn’t even counting the surface injuries she’d accumulated.  Vi would be healing for quite a little while still.

A few weeks later, after Vi tried to sneak out of the hospital three nights in a row to “sleep in her own damn bed”, Caitlyn pulled some strings to have her moved back home with a doctor coming by to check in on her recovery.  Even with her mother having to leave the council due to her injuries, the Kiramman name held a good amount of sway in this city.

Vi being back home also meant that Caitlyn could lay in the bed with her, Vi resting her head in Caitlyn’s lap as she read on her tablet.  Caitlyn was threading her fingers through Vi’s hair, her partner practically melting at the soft touch.  That was something Caitlyn had learned early on in their friendship; Vi was exceptionally touch-starved.  She took her eyes off of the screen to smile down at her girlfriend practically napping in her lap.

“More flowers came in today.”  Vi suddenly spoke up, cracking one eye open.

“I told you they like you at the station.”  Caitlyn teased.

“Yeah, yeah.  There was one that wasn’t from the station.”  Vi opened her other eye to look up at Caitlyn with a smirk.

“Okay?”

“It came with a present, too.”  Vi was fully grinning now.  “Well, two presents.  But I already sent the gauntlets back to Hextech with an apology letter.”

“Vi.”

“Yes, Cupcake?”  When Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at her, Vi relented, digging into her pocket and pulling out a small square of paper.  Caitlyn’s eyes went wide when she saw herself on a couch, arms fully wrapped around that damn gun.

“I’m going to murder your sister.”  Caitlyn sputtered as she went to grab the picture.  Vi made to move out of the way, but cringed as the motion pulled her side painfully.  “Vi, are you okay?”

“Fine, just really sick of my whole body hurting.”  Vi readjusted to be more comfortable, tucking the photo away in her pocket in the process.  “Don’t worry about the photo, it’s cute.”

“I resent that.”  Caitlyn crossed her arms and looked off to the side.

“Don’t pout.”  Vi teased, her hand coming up to cup Caitlyn’s cheek.  She leaned into the light touch, uncrossing her arms to look down at Vi softly.

 “I don’t pout.”

“Sure, Cupcake.”

“You mentioned she sent you flowers, too?”  Caitlyn asked pulling them back to the earlier conversation.

“Kind of?  Side table, you’ll know it when you see it.”  Vi laughed and motioned to Caitlyn’s left.

Caitlyn turned her upper body to search the side table.  Just like Vi said, she could easily tell which flowers were Jinx’s.  To be fair, hers weren’t so much “flowers” as metal bent and sculpted into three distinct blooms.  She picked up the small sculpture, studying it closer and marveling at the detail that had been sculpted.  It almost looked like a real flower, if not for the obvious fact that it was made of metal.  The petals of all the flowers were formed from a gleaming bronze metal, and each of the centers were painted a different color.  The two on top were pink and purple, respectfully, and close enough to be touching.  The last flower was positioned a little lower and separate from the other two, and that one was painted a vibrant electric blue.

“Would I be a terrible person if I wanted to try to get to know ‘Jinx’?”

 “No.”  Caitlyn answered immediately.  “She’s still your sister, Vi.  Maybe it’s hypocritical of me, and maybe it would be different if my mother or Jayce were one of the victims of the destruction of the council.  But, as long as you don’t start endorsing her crimes, I think you deserve that chance.  Both of you do.”  She tried to joke a bit at the end to keep the mood from getting too heavy, but Vi still looked deep in thought.

“I think she’s willing.”  Vi said, motioning to the flowers.  “And we still have to talk about everything.  There’s no guarantee she’ll feel the same after I say what I need to say about everything she did.  About how many people she’s hurt.  But I’m not blameless in this, either.  I know there are things I should’ve handled better, but I was scared and hurt.  It’s hard to be logical when you’re panicking.”

“You’ve thought a lot about this.”  Caitlyn began to run her hand through Vi’s hair again when her partner began to twitch and move as she spoke.

“Right, me, doing the whole introspection thing?  But I’ve had quite a bit of free time lately to do nothing but think.”  Vi smirked.

“I’m so proud.”  Caitlyn deadpanned before breaking into a smile when she couldn’t hold the serious expression.  It wasn’t her fault; how couldn’t she smile when Vi was looking at her like that?

“How would I even start?”  Vi asked after a moment.

“I have a feeling she’ll come to you when she’s ready.”  Caitlyn sighed.  “We both know she doesn’t do things she doesn’t want to.”

“True.  I still can’t believe you two teamed up to rescue me.”

“She took a great amount of joy from my discomfort, that’s certain.”  Caitlyn laughed.  “She still cares about you, Vi.  She wasn’t going to leave you there.”

“Yeah.”  Vi huffed, suddenly pulling at Caitlyn to get her to lay down.

“Vi?”

“I’m tired.”  Vi closed one eye and smirked.  “And I just so happen to have a very comfortable pillow.”

“Yes, well, your ‘pillow’ has work to do today.”  Caitlyn weakly protested as she let herself be pulled down.  Her sleep schedule hadn't really improved lately, and a nap with Vi sounded heavenly, but she wasn’t lying when she said she had things to do today.

“If you tell me to let you up, I will.  But I think you want to take a nap with me.”

“That’s not fair.”  Caitlyn groaned as she settled down and Vi curled into her side.  “You’re exceptionally charming.  Especially when you’re being considerate.”

“It’s a gift.”  Vi laughed as she pulled blankets over them both.

Caitlyn smiled as her own eyes closed, one arm wrapped around Vi’s shoulders.   The two were both dozing when Vi suddenly spoke up once more.

“So, what are the chances of waking up with you cuddling me like you were that gun?”

“Lower and lower the more you bring it up.”