Chapter Text
It’s never really cold in the Fissures. At its worst, it was like wearing wet clothes in a drafty room. Enough to make you shiver, but not enough to be lethal - or at least it wasn’t usually.
“Cupcake, you need a break?”
“I . . . I’m fine.”
The Fissures were a lot like Stillwater in that way - never quite cold enough to be really dangerous, but never warm enough to be comfortable.
“ Whoa , I got you.”
“ Shit.”
There weren’t seasons in the Fissures - snow never fell in the Lanes. Sunlight never made it to the bottom of the trench, never warmed the Undercity’s dark streets.
“Hey, Cait? Caitlyn, I need you to keep your eyes open.”
“. . . Okay.”
The weak, the injured - they never lasted long in the Fissures . . . not without help.
“We’re almost there - I remember this section of tunnel.” Water pipes ran above them emitting a soft gurgle from the air that had gotten into the lines. A small hourglass was etched into the brick wall beside them.
“Mhmm.”
Vi jostled the enforcer in her arms. “Cait, I need you to tell me you’re okay in that posh topsider accent. ” You’re the only thing keeping me sane - please, don’t leave me.
For being so tall, Caitlyn seemed to shrink the more boneless she became in Vi’s arms. A small huff came from the enforcer, “I don’t have an accent . . . you do.”
“Whatever you say, Cupcake.” Vi’s footsteps echoed faintly through the tunnel. The air was stale, but not unpleasant. Come on - that door has to be around here somewhere.
“. . . I’m so cold, Vi.”
The pit in Vi’s stomach deepened. “I know. We’ll get you warmed up soon. Just stay awake for me, okay?” We’re almost there - just hold on a little longer.
They rounded a corner and were met with a dead-end. Finally! Vi shuffled as quickly as she could with her injuries and Caitlyn’s dead-weight to the Firelight’s metal door. Kicking at the slab, she tapped out the pattern Ekko had shown her when they left the day before. The door began to move.
Thank god. For a moment, the trencher’s exhaustion faded. “Cait, we made it! Cait?”
The enforcer’s freezing nose burrowed into Vi’s neck. “. . . G-good.”
The grinding stopped and Ekko’s second-in-command looked them up and down from the entrance. His eyes narrowed as they lingered on Caitlyn and her uniform.
“Is Ekko around? Is he- is he okay?” Vi stammered, making no move to enter. She didn’t bother trying to keep the desperation from her voice. “We saw the explosion on the bridge, but-”
“He’s here.”
Vi was hit with a wave of lightheadedness as the tension in her gut loosened. “Can we- can I talk to him? Get her warmed up?”
The hulking man’s silhouette moved aside.
***
It’s difficult to sense the world around you while going through the stages of hypothermia. Shooting trips to the forests outside the city included the basics of how to survive if Caitlyn was ever separated from her parents. Shelter, water, warmth, food - she’d been without any of those for nearly an entire day while wearing a damp uniform in the drafty wreckage of the warehouse.
A conversation was happening around her, but Caitlyn couldn’t seem to make sense of the words. Vi’s voice reminded the enforcer she was still in the trencher’s arms, leaning into her chest. Caitlyn sleepily hoped this wouldn’t be the last time either.
No- Something in the back of her mind tried to muffle the thought as if it was wrong or painful. How could a thought so comforting be bad?
“Wha-” Gone was Vi’s solid warmth. Why was opening her eyes so hard? “Vi?”
“I’m here.” Caitlyn felt Vi’s hands cradle her face. “You’re doing great, Cupcake. We’re goinfao aaidsofnaf ndwidnfv jiaowen fasdnv-”
Something was slapping the enforcer’s cheek.
“Cait, Cait!”
Staying conscious was like trying to run through mud. “Yeah, I’m . . . shit , I can’t-” the enforcer tried to blink the heaviness from her half closed eyes. “I-”
Vi’s anxious face came into focus. “It’s okay, Cupcake. Just stay awake.”
The warmth of Vi’s hands bled into Caitlyn’s cheeks, dragging her more firmly into consciousness. “We made it?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank you.” Some emotion Caitlyn’s sluggish mind couldn’t place flashed in Vi’s eyes. “Is Ekko okay?”
Vi nodded. “He should be here soon. Speak of the devil-” The door to the room opened.
“I see you listen about as well as you fight if your face is any indication. You look like shit, Vi.” His limping footsteps reverberated around the small room. “How’s Caitlyn?”
“It’s Piltie to you.” A wide grin stretched across Caitlyn’s stiff cheeks. Ha, yeah. Wait, where am I? Am I laying on a cot . . . with a blanket? When did that happen? Ekko’s soft chuckle brought her back to the conversation.
“Concussion?”
“Yeah,” Vi muttered heavily, “and she nearly froze on the way here. And then there’s the staples.”
What? “Staples?”
Vi wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Don’t worry about it. Just work on getting warm.”
No, I want to know what’s going on. Sitting up was proving to be a colossal undertaking and certainly not helped by Vi’s hand on her shoulder pressing her back down on the cot.
“Rest.”
A dull burning sensation began crawling across Caitlyn’s skin, steadily growing as blood returned to her extremities. “You carried me here. I’ve rested enough.”
“Arguing is a good sign.”
Vi glared at Ekko before turning to Caitlyn. “Five minutes ago you couldn’t keep your eyes open or understand what I said to you.”
“That was five minutes ago.”
A knock at the door and Ekko let two Firelights in carrying food, water, and medical supplies. “You know, it might be kinder to start before she can really feel anything,” he muttered softly as he pulled up another chair beside Vi’s near the cot.
Irritation was enveloping Caitlyn’s brain in its fiery warmth. “Before I can feel what? ”
A defeated sign seemed to drain what little fight was left in Vi. Leaning forward in her chair, resting her elbows on her knees, she took the enforcer’s nearest hand in hers. “What’s the last thing you remember before we got here?”
Why won’t she look me in the eye ? “I remember . . .” Grrr! Do your damn job, brain. Vi’s thumbs rubbed comforting circles over the back of the enforcer’s hand. “I remember you carrying me . . . through the tunnels.”
“Did I carry you the whole way?”
Caitlyn was momentarily distracted by the memory of being in Vi’s arms. I haven’t felt that content in ages. “Ye- No, you were helping me walk and my leg-” She reached down to the wound and flinched when she prodded it. “My leg gave out or my head hurt too much or something.”
Vi nodded and gave her hand a squeeze. Hesitation filled her voice, “Good, and before we reached the tunnels, where were we?”
Ekko interrupted and handed Vi a bent tin cup, “Here. The two of you need to eat. Play twenty questions after.”
A grateful smile washed over Vi’s face and this time she didn’t stop Caitlyn as the enforcer moved to sit up.
While her muscles cooperated, Caitlyn’s brain voiced its severe displeasure in the form of near blinding pain. “ Shit.” The world around her faded into static as her head throbbed in agony. The nausea certainly wasn’t doing her any favors - she was vaguely aware of the metal bucket shoved into her hands as bile made its way up her throat.
“-ait. Get it all out.”
Just as quickly as it came, the pain receded to a more manageable level. The enforcer dry heaved once more before taking a slow, shaky breath. “Shit.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of,” Vi muttered sadly as she held Caitlyn’s hair away from her face and gently rubbed her back.
Eating proved to be a clash of opposing desires: Caitlyn hadn’t eaten in nearly a day and desperately needed something in her stomach, but the nausea didn’t let up as quickly as the pain. Caitlyn’s entire body shaking from the effort to remain upright wasn’t helping either. I can’t even feed myself.
“Don’t look so grumpy, Cupcake.” Vi’s tone didn’t quite reach the levity it was shooting for. “I don’t mind taking care of you.” She held a spoon of watery stew - or thick soup - to the enforcer’s mouth.
“Hmm.” The flavor was hard to pinpoint. It was a meat-based stock with an unidentifiable grain, but it could have been the slop from Jerico’s for all she cared. Even while nauseous, any food would have been heavenly.
Caitlyn was somewhat thankful Ekko had left to scramble his scouts now that the city was on the verge of war. Though it seemed like he didn’t hate her anymore, it was still a bit awkward accepting aid from someone who she knew disliked her - someone she’d almost gotten killed.
“Okay, that’s all of that.” Vi put down Caitlyn’s bowl and spoon before quickly finishing her own in three large gulps. “How are you feeling now?”
With sustenance, came more of her memories. Like I’m having the worst day of my life. Like I could have stopped all of this from happening if I’d sacrificed my morals to protect the people I love . . . like Marcus had. “Lovely,” she settled for instead. Caitlyn remembered the warehouse around half way through her bowl of soup . . . and the torrent of emotions that came with it. “I remember the tea party and watching the council chamber burn.”
Vi sighed and let her head hang as she stared at her hands. “I’m sorry, Caitl-”
“Stop. . . . Just stop.” Caitlyn hated how thin her own voice sounded. She was angry with Vi but not for what Jinx had done. “Your sister did this, not you.”
Fire flashed in Vi’s gray eyes. "I was all she had left. I wasn’t there for her.”
Irritation enveloped Caitlyn’s brain just as another wave of pain did. “She couldn’t handle the weight of her own decisions and put them on you!” Exhaustion was stifling any attempt at tact. “What you did was remind her of who she used to be, someone who knew right from wrong. You’ve both been terribly wronged by the world, Vi, but only one of you pulled that trigger.”
The trencher’s posture was tense as she struggled to find the right words. “It's on me what happened to Powder. Her actions happened because I wasn't able to take care of her!”
“Then blame Marcus,” Caitlyn sighed and slouched further over until her elbows rested on her knees. Her head just wouldn’t stop throbbing. “Or blame Silco or the council or the enforcers that killed your parents. You can even blame me for breaking you out of prison and letting you find your sister. We all contributed to the world you and your sister grew up in.”
A low, frustrated growl rumbled up from Vi’s chest before her face curled into a teary sneer. “You don’t get it. How could you? When all you have are the clothes on your back, things like family mean everything. They’re the only thing standing between you and a knife in the gut or starving. Being alone down here is . . . is a death sentence and those that survive don’t see good and evil, they only see life and death . . . and they’ll do anything to stay alive. That’s what Powder had to do because I wasn’t there, she survived . . . This isn’t Topside. The rules are different down here,” she ended quietly.
Heavy silence filled the small room. No arguments or rebuttals left the enforcer’s lips. I’m not going to get through to her - she wants her guilt, wants to be punished. But maybe Vi is right, I can’t understand. I was naive enough to think I could expose a criminal organization and expect the council to do something about it, to think I could make a difference in the Undercity. Maybe I was naive enough to think we could be anything but oil and water, too.
Ekko returned minutes or hours later - grief did funny things to a person’s perception of time. “Everything okay?”
Caitlyn pushed herself back up right and watched a mask of indifference slip onto Vi’s face. “Fine. Any news?”
“People are panicking and forming mobs,” he said as he began rummaging through the medical supplies. “Some want to storm Topside and others are running. There’s a lot of people in the streets.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see what Topside does," Vi said, rubbing her injured knuckles.
“I wouldn’t expect a swift response,” Caitlyn muttered with a wince. Fuck this headache. “With the council and the sheriff gone, there’s no one to give orders beyond keeping the peace.”
“I guess that’s gonna have to be our silver lining.” Ekko shrugged and started putting the supplies on the cot next to Caitlyn, missing the way her jaw clenched and her body tensed. “So the staples?”
Right, the staples. “I’ll be fine,” Caitlyn stated tightly. “I just want them out.” Maniacal laughter echoed around her skull, forcing a shudder down her spine.
“Okay, I think the best way to do this is having you sit in the chair backwards. Vi, could you give her a hand?”
You don’t have to. I can do it myself, Caitlyn tried to say to Vi with her eyes. I’m not your responsibility.
Vi either didn’t get the message or chose to ignore it. “Come on, Cupcake. Just a couple of steps.”
With all the grace of a newborn foal, Caitlyn, with Vi’s help, limped to the chair and sat.
‘With how much of my art you had in your colossal room, I’m starting to think it’s me you want, not my sister. I suppose I could make something special just for you.’
The antiseptic smell of alcohol brought the enforcer back. Breathe, you’re not back there anymore.
“Ready?” Ekko placed a hand on her shoulder.
‘You know, I think it needs a little pizzazz. Maybe something shiny. ’
No. “Yes.” She felt him grip the first staple with a pair of tweezers and slowly pull it from Caitlyn’s skin and uniform before dropping it in a bucket beside him.
Clink!
“How was that?”
Disturbing. “Fine, it hurts less coming out than going in.” Caitlyn took a deep breath, feeling the staples and uniform pull tight across her back. Her fingers tightened on the back of the chair.
‘Vi must have forgotten that you’re an enforcer.’
Clink!
‘There’s no way she’d ever help one, not after what they did to our family.’
Clink!
‘This way, you’ll have to keep your uniform on.’
Clink!
‘She’ll have to remember then.’
Clink!
‘If you keep squirming-’
Clink!
‘-I’ll have to use even more staples-’
Clink!
‘-and do you know how hard it is to get a steady supply of this stuff down here?
Clink!
‘Don’t be a rude guest.’
Clink!
‘Are you not having a good time?’
Clink!
‘Here, I’ll turn that frown upside down.’
Clink!
“Ekko, let’s give her a second to breathe.” Caitlyn was only vaguely aware of Vi stepping in front of her and crouching down so their faces were level. “Cupcake, I need you to take a breath. Can you do that for me?”
The enforcer shook her head slightly. I can’t move or the pain will never stop.
A frown crossed Vi’s face. “Caitlyn, whatever you think you’re feeling or wherever you think you are, you’re safe here. You need to breathe.”
Vi’s warm hands were back on Caitlyn’s face, trying to ground her. Vi shouldn’t be here. She ’ll hurt her. She needs to leave before it’s too late. “ She’ll be back any second. You need to go,” Caitlyn forced through clenched teeth.
“She can’t get you here.” Vi threaded her fingers through Caityn’s hair, gently dragging her nails across the enforcer’s scalp. “We’re with Ekko and the Firelights.”
What? Why- “Ekko?”
“Yeah, he’s taking the staples out of your back, remember?”
Blunt nails reached the base of the enforcer’s skull and a shiver of pleasure forced air deep into Caitlyn’s lungs. Each breath brought her back closer to the present. Fuck, that felt so real. “Shit.”
“You’re safe here, Caitlyn,” Ekko softly added with a pat on her shoulder.
Caitlyn raised her eyes to meet Vi’s, finding sincere concern there. The enforcer closed hers, afraid of the emotions they were giving away. Pull it together. “I told you, it’s Piltie. ”
“Yeah?” Ekko huffed out a chuckle. “Alright, Pilitie. Do you want to take a break?”
I don’t want to feel. I don’t want to think. “No, just . . . Vi?”
The other woman pulled her chair in front of Caitlyn’s and took one of the enforcer’s hands. “I’m gonna be right here, Cupcake.”
Throat tight, Caitlyn nodded gratefully. “I’m ready.”
***
In the three days Vi had known Caitlyn, she’d pictured a moment like this a handful of times - helping the enforcer out of her clothes. None of those fantasies had involved Ekko, none of them had Caitlyn in such obvious discomfort, and none of them had Vi wishing the enforcer didn’t have to disrobe.
“Okay, I’m going to do this slowly. Let me know if it feels like I missed a staple,” Ekko muttered softly, still seated behind the enforcer.
Caitlyn’s nod was minute, a reflection of her exhaustion and lingering anxiety. She avoided Vi’s eyes as the enforcer pulled open her uniform coat and Ekko pulled it slowly from her shoulders and back. Vi kept her hands cradling Caitlyn’s cheek and buried in her hair. “Okay, Cupcake?”
“Yeah,” she muttered, meeting Vi’s concerned stare for just a moment. “I think the coat was too thick to get pulled in too deep by the staples.”
The skin around the enforcer’s eyes nearly matched the color of her hair Vi noticed. Hair that was stringy and tangled. Hair that Vi carefully began to card her fingers through. “You’re doing great, Cupcake.”
“Okay, I think we’re good,” Ekko announced. Caitlyn’s uniform coat was pooled around her waist, held in place by her belt. “The next one might be tricky though. Vi, hand me that pitcher of water.”
Caitlyn’s head dropped forward slightly as Vi removed her hands. She’s about to pass out in her chair. “Stay with us, Cupcake.“ Standing reminded Vi of her own injuries - her bruised ribs and stomach, her aching muscles.
Like everything in Zaun, the thin metal pitcher looked like it had been salvaged and repaired. She handed it over and stood behind Ekko to get a look at Caitlyn’s back and felt her stomach drop into her feet.
What had once been a pristine, white, sleeveless blouse was now speckled with crimson, sweat and blood adhering the shirt to the enforcer’s back. If Vi squinted, she could just make out the outline of Jinx’s drawing - a rough design of an enforcer’s helmet and gasmask.
“Give her the blanket,” Ekko ordered Vi as he poured water onto a clean rag. “She’s probably going to get cold.” He put a hand on Caitlyn’s shoulder. “I’m going to get your shirt a little wet so it won’t hurt as much when we try to take it off, okay?”
Caitlyn nodded and took the offered blanket from Vi.
***
Four days ago, Caitlyn’s biggest worry had been her parents’ meddling in her professional and personal life. Today, it was whether her mother and Jayce were still alive. . . and the pending war between the Undercity and Piltover. In a way, the pain she was in now was a much needed distraction from the bigger picture of her life. All she had to do right now was sit still and grit her teeth.
It was like removing the jacket before, but twice as awkward. The woman in front of her held the blanket against Caitlyn’s shoulders as the enforcer undid the buttons of her blouse. Ekko was just as slow as last time, but the pain was much sharper. The thin material of her shirt had lodged itself deep into the wounds on her back.
Deep, shaky breaths did little to relax her over stimulated nerves. Caitlyn let her head fall forward onto Vi’s shoulder, letting the tears burning her eyes fall.
She must have dissociated again because the next thing she felt was the sharp sting of alcohol on the back of her shoulder. “ Shit. ”
“You back with us, Piltie?”
Not that I want to be. Caitlyn groaned and pulled herself upright. “I guess so, Bossman.”
The firelight let out a small snort. “ Bossman , I like it. Fits better than Little Man.”
“I don’t know. You’re still shorter than both of us,” Vi pointed out.
“Screw you.”
“I’ll pass.”
‘ Vi.” Caitlyn gave her an exhausted glare. “I’m too tired for this. What’s going on?”
Vi’s apologetic shrug seemed less than sincere. “Your shirt is off and Ekko’s picked most of the leftover fabric out of your wounds. There’s just the ones under your bra and disinfecting left.”
“Oh.” She felt the straps around her shoulders and chest. “Does it need to come off?”
“Just loosened,” Ekko stated. “We just wanted you to be aware for it.”
“Ah, thank you for that. You can undo the clasp - you can reach it better than I can at the moment.”
“Okay.”
Caitlyn felt the tension in the silky material release as Ekko pulled the fabric from her back. An absurd thought crossed her mind and, in her tired state, she voiced it without hesitation. “This is the first time I’ve ever let a man undress me.”
A moment of silence passed as Vi and Ekko froze - Ekko in worried confusion and Vi in shocked surprise. Vi’s laughter barked out before immediately wincing and clutching her ribs. “ Ow, ow, ow. ”
Ekko still seemed uneasy. “I feel like I’m missing something.”
Vi grinned through her pain. “She’s like me, Ekko. Prefers the fairer sex.”
His face relaxed into a sizable grin. “Ooooh, shit. I’m honored to be your first, Piltie,” Ekko chuckled.
I am the city’s biggest idiot. “I never told you I preferred women,” Caitlyn said to Vi in confusion.
“Didn’t have to, Cupcake.”
The enforcer huffed, but didn’t disagree with the other woman’s assessment. Nope, I’m the world’s most obvious idiot. Where the fuck is my filter?
“Okay, okay. Let’s get back to it. Piltie, I’m gonna disinfect and then bandage you up, okay?” Ekko asked.
Caitlyn felt herself tense up unconsciously. Not really. “Let’s get this over with.” She met Vi’s stare before burying her face in Vi’s shoulder. The alcohol had a piecing quality to it, able to strike through the enforcer’s exhausted body. She hissed and gasped as Ekko moved about her back, but Vi stayed constantly solid, the stability Caitlyn needed through a sea of pain.
***
Daylight filtered into the room around the thin door and the curtained windows. The voices of laughing children and the hum of hoverboards could be heard outside. Admittedly, it wasn’t a terrible thing to wake to.
Awake or not, Vi couldn’t move. Her aching ribs protested against the weight of the sleeping enforcer more than half laying on top of her. Caitlyn’s soft snores were enough of a counter-argument to keep the trencher still. The topsider had had a very long and painful night-slash-morning after all.
It’s the least I can do, Vi thought as she ran her fingers through the hair of the woman laying on her chest. I’ve brought nothing, but pain into Cait’s life. It would have been better if she had left me in that cell to rot. At least then, Jinx wouldn’t have gone after her.
Vi stared at the ceiling, trying to blink away the burning in her eyes. All I do is hurt the ones I care about. Maybe I was the jinx all along.
“ Vi?”
She took a shallow breath in an attempt to calm the emotions suffocating her.
“Vi.”
Why did Vi ever think she could change anything? The world and everyone in it had moved on while she was gone. She was the only one still stuck in the past.
“Hey, it’s okay. Just breathe, okay?”
Why did Vander have to stop her from giving herself to the enforcers? At least then he would have been there for Powder and Mylo and Clagger would still be alive.
“Vi, I need you to breathe, please .”
It’s all my fault.
“No, it isn’t. You did everything you could. Without you, I’d have died.”
I’m the reason-
“Vi, look at me.”
Bleary, tear-filled eyes took in their surroundings for the first time. Her fog of guilt dissipated enough to realize Caitlyn was awake and staring down at her.
The enforcer brushed the hair from Vi’s face. “I chose to investigate your sister’s crimes. I chose to break you out of prison. I chose to put myself in danger because I was naive enough to think I could handle the risk. You aren’t responsible for my decisions.”
“I shouldn’t have-”
“You had no reason to trust me . . . nor I you. We did the best we could under the circumstances.”
It was hard to think of arguments while staring into Caitlyn’s soft, pleading, blue eyes. Eyes ringed in dark bruises caused by Vi’s sister. “Why don’t you hate me?” she whispered.
“Because you opened my eyes to a world I never knew existed.” Caitlyn admitted without meeting her eyes. “You shattered what I thought was reality. And even though it hurts like hell, I’m still grateful for it.”
Will you still be grateful once you reach Topside and find out what’s happened to your mom and Jayce? Vi let out a defeated sigh. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”