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Caitlyn paced around her office in fury, the tea on the table untouched. She had the shot. She had Jinx right there, and she just let her leave. She hadn’t even tried to catch her, and now she had an entire war with Noxus on her hands.
Why did she just make everything she touched worse? She tried to help the undercity and let her mother get killed. She tried to avenge her mother and broke Vi’s heart. And now she tried to keep Vi from losing a parent and let her mother’s murderer go.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered aloud to her mostly empty office.
That was when the window broke. She turned around, rifle pointed at the intruder, hoping for Vi, expecting an Noxian assassin. But it was neither.
It was Jinx.
“Wait,” she said. “Just…let me talk.”
She fired, but Jinx managed not to fall out the window. Instead, she hit the office floor and got up with a look of surprise.
“You missed.”
“I never miss,” Caitlyn said coldly.
Jinx glanced at her bleeding hand, as if she had just noticed that Cait had shot off her metal finger.
“Seriously? Again? You really have it out for the old bird, huh?”
“Get to your point before I shoot off another one.”
“Right,” Jinx said. “I’ve come to make a deal with you.”
“What could you possibly give me?”
“Revenge,” Jinx said simply.
“The only person I want revenge for is my mother.”
“Exactly,” Jinx said, wandering over to Caitlyn's office desk. “You kill me, and in return, you promise me that you’ll keep my family safe. You’ll leave the Herald and all of his weird culty people alone. You won’t let the Enforcers hurt anyone I love. Oh, and you don’t bother the firelights either.”
Caitlyn’s eyes narrowed. This seemed far too easy.
“You came here…to die?”
Jinx shrugged.
“My whole life, I’ve brought nothing but pain to everyone I know. Maybe my death will be able to fix some of that.”
Again, Caitlyn was finding it hard to hate her. Her fingers itched to put a bullet in her head, but it also felt a bit unfair. What was the point of killing someone who wanted to die? At this point, she’d basically be doing this poor girl a favor.
“What’s stopping me from just shooting you now and not keeping my promise?” She asked. “You’ll hardly be around to stop me.”
“You won’t do that,” Jinx said. “You’re a good person. I know you don’t think you are, but it’s true. I know what bad people are like. They’d shoot me even if I was hugging my father. Hell, if you were like most Pilties, I’d be dead already.”
“Vi would never forgive me,” Caitlyn said, hesitating.
“I thought about that. You know, you really don’t deserve her, but she deserves you. So I figured out a way to trick her.”
Jinx pulled out a familiar-looking blade.
“This is that Noxian’s knife.”
“Ambessa. I know. How the hell did you get it?” Caitlyn demanded.
“I have my ways. It doesn’t matter. If you use this to kill me, then you can put it all on Ambessa. Vi will be furious, and she’s someone who could rally the undercity if she tried. With our help, you might stand a chance against Noxus. And then, of course, my sister won’t hate you.”
She said this all very calmly, having clearly thought this all through. Sometimes Caitlyn forgot exactly how cunning she could be. And it was a tempting offer. Vengeance, help with the war, and a way to keep Vi’s heart from breaking yet again? She took the knife from Jinx, studying the blue-haired girl. All of her usual maniac energy seemed gone, replaced with something like peace. It was disturbing, to say the least.
“You aren’t the least bit afraid of dying?”
She laughed. It wasn’t a happy kind of laugh.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but I’ve been trying for a long time.”
“You couldn’t have been trying very hard,” Caitlyn snapped, thinking back to all the sleepless nights spent trying to catch her.
“Maybe you’re just a bad shot,” Jinx replied with a smile.
“How are you joking?” Caitlyn asked incredulously. “I’m about to kill you, for god’s sake. Don’t you have any grief or regret or fear or anything resembling human emotions?”
“I feel...relived,” she said. “I’m glad I get to die for something that matters. And I know this is selfish, but I’m glad this is all going to finally be over. That I get to rest. I really want to rest.”
There was such an overwhelming exhaustion in her voice. In the flickering firelight, Caitlyn could see her pale face looking unhealthy and worn. Suddenly she seemed very human and very young, like a child who should have been in bed hours ago. This must be the Powder that Vi still saw. Caitlyn still wanted to sink her knife into her throat, but now it was a feeling urged on by pity, not hatred. Like she was some kind of wounded animal. That was a terrible thought.
Caitlyn turned away, not wanting Jinx to see the tears in her eyes. She tried to steel herself to regain some of the hatred that had driven her for months. But when she thought of her mother’s face, all she saw was a look of deep disappointment.
“What’s wrong?” Jinx asked, mostly just sounding confused. “This is what you wanted, right?”
“I didn’t think it’d be like this,” Caitlyn said. “I never thought you’d come to me and just... surrender. For someone you love no less. I want to hate you. I want to hate you so badly. But I’m just tired.”
“Yeah,” Jinx said. “Kinda sucks, doesn’t it?”
“I should call the others. Throw you into Stillwater, have a trial.”
“Right, because that would be so much kinder.”
“No,” Caitlyn agreed. “That would just be cowardice, wouldn’t it? And it would be cruel. Much crueler than killing you here.”
“You’re no Marcus,” Jinx said. “You actually have the balls to do what needs doing. So what are you waiting for?”
Caitlyn took a deep breath and steeled herself. She looked at Jinx: wounded animal or murderous psychopath, she was dangerous all the same. There had always been only one way this would end, and this wasn’t how she wanted it go, but when did things ever go the way you wanted them to? She could kill Jinx, she could lie to Vi, and maybe they could take out the Noxians together. And after that, it would be over between them because Caitlyn wouldn’t be able to look Vi in the eye for very long.
She raised the knife. Jinx closed her eyes, her head bowed. She wasn’t crying, and she had a look of peaceful acceptance on her face. Caitlyn had never killed someone like this, defenseless and waiting.
The knife hit the table with a dull thud.
Jinx’s eyes fluttered open. She blinked.
“What are you—“
“If you want to commit suicide, do it yourself,” Caitlyn said harshly. “I’m not doing you any favors. You want your family to be safe? You rally the undercity. You’re the one everyone loves, not your sister. Join our fight against Noxus, and I’ll issue you a full pardon.”
Jinx glared at her.
“I don’t want a pardon.”
“Not much of a reason for me not to grant you one then. I’m not about to let you walk away from this so easily. That’s not how life works. You have to live with your mistakes, with the pain you’ve caused, and you have to try to fix them.”
“I can’t bring your precious mommy back from the dead, lady,” Jinx said.
But Caitlyn has spent enough time with Ambessa to see through such an obvious attempt at manipulation.
“No. You can’t undo the harm you’ve caused. But I see no point in giving you what you want. This is my revenge. I give you my mercy.”
“Go fuck yourself,” Jinx said, and Caitlyn thought she looked like herself again.
“The feeling is mutual, I assure you.”
She pulled the knife out of the table and handed it back to Jinx.
“Keep it,” she said. “I’ll fight your stupid war.”
“Thank you,” Caitlyn said, not because she was grateful but because she was pretty sure it would piss Jinx off.
She was right, by the look of it. Jinx picked up her untouched tea cup and hurled it at the wall.
“Done yet?” Caitlyn asked.
“That was poisoned,” Jinx said. “Your little side piece is working for Ambessa. The redhead? Thought I’d warn you.”
“What?” Caitlyn stared at the shattered teacup.
“Also, your scientist friend is back. He’s with Viktor.”
“Jayce is alive?” Caitlyn felt her head spinning.
“Bye!” Jinx said, jumping out the shattered window.
Caitlyn watched her go. Could she be right? Could Jayce be alive? Or was Jinx just messing with her?
She went over to the teapot to check the rest of the tea. There was definitely a strange odor she hadn’t noticed before. And Jinx might have heard something whenever she stole Ambessa’s knife.
She looked over at the knife, still lying on the table. Was it the right choice, leaving Jinx alive? They said letting go of vengeance would heal you, but she didn’t feel healed. The same hatred, grief, and exhaustion were still worming their way around her chest. Maybe she was weak, unable to hurt someone who was defenseless. Or maybe she just didn’t want to give Jinx the pleasure of death.
“Caitlyn?” Maddie said from behind the door. “Is everything all right?”
Caitlyn closed her eyes. This night was not over yet, and it would be a long one.