Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

How can you force someone to move forward, when you both know that each step they take is another moment closer to their life changing for the worse?

Vi doesn’t know. But she does it anyway. 

When the rocket hit the Council tower, Caitlyn’s knees buckled and she fell. And she hasn’t truly gotten back up again. Now numb to the world, Caitlyn is limp and pliant as Vi scoops her up to carry her on her back. 

She used to give Ekko piggyback rides like this. 

Ekko. Her brother. 

Can’t think about that right now. 

The walk topside is a silent one. Caitlyn is borderline unresponsive, and Vi has no idea if it’s because of the shock or her possible concussion, not to mention the leg injury. If it’s the grief, Vi can’t really understand that. She’s a woman of action, and her grief is loud. But Caitlyn is different than her. 

She decides that the best thing to do would be to look for a place for Caitlyn to be seen by a doctor first. If Caitlyn’s mother really is dead, which she probably is, Vi doesn’t know if Caitlyn’s father would be up to treating his daughter properly. And Vi just wants Caitlyn to be safe.

It’s the least she could do, really.

The bare minimum, in fact. Considering this is her fault. 

Vi’s convinced that once Caitlyn is ready to talk again, she’ll cast Vi aside. And Vi will let her. She understands. She deserves it. She should’ve done better. Been better. Gotten through to her sister. Or understood earlier that her sister was gone. 

Eventually, Vi finds a hospital.

It doesn’t take long after Vi starts yelling for a team of doctors and nurses to take Caitlyn from Vi’s arms into their expert care. 

Then she waits. Because what else can she do? She still needs to get Caitlyn home. That’s her goal. That’s all she needs to do. Then she needs to go. Needs to deal with her monster. And the curse that makes her ruin everything and everyone she comes into contact with. 

Some time passes before a nurse calls her attention. He tells Vi that Caitlyn thankfully did not have a concussion, just some bruising and a shallow cut on her head. They also changed the bandages on her leg. 

Damn, Caitlyn’s tougher than Vi thought, to not have a concussion after that. 

But this means that Vi can take her home now. 

The thought fills her with more sorrow than she’d like to admit. Because that means this is it. The last time she’ll see Caitlyn. She’ll take her home and then…leave. 

She’s only known Caitlyn for a few days, why does this hurt so much?

Upon being discharged from the hospital, Vi starts leading Caitlyn towards where she remembers the other’s home being. Any other day, and Vi might think to feel a little bit of pride in her spatial memory. It’s always been sharp. But today isn’t the day she’s thinking about that. Now, she is only grateful for her memory’s reliability as the enormous mansion comes into view. And as they get closer to the gates, Vi sees Enforcers standing all around the building. Shit. 

She watches as the Enforcers notice her, the red of her jacket and her hair probably making her stand out in the otherwise dull background. She then sees them take notice of who, exactly, is leaning on her, and suddenly their faces become much more urgent. 

A couple of them start moving, probably making to separate Caitlyn from Vi, but before anyone can do anything, Caitlyn bites out, “She’s with me. Move aside.” Her tone startles Vi, it’s colder than she’s ever heard from the other woman, but she can hardly blame her for being at her limit.  

The Enforcers stationed around the manor let them pass, although their eyes still fall warily on Vi. Whatever, she can take their stares, she just needs to get Caitlyn safely inside. And then…well, one step at a time. 

The gates open for them, and Vi brings Caitlyn inside the manor grounds. When she hears footsteps behind her, Vi turns her head and sees that one of the Enforcers followed them in. At first she’s confused why, but when they open the large manor door for them a few seconds later, she understands. She mumbles out a quick “thanks”, but she thinks it may have been hidden under all the exertion she feels. She tries not to feel bad about that. 

In the first room they walk into is Caitlyn’s father. Immediately Caitlyn practically leaps from Vi’s arms into his. And Vi knows in that moment that Caitlyn’s mother is dead. 

Vi lets them have their moment. She slinks away, trying to find somewhere, anywhere, else to go in this huge place. She feels like an intruder. Probably because she is. She got Caitlyn here, back to her father. 

Now what? 

Does…does she just leave? Should she say goodbye? 

Does Caitlyn hate her now? 

Does Jinx? 

The thought of her sister comes unbidden. As she enters what seems to be a small office of some kind, books on the shelves, and comes to sit on the cushioned bench by the window, Vi can’t help but wonder about her sister. It was one of her most frequent pastimes the last seven years, it’s not like the habit would stop now. And for the first time, Vi doesn’t know what to think. She’s asked herself if Powder hated her a million times pacing around that cell. But all she had was that night at the old cannery to go on. Now, she has more memories. And she doesn’t know what they mean. 

Powder…Jinx…she thinks Vi doesn’t love her anymore. That she can’t love her. God, Vi hates that she wasn’t able to tell Powder–Jinx–what she needed to hear. She’s lost her sister again and it’s all her fault. Because she did this. She created this. This–this thing that wears her sister’s face. Because that’s not Powder. Right? 

She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know anything anymore. 

Jinx. She…killed Silco. To save Vi. But then she rejected Vi and shot a rocket at the Council, and now Caitlyn’s mother is dead. So much blood on Vi’s hands now. Not that she’s mad about Silco. But she is sad that Jinx had to do it. She doesn’t understand much about the last seven years, but she knows that Silco meant something to Jinx. To Powder. 

And Vi had meant something to Jinx too. 

Vi itches to leave. To open this window and leap out right now to go track down her sister. Or what used to be her sister. She…she still doesn’t know. She doesn’t know what to think. But sitting here and doing nothing simply isn’t her style. She’s done enough of that, being stuck in that cell. Being stuck while everyone and everything changed.

Her sister changed. 

The undercity changed. 

Ekko changed. 

God, Ekko. 

She doesn’t even know if he’s alive. 

Well, her sister survived. Maybe he did too. They’re survivors, she can feel it. She should still check, though.   

But. 

She can’t leave Caitlyn. Not like this. Not when it’s her fault that her mother is dead. 

Vi stares out the window for a few minutes more. Or maybe hours. She doesn’t know. Whatever the case, she hears steps padding into the room and feels someone sit beside her on the bench. A quick glance at dark blue hair lets Vi know it’s Caitlyn. 

“Thank you, Vi,” Caitlyn says, a little breathlessly. “For bringing me back.” 

Vi bites back the immediate guilt she feels in the face of the thankfulness so that she can give a reasonably appropriate response, “No need to thank me, Cupcake.”

She’s rewarded with the barest hint of a giggle, “Are you going to call me that forever?”

“‘Course I am, what else would I call you?”

“You can call me by my name, you know.” 

No, I really can’t, Vi thinks. Because if she did, then that would be getting too close. This would all be too real. Better to stay with the shallow nickname. If Vi were being honest with herself, she’d know that she is already too close. She turns her head and meets Caitlyn’s lovely teal eyes, and in that moment she knows it’s over for her. 

She looks away again, “Alright, how about ‘Cait’? That work for you?”

“This is the best I’ll get, isn’t it?”

“Yep.” She pops the ‘p’ for emphasis, just to be a little shit. It’s fun for her, but she’s also hoping to try and tease out a little bit of an ease from Caitlyn tonight. Heaven knows she needs it. 

“Very well. It certainly beats being referred to as a dessert.”

–

Over the next couple weeks, they fall into an uneasy routine. Caitlyn is forced to step into her mother’s shoes quickly, overseeing the funeral planning, discussing the memorial for the fallen Council members, being the head of the Kiramman household. Amidst all this, Caitlyn manages to stand mostly straight. And when she can’t, Vi is there to catch her. She knows that underneath it all, Caitlyn is a woman grieving her mother, and she just wants it to stop. 

Vi can empathize. 

No one let her stop either. 

So she endeavors to be the person that Caitlyn can let her guard down with. 

With her, Caitlyn cries. She sobs. She screams her throat hoarse about how unfair it all is. And Vi simply listens. She has no words to give, and she doesn’t think Caitlyn would want such useless platitudes anyway. 

In the meantime, Vi…stays. It’s not as if she has anywhere else to go. And being there for Caitlyn, it feels like her responsibility. 

She wonders what Caitlyn would say, if she said that thought aloud. 

She wonders why she doesn’t want Caitlyn to agree. 

—

Sometimes Vi walks the streets of Piltover, which are quieter than they should be. The gaping hole in the Council tower greets her every time she looks up. 

How many times had she imagined such a thing as a kid? Every time an Enforcer copped a feel, or threw her up against the fence, or a Topsider sneered at her, or she saw some kid starving in the streets—

No, this is not the first time she imagined the Council building blown up to smithereens. But now it’s real. If she’s being honest with herself, she isn’t nearly as upset about the attack as perhaps she should be. 

She’s more upset that it was her sister who did it. Her sister who now wielded her enormous gun like it was a second arm. Or…not her sister anymore. Her monster. She said so herself. Why is that so hard to remember? And why does remembering that hurt so bad?

She’s also upset because of course nothing good can last in her life. Of course Caitlyn’s mother had to be in that goddamn building. Had Caitlyn been literally anyone else, it wouldn’t be like this. But the universe hates her. Always has.

Well fuck that. 

She’s gonna fight for the one good thing she’s got left. It’s all she knows how to do.

Even if that means…even if that means she’s gotta clean up her mess to do so. 

—

The routine continues. 

Rain pours outside as Caitlyn falls into Vi’s waiting arms, sobbing. Vi can hardly stand to see the woman in such pain anymore. She has to do something. Anything. 

There’s only one thing she can think to do. She looks into Caitlyn’s eyes, strengthening her resolve by feeding herself off of the pain she finds there. 

Vi looks down. 

“You were right, Cait,” The words taste like ash in her mouth, but she pushes through. “Powder’s gone. But I can make this right. If you get Jayce to fix the gauntlets, I can do this myself. No one else needs to get hurt.” Except for Vi, of course, but if she had the choice to take the pain of others onto herself, she’d make that choice every single time. It’s not even a thought to her, anymore. Just an instinct. Honed by years of being an…being an older sister. 

Caitlyn shakes her head, “No.” A touch on Vi’s arm, light and brief, moving to grasp her hand, “No more rogue missions. No more reckless plans. My mother was right. My arrogance led me to take on more than I could handle, and she paid the price.” 

Vi hates that Caitlyn has shouldered the blame of her mother’s death on herself. All Caitlyn tried to do was make things better. It wasn’t her fault. Vi almost wishes she’d just offload it on Vi, like everything and everyone else. Vi could handle it. She always did. 

Then Caitlyn drops a piece of news that Vi had honestly been expecting for some time now, “They’re sending all the Enforcers after Jinx. I’m going with them.” 

Vi won’t let Caitlyn do this alone. But for her sake or Jinx’s…she’s not so sure. “Please, I have to help.” It’s all she can offer anymore. 

“You can.” Caitlyn says. Vi waits eagerly for her to explain, only to be struck dumb by the honest-to-god Enforcer’s badge she pulls from her pocket. 

She stares at the badge, in shock. Not just that she’d been offered this, but that it was Caitlyn who did so. Caitlyn, who knew—

She’s just grieving. She’s just grieving. Don’t get angry. She’s not herself. She’s desperate. 

Vi is impressed by how composed she manages to be, “Cait, I can’t wear this.” 

“People are calling for blood.” Blood? Wait, why is Vi even surprised, isn’t that just what she was insinuating she’d do just a moment ago? God, it’s all so fucking confusing! Standing here in the mansion of the matriarch her sister killed—the mother of her girlfriend—or whatever you call what they are. Vi doesn’t know. Too many thoughts are running across her mind and she can hold tight to none of them, none other than the badge is burning in her hand, so she drops it.

Caitlyn continues, undeterred by Vi’s dismay, “The council can’t stop them. You can show that not all of Zaun supports Jinx. We can show them, together,” she adds with a slight smile. 

For a second, Vi sees red, because what the fuck does that mean?! But she tampers it down with years and years of practice. She reminds herself that Caitlyn is not acting like herself. This is just a lapse in judgement. She’s just grieving. 

But Vi has grieved. And she has never asked someone to betray their principles for it. She has never treated someone like a prop—

No. No. She won’t be mad. She won’t be mad. 

Vi just backs away, head shaking with all the shock and disbelief and trying to rid herself of the anger that threatens to consume her. She tries her hardest to find the words to show Caitlyn how fucking horrible this idea is, “I watched them kill my parents. Do you have any idea how that feels?” 

“Yes, I do.”

Vi has to leave this hallway immediately, because she might lose her composure completely if she doesn’t. She doesn’t want to be mad. She really doesn’t want to. But Caitlyn doesn’t know. She doesn’t fucking know. She takes a breath and looks away. 

Then Caitlyn takes it a step further, “I thought you were on our side.” 

Now Vi truly can’t stay. She pivots on her foot, “You didn’t think at all.” Then she stuffs her hands in her jacket’s pockets and walks away. 

And keeps walking. 

And keeps walking still. 

She walks until she’s out in the streets of Piltover, soaking wet and aching for a drink to calm her mind. She didn’t used to be such a drinker. But lately it has become a habit. She understands now why Vander drank, she thinks. It keeps things manageable. Under the surface. Less real. Less painful. 

As she sits under a bridge and feels at the bottles around her, she’s suddenly frustrated that the one in front of her is empty. Like it’s taunting her by not containing the one thing she’s craving right now. One of the many things, anyway. 

She just can’t believe Caitlyn would ask this of her. And the way she spoke to her…those were the kind of words Vi never thought Caitlyn would say. Those are the kind of words Vi had come to expect from Topsiders since she was a child. But Caitlyn was supposed to be different than that. She is different than that. Vi just needs to help her see that. 

Or maybe that isn’t her fucking responsibility. 

Too many conflicting thoughts again.

Without alcohol, Vi can only resort to causing some form of violence to let out her feelings, so she launches the bottle with a shout. 

But unexpectedly there’s another sound back from where the bottle lands, “Hey, watch it.”

Ah shit, there was a guy laying there, “Sorry.”

The man approaches, asking more genuinely than she deserves, “You all right?” Vi can’t answer that without being a sarcastic asshole, so she doesn’t. 

The man must take her silence as an invitation of sorts because he sits right besides her. Usually, people see the wraps on her hands and forearms and know not to fuck with her, but this dude is as big as…as big as some other people she’s seen that are very big. Yeah. Not thinking about it. She’s great at that. 

“You lose someone in the attack?” He asks, handing her a flask. She decides she might like him. She scoffs a little but takes the flask anyway, downing a sizeable gulp. 

She doesn’t answer his question. 

They sit together for maybe an hour after that before Vi sneaks back into the manor. 

His name is Loris. 

—

It’s the day of the memorial, and Vi is drinking with her new buddy Loris. They don’t really know much about each other, but they know enough to swap stories and bottles. It feels similar to the way she’d make those surface-level friendships with the other inmates in Stillwater. When she wasn’t in solitary, that is. 

The freedom to sit in the sun and drink her woes away is not a freedom she takes lightly.

She’s a bit buzzed, laughing to herself about Caitlyn’s idea of joining the Enforcers (see? drinking makes the pain so muted that it’s funny now), and she's starting to feel the guilt ease back into her mind when two Enforcers suddenly block her view of the sun. 

One of them calls her by name. An Enforcer, knowing her name? Probably trouble. “Who are you? And how do you know my name?” 

The ginger Enforcer, the one who said her name, speaks up, “Junior Officer Nolen. Maddie. And it’s written on your face.” 

Oh, so we’ve got a smartass over here. Wonderful. If she wasn’t an Enforcer, and Vi was back in Stillwater, she probably would’ve given them a lovely sock to the jaw for that. 

Unfortunately, she can’t do that, so she elects to be an asshole right back, “So what is it? Random search? Escort off the property? Or you just here to waste my time?” 

At least the Enforcer, Maddie—Nolen (though Vi’s just gonna call her Maddie)—is a little bit thrown off guard by the attitude. Good. Not as much as Vi would like though. Because she’d prefer that these Enforcers leave her the fuck alone. But Maddie just explains why they’re there, “You’re something of a legend amongst the Enforcers.” Oh this should be good, Vi starts drinking from another bottle. “Caitlyn made quite the scene at the station when they tried to deny your enlistment.” She what when they what? “Now I have to ask, is it all true? You went after Silco alone when the Council wouldn’t back you? Took on his whole gang?”

Caitlyn said that about her? Vi’s kind of touched. But also slightly irritated, because this means that Caitlyn enlisted her without telling her. Maybe that’s why she already had the badge. 

When Vi asks, Maddie replies, “She said if every Enforcer had a heart like yours, we could take on Noxus itself.” 

Not the first time Caitlyn has had something to say about her heart. And not the first time Caitlyn has said something so horribly naive. 

Yet…Vi can’t help but feel something about this. Maybe hopeful? Maddie doesn’t seem so bad of a person…what if the Enforcers were filled with good people and not the crocks of shit they keep putting in a uniform? Vi’s still doubtful it would change much, but maybe it could change something. Maybe it could mean that the Enforcers would have their priorities in check. Maybe they wouldn’t kill the people who wanted Piltover’s boot off their neck. 

Maddie says something else, but Vi’s not really listening, not until she says, “Anyhow, I’m glad you’re joining up.” Well, that’s wrong. And Vi has half a mind to tell her how wrong that is, but she sees the hope in Maddie’s face and she can’t bring herself to. 

“After the sheriff betrayed us…well, let’s just say that it’s nice to know there are still good ones left.” Maddie holds her hand out for Vi to take. Vi swallows down the uncomfortable feeling she gets from the choice in words and takes it. Maddie looks so pleased. Vi can’t really stand such cheer at the moment. 

She just feels…sad. Like she’s made a mistake of some kind. But what was the mistake? Telling Caitlyn to fuck off? Or by even considering for a second that she could do good with a badge? Or maybe the mistake was sitting here, drinking her feelings away instead of dealing with them like a competent person. 

—

It is only after the attack on the memorial that Vi has a chance to speak to Caitlyn again. Her adrenaline is still coming down, heart rate subsiding after pounding in her ears from the fight, and the bone-chilling terror she felt that she and Jayce wouldn’t be able to save Caitlyn from a gruesome death. 

And they didn’t save her. 

Ambessa and her Noxian soldiers did. 

As Vi walks towards the tent where Caitlyn sits, she makes brief eye contact with the woman. She’s not entirely sure what to make of her, other than she is not someone to be fucked with. And the way she came in clutch for this fight…Vi finds the timing suspect, but the influence of that timing to be more so. Because Ambessa, as far as Vi knows, which isn’t much to be fair, is not a part of the politics of Piltover. Yet her soldiers are here and she’s been giving orders and, from what Caitlyn has said, whispering in a Council member’s ear. Something about all that sits uneasy with Vi. But…she is Mel Medarda’s mother. So maybe this isn’t so unusual. It doesn’t matter right now. She needs to talk to Caitlyn. 

When she gets to the tent, Maddie and the other Enforcer from earlier are looking Caitlyn over. Thankfully, she looks fine. Caitlyn nods the others off, leaving her and Vi alone. 

Vi can’t help it, her first instinct is levity, “Thought for sure you were gonna get yourself killed.” 

Yeah, she probably deserved the complete lack of response she got for that one. But it’s the look of barely concealed rage on Caitlyn’s face that truly makes her take pause. They both look to an Enforcer picking up a crying child. 

Vi tries not to think about the dead kid in the Shimmer factory. 

“A memorial,” Caitlyn says, outraged. “What kind of animals?” She almost grits her teeth saying it, and Vi almost chokes. 

She’s just grieving. She just had a near death experience. She’s just rattled. 

Vi decides to let the comment slide, but she hates herself a little bit for it, “They wanted the spectacle. They’re trying to scare you.” She doesn’t want Caitlyn to take this personal. And she doesn’t want Caitlyn to keep using this kind of language either. It’s getting…concerning. She hates that she’s the logical one now, because that’s not who she is. Now, she’s not a fool, but she thinks with her heart, and her fists, and she thinks fast. Caitlyn has always thought slow and methodical. Or at least, she did in the days she’d known her, before all this. 

But now Caitlyn is enraged, “All they did is piss me off.”

Vi has nothing to say to that, so she moves on to the other reason she's here, “You need to find a way to call off the invasion.”

“What?”

Vi tries her best to explain, to soothe Caitlyn’s anger, “This battle was on your soil. Down there, you’ll be on their terms.”

It doesn’t work, “None of this is on our terms.”

“Maybe you should change that.”

“I don’t know how, okay?!” Caitlyn snaps. “She dies and leaves this giant hole, and I’m just supposed to fill it. Like she was never there to begin with.”

Now this is a little more familiar. Vi can offer Caitlyn something here. It’s not something she’ll like, though. She gently lifts Caitlyn’s face up to look at hers, “Hey, you won’t. The hole gets smaller, but…you never fill it.”

Another quiet moment between the two, and Caitlyn speaks up again, “I was wrong to spring the badge on you. It’s just…every way I slice it, if I go after your sister alone, one of us comes back in a box.”

Vi knows this. She also knows that in Caitlyn’s mind, there was no question of Jinx’s death. That’s why Vi had offered to do it in the first place. To stop Caitlyn’s hands from being washed with that blood, in case she ever regretted it. Or if it made her relationship with Vi too complicated. Because she couldn’t lose this. Not now. Not when it’s all she’s got because she still doesn’t even know anything about Ekko and there’s the guilt again. Because she’s a horrible sister. She shuts that train of thought down, hard. 

She refocuses on Caitlyn, “It’s all coming apart.”

Vi shakes her head, “No, it isn’t. We won’t let it.” And she sits by Caitlyn. Defeated, maybe, but she hopes she doesn’t show it, because Caitlyn needs her to be strong right now. Caitlyn needs her to be her rock. And as long as Vi is needed, she can maintain the facade. 

Because on the inside, she’s screaming herself hoarse, stabbing herself in the heart but stubbornly clinging to life. Because she’s made her choice. 

Caitlyn will go after Jinx no matter if Vi is there or not. 

Vi has already accepted (no she hasn’t, but she’s not acknowledging that remember?) that Powder is gone, and Jinx is the monster Vi made out of her. 

Vi can’t lose Caitlyn too. 

She has to make sure it isn’t Caitlyn coming back in that box. 

There's only one choice she can make.

“Cait.”

She hates herself so much. This is all her fault. And even fixing it makes Vi feel lower than dirt. 

“I’ll do it,” Vi turns her head to Caitlyn, hoping she doesn’t look the way she feels. “I’ll wear the badge.”

Vi can’t tell if it’s better or worse that Caitlyn doesn’t argue the point, or even ask what changed her mind. She just smiles, and looks grateful that at least this one thing could go her way. 

Vi can’t begrudge her that. 

—

The clothes don’t fit. 

Well, objectively, they do, but Vi still feels like they pull on her the wrong way, that they’re too loose in others. She doesn’t belong in this. She doesn’t look right in this blue and gold. 

It takes everything in her not to rip the clothes from her body. 

At least she was able to keep her chest wrappings, the only thing from her previous outfit allowed to stay. 

Caitlyn was impressed by Loris’s ability to use a shield during the memorial attack. She recruited him, and rather easily too. Vi got the feeling he did not have much else to do, or much of a dog in this fight. 

The other two members of their squad are the two Enforcers from before, Maddie and, now she knows, Steb.

She’s too disgusted with herself to even think of a sarcastic quip to say when they come out of the shadows honest-to-god posing while Caitlyn sells the appeal of their strike team to the remaining Council. 

Vi’s sure that Caitlyn is making a convincing argument, but she’s not listening. There’s only ringing in her ears as she has an out of body experience, looking at herself from the outside. The discomfort on her face is palpable. Does anyone else see it?

Does anyone else care? 

She keeps trying to tell herself what she’s here for. She’s here to stop Caitlyn from going off the cliff in her grief and clear need for revenge. She’s here to stop people like Ambessa whispering in her ear. She’s here to stop her sister, or what used to be her, from suffering anymore than she’ll need to. 

She’s here because she needs Caitlyn, and this is the only way she’ll get her. 

And as she stands there, wearing the badge of the monsters who killed her parents, who made her life a living hell day after day…

Vi has never hated herself more. 

Oh, the things we do for love. 

Chapter Text

Vi hates to admit it, but Caitlyn’s starting to make her antsy. 

Okay, maybe she’s become a woman obsessed. And Vi knew that Caitlyn could be a very determined person when she wanted to be—she saw that map in her bedroom, after all—but this is something different. It’s a darker kind of focus. 

It reminds Vi of herself, those nights spent thinking of Silco and all he had taken from her. 

She doesn’t much like the parallel, especially considering that all that came from her directed rage was some wasted fights with Sevika and a busted Shimmer factory. In other words, nothing concrete. Just pure collateral. 

Vi fears the kind of collateral that could come from Caitlyn’s pain should she lose control of it, of that perfect mask of composure she wields like it’s been welded onto her. Each twitch of the hand, strain of the shoulder…they all tip Vi off that Caitlyn might be coming dangerously close to an edge, a line Vi refuses to let her cross.

It’s becoming harder and harder to find the moments of gentleness, kindness, and generosity that made Vi fall for the other woman, and that scares her. It scares her a lot. Like many things do, it makes her think of Powder. Was this what it was like when Jinx took her place? Was it gradual? 

Or was it instantaneous, Powder one moment and Jinx the next? Did Powder lose herself completely all in one night? 

Guilt rolls around in her gut just thinking about it, so Vi pushes those thoughts away. But it doesn’t stop her from wondering if Caitlyn is going to reach a moment like that too, if she’ll suddenly become unrecognizable. 

Well, if that happens, and pray to all the gods that it does not, it’s not gonna happen today. Not if Vi’s got any say in it. 

Caitlyn’s newfound demeanor is making Vi uneasy, but she’s not gonna give up without a fight. She’s not giving up ‘til she sees the light re-enter those teal eyes of hers, until she’s the Caitlyn that Vi has had the pleasure to know. 

But no small part of her wonders if she’s fighting a losing battle. 

–

Although they haven’t found the barest trace of Jinx, Vi gets the feeling that from now on, it should just be Caitlyn and her scouring the streets of Zaun. And not because of some desire for them to be alone (though she’s not going to pretend she isn’t thinking that…), but because she truly believes they’re the only two even remotely equipped to taking on Jinx. 

And if she doesn’t want to see Maddie’s cheerfulness stripped away, or Steb’s stoicism cracked, or Loris, who looks so much like… him, hurt in any way, well, she keeps that to herself. 

But eventually these feelings grow too strong and Vi grows too uneasy, so after speaking with some poor dude working under Smeech (and after Vi had to talk Caitlyn down from sending him to fucking Stillwater—), Vi asks to speak with Caitlyn, alone. 

They walk a ways away from the others, ducking into some small staircase, a worker’s pathway probably, and they lean on the opposite sides of the walls. Caitlyn puts her rifle down, which gives Vi a small feeling of relief—she doesn’t really like the way Caitlyn has been holding onto that thing like a lifeline, lately. 

Caitlyn watches Vi expectantly and perhaps a little impatiently, so Vi just spits it out, “I think we should cut the others loose.”

Immediately Caitlyn scoffs at that, but before she can respond Vi jumps in, “Listen, I know my sister. If we find her, and she’s prepared, there’s gonna be some surprises in store for us, and the others won’t be ready for that.”

Caitlyn says nothing.

Vi looks at her a little imploringly, “Tell me I’m wrong.”

Caitlyn sighs, “You’re not wrong. It’s just…I can’t let her get away again,” she seems to mull over something for a moment before locking her gaze back onto Vi’s. “Are you sure you’re ready to…?” 

Kill my sister? No. Yes. Vi’s now well acquainted with the feeling of ash in her mouth that overcomes her as she speaks, “My sister is gone. There’s only Jinx now,” her voice is quiet. But she won’t allow her conviction to waver. She has to do this. For Caitlyn. For…for herself. “It has to end.”

Caitlyn doesn’t say anything in response, and Vi finds that her emotions start running away from her. She’s talking about killing her sister. Or whatever of her sister is left. Whatever any of this means. 

Her sister, who is changed. Who isn’t Powder anymore. Is she still her sister? 

No, no she can’t think like that. 

She has to think of the here and now. Of the woman standing in front of her. The woman she can still save from becoming different just like everybody else. 

“I’m so sorry about your mother,” and truly, she is. This is her fault. “I’m sorry I can’t bring her back, but please just…” her eyes water as she forces the words out of her, the feelings she’s locked away bubbling over. She’s been watching Caitlyn change and her presence hasn’t been enough to stop it. Maybe she can just convince her not to. She has to try. She’ll do anything at this point to hold onto this one good thing. “Everyone in my life has changed. Promise me you won’t change.”

Vi forces the tears back by closing her eyes, trying not to think about the raw vulnerability she just exhibited. The thing is, that’s how she used to be. Heart on her sleeve. Open. 

Prison doesn’t take kindly to people like that. 

But one thing about Vi is that she’s not good at change. Or with it. 

She’s shaken from her thoughts by a cool hand on her face, and she opens her eyes to see Caitlyn approaching her tenderly. Within the depths of her teal gaze, Vi can see the person she used to know. But it rings like a hollow victory. Vi’s gaze flickers between Caitlyn’s eyes and lips as she moves closer, and closer…is this really happening? Does Caitlyn really want this? Because Vi does, God she really, really does. Vi doesn’t pull away, and Caitlyn doesn’t stop inching closer.

As their lips meet, for the briefest moment Vi can forget everything. She can forget the reason she’s here, the clothes she’s wearing, the words she just said, the thoughts she just had. She can just think that she wants more, more, more. Like a kiss has never felt so nice. So right. So tender. 

But also maybe has never felt so desperate, either. 

Caitlyn leans back, breaking their kiss apart, and she says, “I won’t.” 

A feeling of befuddlement bubbles up in Vi as the context of the conversation slams back into her. But she doesn’t want to examine that right now so she decides to chase after the one thing she can think of, more of that sweet serenity and bliss that comes from kissing Caitlyn. Vi disengages her gauntlets and Caitlyn softly caresses her face, and then she just goes for it. 

It’s the best kiss she’s ever had.

And like all the rest of them, it’s a distraction. 

–

Vi’s burgeoning hope that Caitlyn will return to the way she used to be is tested when they reach yet another dead end. They’re in a grimy alleyway in an abandoned part of Zaun. Word is Jinx had come through recently, so Vi and Caitlyn decided to check it out. But if Jinx had been here, she’s long gone, and she left nothing behind. 

Caitlyn grips her rifle so tight that the metal creaks. She faces the wall in front of them, shoulders taut and head down. Seeing her like this hurts Vi, so after disengaging the gauntlets, Vi gently puts a hand on one of those tense shoulders and guides Caitlyn to turn around. To her relief, Caitlyn complies, but she still doesn’t look at Vi. Vi takes another risk, and lifts her head up by her chin. For a moment, just a brief flicker, Caitlyn’s eyes lock onto hers. 

But then the moment ends, and Caitlyn shakes her hand off and looks away, back towards the end of the alley, “This isn’t working.”

“It’s just another setback. We’ll keep trying, someone’s gotta know something.” That Vi doubts any self-respecting Zaunite would ever give up one of their own, she doesn’t say aloud. 

“And how long will that take? We’ve been at this for weeks now, Vi!” Caitlyn looks around wildly before turning her head back towards Vi. She almost looks frantic. 

“I know!” Vi snaps before taking a quick breath out and calming down. “I know.”

Caitlyn acts like she doesn’t hear her, continuing to air her frustrations, “We’re getting nowhere, we have no idea where she is and where she’s going or what she’s doing! We’re sitting ducks like this!”

“You’re right.” Vi sighs, a sudden weariness making itself known in her bones as she finds she’ll have to try and talk Caitlyn out of the upcoming spiral of frustration and anger. “But what can we do? Jinx is slippery, she’s probably keeping a low profile. There’s nothing we can do about that.”

Caitlyn looks down and away, clearly considering something. Vi just waits patiently, or as patiently as she can. She rubs the tips of her thumbs and first two fingers together, a nervous habit she’s never been able to kick. 

Finally, Caitlyn comes to a decision and shifts her gaze towards Vi with some kind of determination swimming in her eyes, “There’s something.” 

At Vi’s questioning stare, Caitlyn continues, “Vi, my mother…the Kiramman family maintains an archive of all of our family history, our investments, our sponsorships…every new measure that we are involved with in Piltover is documented and catalogued. Being that I am the new head of House Kiramman, my mother left me the key to the archives. And I have been studying them.” Caitlyn nods and gestures as she speaks, filled with a kind of energy that isn’t quite frantic, but not subdued either. “And a few days ago, I came across something that could help us. Something that could make Jinx come out whatever hole she’s hiding in.”

By the end of her spiel, Caitlyn is damn near gritting her teeth, her bright teal eyes boring into Vi’s. Caitlyn’s never mentioned these archives before, and Vi isn’t sure how she feels about that. Why keep it a secret? And what’s this about finding something a few days ago? Why wait until now? Caitlyn is determined to catch Jinx. The fact that she’d hesitate over any advantage they could get…it worries Vi. So does the undercurrent of desperation lining Caitlyn’s words. 

She speaks softly, trying to pacify Caitlyn’s increasingly frenzied mood, “What are you talking about?” Vi hopes the uneasiness she feels isn’t reflected in her tone, in the way the words catch and drag on her tongue. 

Caitlyn’s eyes are wide and bright, as if she’s made an important discovery, “The ventilation system.”

What.

A chill runs down Vi’s spine as the world around her falls away. It’s just her and Caitlyn now, and Vi suddenly doesn’t feel comfortable with that. She’s overcome by a sudden feeling of being caught unawares, and she’s struck dumb…because there is no way that Caitlyn is implying what Vi just thinks she might, right? Nothing good can come from fucking with the vents in the undercity. The air down here is already shit. And the vents are the only thing that stops…the Grey.

Fuck. 

No. 

That can’t be what she means. 

Vi knows that Caitlyn needs a response, but all Vi can do as her mind reels from the realization is grit out a choked, “What?” 

Caitlyn doesn’t take the warning tone for what it is, though, and continues unperturbed, unknowingly confirming Vi’s fears as she goes, “I’ve discovered that my mother helped create the ventilation system meant to filter out the toxic air down here. Purifying the air of the industry gases from the fissures. That is why we’re able to be this far down without wearing a gas mask.”

Vi blinks, exasperation bubbling up out of the pot she’s using to contain her building anger, “Should we be saying thank you?” She can’t help but allow a little bit of bitterness to line her voice, because she can think of a few reasons why a topsider would be invested in the air quality of Zaun, and none of them are good. 

The woman across from her shakes her head, still oblivious in the midst of her own ambition, “No, Vi, you aren’t understanding me. I’m saying that I know all about the ventilation system now. Which means that I know how to turn it the other direction.”

The dread pooling in her gut bursts into a feeling of shock and disbelief and maybe even disgust. Vi really wishes she hadn’t been right. She looks away from Caitlyn and then looks back again, unsure if she’s dreaming. This cannot be the same person she met weeks ago. The Caitlyn she knew would never have even considered such a thing. She automatically takes a step back from Caitlyn and the calculating gleam in her eyes, “Are…are you serious right now?” 

Finally, Caitlyn seems to notice Vi’s tone and hesitance, and her brows furrow, “Vi—”

Vi starts shaking her head violently as the reality of Caitlyn’s plan, what she wants Vi to be complicit in, starts to sink in, “Are you seriously asking me if we should weaponize the Grey?!” Her voice grows louder with each word she gets out, and her arms fly out at her sides, as the disbelief coils through her body.    

Caitlyn answers with a bone-deep frustration of her own, “Do you have any better ideas?”

Vi only looks on with wide eyes in disbelief, and maybe some disappointment too. Her mouth works dumbly before she can come up with a response, throat closed into a pin-prick, “Do you even hear yourself right now? What happened to ‘this city needs healing’?”

“This is a completely different situation, and you know it.” Caitlyn says, a little affronted by Vi throwing her own words in her face. But Vi just wants to remind Caitlyn of who she is. Who she really is when she’s not being blinded by all this…this righteous indignation. 

“No, Cait, it’s not different at all,” Vi is curiously reminded of when Caitlyn had initially asked her to wear the badge a few weeks ago. Just like in that conversation, Vi tries to turn and leave, ending it right there, but Caitlyn isn’t willing to let it go so easily this time.

As Vi starts walking away, Caitlyn says to her retreating back, “So we just keep hitting dead ends? We never get justice?”

Vi can’t help but whirl back around in pure exasperation, “Well if it’s between not knowing where Jinx is and gassing my fucking people, then hell yeah I’ll choose the first!” She spits. “This shouldn’t be a fucking question, Cait!”

“What do you propose we do then? Because we’ve been doing what you suggested and it’s. Not. Working.” Caitlyn’s eyes blaze with a simmering sort of anger, a dark impulse taking root. It is only this reminder of the reason why Vi is doing any of this right now that allows her to calm down with considerable effort, and think of taking a different approach. Because right now they’re talking in circles, and Vi is over that. It’s time to tackle the real issue. 

“Cait…what’s going on with you? Please, just talk to me.” Vi takes a careful step towards her partner, arms slightly spread in a placating gesture. Please, just let her reach Caitlyn. She’s so tired of grasping at air. “You’re not acting like yourself.”

“Well maybe you just don’t know me!” Caitlyn snaps, free arm raised in frustration, while the other one keeps it’s tight grip on the rifle. Vi flinches backward from the explosiveness of it all. “God, I am so sick and tired of your–your fixation on not letting me change! Did you ever stop to think that maybe you don’t know me at all? We hardly know each other! And maybe I should be changing after everything I’ve gone through! Maybe you need to let go of who you think I am so we can do what we came here to do!”

Vi’s eyes harden, “That’s not fucking fair. You know why I’m having trouble dealing with change, you’re the one that was with me when I saw that my entire world has changed! Everybody around me changes for the worst! Can you blame me for wanting you to stay true to who you are? My sister changed and now look at her!”

In an instant, Caitlyn’s whole demeanor changes. Fiery indignation chills into icy rage in the blink of an eye. Her words are quiet, but they’re as sharp as the daggers they are, “And whose fault is that?”

Vi stares at Caitlyn like she’s unrecognizable. Because maybe she is. The harsh steel of her voice is nothing compared to the deadness in her eyes, or the words she’s just said. It’s like Vi has been dunked in ice.

Caitlyn continues, venom dripping with every word, “That is what you told me, is it not? That you ran away, and allowed a monster to take your sister?”  

It’s like a knife has been lodged in Vi’s heart. All the cutting retorts she could give die in her throat, and she can only choke out, “Stop…”

The woman in front of her does not, “Now look, you’re running away from what we need to do to bring justice for my mother. My mother who is dead because your sister killed her.”

“I know!” The reminder dislodges the ice from Vi’s throat, the guilt exploding out of her, “I know, it’s my fault. But I’m trying to fix it—!”

“Not hard enough!” Caitlyn shouts. She takes in a short breath and leans back, “Maybe you can’t fix it. Maybe bringing you here was a mistake.”

“Cait—” Vi’s voice breaks on the name.

“Don’t call me that,” Caitlyn spits, and she turns away from Vi like she can’t bear to look at her. 

The switch up stokes a flame of anger in Vi’s chest, “So what, you’re just gonna push me away now?” Vi scoffs. “You can’t just get rid of me when I call you out on your shit!”

Caitlyn says nothing. The alley is quiet.

Vi softens, just a bit. Remembers who she’s talking to. “Listen, I’m not going to let you do this to yourself. Please, let’s just talk.” 

She reaches out and grips Caitlyn’s arm lightly, hoping to ground her in this moment, calm her from this moment of rage that envelops her. Sure, Caitlyn’s already said some horrible things, but Vi can fix this. She hasn’t done anything yet. It’s okay. 

Except Caitlyn whirls around, angrier than before, eyes full of disdain and even hatred, “I should have left you in Stillwater. If you weren’t here, none of this would’ve ever happened.” Vi flinches back as if struck, the words hurting more than a punch ever could. Caitlyn uses the opportunity to roughly snatch her arm out of Vi’s tender grip. She turns away, delivering one last blow, “I can’t do this right now. Just stay away from me, Vi.”

And then she’s gone. 

Vi, for her part, just stares in shock, tears welling up in her eyes as what just happened catches up to her. She grips her middle tightly, a hold out from her most recent memories of tears, back when she was too young to take the beatings.

A shaky breath in and she drops to her knees, consumed by frame-shaking sobs. Because Caitlyn just left. Caitlyn just left her. After everything Vi did for her. Everything she gave up. Caitlyn doesn’t want her, doesn’t need her, doesn’t love her. 

Nobody does. 

Nobody ever stays. 

She chose wrong, again.

She always fucking chooses wrong. 

And no matter how much she tries, she can’t protect anyone. Not even from themselves. What the fuck was even the point anymore? 

Her own self-blame wages war with the part of herself that hates everything Piltover represents. Because now that Caitlyn has left her, her mind starts to bring back some of those slick comments she said. How Vi had let them slide so that she could be helpful. 

Typical. 

Of Vi. And of Topsiders too. They can’t be trusted. They never could. 

And this whole thing Vi was trying to do? Be a “better” Enforcer? That’s bullshit too. 

Vi seizes the badge on her belt, tearing the metal off and throwing it against the wall. Then she thinks better of it and takes the entire badge off too. Fuck that. Fuck the Enforcers. Fuck Piltover. They’re never going to get better. Vi hates that she ever had hope. Her younger self would hate her, and for good reason too. 

Betraying everything she’s ever stood for, for love. How could she? 

Vi would rip the whole ensemble off if she had other clothes to change into. She’ll have to do that first. Because now…she has to think of a plan. She has nowhere to go. Nowhere to sleep. Nowhere to eat. Nowhere to even get some clothes. 

What the fuck is she going to do now?

The anger can’t last forever, not when she’s crying on a grimy floor, so the guilt and self-blame inch back in. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Caitlyn wasn’t supposed to change. She was supposed to be different. She was different…wasn’t she? Or maybe Vi only saw her at her best. When shit hit the fan she fell back to the same shit Topsiders always do. 

But it’s Vi’s fault that happened. 

Maybe she’s the screw up. Maybe she’s the reason the good things in her life never last. No matter how much she bends herself, she never seems to fit into the lives of the people she loves. And she can never keep them. 

Maybe Caitlyn was right. Maybe without her, none of this would’ve ever happened. Not just with Caitlyn, but her whole fucking life.  

When Vi is exhausted of all of her tears and wracking sobs, she stands on shaking legs. She needs to figure out her plan. Or at least where her next meal is coming from. Without thinking anything of it, she slips the gauntlets back on, head hanging low. She can’t just leave them here, and there’s no reason to carry them when she can just wear them. Their blue and gold coloring taunt her. She’ll have to change that. 

The gauntlets locked in, Vi closes her eyes and takes a breath to steel herself. Always moving forward. That’s who she is. She doesn’t have the time to stop. She can’t stop. If she does, she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to start again. 

With everything else muddled in her mind, there’s only one thing Vi knows for sure: she can’t let Caitlyn confront Jinx one-on-one. Whatever the outcome, it’ll tear Vi apart. 

Or at least, that’s what she’s telling herself. 

Deep down, Vi knows that right now, if she had to choose between Caitlyn and Jinx, she could make that decision. 

She’d choose—

Her thoughts are interrupted by a voice lilting with dark amusement and rage, “And here I thought you’d never give up on me.”

With wide eyes, Vi brings her head up to look at the entrance of the alley.

Standing there, violet eyes glowing faintly, is Jinx, holding one of those enormous guns of hers. 

Jinx chuckles darkly, but both know there’s nothing funny about this, “How you been, sis? Or should I just call you a pig?”

Chapter Text

The silence in the alley is thick with tension as blue eyes meet purple. Vi can only stare disbelievingly at the one person she and Caitlyn had been pursuing for weeks now. The feelings rushing through Vi are indecipherable, too many of them to even attempt to grasp. 

From Vi’s view, Jinx looks at her with disdain and a decently concealed anger, and worst of all, betrayal. 

A pig.

The idea that the insult could even be directed towards her…at one time it would’ve been inconceivable. She would’ve sooner doled it out than ever let it apply to her. 

But Jinx doesn’t get it. It’s not like that. She only did this for her, for Powder. And Caitlyn. Both of them. She didn’t…if there was any other way…

The way Jinx looks at her puts Vi on edge, so she forces the confliction out of her mind. Remembers what she’s been doing for the last few weeks, and reckons with the opportunity she’s just been presented with. She’s already invested too much to back down now. She never gives in. That’s who she is. 

She feels sick as she slips right back into the mentality that she’d spent so much time crafting to prepare for the fight to come. Even though she really doesn’t want to fight. There’s so little point in it. But Jinx certainly isn’t here to talk, and despite Caitlyn discarding her she still cares to enact what little justice she can. And more importantly, Vi will always take responsibility for the messes she’s made. Or in this case, the monsters she’s created. 

This will always be her responsibility. 

And she will see it through to the end. 

Even if it kills her. 

Vi raises her gauntlets, finally finding the resolve to speak, “You don’t have to call me anything if you’re just here for a fight.”

Jinx shakes her head, but it’s all mocking, “Spoken like a true Enforcer, always ready to use unjustified force.”

Vi ignores the barb, the best she can at least, because it still lodges uncomfortably in her chest, “Unjustified? You’ve got a gun. And three Councilors are dead because of you.”

Jinx makes a show of picking at her fingernails, as if she could not possibly be less bothered by the blood on her hands, “Really, only three? I was expecting more.” 

The casualness of her demeanor ticks Vi off, just a bit, because the whiplash she’s had to experience, going from Caitlyn’s well of grief to this careless display…it’s painful. And it’s painful to watch her sister, or what’s left of her, show this complete lack of regard for death. But good, Vi should hold onto this anger. Hone it. Forge it. Let it fuel the actions she needs to take here and now. For the sake of justice. For the sake of peace between the cities. 

That sounds like a lie, even to her, but she doesn’t allow herself to dwell. She can’t back down now. 

Jinx looks around, “Some birdies told me you had a little squad with you, including your Piltie girlfriend, but all I’m seeing is you, alone way on the outskirts of town. What, your girlfriend ditch you or something?” 

Vi involuntarily growls a bit at the reminder, and Jinx smirks, knowing she’s struck a nerve, “Oh she did ditch you, didn’t she? She get tired of her little pet project?” 

It takes all of Vi’s strength not to immediately lash out from that, though she can’t even tell why the remark angers her so. Analyzing that would be too much effort, and her hands itch for a fight. 

“I’m done talking,” Vi huffs, unable to punctuate that sentence with Jinx's name. “And I’m done pretending you’re my sister. You’re not. And I’m not going to let you stain her memory any more.” She tries to believe the words she’s saying, she really does. Because believing them is the only way she’s going to be able to get through this. 

Jinx sighs, and then grips the enormous gun strapped onto her hip, “Then stop me.”

A precious moment passes before the peace shatters. Vi rushes Jinx, pivoting to the right of the alley to parkour off the walls in an effort to avoid the spray of bullets Jinx sends her way. She launches herself in the air, coming down on Jinx with a hard left hook that’s aimed directly for the gun itself. Those sharp Shimmer-enhanced reflexes of Jinx allow her to propel herself out of the way though, and Vi only ends up hitting the ground. 

She quickly rolls to the left as she senses Jinx gearing up to shoot again, and because she’s close enough this time when she recovers she simply lunges forward in an attempt to grab the gun from her sister’s Jinx’s hands. 

The sooner Jinx is disarmed, the sooner this fight will be over.

But those damn Shimmer enhancements make sure that Jinx stays just out of her reach. 

Vi needs to corner her in the alley, it’s the only way this will work, or else their fight is just going to reach a much more open area that’ll be even harder to control. 

Running a wide arc around Jinx, Vi dodges bullets left and right and skids to a stop once she’s made almost a full turnaround. 

She stares Jinx down, now with Jinx being the one closer to the alley. Jinx raises her gun again, and Vi quickly realizes she can’t parkour out of the way this time. Thinking quickly, she uses the power of the gauntlets to propel herself in the air by pushing them on the ground. It leaves a small dent in the cobblestone, and it keeps her out of the way of the neon firings. She lands right in front of Jinx and she opts to kick her into the alley. 

Jinx stumbles as she loses her balance and falls back, dropping her gun. Here is an opportunity. 

Vi immediately grabs at Jinx’s gun, which Jinx is only just picking up again, and this time she’s successful. Time to end this. She grips it with both gauntlets and rips it apart with a roar. Fluid spills across the ground as the broken gun sparks. Vi drops the pieces to her sides.

Jinx’s face flickers between surprise, upset, and rage as she stares at Vi, and Vi stares right back, eyes fiery and hard. 

Another opportunity. 

But just as Vi prepares to strike, something weird happens. Her gauntlets grow heavy, like the machinery has just completely stopped working. They glow wildly, and Vi can’t move.

In front of her, Jinx’s eyes burn brightly as she moves too fast for Vi to track, and Vi looks behind her seeing her suddenly holding her other giant gun, the one that looks like a shark. So much for cornering Jinx in the alley. Jinx raises it, and Vi strains, both to look at Jinx standing behind her, and also to move her failing gauntlets. 

The end of the gun starts glowing, ready to fire. 

Shit. Vi needs to move. Now.

She struggles in vain against the gauntlets, managing to move them for less than a second before they slam back into the stone floor. 

The gun fires. 

Survival instinct takes over as Vi unlocks the gauntlets. Immediately they’re light once more and she jumps over to the right, anything to get out of the way of the fucking rocket coming right towards her. 

The rocket explodes into the stone to the left and a few feet in front of her, sending broken pieces of cobblestone flying, and Vi covers her face with the gauntlets that she re-locks. The force of the explosion is too great, and Vi goes flying back. 

She only has a second to consider the fact that Jinx tried to shoot her with an explosive rocket before her battle instincts tell her to roll over and get the fuck up because something’s coming. Her ears ring as she stands and raises her arms in a battle-ready stance, looking around for her sister who’s gone missing yet again. 

Vi spots her at the other end of the open road, still holding that giant gun and preparing to fire it again. Except this time it doesn’t work. This time, it’s covered in the same glowing that Vi’s gauntlets were earlier. And then it explodes. 

There’s no thought that compels Vi forward. She simply sprints as Jinx sails through the air, hitting the side of a building and falling towards the ground. But Vi’s there before that can happen. She catches Jinx in one of her gauntlets, but the force of her falling is too great and they both end up tumbling to the ground. 

Jinx wastes no time in taking advantage of their close proximity, striking at Vi with an unfocused ferocity, almost like a cat. Vi can only defend herself, her gauntlets too large and slow to fight back effectively. 

Not without putting her all into her movements. 

Vi pushes Jinx off of her with more force than she expected, and Jinx flies into the stone wall beside them. But she recovers just as Vi does, and the Shimmer brightens her eyes as she releases a roar and charges at Vi with enhanced speed and probably strength too. Vi rolls her shoulder and prepares to counter, launching herself at Jinx as well, left arm extended and right curled at her side ready to give a right hook. 

Jinx’s rage is palpable in her eyes and gritted teeth, in all the growls tearing from her throat. 

And Vi hates to see it. As Jinx comes dangerously close to a prime position for Vi’s punch, something shifts. Vi…doesn’t want to do this anymore. But she has to see this through. She never gives up. Vi’s own expression of exertion turns into much more of a grimace as Jinx approaches, and when Jinx suddenly shifts to a higher stance ready to deliver a kick…Vi doesn’t block. 

The knee slams into Vi’s face, surely bringing with it some blood, and Vi stumbles back. She whirls back around and starts swinging. Jinx manages to dodge a few, but Vi lands a good hit in her abdomen. But this time Jinx doesn’t fly back very far, she is just winded. 

Vi’s head leaves the fight yet again. She doesn’t want to do this. She doesn’t want to fight Jinx. She’s tired. She hates this so much. She hates herself for doing this. What is she even doing? Caitlyn’s already gone, what’s the point? And everything Jinx said before was right…

But Jinx comes right back with a roar of rage and Vi’s well-worn instincts take over and she’s gotta fight. Jinx almost looks ready to claw her eyes out, and Vi can only keep her away. 

Soon, the fight loses any sort of coordination whatsoever as Jinx’s attacks become little more than wild flails with killing intent behind them. And the exhaustion lining Vi’s body forces her to respond in kind, missing Jinx by a mile and leaving her wide open for Jinx’s counters. 

Jinx fights scrappy. She jumps on Vi. She claws at her. She pulls her hair. It’s aimless. There’s no words between them now, just grunts and roars and pure instinct and anger and desperation. Jinx is just pure aggression with no direction. Together, there is no real desire to hurt but rather to express their own pain. 

It’s violence for the sake of violence, for the sake of seeing the fight to a conclusion but no real investment in the outcome.

They move all around the open road, stumbling back and forth until they’re right back where they started, that dingy little alley. 

Jinx stumbles over one of the loose stones, and Vi grips Jinx’s shoulder and slams her on the ground, pinning her beneath Vi. 

This is it. 

Vi’s arm is raised, gauntlet clenched and powered. It would be so easy. She could end this right now. Just one punch. It would be over. 

It would be over. 

It would be—

Her arm lowers just the briefest fraction when Jinx speaks, “Go on then. I’m ready.” And, god, Jinx’s eyes are so tired. It’s so…human. So…sad. “I’m glad it’s you. Had to be you.” She looks up then, almost a sick kind of peace relaxing the muscles of her face. 

Vi’s head shakes minutely, she doesn’t even know she’s doing it. Because her thoughts are so far from her mannerisms. Jinx just dropped a bomb on her. And now Vi is rethinking everything she knows about this woman sprawled beneath her. But no matter what she thinks, it circles back around to the same thought. 

Her sister wants to die.

No. No! She can’t. She can’t. But she has to. It has to end! That’s what she told Caitlyn, it has to end. She has to put her sister out of her misery. 

But she can’t. And she knows it. She never could. 

These hands braided Powder’s hair. Carried her on her back. Held her tiny little hand when they found their parents on the bridge. Wiped her tears. Hugged her. Held her. Protected her. 

They can’t kill her. 

They just can’t. 

Vi’s eyes well with tears as she relaxes her hand and arm, both slowly starting to retreat to her side. 

When it becomes clear that Vi isn’t going to make good on the opportunity, Jinx’s eyes shine and she uses a brief burst of strength to switch their positions. Now Vi is pinned below her sister, a position she could easily get out of, if it weren’t for the gun pointed straight at her. 

For a second or maybe an eternity, nothing happens. The only sound around was the harsh breaths of the sisters. The gun trembles in Jinx’s grip, fingers shifting as she makes ever so slight changes in her hold on it. Vi’s mind is terribly blank, any thoughts she has are erased at the prospect of certain death at the hands of…of Jinx. 

No, of her sister. She can’t lie to herself anymore. If she’s going to die, she’s not going to die a liar. 

But then Jinx does something she doesn’t expect. Her face changes to some kind of expression of reluctance, or maybe disgust. And she starts to speak. 

Jinx scoffs, “I was so sure that I’d be able to do it. That I’d shoot you right in your bluebelly face.”

Vi’s breath stutters. Staring down the barrel of Jinx’s gun, she can see every minor twitch in her hand. She can see her grip the handle tightly, finger shifting on the trigger. 

And she watches as Jinx lowers the gun, gazing upon Vi with tired, sad eyes. 

“But I can’t do it,” she huffs out a laugh with no humor. “Guess I’m just a screw-up in all the ways, huh? Can’t even kill the only family I’ve got left, even though I’m the one who got rid of the rest of them.”

Vi manages to push a reply through, “Jinx—“

And Jinx’s smile is bittersweet, “Finally got the name right, sister.”

Vi doesn’t see the gun heading for her head until it’s too late to move. With a whack, she’s knocked out cold.

—

Vi comes to slowly. The pain of a developing bruise on the side of her head makes itself known as she blinks repeatedly, bringing herself back to awareness. 

She’s still in this stupid fucking alley. 

And her sister is gone. 

She left her. 

She cared enough not to kill her, but not enough to stay. 

But that’s no less than what she deserves. Caitlyn, Jinx…they both had the right idea. 

Some sister she is. Some partner. Some protector. All she does is fail. She couldn’t protect her sister from herself, from Silco, from anything that’s ever happened to her. She couldn’t protect Caitlyn from herself either. From her need for revenge. From her mother's death in the first place.

The two people she had left to protect, they’ve both abandoned her now because they’ve realized they’re better without her. And the only other person she’s got, Ekko, doesn’t need her either. No one does. 

She’s alone. 

Completely and utterly alone. 

And it’s all her fault. 

It’s been only weeks since Vi was released from hell, and now she’s just entered another of her own creation. 

A pained sound rips from Vi’s throat. Her tears have been exhausted for today, but that doesn’t stop the dry heaving. She punches the ground. Once. Twice. Three times. The stone cracks under the might of the gauntlets, the full might she’d never used. But that’s not enough. She disengages the gauntlets and lets them fall to her sides with a clank.

As she screams, she hits the broken ground again and again until her knuckles are split and bloodied. The pain is a welcome feeling, the only welcome thing of this entire day. Of this entire life.   

All the times she’s said she doesn’t recognize Caitlyn, or her sister…but really she doesn’t recognize herself. Because she’s betrayed herself again and again and again and she has nothing to show for it. And now she has no idea who she even is. She always thought she was meant for protection, for supporting her family. 

But now she has no family left. 

Mylo and Claggor, dead. Because of her. Vander, dead, twice. Because of her. Caitlyn, gone. Because of her. Her sister, lost. Because of her. Her parents, dead, maybe the one thing that wasn’t her fault. 

The memories bombard her, leaving her a mess on the inside and out, and she wants nothing more than to forget. Forget everything. Forget this horrible fucking day. Forget who she is. It’s not worth remembering. 

When she stumbles out the alley, gauntlets in hand, she does so in a haze. She walks through the streets of this run-down, even more shitty part of Zaun. 

She’s just cognizant enough to know she needs to get out of this shirt at least, so when some asshole tries to proposition her on the corner, she knocks his ass out and takes the grey hooded jacket he’s wearing. She tears the blue and gold enforcer’s uniform off of her, stupid frilly pink thing with it, throwing it on the ground. 

She throws the hood over herself, covering her hair the best she can, and keeps on walking. It brings to mind that day weeks ago now, when she finally returned to the place she’d been dreaming of for years. It hurts to remember. 

Vi forces herself to forget about that, looking back at the discarded uniform. She should just leave it there, not like she’s got any use for it. But for a reason she can’t explain, she picks it up. There’s no real plan in it, she just wants to keep a hold of it for a little longer. Remind herself of the things she’s done, maybe. 

An idea presents itself as she turns a corner and sees some people huddled around a fire, contained entirely to a decently-sized metal drum. It’s not too uncommon of a sight in Zaun, it’s just usually too warm down here to need the extra heat. So really, the fire is only here because maintaining it is something to do. 

Vi approaches the group. They only give her a cursory glance before staring back into the fire. The empty look in their eyes haunts her…but she doubts she looks much different. 

She stares at the fire too, then down at the enforcer uniform in her hand. She grips it tightly, memories of the last few weeks creeping up on her as she thinks of all the mistakes she’s made, the way she has betrayed herself and her home. The shame she carries within herself. 

Vi chucks the accursed uniform into the fire, finding both satisfaction and emptiness in the way it burns. 

God, what the fuck was she thinking?

She doesn’t want to think at all, anymore. 

She wants a drink. 

Once the uniform is completely ash, she turns on her foot and walks away, aimlessly searching for a place that will let her woes disappear. 

She pushes into the first bar she sees, and drinks so much she can’t remember her own name. 

There’s nothing like the bliss to be found at the bottom of a bottle.

Chapter Text

As soon as she makes it back to Piltover proper, Caitlyn starts blazing a trail to the Council building. 

She is so angry. No, she is enraged. How dare—

Vi was supposed to be with her. 

But no, she wasn’t. No one ever is. She just wanted to control her, just like everybody has her entire life. She only supported Caitlyn so that she wouldn’t change. Well that is simply unfortunate. Caitlyn changed the moment her mother was blown up by a terrorist. It is completely unreasonable for Vi to expect her to act the same in the face of that! 

Vi knew exactly what she was agreeing to. The goals of their task force were clear. And what happened? Vi couldn’t do it. 

Caitlyn is disappointed. 

But part of it is directed at herself too. 

Because within the blaze of anger are moments of clarity, moments where she remembers the reasons why she had waited so long to ever bring up the possibility of using the ventilation system to their advantage. It was…well it was rather grotesque. But someone had to make the hard choices to keep everyone safe from Jinx. 

So why does thinking about it make Caitlyn feel so wrong? 

Caitlyn shakes the thoughts away. No. This second-guessing is why Jinx continues to get away. It’s why she got away the first time. Caitlyn had the shot. But she didn’t take it. She listened to Vi and to her own heart. And look where that got her. If she is going to see this through, bring peace to the cities, she cannot allow her heart to lead her. 

Ironic that it is only in her mother’s death that she finally considers being the daughter that she had always wanted. 

Caitlyn’s thoughts turn back to the last conversation she had with Vi. The words she said. The way she left her in that alley. The cries that faded as she walked away. 

Maybe she should not have said those things. She didn’t mean…it wasn’t…

The momentary regret stands no chance in the face of another wave of rage and frustration and bereavement. 

No. It was necessary. She was right. She meant what she said, it was just…harsher, perhaps, than she would’ve been had the situation been different. But she could not dwell on that. She had to regroup and come up with a new plan. 

A plan with no Vi. 

The thought of doing this without her hurts more than she’d expected. But she has to harden her heart and shut it. She cannot make any more mistakes. And having Vi join her was a mistake. 

Caitlyn could not have reasonably expected Vi to kill her own sister, no matter what the other woman said. Despite what she said, because Caitlyn knew Vi. That woman could live in denial. And so it was Caitlyn’s mistake to make her a part of this. She just didn’t want to let Vi go. That was on her. 

But Caitlyn wishes it did not have to be this way. Leaving Vi was for the best. It was just practical. Although, speaking of practicalities…she can admit that she is dreading descending into Zaun without Vi at her side. 

It doesn’t matter. 

Her city needs her. Her mother needs her. She must get justice. 

Or is it revenge? A little voice in her whispers. She squashes that voice, but she can tell it remains. 

Caitlyn bursts into the battered Council building and begins to make her way to the temporary room where the meetings are being held as repairs are made to the top of the tower. Her head hums with indignation and upset and racing thoughts as she swiftly moves through the halls. And evidently, she is distracted, as when she sharply turns a corner, she bumps into someone. 

She stumbles backward, losing her footing, but she is steadied by a strong hand on her arm. She looks from the hand wrapped in red bandages up to brown eyes carried by a face framed with scars. It’s Ambessa Medarda. 

Caitlyn quickly takes a step back, hoping that she hasn’t offended the other woman, “General Medarda, my apologies for running into you, I should have been watching where I was going.”

Ambessa gives an appraising smile, “It’s quite alright, dear. This is actually a fortunate circumstance—I was hoping to have a chance to speak with you.” 

Caitlyn blinks, taken a little aback, “With me? What for?” She kicks herself for forgetting her manners, but she is also in no mood to entertain false platitudes. She needs to talk to the Council, discuss their next move. And she hardly knows what Ambessa Medarda could want with her. She may be the leader of House Kiramman, but to Ambessa, she is no one. 

“Would you walk with me? I was about to return to my chambers for tea. We can discuss more there.” Ambessa gestures in the direction of the building’s exit, watching Caitlyn with expectant eyes.

At first, Caitlyn wants to deny her request. She has other things to do. However…it is not as if the Council is expecting her right now. And…something in Ambessa’s eyes captivates her. Again, what could Ambessa even want from her? It is intriguing. Perhaps Caitlyn can get something useful from this meeting. At the very least it will give her time to calm herself before talking to the Council. She cannot just barge in there like a child, and she is in disbelief that that is almost exactly what she was about to do. 

Caitlyn nods, “Alright.” 

She turns and pivots to walk side-by-side with Ambessa. They’re flanked by a few of Ambessa’s guards, including the one tall bearded gentleman that Caitlyn remembers being the one to save her and the other Enforcers during the memorial attack. Ambessa says nothing as they walk, so Caitlyn uses this opportunity to study the woman next to her as they head to the exit of the building. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Caitlyn can catch the way that Ambessa walks—confident, leisurely. She radiates an aura of command and power. It is something that she’s noticed ever since the first time she saw her. It is rather similar to her daughter, Mel. But where Mel’s power is quiet, certain but in reserve, Ambessa’s is loud, expressed outwardly with her entire stance and demeanor.

It is rather inspiring.   

Walking to the port, where Ambessa’s warship is docked, does not take long at all. Ambessa directs her soldiers to guard the outside of the her ship, and has the large man follow her and Caitlyn inside. He stations outside of the room they sit in, and when he closes the door, Caitlyn and Ambessa are left in complete privacy. 

The room is illuminated by torches atop pillars. The central furnishing is a long bench raised up on a platform. Caitlyn stops as her eyes land on the numerous weapons lining the wall behind the bench. The weapons hang off of the wall, accentuating the bench, almost as if it were a throne. She can see axes, knives, swords of all kinds. They are certainly very different to the kind of weaponry she is used to, which is almost exclusively rifles. 

The stored weapons are certainly an intimidating display of power and battle prowess. Are these the personal weapons of Ambessa? The idea that she could be proficient in each of these…it is rather unnerving. The sheer difference between Piltover and Noxus is clear simply from the state of this room. 

Caitlyn thinks again of who she is about to speak with, and who else she knows with the Medarda name. It is hard to believe someone like Mel is from Noxus. It makes sense now, the flat aversion to war she showed in the Council meeting all those weeks ago, and her opposition to Salo’s plan that would have guaranteed it. If war meant weapons like these being deployed…

But as much as Caitlyn agrees with Mel that bloodshed should be avoided, she fears it may already be too late. None of the undercity were willing to give Jinx up, if they knew where she was. The chem-barons are fighting each other, but the undercity may already be united. How long until they realize that? How long until the true fight begins? 

Those criminals have already attacked a memorial. Hasn’t the fighting already begun?

If Ambessa notices Caitlyn eyeing her weaponry, she does not acknowledge it. 

Ambessa sits on top of the mat that covers much of the floor, and there is a teapot in front of her on top of some sort of heating device, along with two cups. The implication is clear. Caitlyn sits across from her on the other side of the mat, legs folded under her. Interesting, that neither will be taking the bench.

Ambessa’s posture is casual as she sits, another easy display of power. She takes a sip of her tea, “How goes the search for Jinx?”

Caitlyn can’t help the frustration and revulsion that bubbles up at the mention of her failure, of the reason why she ran into Ambessa in the first place, of everything that happened in the last few hours, and the weeks she’s had with nothing to show for it. She stares down into her tea, “Speaking honestly? Not well.”

“Oh?” Ambessa prompts.

Before responding, Caitlyn takes a moment to think. How much should she share with this woman? She doesn’t know her. All she knows is that she’s Mel’s mother, Jayce has spoken to her (but had nothing much to say about it), and she is from Noxus. She is an experienced general, and given the way she spoke at the Council meeting, has some insight into the situation here. Ostensibly, at least. 

But Caitlyn has no doubt that she also has her own motives. 

Right now, though, are those potential motives a danger to Piltover? To her?

She makes a leap of faith, and decides that she isn’t going to allow herself to get in over her head ever again. Caitlyn sighs as she taps back into her frustration, “We have been searching for weeks, and nothing. It is as if she’s disappeared into thin air. And the undercity will not give her up so easily.”

“There is little love between Piltover and its undercity.” Ambessa offers. Caitlyn isn’t sure if she means it as a question.

“That’s an understatement.” Caitlyn chuckles with no mirth. “It’s just so frustrating. Justice is slipping through my fingers. I am failing Piltover.” She looks down at her hands, folded into her lap. She feels so helpless. 

Ambessa gestures with her cup, looking at Caitlyn with calculating eyes, “So what are you going to do about it?”

Caitlyn speaks honestly, “I don’t know. I…” she hesitates, unsure how much she should reveal. “I no longer have an informant to help me with accessing the undercity efficiently. I am not sure we can do this quietly anymore.” Without Vi, Caitlyn might as well be searching blind. Vi knew better than anyone where Jinx could hide. And she knew how to talk to people. Caitlyn, for all her strengths, was not presently endowed with that capacity. Not now, not when all she can taste is her own rage and loss and pain. Those softer parts of her have been hollowed out and sharpened by their presence, and while that may enhance her strategic mind, it also means she has little patience to deal with hardly anyone. 

Ambessa hums, like she isn’t surprised. “From what I can tell, you certainly have the intelligence and passion to bring this criminal to justice.” Caitlyn can’t help but slightly preen at this praise. She doesn’t know what to make of that. “However, you and your Enforcers lack…experience. You have never had to root out such a prominent threat.”

Caitlyn considers that. Ambessa isn’t wrong. Especially with Marcus as Sheriff for years, the Enforcers never targeted the real threats against Piltover, namely Silco. 

Breaking through Caitlyn’s thoughts, Ambessa continues, “If I may, I have a proposition for you.”

Caitlyn sips her tea, “I’m listening.”

Ambessa places her empty cup on the ground with a steady thunk, “This city is at war. It needs order. It needs structure. Should Piltover establish martial law…”

“No!” Caitlyn interrupts Ambessa’s trailing off before she can think better of it, too shocked by the suggestion to do anything else. The revulsion she feels towards the idea is automatic, shooting straight through the fog of rage and determination. She recomposes herself quickly, “No, that…that is not an option. We cannot have that here.”

Ambessa’s eyes narrow slightly, and a kind of disappointment swims in them, but only briefly. When she starts speaking again, it’s as if it was never there, “Of course, of course. You’ll have to forgive my…ignorance. Piltover is quite different from Noxus, after all.” Ambessa looks lost in thought for a moment before returning to the conversation at hand, “Still, I believe that this city does need order and structure. How would you propose Piltover go about imposing that?”

Caitlyn eyes Ambessa from beyond the rim of her cup as she takes another sip, “Well, that is what the Enforcers are for.”

Ambessa nods a little theatrically, “Ah, yes, Piltover’s Enforcers,” she gives Caitlyn a look of startling intensity, “They are missing a Sheriff, are they not?”

And now Ambessa’s play has become rather obvious. Caitlyn wonders if she should be worried that Ambessa was able to switch tactics so easily, moving from martial law to supporting Caitlyn’s claim to being the Sheriff. She finds that she isn’t as unnerved as perhaps she should be. The woman is smart. And she has what Caitlyn lacks—experience with leadership. Even better, if she is to be believed, leadership in a time of crisis. 

“Consider,” Ambessa says when it becomes clear Caitlyn will not add anything, “You become Sheriff, and you assume office with the support and expertise of me and my soldiers. Together, we ensure the safety of this city.”

It’s…not a bad idea. 

Okay, maybe it sits a little (little!) uncomfortably in Caitlyn’s stomach, given how similar this sounds to the martial law proposed by Ambessa just minutes ago, but she doesn’t want to listen to her gut right now. She must listen to her head. And her head is telling her that this is an excellent opportunity. She’ll have the power behind her that she’d need to find Jinx and bring her (and all of her supporters, even!) to justice.

And she supposes that she’d also have the power behind her to act on those ideas she had about changing the Enforcers for the better that she’d been entertaining mere weeks ago. Well, maybe not all of them. Clearly, the Enforcers are needed now more than ever, and there was a time when she thought that it might’ve been better to…well. It doesn’t matter now. 

The point is, she wasn’t lying when she told Vi she’s changed. But, damn it, that look Vi gave her, that look of revulsion…it bothers her. She almost wishes Vi we’re here just so she could show her. See, I’ve changed, but not that much. I was just naive before, but I see things better now.

But Vi isn’t here, and Caitlyn can’t chase a phantom of approval. 

Caitlyn pushes those thoughts and feelings down and away.

This is the right decision. 

It’s what’s best for Piltover. Best for her family. Best for all the families of the city. For the people counting on her. 

Right?

She can’t shake the nagging feeling that she’s making a mistake. 

Ambessa seems to catch onto her confliction, gaze softening as she straightens, “I understand your hesitance. But I would not be suggesting this if it was not in either of our best interests.” The pure honesty startles Caitlyn just a bit, but she also finds that she appreciates it. Ambessa is outright confirming that she has ulterior motives. She knows Caitlyn is smart enough to figure that, and she respects her enough not to lie about it. It’s certainly warming Caitlyn to the idea of working with her, if it means transparency like this. “I told you I was looking for you. This is why. I believe that you are the one most capable to lead Piltover back to its former glory.”

Well now this feels like she is laying it on rather thick. It makes Caitlyn suspicious. Why her? She already had an in with Salo, after all. “Why?” Caitlyn asks. 

Ambessa inclines her head, acknowledging the sensibility of the question, “You are a member of one of Piltover’s most respected houses. You have the capability. And you have the experience as an Enforcer yourself.”

That all sounds reasonable. But there is just one other thing that’s bothering Caitlyn, “Why now? Why not propose this weeks ago? We’ve been without a Sheriff since before even the Council attack.”

The woman across from her sighs, an uncharacteristic display of weariness lining her face, “Earlier today, I was speaking with one of the members of your merchant guild, Amara. We discussed rebuilding this city. But then we were ambushed by two Zaunite assassins. In the chaos, Amara was killed by their blade.” She pauses as Caitlyn takes in that bit of information. Assassins? What in the world? Caitlyn had no idea Zaun was organized enough for such an attack. That is extremely concerning. 

Ambessa almost seems to read her mind, “That we are at the point where assassins are at our doorstep is troubling enough, but that is not all.” There’s more? “My daughter, Mel, you’ve met her.” Caitlyn suddenly has a sinking feeling in her stomach…please god, not Mel, the only person who hasn’t completely lost her head in the midst of all of this chaos. “Right before crossing paths with you, I learned that she and her assistant, Elora, have been reported as missing. While no clues to her disappearance were left at the scene, I think that you and I both know who the most likely culprits are.”

And Caitlyn does. If Zaun is sophisticated enough to send assassins after a guild merchant and the mother of a Councilor…it would not be out of the question for them to kidnap a Councilor too. But wouldn’t they be making demands if that were the case? Or did…did they just kill Mel to be done with it? To make a statement? Caitlyn feels sick just thinking about it, and she hopes with all her being that isn’t the case. To think they’d stoop so low…but Jinx started it all by attacking the Council building. She opened up this can of worms. If Mel truly is dead…her blood is on Jinx’s hands. 

Ambessa’s appraising eye takes in the conflict and disturbing thoughts that must clearly show on Caitlyn’s face, despite her attempt at a stoic facade. As Caitlyn’s mind begins to settle, she keeps speaking, making her argument, “Piltover is in chaos, and Zaun is taking advantage. The city must rally around someone they can trust to deliver justice. I have seen the way you’ve taken charge in the fallout of the attacks against the Council and the memorial. That person is you. Should you accept, you can consider me and my entire detachment of Noxian soldiers at your disposal.”

At the end of the speech, Ambessa holds her hand out to shake. 

And Caitlyn…she takes it. The new information Ambessa has provided leaves her reeling with a re-stoked anger and righteous fury. But it also leaves a part of her unsettled by the timing and simplicity of it all. She does not see any reason to doubt Ambessa’s account…but she still does not fully trust the woman. And if she is going to enter into this partnership…

Caitlyn thinks of Vi. Of the look of disgust and horror on her face hours ago when Caitlyn had proposed using the Grey. Looking at Ambessa, looking at the weapons and the proof of war around them…Caitlyn thinks she can understand why Vi looked at her that way. 

Despite this partnership, and despite her rage and desire for justice, Caitlyn decides she will keep her knowledge of the Grey close to her chest. She does not want to know what a woman like Ambessa would do with that kind of information. 

It’s just a temporary partnership. Order will be restored, and all will be back to normal. She will fulfill her duty.

Ambessa smiles, satisfied, “I look forward to working with you, Sheriff Kiramman.”

Chapter Text

Vi wakes to a pounding headache that forces her eyes shut. 

As she sits up, she feels slightly nauseous, and the dizziness only grows stronger as she rises. Before she can stop it, the nausea overpowers her and she retches, directing the bile to the side, where she throws up water on the cobblestone ground. 

A neon sign to her left illuminates her surroundings. She’s outdoors. 

Just like she has been for the past…well, actually, she doesn’t know how long it’s been. A few days, probably. 

Ever since that first night, she’s been spending her days drunk as a skunk, hardly able to stand on her own two feet. It’s useful in that it stops her from thinking. But that’s also to her detriment too. Because she’s no closer to figuring out the problem of where she’s going to sleep and what she’s going to eat. She’s managed to swipe some pieces of food here and there, and there’s always some bottles lying around, and her stumbling trek through Zaun has allowed her to find some bridges and alleys where she can sleep, but even in an inebriated state she knows this can’t last. 

She needs cash, and fast. 

But she doesn’t know where to get it.

Eventually, once she’s feeling stable enough, Vi gets up and gets a move on. She doesn’t know where she’s going next but anywhere is better than here. Maybe if she walks enough she’ll get an idea, or find somebody hiring for some work she can do real easy.

“Vi?”

Vi whips around quick, pulling out the bottle shard she keeps tucked into her waistband in case anyone wants to try her. Who the fuck here knows her name? Her eyes dart around looking for someone, anyone, and they land on the person standing just down the road, where they must’ve just exited one of the buildings because they weren’t there before. 

It’s hard to make the person out against their neon background, and so Vi squints, still struggling. The person starts approaching her, slowly, as if to be as non-threatening as possible, and Vi grips the broken bottle tighter and gets ready for an altercation.

But it doesn’t come, because once the person gets close enough, Vi is finally able to tell who it is. 

It’s Loris. 

Vi’s posture relaxes as she tucks the bottle piece back in her waistband (but still close enough to grab quick if she needs to…she never said she completely trusted Loris…), “Loris? What are you doing down here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Loris looks her up and down, “What happened to you?”

It doesn’t escape Vi’s notice that Loris didn’t answer the question, so she sees no reason to be honest either, “Doesn’t matter.”

Loris walks over to the side and sinks down the wall, coming to a seat. Vi does the same. It almost feels like the day they met, this way.

After a moment Loris looks at her from the corner of his eye and says, “Sheriff Kiramman didn’t tell us what happened between the two of you, only that you wouldn’t be part of the Enforcers anymore.”

Vi’s head spins, “Sheriff Kiramman?”

Loris raises a brow, “You didn’t know?”

“Fuck no,” Vi seethes, voice harsh. 

Loris raises his hands up in a gesture of mock surrender, “Hey don’t shoot the messenger,” he puts his hands down and keeps speaking. “She just got promoted a few days ago. Now the Enforcers are working with Noxus to “clean up the city”.” 

“Of course they are,” Vi spits. Her face is contorted in anger, but she softens when she realizes how rude she’s being, “Sorry, ‘s not your fault. I’m just…” She doesn’t know how to finish that sentence. Betrayed? Angry? Disappointed? All of the above? Caitlyn becoming the fucking Sheriff just to then work with Noxus? Isn’t that exactly what Vi was trying to make sure didn’t happen? She didn’t trust Ambessa for a reason, and now look, she’s already made her move. Well, it’s not Vi’s problem anymore. Caitlyn made her choice when she left her crying in a dingy alley. But that thought doesn’t feel complete. The anger ebbs away as guilt reveals itself. Vi should’ve done more to keep Caitlyn out of Ambessa’s clutches, her grief twisted into something horrid. Now who knows what the fuck’s gonna happen?

Loris tuts, “I hear ya. As soon as they announced the partnership, I was outta there.” He knocks his and Vi’s shoulders together, a gesture Vi finds warming, “You and I, we’re from the Lanes. We both know nothing good can come from Piltover and Noxus working together.”

“You’re right about that,” Vi says. And then the rest of what Loris says catches up with her. He’s from Zaun? How did she not know that? God, now he’s even more similar to—nope, not thinking about it. “Shoulda known you were also from the undercity. Guess I was too caught up in my own shit to realize the obvious.”

Loris shrugs, “Eh, I’ve been told I’ve got a talent for blending into the background. People don’t usually think about me too hard.”

Soon a comfortable silence unfolds between them. Vi wonders what Loris is thinking, because she surely doesn’t want to return to the raging torrent of her own thoughts. 

Loris is the first to break the silence, “So what’s your plan now?”

Vi almost laughs at that, huffing out something that could reasonably be considered a chuckle, “Honestly, I have no idea. All I really want is to get drunk, but I need to find a way to make some money first.” She braces her elbows on her knees as she leans forward, again thinking of how hopeless she feels because she doesn’t know her next move. 

Loris looks at her from the side, eyes landing on her hand wraps, “You know, I think I know someplace that can solve your problems…if you can fight.”

Vi scoffs, but not without amusement, “You do know who you’re talking to, right?” On the inside, she’s smacking herself in the head a little bit. A fighting ring. Duh! Why didn’t she think of that? Yeah, they’re technically illegal, meaning if she’s busted she could…well, anyway, illegality has never stopped her, and that would never stop Zaun either. 

After laughing at Vi’s response, Loris then says, “Until you get enough to rent a place, you can stay at mine.”

“I can’t—”

“Nonsense, I’m not gonna let you sleep on the street. ‘Sides, I’m sure you’ll earn enough in just a few days, I’ve seen you fight.”

It probably speaks to Vi’s continued inebriation that she doesn’t fight the point anymore. She probably will later. She doesn’t…she doesn’t understand why Loris is helping her. And she’s not used to this kind of aid being offered. That’s just not what her life has looked like. Not for the better part of a decade. “Thanks, man.”

“Don’t mention it.”

As the silence resumes, Vi starts thinking of the practical considerations of fighting in a fighting ring. And then she remembers that she can’t wear a hood forever.

“You got a sink I can dye my hair in?”

There’s a little kid following Jinx around.

A lot of people have been doing that lately. Comes with the territory of having your name and face plastered on wanted posters all across town. But this kid isn’t following her because she wants to cash in on that, at least Jinx doesn’t think so. No, the kid actually seems to…like her.

Jinx doesn’t really have a lot of experience dealing with little kids. Wasn’t really her job. And before that, well, she was always the youngest. 

But nevermind that. 

She thinks the kid likes her? Or maybe the kid’s just thankful.

And, really, Jinx hadn’t been planning on picking up a little admirer. An hour ago she was minding her business trying not to get murdered or worse, as she’s been doing since Silco…left…and this kid just fell right on top of her. And normally Jinx would’ve answered that with some kind of violent reaction, but…this was a kid. And she was being chased.

And, listen, Jinx shot those three guys real easy like. Didn’t even break a sweat. And it wasn’t because of the kid…those dudes saw who she was. They had to be taken care of or else Jinx was gonna get hauled to Piltover, and she was not letting that happen. 

Okay maybe it was also because of the kid too.

Well, anyway, despite Jinx telling the kid who she was, and the kind of bad luck she brings to people…the kid followed her. And she still is following her. 

And Jinx doesn’t hate it. 

She may even like it. 

It doesn’t take long for Jinx to notice that the kid doesn’t speak much, or at all. As they walk the streets of Zaun, Jinx with the hood up on her cloak, and the kid with her (frankly adorable) little hat, Jinx looks down to the side where the kid is and asks a bit awkwardly, “So…what’s your name, kid?”

The kid looks at her, then makes a gesture with two of her fingers at her throat while shaking her head^[1]. Jinx has no idea what she means. She cocks her head to the side and raises an eyebrow. The kid seems to get the message, and this time she points at her mouth and shakes her head.

Oh.

She doesn’t talk.

“Ah, gotcha. Maybe you can spell it for me?” Except Jinx has no paper, or anything to write with, and now she feels like a fool. 

But the kid isn’t bothered in the slightest, she just grabs Jinx’s hand and leads them to a wall where there’s a bunch of posters on it, including one of Jinx’s wanted posters. Jinx pulls her hood on more tightly, hoping no one can see her hair. She’d thought about cutting it since she’s supposed to be laying low, but a feeling of sentimentality and maybe a tiny smidgen of not caring if she dies anyway stopped her from ever going that far. 

The kid points at different letters on the posters. I-S-H-A

When the kid stops, Jinx figures that must be it, “Your name’s Isha?”

The kid, Isha, nods enthusiastically. 

“Huh. It’s a nice name.” Jinx says a little unnecessarily, because she doesn’t know what else to say. This is a softer moment than she’s had in…years, and she doesn’t know what to do with herself.  

But Isha doesn’t seem to mind her awkwardness at all, just continues accompanying Jinx wherever she goes. And Jinx can’t find it in herself to get rid of her. Not like she pushed her own sister away.

Isha’s presence even makes Jinx almost look forward to the future, for once, if it means having this little bit of light in her life. 

That is, if she doesn’t ruin it. 

Loris was right. It only takes five days of fighting for Vi to make enough to get herself a shitty apartment in one of the lowest levels of the city. It’s big enough for a bed, a punching bag, a stove, and a bathroom, and that’s all she needs.

Some nights, though, it feels too much like her old cell.

The pit loves her. Her very first fight was a one-hit knockout against a champion, and it makes the crowd adore her. This means that winnings aren’t hard to come by. 

Neither are distractions. Pretty women with names that Vi can’t remember. Stolen nights where at least something in her can be satiated.

Soon after that first fight, she gets her hands on a jacket with a sick print of two wolves on the back. She figures that’s as good a calling card as any, and soon after she’s being called the Hound. In those rare moments that the haze of the alcohol and the repression lifts, the title hurts. It hurts a lot. 

She starts noticing that her hair is growing out. She’d cut it, but she decides maybe it’s better to let it keep growing. Make her even more unrecognizable. That’s the point of the heavy dye and the thick makeup she slathers all over herself every day. If anybody remembers an Enforcer with bright pink short hair, she’s not taking that chance. 

Also, cutting it would be too much work. She hardly gives a fuck about her appearance anyway. The pit doesn’t care. The bar doesn’t care. She doesn’t care. 

Even the makeup starts feeling like an unnecessary effort after a while. She keeps it up, her tattoos are too distinctive, but it also feels wrong covering up the things meant to designate her as an individual after years of just being a number. 

Oh well. 

It doesn’t matter. 

Vi the individual isn’t really worth knowing anyway. 

Life in the pit becomes routine. Hit. Get drunk. Sleep. Repeat. On and on it goes. 

Winning the fights is easy, she’s been doing this kind of thing her whole life. And it feels nice to have something good come from the carnage she can create for a change, that something good being money and a lack of thoughts on her mind. She’s able to feel some sense of pride when she sees her opponent go down in the ring, when the cheers of the crowd wash over her. It’s not bliss, but it’s not a bad feeling either. It’s better than how she’s been feeling, even if it rings a little hollow, since she’s not really fighting for anything other than violence’s own reward. 

But then that good feeling goes away. And she starts to chase the high. 

She drinks more alcohol. She gets herself on the fighting schedule more. She spends more nights at the club. Anything she can do to push down the rising torrent of thoughts. Outrun the guilt. Outrun the self-hatred. 

Vi knows she’s fooling herself. There is no escape, not for her. 

But becoming something inhuman in the pit is the best she’s got. 

So she fights. She loses herself in the pit. It makes her mind hum in a way that isn’t completely repulsive, and her fists itch at the thought of another hit, another outlet, another expression of all the things she can’t say. 

And Loris is there. In the crowd. At the bar. In the club. Walking her home.

It’s welcome and warm and maybe even a little life-saving until it becomes smothering. Because then he starts showing concern. He starts pushing her drinks away. He guides her out of the club. He asks if she’s “okay”. Vi could laugh. What’s the point in that? She doesn’t need his concern. She doesn’t deserve it. 

Vi is not a nice person, when she’s drunk.

And her burgeoning friendship with Loris pays the price. 

Jinx isn’t sure how or why, but things between her and Sevika are actually good. Somehow. It’s still weird. Somewhere between commiserating in Silco’s office and Jinx making her a new arm, Sevika decided she doesn’t actually hate Jinx, and Jinx decided that Sevika might not be super annoying. 

Maybe even someone she likes. 

But now Sevika wants her to be a symbol. Her. A symbol. Just because she blew up a shitty building with some shitty people. Like Vi’s girlfriend’s mom, her mind unhelpfully supplies. 

Well she doesn’t want to be a symbol. She doesn’t really want to do anything but be left alone. Or maybe she didn’t want that. Really, lately she’s been feeling actually not bad. Between Isha and Sevika, she could even say that for once she’s not feeling horribly lonely! 

Moments like this, where she’s spending time with Isha watching her little robots fight…dare she say they’re moments that she actually feels happy. Feels something beyond some empty loneliness. Where the ghosts of the past aren’t always whispering in her ear. 

It’s almost peaceful. 

Except it’s just a bubble. In the real world, Piltover wants her head and Zaun wants her to be their face. Silco wanted her to be his weapon. Ekko and Vi wanted her to be Powder. She’s done being things for people. 

As she watches Isha, who digs around in one of her storage chests, another thought slips into her mind, quietly and insidiously. A thought that maybe she’s not as done being something to someone as she thought. Because watching Isha makes her feel like maybe she can be a sister. A big sister. Like Vi was to her. 

The thought of Vi breaks her from her peace for a moment, and almost, almost sends her spiraling. But she doesn’t want to worry Isha, so she turns away and tries to deal with the racing thoughts quietly. 

Yeah, Vi was her older sister. Was. She proved to Jinx that their connection was severed the moment she put on an Enforcer’s uniform. She betrayed Jinx. She tried to kill her!

But...

Jinx was trying to kill Vi right back. She really, truly was. Because she wasn’t her sister anymore. 

Jinx also knows that if Vi really wanted to kill her, she would be dead. 

So then why? Why would Vi go after her? Why would she choose her Piltie girlfriend? Why why why? 

You pushed her away, her mind whispers. 

I know. 

Right into that topsider’s arms, another voice says.

I know. 

This is your fault, it says.

I KNOW!

She slams her fist down on her makeshift desk in an effort to quiet the incessant voices, jostling the gun and other spare parts there. She hears Isha’s breath softly gasp behind her, so she purposefully loosens her posture to make it look like she’s not on the verge of a breakdown. 

Sister, thought I missed her… 

But Jinx did. She did miss her sister. But she pushed her away for good, so what was the point of thinking about it? 

Is it really for good, though? A voice drifts in her head. When have you ever known Vi to give up on anything…

She gave up on me! Jinx mentally shouts back. She did. Just like Ekko. Just like everybody she used to know. 

Did she, now? Her traitorous mind continues undeterred, making her remember the fight she had with Vi not that long ago. The way Vi hesitated. 

Maybe you’ve given up on her. Jinx’s sharp mind plays those memories again and again, despite her weak pleas for it to stop. She doesn’t want to remember this. But then her mind’s eye catches on a detail she hadn’t noticed in all the times she was forced to relive their fight. 

Vi wasn’t wearing a badge. 

She had the Enforcer get up on, and from what Jinx could tell she’d been working with them for weeks. 

But she wasn’t wearing a badge. 

And at the time, Jinx was so angry she didn’t think about it. Well actually, she knew it was odd that Vi was alone, but she just used it to twist the knife in so Vi could feel as wretched as Jinx felt. But now, now that she’s calmer…she doesn’t know what it means. 

Why wasn’t she wearing a badge? Why was she alone? 

Why couldn’t she kill Jinx and be done with it?

Why couldn’t Jinx kill her?

At this point Jinx is violently ripped from her thoughts by a sound she’s heard hundreds of times—one of her grenades being pulled. There is only a split second between her recognizing Isha holding one and Jinx throwing the grenade from the kid’s hands, where it explodes less than two seconds after starting the long descent into the fissure below. Jinx holds Isha in her arms tightly, maybe too tight, but she’s nowhere near caring about that right now. 

Isha almost died. If Jinx hadn’t noticed, hadn’t moved right that second…she had moved at a speed surprising even to her, but there was no choice. If she didn’t get there, Isha would’ve been gone.

Jinx breaths are heavy as she pants, not with exertion, but with a slowly subsiding adrenaline. She loosens her hold on Isha, but only slightly. She…she doesn’t want to let her go yet. And Isha isn’t complaining. 

And as Jinx comes down from the tense moment, she starts to think. 

The process of her throwing the grenade could’ve easily killed her too. But she didn’t think of that at all. She only thought of Isha. In that moment, she knows that it would destroy her to see Isha hurt or worse. 

And if it meant protecting Isha from that, she would do anything. She’s been given a chance to prove that she’s not what everyone’s always thought she was, a curse, an omen, a jinx. And she’s not screwing it up this time.

Jinx pulls back from the embrace she’d manhandled Isha into, and looks down into her beady golden eyes, “Don’t…don’t ever scare me like that again, you hear me?”

Isha just nods, probably also shocked by the whole experience. 

As Jinx looks at Isha, this kid that’s wormed her way into her heart, she’s struck by a curious sense of deja vu. Except where Isha was her, and she was…

Vi.

Oh.

In that moment, Jinx thinks that for once, she might understand her sister, just a little bit. 

And that brief feeling of understanding makes her think that maybe the relationship with her sister might just be worth salvaging. 

Vi’s not sure when she started seeing things that weren’t there. Maybe sometime after the first month. Or something like that, who knows what day it is anymore? Time runs together to the point that days hardly have any meaning. And just like that she’s back to writing the days on the walls. 

She’s seeing Caitlyn everywhere now. At the bar, in the club, on the walk home. 

Sometimes, she’s the Caitlyn that Vi used to know. Kind. Soft. Beautiful. And these hallucinations aren’t so bad other than how they serve as reminders to Vi of what she can never have, of what she ruined just by being close. So when she sees Caitlyn looking the same as she did lying in that fucking bed, maybe Vi feels a little bit like a lovestruck fool. And sometimes she pretends that it’s real, because it’s the closest thing to happiness she’s allowed to experience. But it never lasts. The hallucinations are ephemeral, there one moment and gone the next. Just like Caitlyn. 

Sometimes, though, she’s the Caitlyn that Vi had forced her to become. The one she sees reflected in the posters strewn about Zaun, in the stories about the renewed brutality of the Enforcers that people are telling in the bars. Hard. Cold. She hates Vi almost as much as Vi hates herself, yelling abuse at her every chance she gets. 

Vi’s angry that she can’t completely hate Caitlyn. She’s just a topsider after all. She’s a fucking Enforcer. She’s their goddamn Sheriff. And because of her, Zaun is feeling the pressure more than ever. Or at least that’s what she’s heard. Her corner of the undercity is essentially untouched by any of the shit of her past, and Vi would like to keep it that way.

Vi sees other people too. Ekko. Vander. Mylo. Claggor. Jinx. But those hurt in ways that she doesn’t even want to attempt to describe, so she ignores them when she sees them. 

Except for those nights where she’s drunk and weak and hopes beyond hope that they’re real. 

Or that she’s dead. 

She hasn’t seen Loris in a while. But that’s her fault too. She pushed him away once and for all. And that’s for the best. He shouldn’t be around her. He’s kind too. And that’s why he had to go, before she ruined him like she ruins everyone else, change him into something broken and distorted.

With each drop of alcohol crawling down her throat, Vi hopes that she can do the same to herself. Then maybe she won’t be able to do it to anyone else anymore. At the very least, she deserves to experience the kind of torture she puts others through. 

She wants to be unrecognizeable. 

She wants to drown in it all. 

The violence of the pit is the only thing she knows anymore. She deserves this. 

She deserves so much worse than this.   

One thing about the undercity, everybody always knows something. And everybody knows how to find someone else who knows something too. 

So when Jinx officially starts her search for Vi, she hears lots of things. A group of teens sent to Stillwater, a riot at an Enforcer checkpoint, a magic healer deep in the fissures, a brothel worker with information on the Sheriff’s Noxian supporter. It takes some time, but not too long, to get any useful information. 

She didn’t know what she expected. 

But she certainly wasn’t expecting this. 

A few whispers about someone called “the Hound” in Zaun’s biggest and baddest fighting ring led Jinx deep into Zaun. She doesn’t want to draw attention to herself, positive or negative, so she throws her hood on and watches from the middle of the raucous crowd. 

The fighters enter the ring. Jinx’s eyes pass over the other one in favor of the shorter one in the black jacket.

It’s her. 

Jinx only needs to look at the woman for a second to know that it’s her sister. She’s covered in makeup and bandages, and her hair is a striking black, but it’s her. 

And she looks…like shit honestly. She’s clearly hurt, the bandages are more than enough indication. So are the bruises that are visible in the harsh lights of the pit. And Jinx kinda maybe thinks she deserves to look like shit, just a little bit. She did betray the entire undercity after all. 

For you… her mind says, traitorous thing it is. 

We don’t even know that for sure, Jinx shoots back, shutting the thoughts down.

Something about Vi is off, but Jinx is struggling to put a finger on what it is. 

When the fight begins and Vi knocks her opponent out with only a little bit of difficulty, Jinx brushes it off. She even bets on Vi for the next fight. Hey, gotta support her sister, right? 

Next fight, Vi wins again, but her opponent had gotten a few good hits in, and had split open her lip. Vi doesn’t seem to care though, lazily wiping it away with her hand using bandages already coated in dried blood. 

It’s a little unnerving, in Jinx’s opinion, which is saying a lot. Probably.

Vi wins a couple more fights that night, each one evidently taking more of a toll on her. 

Well, Jinx checked on Vi, and she’s fine. That’s that. 

Except…

Jinx isn’t satisfied. She can’t let go of that feeling of wrongness emanating from Vi, and she hates having a puzzle she can’t figure out.

So she watches Vi again. And again. And again. 

And then her sister starts losing. 

But it’s not because her opponents have gotten better. 

Vi’s just…not right. That’s the best way Jinx can describe it. From this distance, Jinx can’t really see her face well, but even she can tell that there’s a gleam in her eyes that shows that she’s not all there. She’s swaying as she stands. She’s barely blocking punches that even Jinx can telegraph. 

It’s wrong.

Jinx follows Vi to her other haunts, which are the bar, the club, and her shitty apartment, in that order. And what she finds there is even worse. Vi drinking herself to death. Swaying in the club like she’s hardly able to stand. Passing out on the way to her apartment. 

Too many nights later, Jinx sees Vi get knocked out in a single hit. 

And Jinx can’t help it, a tear rolls down her cheek. 

Because Vi has given up. She is destroying herself and Jinx has no idea how to fix it. If she even can fix this. She doesn’t build things up. She breaks them. And Vi is already doing enough of that to herself without Jinx making things worse. 

Jinx can’t bear to watch any more of her fights after that.

But if she keeps watch from afar, just to make sure her sister is still alive…well, that’s her business.  

It starts with a few lucky shots. Then they aren’t so lucky and Vi should be dodging them. 

Then Vi starts losing. 

Badly. 

Once Vi started accepting the pit as what it was, a punishment, she stopped caring. Without Loris, without anyone, there’s no one to pull her back from the edge. She drinks all day and all night, passes out when she can’t stay awake anymore. She barely treats her injuries. She gives up on applying her makeup or even washing her face much anymore. Other than that one time she maybe tried to drown herself, but we don't talk about that. Her mirror sits in broken pieces in her room. She can’t stand to look at herself. 

Even the pit has lost any sense of allure for her. It’s just a part of her routine of punishment now. When she’s in it, she’s barely even there. She exists mostly in her own head now, in the haze of a potential concussion. 

The hallucinations keep getting worse, and it’s hard to tell what’s real anymore. Is that really Caitlyn? No, just a voice on the wind. Ekko? No, just a neon sign. 

Jinx? 

Pfft, please, like she’d ever come for her.

The days blend together so much it’s like one single never-ending night. Her entire body is in pain, always, and the alcohol just barely makes it tolerable. It’s not the first time she’s been hurt this much anyway. Untreated injuries are the norm for her, by this point. 

Her hands ache. They always do. Byproduct of punching concrete for years, probably. 

Every time she closes her eyes, she’s in her cell again. The beatings she takes in the pits are akin to the feeling of Enforcer’s weapons on her skin. The bustle of the undercity around her is the same sound as the mess hall. She’s weakened, yet on alert, always. Always protecting her middle. Always ready for the next fight. 

Sometimes she throws up blood with the rest of the water. 

She’s covered in layers of dirt and filth, but there’s no point in cleaning it. If she gets an infection, just as well. 

Really, a not insignificant part of her hopes that one of these fuckers in the pit will be strong enough to finally end her misery. Like come on, it can’t be that hard. But they aren’t strong enough. They never will be strong enough. 

Like a cockroach, she survives. She always fucking survives.  

What. The. Fuck.

Vander’s alive? Vander’s alive. And he’s a giant wolf creature. Jinx knew Zaun could be weird, but this is another level. 

Whatever protective instinct compelled Vander to grab Jinx and run from Stillwater had ended with him leaving her in the mines. And after (maybe frantically, but who’s asking?) looking for and finding Isha at her hideout, and (again, maybe frantically) making sure she was safe, Jinx finally has a moment to think.

She needs to tell Vi. 

Vi, who loved Vander more than anything. Who saw him as a second father even before their own parents died. 

Jinx isn’t certain where their relationship stands right now, or even how she feels about her sister (traitor? love her?) but she knows that she can’t keep this from her. She just can’t. 

And maybe this is how Jinx can help Vi. Get her out of this hole she’s found herself in. Because it really is sad now. 

So, once she sees Vi make it into her apartment after much struggle, she gives it a few minutes and breaks in. Vi is passed out on her bed, looking worse for wear, like usual at this point it seems. Bottles are all over the floor. The place is a mess, even more than it was last time Jinx was here. 

Jinx doubts Vi is fully sleeping. She’ll probably come to in a few minutes. As she waits, she stands in front of the broken mirror, looking at herself in the flickering lights.

Well, Jinx thinks as she picks up the black lipstick sitting on the sink, maybe then her sister’ll be in the mood for a little bit of sisterly teasing. 

(She was not).

Chapter Text

The first thing Vi hears is humming. 

Vi’s vision oscillates between focused and unfocused as she comes to, ears ringing. Just her luck. A hallucination first thing in the morning. Actually, she has no idea if it’s the morning. It could very well be the same night for all she knows. She just got finished getting her ass kicked and remembering the things that make her hurt, the same thing she’s been doing every day for the past however many months it’s been. Maybe even a year at this point. She only has her hair length to go off of and she doesn’t look in the mirror long enough anymore to assess that. 

As she groans with the ache of sitting up, she hears someone speak, “Looking good, sis.”

What the hell?

For a second, Vi forgets the fact that she has been actively hallucinating for months now. All she knows is that someone is in her cell apartment and she’s in danger and pain and hurt and beating. Her body’s aches become less than an afterthought as the adrenaline in her veins fires back up, carrying her as she pushes herself up using the wooden bed frame as a prop. She’s on her feet in less than a second, propelling herself forward and grabbing the intruder by the neck, slamming them against the wall next to the sink as they sputter out some form of protest.

Vi grunts with the effort of hoisting the intruder up slightly, and she raises her left fist up ready to knock whoever it is the fuck out. 

But then her eyes finally focus fully and she’s able to see just who it is she’s got her bloodied hand wrapped around.

It’s Jinx. 

Vi’s first thought is that she’s hallucinating. 

Then she remembers that she is touching Jinx right now. 

This is real. 

What the hell?

Vi’s breaths are heaving things, heavy with the weight of the confusion lining her mind. Why the hell is Jinx in her apartment? Is this a trick? It has to be some kind of trick. Is she trying to kill her? For a split second it saddens her that that’s one of her first thoughts, but the adrenaline coursing through her doesn’t allow her to dwell on that for any longer. She’s prepared for violence. She knows violence. She doesn’t know this. 

Again, why is Jinx here? Jinx did try to kill her…

But she couldn’t go through with it. She said so herself. 

So maybe she’s found the resolve, and she’s here to finish the job.

If that’s the case, why is Vi fighting so hard against it? Survival instincts take over, not allowing Vi to let up the pressure on Jinx’s neck for even a second. 

She gives her head a violent jolt, trying to clear the haze that’s making her thoughts thick and slow and indecipherable. 

Vi decides this has to be a trick of some kind. Jinx would never come to her. Not after their fight. Not after what Vi did to her. Vi doesn’t deserve a sister who cares. 

“I don’t wanna hear another word out of your mouth,” Vi drawls, raising her fist yet again as she slightly tightens the grip she has on Jinx’s throat. Jinx is grasping at her wrist lightly, but she’s no match for Vi’s sheer strength, and they both know that. 

It startles Vi, how this is the second time that she could easily kill Jinx. But she shuts that vulnerability down. Now is not the time. She’s still in danger. 

Jinx struggles for air in Vi’s grip, but still she chokes some words out, “It’s Vander.”

What the fuck is she talking about?  

Vi’s anger comes very close to reaching a boiling point, and she smashes her first against the wall next to Jinx’s head, leaving cracks in the stone, “I’m not falling for another one of your tricks,” she sneers. 

Despite the situation, Jinx still doesn’t give up, “He’s alive,” she says in between gasps. 

What?

The idea that Vander could be alive washes over Vi for a second, and she almost, almost allows herself to believe it. But then she remembers watching Vander die in front of her, every gruesome detail of that night. 

Vi’s grip squeezes even tighter. How dare Jinx trick her with this? That is just fucking cruel. “We both know that’s bullshit,” Vi spits. 

Now, Vi really is choking Jinx out. If she keeps this up, she will die. Vi will kill her. Jinx makes eye contact with Vi for just a second, and in those violet eyes Vi can only see her own rage. But then a purple tear escapes from one of those eyes, and Vi…

She can’t do it. She couldn’t kill Jinx then, and she can’t do it now, even though the only things she’s felt in months are anger, hatred, and despair. 

Vi releases Jinx with a heaving breath, and Jinx drops to her knees in a heap, soothing her throat and coughing and gasping. Vi turns away from the sight, watching her out of the corner of her eye in case it really was a trick after all. But Jinx doesn’t do anything but cough. Maybe…maybe Vi went too far. 

Jinx coughs out, “He needs our help. I can prove it.”

And when has Vi ever turned away a family member in need? 

She stares at herself in the mirror, the first time she’s done so in a long time. She can hardly recognize herself at all. Part of her likes that. 

But the other part hates it. And hates what she’s become. 

Fine.

“Okay.” Vi says. 

Jinx looks up at her, something shining in her eyes, a hope of some kind, maybe, “You believe me?” 

Vi doesn’t know how to answer that without crushing Jinx’s spirit, so she doesn’t. “I’m coming with you.” Because she’s not going to leave her sister alone. Because even though all she wants to do is die here…she can’t stop herself from assuming that role. Even if she can never seem to get it right anymore. 

Moving back to her bed, Vi picks up her jacket from where it had been discarded on the floor earlier that day. Then, she walks to the small closet next to the bathroom. She senses more than sees Jinx looking at her inquisitively, but she ignores it, pulling the door open. 

Inside the closet are her gauntlets, painted black. 

Call it a reborn survival instinct, but whatever it is that they’re facing, Vi’s not fucking dying today. 

And neither is Jinx. 

She locks the gauntlets in place, then turns back around to Jinx, “Alright, lead the way.” 

Jinx stares at the gauntlets for the moment before heading out the door. Vi spares her shitty apartment another glance before following behind. 

—

There’s a kid. 

Before they could find Vander, Jinx tells her, she wanted to check on “her kid”. 

Vi is pretty sure that Jinx does not mean that literally. 

She follows Jinx down into a deep crack in the earth, where one of the old turbines rests. It strikes Vi, then, that she had no idea where Jinx had been living. That bothers her more than it has any right to. 

As they step onto one of the old propellor’s blades, it's clear that this is where Jinx lives. There are drawings all over the metal, lights strung up haphazardly, a hammock, a…blanket fort? All of her gadgets spewn about the place. It’s very…Jinx. 

Very Powder, too.

A small figure emerges from the blanket fort and launches themselves at Jinx. It’s a kid. A pretty cute kid, actually. And the way the two hug…it pulls at some part of Vi’s heart. She tries to brush the feeling away, but not to much success. 

Once the hug breaks apart, Jinx turns to Vi with a hand lingering on Isha’s head, “Vi, this is Isha. Isha this is…this is my sister Vi.”

Vi’s heart stills for a second. Does she really think of them still as…no, she can’t believe it. It was just for ease of introduction’s sake. 

But she still didn’t have to say it. 

Vi gives a little wave to Isha, which looks somewhat silly with her comically large gauntlets on. Isha seems to think so too, since she giggles a bit when Vi does so. And Vi can’t help but slightly smile at the amusement of this kid. She can see why Jinx likes her. 

Huh. Jinx being good with kids.

It’s…not what she expected. But there’s a lot she doesn’t expect from Jinx, like seeking Vi out to go on what is potentially a wild goose chase. Maybe even a trap, but Vi would expect that from her. 

She doesn’t let her guard down. 

—

They start making their way to the mines. As they reach a boarded up entrance, Vi’s eyes catch on a mural painted on the side of a wall. 

It’s…it’s Jinx. And Vander. 

She’d heard bits and pieces down in the pit and bars and clubs, Jinx being Zaun’s new symbol or whatever…but she hadn’t really contended with what that meant. Jinx and Vander. Being thought of in the same breath, and not because of family relation. But because they both represent Zaun. They both fight for Zaun.

Well, Vander did. 

Jinx…Vi isn’t so sure. But Vi also hasn’t seen Jinx in months, so she tries not to pass that judgement. But she assumes people have flocked to her because of the attack on the Council. That wasn’t a revolutionary act. 

It was just violence. 

That itself is a lie, Vi knows that, but she doesn’t want to let it go. 

Part of Vi, a part she didn’t even know still existed, almost feels jealous. That could’ve been her. That should’ve been her. If she hadn’t been fucking thrown in prison for no reason. If she hadn’t ruined everything and everyone. 

Her thoughts swirl as they become contradictory. 

Why does it seem like everyone else gets to have what they want but her? Why is she the one who’s lost so much time? What’s so wrong with her?

She hates feeling sorry for herself, so she just buries all these feelings under the anger that’s always lining her steps. 

Vi turns back towards Jinx, who just gives her a look that Vi thinks is supposed to be smug, but it’s like her heart isn’t in it. The anger in her veins chooses to focus on the intent to be smug, and she finds herself annoyed and hurt. 

—

The three of them enter the tunnels, which are illuminated by some kind of glowing fungus that’s “recharged” by loud, sharp noises, like a clap. 

Jinx runs her fingers over what look to be marks left by gigantic claws, “This is where I lost him.”

Vi stares at the claw marks. What the hell has Jinx gotten them into? Vi can’t shake the feeling that this is some kind of trap. She blankets herself in that feeling of irritation, to better protect herself from the inevitable disappointment that will come from that fact being revealed. 

She watches as Jinx and Isha walk ahead of her, working like a team. It reminds Vi of former days. She shakes her head as she wills the thought away. She can’t be thinking about that right now. She’s got a job to do.

As they walk together, Vi can’t help but get more and more annoyed about the possibility of being tricked. At some point she’s not even sure why it’s vexing her so much. Maybe she just wants to be angry. Or maybe it’s the only way to express the hurt she feels in seeing Jinx so happy with another sister. 

Pointedly ignoring that thought, she asks, only somewhat rhetorically, “Why the hell would Vander be all the way down here?”

Jinx shrugs the best she can while walking, “Beats me. Ask him yourself.”

Yeah, right, like that’s happening. Vi sighs. She just doesn’t believe this at all. This is a waste of time. “When are you gonna admit that this is just another one of your fantasies?” Vi’s struck by the memory of Powder’s overactive imagination. She wonders if Jinx still has that. She saw the drawings in her hideout…maybe she still does. The memory hits Vi uncomfortably, so she maybe lashes out just a little bit by being an asshole, “Or do you not want the kid to know how delusional you are?”

Jinx ignores her in favor of stage-whispering to the kid, “She wasn’t always like this. She actually used to be pretty cool, before I kicked her butt.”

Before the rational, logical, and mature part of Vi’s brain can tell her to ignore that barb, Vi scoffs and entertains the banter, “See what I mean? Delusional.”

Jinx stops walking. Vi knows she’s hit a nerve, then. And for a second, she almost feels bad about it. But before she can get there, Jinx turns around, real hurt in her eyes, “Wish I was just seeing things when you decided to throw in with the Piltie goons who murdered Mom and Dad.”

Are they really doing this right now? Vi’s not in the mood to engage genuinely in this conversation so she shoots a barb right back, a little bit defensive despite knowing Jinx is right for being upset (trust her, she fucking knows), “Well at least they never had to see what their daughter turned into.” It’s a weak shot, but Vi takes it anyway. 

Jinx is fast with the comeback, “Which one?”

And, okay, that maybe hurts. Because even though Jinx is talking about Vi being an Enforcer, all she can think of is the carnage she’s created with her own two hands in the last few months. And maybe the years before that. And yeah, Jinx is right, their parents would probably be disgusted with Vi by now, but not just because of her choice to join Caitlyn. 

The mask of anger slips from Vi’s face for just a moment, but it comes right back when Jinx keeps talking, “Wake up sis, I’m a hero. I busted half of Zaun out of Stillwater while you were passed out in the bottom of a mug.”

Vi can’t help her hissed retort, because even hearing that place just mentioned takes her back to times she’d never be able to forget, “Yeah? And where was that heroism during the seven years I spent there?”

When Jinx says nothing in response, just looks a bit shocked (Vi doesn’t look at her long enough to read her expression), Vi just scoffs and pushes past her, “Thought so.” 

It was an unfair thing to say, and Vi knows it. She would never actually blame Jinx for her imprisonment, never. But she’s grown too used to acidity lining her tongue, and she hopes Jinx gets the hint not to mention that place in her presence. She didn’t even know Jinx had busted anyone out of Stillwater. No wonder she’s getting murals painted of her. If Vi wasn’t so furious, she’d be proud. 

And then Jinx says something else that pisses her off, because she can’t let the conversation just end, “Yeah, keep walking, before I kick your ass again.”

With that, Vi turns right back around and looks Jinx straight in the eye, “You wouldn’t last one second against me, not in a real fight. No gadgets. No tricks.” Vi doesn’t know what Jinx has to gain by pissing her off, but she’s doing it. Poking at the one thing she can find pride in in her life…yeah, no. 

Jinx laughs, “What about those overdesigned bitch-mittens you didn’t even build yourself?”

Vi doesn’t say anything to that, just disengages the gauntlets. They hit the floor with a bang. If Jinx really wants this, they can go right now. All Vi feels is her fury and her own self-hatred, and she’s spent months self-medicating by utterly thrashing other people. 

“You think I need these to—“ Vi can’t finish the sentence because suddenly Jinx is in her face slapping her. What a cheap fucking shot. For a second, Vi is transported back to childhood and playfighting with a young Powder. Then she remembers where and when she is and that this isn’t just a fucking play fight anymore. 

Jinx’s smart mouth starts working, “There. One second,” and when Jinx tries to walk away Vi grips and pulls at one of her long braids, bringing her right back into Vi’s space, and Vi tackles her to the ground. Jinx presses her hand against Vi’s face, but Vi manages to grab her wrist and move it. 

“Last chance to surrender,” Vi grits out.

Jinx strains with the effort of fighting against Vi’s grip, “Go right ahead, fat hands.”

Fat hands? Why this little—

All of a sudden Vi feels an extra weight on her back, and it causes her to lose focus for a second, allowing Jinx to break free of her grip and put her hand up against her face again. Vi feels a bit of pressure on her back, but she hardly feels it, and she’s too focused on Jinx to pay it any mind. 

That is until she feels a sharp pain in her left forearm, at which point she cries out and strikes out with that arm on instinct.

Vi and Jinx stop fighting as they hear a high-pitched cry of pain ring out after Vi makes contact. Simultaneously they realize what just happened. Jinx reacts faster, getting out from under Vi and immediately comforting Isha.

Vi, for her part, thinks of a different night with a different child who was just trying to help their older sister. 

She feels fucking wretched. 

An apology lines her throat, but it’s like she can’t get the words out.

Watching Jinx comfort Isha…it makes Vi realize that she doesn’t think she’s made for that kind of gentleness anymore. She’s only sharp, broken edges now. Just look at her, only just met her sister again and now a little kid is bleeding because of her. 

She always hurts the people she means to protect. 

Why is she even here?

Once Isha is up and moving again, exploring the tunnels a bit ahead of Jinx and Vi, Vi puts her gauntlets back on and asks Jinx exactly that, “Why’d you come get me? You don’t actually need my help. You haven’t for a long time.” And doesn’t that hurt to admit? Well, Vi’s known it for months now, so it hurts, but it’s more of a simmering ache. Something always on her mind. That no one needs her anymore, that she has nothing to offer. She has no one. Nothing.

Jinx doesn’t look at her when she replies, “Last time Vander needed us, we tried it alone, and nothing was ever the same.” An understatement. But also not exactly true. It was Vi’s choice to leave Powder behind. To keep her safe. Of course, that didn’t work at all. But Mylo and Claggor were there too. So Jinx is saying something different. 

It’s not that they were alone. 

It’s that they weren’t together. 

Jinx turns her head and looks at Vi when she adds, “Besides, he’s your father too.”

Vi’s glare relaxes as the meaning sits with her. She’s not sure what to make of it, but something about Jinx acknowledging them as family, something about Jinx doing this because she cares…

This is because she cares, right?

A part of Vi wants to deny it. What if this is a trick? But it’s getting harder and harder to believe that. And it’s getting easier and easier to want to hope that maybe the damage between her and Jinx isn’t beyond repair. Maybe she hasn’t completely fucked it up. 

But as Vi considers it, she looks down, spotting Isha’s bloody handprint on the floor. 

Right. 

This is why she shouldn’t allow herself to get close. She always hurts them in the end, even when she tries not to.

—

A long time spent walking later, and they come across a door. Another set of gigantic claw marks are scratched into it, and wherever those marks came from, the claws were strong enough to completely cut through the metal. 

It makes Vi nervous. 

She kicks open the door, revealing a small, dusty wooden room with a desk and some shelves. Chairs and stools are strewn about the place. Vi, Jinx, and Isha walk inside, and Isha lights one of the lanterns, giving them another source of light. 

What is this place?

Jinx walks off and looks at some clothes hung up. Vi notices the gauntlets that look incredibly familiar. Mining gauntlets.

As Vi approaches the desk, she sees a piece of paper underneath a glass. Vander used to have a glass like that. This whole room is dripping with reminders of the man. The man who is apparently alive again. But Vi really doesn’t want to allow herself to hope. 

She disengages a gauntlet, laying it on the desk, and then she moves the glass, starting to read the paper. 

Speaking of reminders…it’s from Vander. It’s for Silco. She swallows down the revulsion she feels just thinking of the man. 

Jinx notices her reading, “What is it?” She approaches the desk, looking down at the paper as well. 

Vi can hardly tear her eyes away from the letter, “A message from Vander,” she hesitates. “To Silco.” She moves away, unable to look any longer, the words of the letter sitting with her uneasily. 

She hears Jinx plop down in the chair and start reading the letter aloud. But there’s no need to really listen. Vi scanned the words greedily, desperate to have even a crumb of the man she knew. The man she missed. She busies herself looking at the faded and torn map strung up on the wall. It’s essentially unreadable, meaning that Vi has no choice but to hear Jinx say the words, and she has no choice but to think. 

Silco was like a brother to Vander. And it was the deterioration of their relationship that set everyone Vi knows on their respective paths. Or, at least, that was one of the factors. If they had been able to make up…what could have happened?

The dirt was on both our hands. The words hit Vi roughly, make her vision swim for just a moment before she regains her composure. 

As Jinx’s voice starts trailing away, becoming thick with emotion, Vi turns around and looks down at her sister finishing the letter. Jinx puts the letter down, clearly upset, “If he found this, everything might have been different.”

The way her voice breaks compels Vi to reach out, ease the pain. But as she lifts her hand to do so…she retracts. She’s hurt Jinx with these hands. More than once. She doesn’t deserve to comfort her. She already knows she’s not made for it. 

Vi starts to reach for her gauntlet instead, but then something stops her. A feeling. An impulse. Jinx’s words echo in her head. The things unsaid between Vander and Silco made their relationship irretrievable. 

Maybe it’s not too late for Jinx and Vi. 

She won’t let things be unsaid anymore. 

Vi drops her hand at her side, and says stiltingly, awkwardly, “I’m sorry.” She sees Jinx look up at her from the corner of her eye, and while she can’t tell her expression, she can sense the confusion. Vi sighs, forces the words out, “I didn’t mean to hit you that night.” 

They both know what night she means. 

And Jinx doesn’t say anything to that, just looks down in thought. Vi assumes that’ll be the end of it, even though she knows she should say more (but she can’t. even that was difficult enough, forcing words past a throat that demands to stay closed. crossing a divide she can’t see the other side of). So Vi reaches out and grabs her gauntlet, locking her hand back in it, and she starts to walk away, ready to leave this room of old memories and what-could’ve-beens behind her.

But then Jinx unexpectedly asks, “What happened to your badge?”

The shock of the question makes Vi turn around to look at her, “What?”

Jinx hunches over herself, fidgets with her hands, looks like she wants to be anywhere but here. Exactly like Vi, a few seconds ago. “When I found you, in that alley…” memories flash across Vi’s mind without warning. “You were in the whole pig get up. But you didn’t have your badge.” 

Vi blinks, and Jinx takes a quick look at her face, but she must not have been entirely satisfied with what she found there, because she turns her gaze away again, “I know it doesn’t matter, but…just humor me. What happened to it?” 

What? Why does it even matter? And Vi’s not exactly itching to tell the story. Do they even have time for this right now? “Jinx—“

Jinx hits her hand on the desk. Not that hard, but hard enough to reverberate around the small room. Her tone is laced with a stubborn kind of frustration, “What. Happened.”

You know what? Fine. Vi doesn’t even care at this point. Just remind her of all her failures and mistakes, why don’t you? She looks away in a huff, “I got rid of it.”

Jinx raises her arms in frustration, “Yeah no shit!” But then she takes a deep breath and calms down a notch, “You don’t gotta be an asshole if you don’t wanna talk about it.”

And something about her indignant tone, which is badly hiding an injured one, makes Vi soften, “There really isn’t much to say. I took it off before you got there.”

“Why?”

Jinx just won’t let this go. The gauntlets clench as Vi closes her fists involuntarily at the memory. She can see Jinx eye them just a bit nervously, and it makes her feel hollowed out. She shifts her eyes away, “Me and Caitlyn…we had a disagreement.”

Jinx snorts, “Oh so you’ll join Enforcer trash for her but not, what, agree to wear the stupid hat?” 

The barb hits Vi in just the wrong place, and the shame prickling on the back of her neck makes her want to scream, so she lashes out instead, “Fuck you.”

“Hah, real mature, sister,” Jinx says derisively, “Can’t take being reminded that you’ve got the backbone of a limp noodle?”

Her snide, hissed tone oozes with contempt, and the shame and guilt Vi feels tighten their hold on her, building and building until she can’t seem to hold the words back anymore, “She wanted to use the Grey, okay?!”

In the echo of her outburst, Jinx’s voice is quiet, “What?”

“Caitlyn she…she was so angry, so desperate because we couldn’t find you anywhere. And she was obsessed with tracking you down. Still is,” Vi glances at Jinx briefly then looks away. “And so apparently she learned how the vents down here work or whatever and she said we could use that to force you out of hiding…she had no idea what the hell she was talking about, you and I both know what that shit does to people—!” Vi forces herself to stop before she truly gets angry. Forces in a breath to quell the building storm inside. Getting mad won’t be helpful. And she doesn’t want Jinx to hate Caitlyn…not the way Caitlyn hates Jinx. Thinking of that leaves an uncomfortable feeling in Vi’s gut.

Once she’s calmer, she continues, “I told her I wasn’t going to have any part in gassing Zaun. She…” Vi almost, almost considers telling Jinx the things Caitlyn said. Confiding in her like they’re kids again. But she decides against it. There is no need to place the burden of that on Jinx, and she doesn’t want to think about the words burned into her mind more than she already has to. No one needs to hear that. And no one needs to know how it felt, crying in that dirty alley. “She didn’t take it well. So. That’s why I got rid of the badge.”

As Jinx takes the information in, looking uncharacteristically solemn and thoughtful, Vi moves to lean against the wall, suddenly finding the close proximity to be too much for the raw vulnerability she feels. And then she sees this silence as the opportunity it is to maybe clear the air about certain things. “I didn’t…I didn’t want to join the Enforcers. I never wanted to. I hate them.” Can’t even go a day without being reminded of the way they’d fucking beat her in her cell, leave her cut and bleeding, laughing at her with their stupid batons and knives and whatever other fucking weapons they used. She thinks this, but doesn’t say it aloud. She refuses to burden anyone with the weight of these memories. 

Jinx only looks confused and exasperated, “So then what the hell did you turn traitor for?”

Maybe it’s the accusation of being a traitor that rings too true that unleashes the words from her before she can think to stop them. Maybe it’s the way Jinx looks at her, thinly veiled disgust. Vi doesn’t know. All she knows is that the words barrel out of her anyway.

“For you!” 

Vi’s almost panting with the way the admission zaps her energy, and she realizes what she probably looks like right now, upset with her gauntlets on, taking a step forward that could easily be construed as threatening. For the first time this whole conversation, she notices Isha standing by Jinx, giving her a look that screams of the simple concern of a child. It hurts to see. She backs up to be near the door, turns away and looks out at the tunnel ahead of her, “I…I did it for you. Caitlyn’s mom was killed by your rocket. Piltover wanted to flood the streets with Enforcers, and Caitlyn was going to help them. And I…I couldn’t let that happen. Not to you. Not to Zaun. And not to her. And I know you don’t get it but you don’t know Caitlyn. Not like I do. Or…not like I did. Losing her mom…it changed her. It made her someone I don’t know anymore, and I thought if I stayed I could…I could…” Vi rests her head against the door frame, closing her eyes, arms hanging listlessly at her sides. 

Her next words are soft, ironic considering the broken things they are, “But it didn’t fucking work. It never does. No matter what I do, everyone always changes. And no one ever has room for me anymore when they do.” Her head sags with the weight of everything she’s said, everything she feels. It’s only a fraction of the raging storm inside, and Vi can’t tell if she feels any better or worse for releasing some of it.

She hears footsteps, and then suddenly there’s a hand on her upper back, featherlight. She wants to turn around. She wants to see if this is real, if Jinx is really, actually—

The sound of rumbling brings Vi to attention immediately. She hardly notices the hand on her back fall away as she immediately walks out of the room and into the tunnels. She looks left, then right, and to the right she sees glowing at the end of the tunnel, where it curves and goes out of view. The fungi. 

Something’s down here. 

The rumbling gets louder and Vi swears she hears a roar of some kind. She sees Jinx and Isha at her side, also looking in the same direction as her. She starts walking the other way, compelling Jinx and Isha to follow her, “We have to get out of here.”

Vi has no idea what the fuck is down here with them, but between the claw marks and the loud noises and the honest-to-god roar, she does not want to find out. 

But Jinx protests, “That’s him. That’s Vander.”

Is she being serious right now? “That’s not Vander.” Vi wants to walk away but she can’t, not when Jinx and Isha are just standing there like there isn’t something clearly dangerous headed right for them. 

“It is,” Jinx says, like it’s that easy. Like it’s a fact. “Something’s got him riled up.”

Suddenly Vi is struck by the feeling that she should’ve asked more questions. 

Jinx crouches down and covers Isha with her arm. 

And then Vi sees it.

Some hulking creature, glowing tubes sticking out of its back. Snarling. Running on all fours. Not slowing down. Danger. 

Jinx is hardly phased, or maybe she’s putting on a front, “No, Vander, no.” Talking to it like it’s some kind of animal. Vi’s head spins trying to understand what the hell Jinx is even thinking, and her eyes widen as the danger gets closer and closer, and Jinx’s mask of calm begins to crack, “It’s me.”

But the creature, whatever it is, doesn’t seem to hear Jinx at all. It’s coming. It’s close. It’s almost on top of them. 

And suddenly the only thing Vi knows is protect.

She propels herself forward, pushing Jinx and Isha out of the way.

The creature launches itself in the air.

With only a split second to brace herself, Vi puts her hands up and pushes with all of her might as the creature slams into her waiting gauntlets. The exertion is almost too much, but she grits her teeth and forces her body to obey, using all of her strength to make sure that thing doesn’t get even an inch closer to Jinx and Isha. She has to save them. She won’t let them get hurt. 

The creature roars and Vi throws it back with a great heave that leaves Vi sprawled on the ground. But the shove hardly means a thing to it, it recovers almost immediately and Vi forces herself back to her feet as creature roars again. She says to Jinx, “He’s gonna kill you.”

Vi gets up and runs, ready to fight this creature to the death if she has to. Because this isn’t Vander. It’s not. No matter what Jinx says. This is a threat. 

Jinx yells after her, “Don’t hurt him,” but Vi barely listens. Her instincts scream at her to protect protect protect and that’s all she hears. She powers the gauntlets as she rears back for the hardest right uppercut she can give, because this thing is not human which means she can’t hold back.  

She barely has a moment to react as the creature almost immediately recovers from a punch that split its face open and strikes her, sending her sailing into the wall of the tunnel.

The creature is upon her in an instant, but she’s faster, and she roars with the force of the punch she sends straight into its stomach, and the weight of the blow sends it skidding back. But its ridiculous healing factor means that it’s able to leap into the air right after regaining its balance, and as it descends onto Vi she blocks with a gauntlet. She swings herself around to grab the creature by the neck, and uses her other hand to grip and pull on the creature’s jaw, hoping to dislodge it and remove the threat of its gaping maw. But the creature’s too strong, and it shakes her off with a few mighty heaves. 

Vi slides on the ground, only able to recover fast enough to roll out of the way of the creature’s next attack. As she quickly gets on her feet, she notices Jinx standing in front of Isha, the two of them unable to move because of the fight between Vi and the creature taking them all over the tunnel. 

The creature surges towards Vi again, and she prepares for another heavy punch, which she lands, but just like the rest of her attacks it hardly affects the creature at all. It catches itself on the wall, pushing its clawed hand into it to launch itself towards Vi, and then it starts clawing at her as it jumps from wall to wall. All Vi can do is defend from the harrowing onslaught, but then the creature hits one of her gauntlets with such force that it sends her flying hard enough into the wall to crack it. 

As Vi’s head is briefly overcome by a feeling of fuzz, she sees the creature turn its head towards Jinx and Isha. No!

But then when it gets a good look at Jinx, for a second it almost looks like it’s fighting itself, and its eyes flicker between a glowing red and a calmer blue and green. 

Could Jinx have been right? 

No! Vi shuts the thought down immediately, Jinx and Isha are still in danger, she needs to get up and fight. She spits out blood as the creature writhes, its head in one of its enormous clawed hands. As she stands a ringing in her head makes itself known along with a blossoming pain the back of her skull, and it’s exhausting lifting the gauntlets even though they’re still as relatively light as ever. 

“Vi!” Jinx’s voice catches her attention. “It’s him. You have to believe me!”

And Vi wants to. Even though this thing has been trying to kill her. Even though it looks and acts nothing like Vander and she can’t see him in the creature at all. Even though her instincts scream at her not to stop fighting. 

Because…because it’s writhing on the ground, clearly experiencing some kind of inner conflict. It reacted to the sight of Jinx. 

But more importantly, it’s because Jinx is asking her to believe. To trust her. 

Jinx insists and for fuck’s sake Vi wants to be able to trust her sister. For just the briefest moment in that room, Vi thought that finally, after all this time, they may have finally reached each other. 

So…Vi takes a chance. 

She lowers her arms from their fighting stance. 

If Jinx is wrong, or, no, worse, if Jinx is tricking her, then this is suicide. 

But Vi doesn’t care. She already barely wants to live in this world anymore, and she definitely doesn’t want to live in a world where her sister would betray her in such a way, so the outcome doesn’t matter. She’s ready. 

And as the creature leaps, Vi stares straight into its glowing red eyes and summons a single word from deep within her chest, using all the energy she has in hopes of bringing back this missing piece of her heart, “Vander!”

.

.

.

She feels large arms wrapped around her. She’s…being hugged. She’s not dead. 

Jinx was right. 

This really is Vander. Changed. Monstrous, maybe. But it’s still him. He’s still here.  

Tears fill Vi’s eyes as she wills herself not to start sobbing right then and there.

Because, god, she’s missed him more than anything. And this hug…as she feels herself being embraced, she starts thinking. When was the last time someone hugged her like this? It had to have been the last time Vander hugged her, because other than Mom and Dad, no one ever hugged her like this. 

It even feels the same as Vander’s hugs always did. The hand behind her head ensures that. It’s a familiar element of her own brand of hugs. She’d learned it from him. 

Shaky breaths come from behind Vi, and she just barely peels her head away from the whole-body embrace to look around at Jinx and Isha. Jinx is standing there, looking relieved beyond belief. And Vi understands why. 

She brings her hand away and uses it to beckon Jinx, creating an opening to include her in the embrace, “What are you waiting for?” she smiles. “He’s your dad too.” And that’s the simple truth. 

And that’s all Jinx needed to hear. She cries as she rushes into the hug, and suddenly the embrace feels even more complete. It’s a bliss so unlike the false veneer of one Vi had been finding at the bottom of all those bottles. This is real. This is everything. 

Together, Jinx and Vi cry.

The final touches on the hug are made when Isha attaches herself to Vi and Jinx. And any sort of jealous or hurt feeling Vi ever had watching Isha and Jinx washes away as Vi makes the easy, inevitable, and unbreakable decision that Isha is her little sister too. 

It reminds Vi so much of the day Vander adopted Mylo and Claggor. And it reminds her of the day Benzo started looking after Ekko. 

Her family.

For the first time in a long, long time, it feels like things are gonna be okay. 

Because this right here is all she’s ever wanted for the last seven and a half years—her family. Together. 

Chapter Text

There’s a healer, deep in the fissures, where the old encampment used to be. 

At least, that’s what Jinx says anyway. 

Once Jinx, Vi, Isha, and Vander were all able to break apart their embrace—which may or may not have taken a very long time in Vi’s case—Vi and Jinx started thinking of next steps. Because they saw what just happened. Vander was not in control of himself, and it hurt him to fight against that. Vi refuses to let him suffer like this. 

That’s when Jinx brought up this rumor she’d heard about a “Herald” who could heal people. Magically. Vi would be skeptical, but she’s currently trying to sneak a giant wolf creature that is actually her second father who was supposed to be dead through Zaun, so…she thinks she can afford to be a little imaginative for once. They’ve stolen some blanket hanging off the side of a balcony and fashioned it into a cloak for Vander, and they tread through Zaun carefully, trying to avoid being out in the open where prying eyes might see.

As they make the trek across the undercity, a trepidatious ease falls over them all. Jinx makes some commentary here and there, but Vi is not much feeling up to carrying a conversation, Vander is, ah, unavailable for comment, and Vi is pretty sure she hasn’t heard Isha speak a word, so Jinx is on her own. But that doesn’t seem to bother her, because she goes chattering away. Vi considers that this must be Jinx trying to soothe her own nerves. Studying Jinx, she can see echoes of familiar mannerisms in the ways she fiddles with her hands and plays with her hair. 

And with the familiarity comes memories, always popping up uninvited. But for once they don’t hurt nearly as much. Maybe because for once they aren’t reminding her that her family is gone forever. Her family is right here. 

There are missing pieces, of course. Vi can’t help but wonder what kind of witty comment Mylo would’ve given, or how Claggor would’ve kept watch with that silent, observing concern of his. She wishes they could be here for this. She misses them. Always.

And Ekko…

Wait, no, actually, what are they going to tell Ekko? He has a right to know that Vander’s alive too. She looks between Jinx and Vander, and then back towards the path ahead. 

“What should we say to Ekko?”

It is only after the words have already left Vi’s mouth and Jinx has already stiffened that she remembers the whole context of the last time she saw Ekko. But before she can even figure out how to address that, Jinx answers her question.

“I don’t think we gotta worry about that right now,” Jinx says, a bit softly for her, and Vi can’t decipher the emotions lacing the tone, “From what I can tell, he’s gone.”

Vi stops walking, shock rushing through her, “What? Gone? How do you…where did you…?”

Jinx still doesn’t look at her, but she stops walking too, “It’s not ‘cause of what happened on the bridge, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Vi can sense the minefield that this conversation rests on, so she treads as carefully as she can, slowly approaching her sister, “Hey, no, I didn’t mean it that way.” And it really wasn’t meant that way, but now Vi has been so rudely awoken to the reality in which they now live, the ghosts of the past that float between them. The years that Vi was gone, and what that meant for her siblings. 

Sighing, Jinx starts walking again, and Vi follows, “Yeah, I know…I actually don’t know if he’s gone for sure, but I know that no one’s seen him in months.”

Months? No, Ekko… God, if Vi hadn’t been so busy drinking and fighting herself halfway to—

A low growl from Vander stops the thought in its tracks, and Vi notices a rather bright, almost natural-looking light ahead of them. They must be close. Vander and the light in front of her remind Vi of where she is. One thing at a time. Right now, they’ll focus on healing Vander. Then she’ll find out what happened to Ekko. 

Missing for months…that almost always means one thing. But Vi refuses to believe it. If she’s learned anything, it’s that Ekko is a survivor. And hell, if Vander is back from the dead…there’s just no way Ekko can be dead either. She knows the universe hates her, but it can let her have this one thing right? Please, just wherever he is, Vi hopes that he’s safe, and they’ll see each other again soon. Then her family would truly be complete. 

As they approach the naturally unnatural light of the former encampment, Vi starts thinking of the last time she was here. The last time she had seen her childhood home. The last time she’d ever see it. Does Jinx even know where they are right now? Does she remember that? Now’s not the time to ask, but she thinks that maybe she can ask later. It’s a thought that makes her feel strangely light.

Vi speeds up her steps slightly so that she can walk out in front of everyone else. She surveys the place as they get closer. There’s a strange-looking gate, and there are other groups and individuals heading inside. Vi notices that the ones heading inside are clearly sick or hurt, clearly in need of help. So far Jinx’s tip is checking out, at least in that way, since everyone seems to have sought this place out for some kind of healing. 

Imagine. A healer—a doctor—in the Lanes. 

It sounds too good to be true. 

Vi steps up to the gate, where someone in strange white wrappings stands. Once she gets close enough, she can see exactly who it is. Huck. 

“Vi,” he greets, like there was no history between them. “I hoped you might return.” From what? Silco trying to kill her? 

A few months ago, Huck sold Vi and Caitlyn out to Silco. Just for a quick Shimmer fix. Vi’s empathy and anger clash, with anger winning for just long enough to allow her to glare at Huck harshly and hiss, “You sold me out…” Her fists clench, the gauntlets with them. 

Huck doesn’t miss a beat, “Yes. That was me at my worst. Simply awful.” Is that really all he has to say for himself? Not even an apology? Huck directs someone pushing another person in a wheelchair through the gateway. He turns back to Vi, “But the Herald has freed me of my past self. He’s given me a chance to make amends.”

Make amends, huh? Surprisingly, that soothes Vi’s anger. Maybe because that’s what she hopes to do, in some ways. She thinks of her sister, standing behind her. As Vi’s anger cools, she notices some strange markings lining his forehead. Wonder what that’s all about. As she considers his words, she looks away from Huck and towards the people around them. She watches as people in need are treated by people wearing similar clothing to Huck’s. They must be the ones running the place. 

While Vi is looking away, Huck speaks up again, “All are welcome.” Vi turns her attention back to Huck. “But I must ask you to surrender your weapons. This is a place of peace.”

Before Vi could even so much as form an opinion about the request, Jinx scoffs with the energy of an eye-roll and pushes past her, pointing a gun right in Huck’s face. Vi hardly reacts. And then she starts thinking of her own lack of reaction. She thinks she should be wary of her sister’s penchant for violence, real or threatened, but she’s not. Is she used to this now? Vi sits with that as her sister stands off with Huck. The thought doesn’t disturb her. She trusts her sister not to do anything foolish. That thought makes her weirdly happy. 

From behind Vi, Vander growls, and all over again Vi is reminded of why they’re here. They don’t have another choice, because nobody else in Zaun could even remotely do what this Herald supposedly does, and Vi would never even think of bringing Vander topside. Not when he’s like this. So she disengages her gauntlets and lets them fall to the ground, not sparing them a second glance so that she can’t change her mind, because it makes an uncomfortable feeling rise in her stomach, leaving them sitting out in the open like this. A few seconds later, Jinx, Vander, and Isha fall into step behind her. 

Huck leads them in, and…wow. 

This place. It’s beautiful. The only time she’s ever seen such brightness and warmth in Zaun was in the base of the Firelights, and even that pales in comparison to the splendor of this place. This commune. That’s all she can think to call it. She nearly goes slack-jawed at the sight of it all, eyes wide with wonder. 

Beside her, Huck explains, “The Herald’s vision.”

If the Herald could bring this to Zaun…maybe he really could heal Vander. Vi allows herself to hope.

Together, Vi, Jinx, Isha, Vander, and Huck walk through the commune. Vi’s eyes catch on all the activity going on here. Food stalls, light and airy conversations, blacksmiths hard at work.

The peace is shattered when one of the blacksmiths dips a piping-hot billet into water, causing it to hiss, which triggers Vander into losing control of himself for a moment. Vi whips around at the sound of growls and snarls and sees Vander rip his cloak off as he roars. Jinx, Isha, and Vi are at his side in an instant. Isha stands in front of Vander protectively as the crowd around them looks on in shock. Has Vi mentioned how much she likes this kid? 

Vi quickly grabs Vander’s discarded cloak from the ground, and makes to put it back on him, hide him away, but Huck’s gentle grip on her arm stops her from doing so. He smiles at her, and she looks around, noticing that the other people around them…aren’t scared. It’s okay. No one is going to try to hurt Vander here. 

Huck pivots on his foot and continues walking down the path, saying behind him, “Come, he’s expecting you.”

Vi looks to Jinx, who looks the same mix of uncertain and thoughtful as she does. But Vi just nods her head towards Huck, motioning for them to follow. So far, this place has exceeded her expectations. She wonders for how much longer that will continue. 

Their group makes their way towards the building-sized sphere that overlooks the entire commune. As they approach, the sound of a bell tolls. It’s so calming. It’s kinda weird. But nice. When they arrive at the base of the sphere, a man emerges from it, wearing interesting blue robes and holding a long cane adorned with gilded flourishes. Vi’s first thought is that he looks tired. But she supposes that creating this corner of heaven deep within Zaun would make anyone tired. 

This must be the Herald.

“We hear you can heal people.” Vi says in lieu of a proper greeting. 

The Herald turns his gaze to Vander, who growls behind Vi. Then, he starts approaching. Getting closer and closer and showing no fear, no malice, no disgust. The absence of any of those emotions is probably the only reason Vi lets him get close without a word. The Herald reaches out and touches Vander, right on the forehead. Right where the strange markings adorning Huck’s face are located, now that Vi considers it. That must be how the healing’s done. 

Wow, it really is magic. 

Suddenly, the Herald grimaces and drops to his knees, and without thinking, Vi is quickly at his side, hands hovering. Is he okay? What happened? 

The Herald draws in heaving breaths as he lifts his head back up towards Vander, who’s currently being comforted by Jinx and Isha. The Herald braces himself on his cane as he rises to his feet. And then he looks at Vander with a sort of determination in his eyes. After a moment, he turns to Vi, and his gaze falls back to Jinx, Isha, and Vander as he speaks, “What’s been done to him, it has deeply wounded his very essence. But I promise you, I will do all I can to heal him. No matter the cost.” 

And just like that, Vi believes him. 

—

The Herald tells them that he will help Vander, as long as he is restrained at night. After both sisters agree to these conditions (and Vi tries not to feel hurt that Jinx thought she wouldn’t value her opinion), Jinx and Isha say their goodbyes to Vander for today, and Vi is the last. 

Vi stands in front of him, bringing their heads together, “We’re gonna get you outta there, Vander.” She wants him back. She wants him free. But for right now, just being able to share this moment with her dad is enough. 

As Vi pulls away, Huck approaches. 

“Huck will show you to your lodging. We would be happy to see you stay,” the Herald says. He gently starts guiding Vander away, towards a large building. Vi watches them go for a moment before following Huck, Jinx, and Isha.

They don’t go very far. Huck brings them to a lofted platform, upon which rests a dome-shaped tent. He looks at Vi and Jinx, “Will you be needing separate accommodations? There is more than enough space for all.”

At first the question almost seems nonsensical, but then Vi thinks about it, and a feeling of wrongness settles in her gut at the thought of having to sleep apart from Jinx. She chances a glance at her sister, who’s already watching her. Jinx nods almost imperceptibly, and damn, that makes Vi feel warm inside, and settles within her something she didn’t know was there.

“No, we’ll stay together,” Vi says. 

Huck nods, “Very well. I will leave you all to it then,” and then he turns and leaves before Vi can even think to say thank you. When she looks back to her side, Jinx and Isha are already climbing into the loft, slippery things they are. 

As she stands, looking up at them giggling, she doesn’t fight the smile that brightens her face. 

She is taken by surprise by the yawn, though. 

Suddenly, Vi’s struck by the feeling that what she really needs right now, is a nap. 

She starts bringing herself up to the loft too, playfully shouting at the blue-haired duo, “Hey, you two better leave me some room up there!”  

—

As the days go by, Vi finds herself almost…happy. Or, no, that’s not the right word. It’s a part of it, maybe, but it’s not the real feeling. No, she’s at peace. Here, with her family, she finds the screaming blanket of pain, rage, and despair that had covered her for months (for years) subsiding. Almost like she can heal. 

In this place, she has no need to fight, or no need for it to be more than a recreational activity. It’s not about survival here. 

She can rest. The thought is practically a fiction to her, given that time for relaxation is something that she has never been granted.

Does she even know how to rest?

Considering the way her body itches for her to do something, to help out, to provide…maybe not. But she likes doing those things. They make her feel fulfilled. And there’s nothing wrong with that, right?

What else does she like?

She…doesn’t know, actually. 

In what feels like another lifetime, she liked to read. She liked Vander’s action books. And she liked some of the bands that would take up space in the Last Drop. She even liked to dance. 

But all of those things feel…childish. Probably because the last time she got to partake in any of them was when she was just a teenager. Before it all went to shit. 

The fact that she even gets to sit here and think of this for herself…it’s unreal. 

She eats the food here and it tastes amazing. And, fuck, is it fresh? 

This place is like a dream. 

Vi thinks that she wouldn’t mind staying here. She’d have to find a way to contribute, of course, but that’s easy enough. But really, staying here…sure the people can be a bit off-putting with their easy, nonchalant demeanor. And the fact that there are no weapons sounds wonderful but puts Vi slightly on edge. They’re unguarded. But despite all that, she quite likes it here. Maybe because the people here aren’t starving in the streets, living in fear of an Enforcer dropping in or slighting a chembaron. Maybe because the air doesn’t feel thick and heavy with pollution. It’s Zaun as perhaps it could or should be, if it weren’t for Piltover. 

So yes, she’d like to stay. She has nothing left on the outside. No life to get back to. She could build one here. 

As long as she has her family beside her, she could build a life anywhere. 

—

Things between her and Jinx…they’re good. Better than they were, certainly. They’re not getting into slap fights, they’re not insulting each other, they’re not thinking the other is going to kill them (at least, Vi hopes Jinx isn’t thinking that way). 

But…they’re not doing much else either. 

There’s still this distance between them, a distance Vi is at a loss for how to bridge. Every time she thinks of trying to sit down and have a serious conversation, her throat closes up. She can’t find the right words. She’s too scared of ruining what little budding relationship they have to do anything more but sleep in the same bed with her sister, and join her for meals. 

She has been spending more time with Isha though. But that’s easier. With Isha, there’s no need to talk, so just following the kid around while she gets into this, that, and the other seems to be enough for the kid to be satisfied, and that makes Vi satisfied too. 

Some of the ice blocking Vi’s throat melts and she is finally able to apologize to the girl for hitting her. Isha…hugs her after that, and Vi maybe finds herself a little misty-eyed.

Vi thinks that Jinx is softening a bit, seeing Vi and Isha get along so well. Vi can see how much Isha means to her sister, and frankly the kid is really starting to grow on her too. Another little sister. Vi had already decided that days ago, but it’s always nice to be reminded. 

But back to Vi and Jinx. 

The more Vi considers it, the more she believes that the problem with them is two-fold. First, there’s so much that they need to get off of their chests that they’re drowning in it. Vi’s nervous that they wouldn’t be able to get through that much-needed conversation without a mediator, so she doesn’t push it, and neither does Jinx.

Second is that they simply aren’t used to being near each other in a way that doesn’t end in a fight. They have to relearn each other. And Vi is starting to become comfortable with the idea that there are things she has to learn about her sister. Jinx is not Powder. Well, she is, but she’s not the same Powder that Vi knew. 

And that’s okay. 

Or at least, it will be okay. Vi’s not going to pretend like the past is behind them, because it’s not. She sees it in every involuntary flinch from both of them, from remarks that just barely miss the mark of being cutting, from snide glances and huffed breaths. She and Jinx are rebuilding their relationship, but it’s fragile. 

And, god, Vi really doesn’t want to fuck it up. 

But she’s scared.

It feels like they’re on a knife’s edge, and one wrong move will send them careening back down to pretending to hate each other. Maybe even worse than that. And Vi can’t help but think she’s the one who’s going to make that mistake, bring trouble to their doorstep. 

After all, it was her fault the first time. And the second time. And the third time too. 

So she can’t mess up this chance.  

A few days after they arrive in the commune, Vi takes a leap of faith. She asks if Jinx could come with her somewhere. Jinx agrees after a questioning look that Vi doesn’t respond to, and Isha comes along too. She’s not sure if Isha will need to be here for this, but she won’t complain. 

They walk to the edge of the commune, back to where the whispers of the past are the loudest. 

Back to where Vi and Jinx’s childhood home once stood. 

All that’s left now is a piece of stone. 

As they walk up to it, Vi eyes Jinx to see her reaction, but Jinx hardly reacts. Either she’s keeping a stoic facade, or she really doesn’t remember. Vi’s not sure which hurts more. 

Vi kneels in front of the stone, and gasps sharply seeing that it’s the same stone pillar their parents used to mark Vi and Powder’s heights. 

The memories made in that house flow forth, and for once Vi doesn’t try to stop them. 

In a way, this is the only grave for their parents that Vi and Jinx are ever going to get. Really, it’s like a symbolic grave for their childhood. Or Vi’s at least. She stopped being a child the moment she saw her parents’ dead bodies on that bridge. In that moment, everything changed. She thinks that may have been the day her fiercely protective spirit was born. She was always protective over Powder, but becoming the only family her sister had left fanned that spark into a flame, forcing it to blaze brightly and cover every single thing that Vi held dear. 

Sometimes Vi wonders if those flames were too much, and that’s why everything she loves turns to ash. 

She pushes the thought away. No, that’s not true anymore. Jinx is still here. And Vander is still here. And dammit Ekko better still be here too. 

Vi wipes her eyes, unshed tears making them shine. “Do you remember them?” she says to Jinx, who stands behind her. 

Jinx scoffs, “I remember Mom’s smell the most.”

So does Vi.

“Axle grease,” she says, and Vi’s eyes widen as she realizes Jinx said the same thing. Vi’s heart pangs when she realizes that the smell is truly most of what Jinx can remember. Vi alone is the only one who can carry their parents’ memory, now. It’s such a lonely thought. But then she thinks…if Vander is healed, she won’t have to carry them alone anymore.

Vi rises to stand, “This place,” she lightly grazes the stone, “Do you think it could actually work?”

Jinx steps over to the other side of the stone, “Underground utopia, run by a skinny tin Machine Herald,” she sits atop of it, “Maybe when Piltover slides into the sump.” 

Spending so much time with Jinx has allowed Vi to see through the mask of humor she uses to avoid vulnerability. It saddens Vi a bit, that Jinx doesn’t feel as if she can truly be open, but Vi knows that this isn’t something she can push. She can only hope that in time, Jinx will feel that security. 

She lets the topic go, looking around at the commune from their vantage point amongst the old pipes and machinery lining the ground. She decides that this would be a good time to say the idea that’s been on her mind, “What if we stayed? Helped them out?” 

“We?” Jinx parrots, turning and looking at Vi. Her posture is still defensive, but not entirely so. Vi knows that this is a moment she can’t leave things unsaid. 

Vi looks back at Jinx and smiles, “Yeah, we,” she lifts her smile into more of an amused smirk, “That is, if you’ll have me.”

Jinx shakes her head and laughs, “Like I could ever get rid of you.” In another context, in another tone, it could sound insulting. But right now, it’s only endearing. It’s genuine, it’s warm. 

And the gap between Vi and Jinx shrinks just a little bit more. 

—

Vi’s just about to eat what is probably going to be a pretty great piece of fruit when she spots a rather shifty looking dude leaving the building Vander’s housed in.

Well that’s fucking suspicious. 

For the man’s sake, he better not actually be doing anything suspicious, because for as much as Vi is enjoying not needing to fight, her hands are itching out of the denied instinct to punch something. Or someone. 

And actually, she would rather enjoy a fight if it meant she stopped someone from trying to ruin the peace she’s managed to wrangle from the universe. 

In any case, she wants to make sure this commune is safe. Who knows? Maybe this is her way to contribute. 

Vi opts to follow him. After taking a bite from her fruit of course. She was right, it was great.

Tailing the man, she notices that something’s just…off about him. He walks as though he’s got nowhere better to be, despite very obviously going from one place to another. Like he’s purposefully trying not to draw attention. 

Vi follows him out the gateway to the commune, and she watches as he walks behind one of the canyon walls.

Then she notices a fucking Noxian spear outside of the commune. 

Now the alarm bells in her head are really ringing. What the hell is going on here?

She follows the man behind the rocks.

But then she hears a few pebbles slide down to her right. She drops into a fighting stance immediately, arms raised, and she scans the right side of her environment. 

She looks up. There’s a person, crouched in the nook etched into the canyon wall, clearly in the aftermath of an aborted movement to slide down.

“Vi?”

It’s Caitlyn.

In full Enforcer uniform. 

Fuck.

Chapter Text

It’s as if time has stopped. 

All is silent in the canyon as Vi and Caitlyn stare at each other, eyes wide and laced with mutual confusion. Other emotions swim there too, but Vi can’t tell what Caitlyn is thinking, and she has little interest in deciphering the complicated mix of her own feelings that deliver themselves as an ache in her chest.

Caitlyn’s the first to shatter the peace, sliding down the side of the canyon wall. When she hits the ground, Vi takes a few steps back, making sure she’s light on her feet and ready for anything. She has no idea what Caitlyn’s about to do, and she knows how quick the other woman can draw that gun in her hands. 

Caitlyn watches Vi’s swift steps back with something almost like hurt, and she reaches her free hand out, “Vi—”

Vi ignores…all of that, and opts to make use of the way her temper flares, “What the hell are you doing here, Caitlyn?” She snorts dryly, “Oh wait, I forgot who I was speaking to.” Vi shifts her stance, making a show of standing ramrod straight, like she’s addressing a superior, “Why don’t you state your business here, Sheriff Kiramman.”

The sneered tone is all mocking, and they both know it. 

Caitlyn meets Vi’s fiery gaze with a chilled one of her own, “I don’t see how that is any concern of yours.”

Right. Vi forgot how irritating Caitlyn could be when she thought herself as having a righteous purpose. Well, why doesn’t she destroy that illusion right now then? 

“It is when I see Noxian weapons outside of a peaceful commune,” Vi’s hands curl at her sides. “Care to explain what that’s all about? What, have you Enforcers not had enough chances to beat people who can’t fight back?” Vi’s mouth lifts upwards as she speaks, but there’s no amusement in it. Just disgust. She’s heard bits and pieces about what Caitlyn and her ilk have been doing the last few months, and whereas before she could ignore it by drowning her reactive fury in alcohol, since arriving at the commune she hasn’t had a single drink (despite how much she craves one). And she’s had lots of time to think. Meaning that she’s had lots of time to curse Caitlyn’s name in every way under the sun because of the shit she’s heard. 

That she then usually turns at least half of that energy towards herself and her foolish heart is irrelevant.

Caitlyn glowers at Vi’s belligerence, “You—”

Vi raises a hand, “Stop, I don’t want to hear it.” Time to get this conversation back on track before it devolves into a shouting match. Vi lets out some of the anger with a breath, “Just…why are you here?”

Caitlyn shifts her gaze down and away from Vi. Even after all this time, Vi can see when Caitlyn’s head is working. Her tells are still there. She squashes the flicker of warmth that creates in her heart. 

The tension between Caitlyn’s shoulders releases as she clearly gives in to Vi’s demand, and she says, “We tracked some sort of new chemweapon down here,” she looks up, once again meeting Vi’s challenging gaze. “A bloodthirsty murderous beast.”

Of fucking course they did. 

Really, Vi could actually start laughing right now. This has to be the work of whatever forces in the universe have decided they hate her. They must be coming to reclaim that peace Vi had torn from them. When have they ever not come to collect? 

Oblivious to Vi’s hysterical thoughts, Caitlyn turns the question on to her, “What are you doing here?”

Vi’s mouth runs away from her as she starts speaking, “Trying to save…” then she hesitates. She looks at Caitlyn, who gazes back at Vi with some of the ice melted away, mostly just with curiosity and perhaps a tinge of concern. Instantly Vi’s irritated and hurt, because where the fuck was that before? But she snuffs out the anger as soon as it comes. Now is not the time. Instead, she makes a decision and hopes that the woman she used to know is still there somewhere, “My dad.”

Caitlyn looks at Vi then, really looks at her, and her lips part ever so slightly as Vi’s intended meaning gets across, “You…you don’t mean…”

“Yeah,” Vi says simply. 

Caitlyn swallows and turns away, turns back towards where her forces must be stationed. She speaks quietly, but it isn’t soft. It’s all sharp and hard edges, like her tongue is thick with emotion and getting the words out is an effort. It’s a feeling Vi knows too well. “Ambessa is going to try to take the weapon for herself,” Caitlyn tenses, turning her gaze downwards. “She has not said as much to me, but she does not need to. She’s crafted an alliance with the one who…who created it.” She brings her gaze up and looks back at Vi. “Created him.”

‘Created him?’ more like tortured him, Vi thinks. She’d very much like to get her hands on whoever that person was. But for now, she lets the thoughts of vengeance go, focusing instead on the present danger, which for all Vi knows could be right next to her. As much as she’d like to, she doesn’t quite believe that Caitlyn’s telling the full story. After all, Vi’s sure that if Ambessa was looking to get herself a secret weapon, she didn’t need Caitlyn with her to do so. She sends Caitlyn a cutting glare as she narrows her eyes, “Just Ambessa? You’re not looking to get in on this chemweapon too, Sheriff?”

Caitlyn looks crestfallen at the blatant evidence of Vi’s disdain, “No! Listen, I know you don’t trust my intentions—”

Vi cuts her off, “Did you really expect me to?” She crosses her arms, using one of them to gesture expressively, “Forgive me for not immediately believing that the Enforcer who told me she wanted to gas Zaun and called my people animals isn’t itching to get her hands on a new way to crush us under her heel.”

Caitlyn almost, almost looks like she’s going to respond with some vitriol of her own, but then at the last second her face relaxes just a touch, “I understand your anger. I do,” Caitlyn insists at the dubious look on Vi’s face, “But right now we both want the same thing. Neither of us want Ambessa to get her hands on…on your father. I have seen the kind of carnage he can create when he is made to be a weapon. If Ambessa gets ahold of him…I fear no one will be safe.”

Real funny that Caitlyn can sit here and talk about safety like she hasn’t been the Sheriff whose Enforcers have been starting shit in the undercity for months. Like she still didn’t go along with bringing Ambessa down here or partnering with her in the first place. Like she herself wasn’t ready to gas Zaun (though, Vi has noticed that no one has said anything about breathing in the Grey in the last few months, at least not from what she’s heard, so maybe…maybe that means something. Maybe a sliver of the person who said all of those wonderful words about healing is still in there). Vi used to admire Caitlyn’s confidence in herself, but now all she sees is hubris. 

But. 

If Noxian forces are about to come down on this commune, then they’re all in deep shit. But if Vi takes Caitlyn up on her unspoken offer to team up…

Vi doesn’t think she trusts Caitlyn, anymore. But she also doesn’t think Caitlyn is lying. So maybe there’s still some level of trust between them…somehow. She doesn’t want to think about it. But she has to. Vi certainly has not forgiven or forgotten anything Caitlyn did, not to her, not to Zaun. The position Caitlyn carries now, and what she’s been doing with that power…it’s a far cry from the woman Vi fell for. 

Maybe it’s just blind faith, maybe it’s the feelings that despite Vi’s effort haven’t completely (or much at all, to be honest) gone away, maybe it’s nothing but the way things are right now, but for whatever reason Vi thinks that the old Caitlyn, the real Caitlyn…she might still be there. 

And maybe Vi can take a chance on that. 

(But even so, she’s not doing so blindly. She already lost too much by placing so much trust in Caitlyn’s heart, and she’s not letting that happen again. She’ll have a contingency, one that Caitlyn won’t know about. 

Which is for the best anyway, because as far as Vi knows, Caitlyn still wants to kill her sister.)

Vi sighs as she comes to a decision. It sits heavy with her, but she has to do this. For Vander. 

“Fine. How long have we got?”   

—

Together, Vi and Caitlyn craft a plan of deception. 

Vi…has no idea if it’ll work. She doesn’t know any more about Ambessa than she did all those months ago, when she saw the general in the aftermath of the memorial attack, but even still, the little that she knew then was enough to tell her that Ambessa Medarda was a very dangerous person. 

If this plan fails, hell even if part of it works, Vi could be killed. 

If Ambessa sees through their charade, she dies. If Ambessa doesn’t want to entertain banter, she dies. If she asks Caitlyn to be the one to execute Vi…no matter if Caitlyn goes through with it or not, one or both of them will die. 

But that the plan carries this much risk doesn’t bother Vi the way that it would if it was, say, Jinx putting herself on the line like this. Family before everything. That’s who Vi is. 

Vi told Caitlyn that she wanted to go back to the commune to make sure Vander wouldn’t “flip out” when the plan is set in motion. 

She lied. 

As long as no one approaches Vander with violence in their eyes, Vi is pretty sure he’ll be fine. 

No, she’s here to talk to Jinx about the plan. And speaking of her sister, she spots Jinx perched in the loft, holding her spyglass, and Vi gives her a little wave since she’s looking in her direction. A moment passes and Jinx weakly waves back. Vi is going to count that as a win. 

A minute or so later Vi is pulling herself up to the loft, settling herself down next to her sister. Isha’s nowhere to be found, so she must be out exploring the commune. Jinx is chewing on what has to be her third or fourth piece of fruit today. They’re damn good pieces of fruit, so Vi can’t blame her. 

The amusement Vi feels thinking of that ebbs away as she reminds herself of the reason she’s here. 

“Vander’s in trouble,” Vi blurts out, unsure how to start this any other way. 

Jinx turns to Vi immediately, “What?”

Vi releases a steeling breath, “There’s a small army outside, preparing to attack this place at sundown. They want Vander.”

Jinx processes that for a moment, then her gaze clears, “What are we gonna do?”

“I have a plan,” Vi leans forward, braces her elbows on her knees. “You’re not gonna like it.”

Violet eyes glance at Vi suspiciously, “And why’s that?”

And this is the part that Vi was dreading. She hopes with everything in her that this doesn’t shatter the fragile peace she’s found with Jinx. Her shoulders slump as she looks away and says, “Because it means that I’ll be teaming up with Caitlyn.”

Jinx quickly rises to her feet and starts to pace, barking out a forced, dry laugh, “Oh yeah, real funny joke there, sister.”

“I’m serious,” Vi says, voice flat. 

Jinx whirls around, bristling as her temper suddenly flares, “ How? How could you even trust her? How do we know she doesn’t wanna just take Vander for herself?”

Vi sighs, a tired thing, “Jinx,” she lightly grips her sister’s arm as she paces by. “Please, just let me explain everything.”

Her sister doesn’t look at her as she drops herself to the floor roughly, crossing her arms and legs and, if Vi’s honest, looking like she’s pouting. Vi tries not to let the endearing nature of that undermine the seriousness of this discussion. Jinx blows out a puff of air, jostling her bang, “Okay, go on then. Explain to me why trusting the Sheriff of Piltover is a good idea. She’s only been actively trying to arrest and/or shoot me for months now, no big deal.”

Vi ignores the sass, and recounts her encounter with Caitlyn earlier that day. She then outlines the plan they’d come up with. 

She finishes her explanation with a plea, “If the situation was any different I wouldn’t even consider this. But right now we’re outnumbered and we’re outgunned. We need a way to even the odds. And to do that…we gotta trust that Caitlyn won’t sell us out.”

When Jinx looks at Vi, surprisingly there’s no anger. Or if there is, it’s drowned out by something else. Something more searching. “And you really think she won’t?”

“I…” Vi hesitates. How does she really feel? The answer comes easier than she thinks it should, “No, I don’t. And I know, I know how it sounds, but I just don’t think she’s lying. I watched her. I could just feel it. And I could see it in her eyes—“ 

Jinx snorts, “Pfft, ew, please take those heart-eyes somewhere else.” It’s a bit of sisterly teasing, but it’s still that same forced distance Jinx has a penchant for deploying. Vi won’t let her get away with it. Nor will she let herself think of the implications of Jinx’s words, because that would hurt too much. 

“I mean it,” Vi says imploringly, looking right into Jinx’s violet eyes, closing the forced distance between them with a startling ease, “I think we’re just gonna have to believe that Caitlyn will help. In any case, she’s the best option we’ve got to help Vander.”

Jinx hums and breaks their eye contact, “Yeah, you’re probably right about that.”

Content that she was able to convince Jinx of part of their plan that Caitlyn was privy to, Vi decides to move to the next point, “There’s something else I wanted to talk about too.” Jinx inclines her head to show she’s listening, and so Vi just says it, “Caitlyn doesn’t know you’re here.”

Jinx sits up sharply at that, “Say what now?”

“I’m counting on you to be the element of surprise that’ll make the plan work,” Vi says by way of explanation. “Listen, I…I don’t know what Caitlyn is going to do, if she sees you. I can only hope that she won’t do anything stupid. If everything goes well, you won’t have to see her at all.” Vi starts to feel really shitty about what she’s about to ask. This entire situation is shitty. 

Jinx draws her knees up, leaning back, looking away from Vi as she says, “There’s a ‘but’ coming, isn’t there?”

Vi allows herself a small smile at Jinx’s correct prediction, “But…I just have a feeling that things won’t go so smoothly. If Ambessa doesn’t have as much trust in Caitlyn as Caitlyn thinks she does, or if Caitlyn’s flanked by guards, or if anything happens outside of what we planned for, she’ll be in trouble. Which means Vander will be too.” 

She watches as Jinx takes that in. Adding the part about Vander wasn’t necessary, but considering that she’s asking Jinx to watch the back of the person who has publicly announced her intentions to arrest and most likely kill her multiple times, among other things…the reminder probably doesn’t hurt. 

Vi breaks Jinx’s contemplative silence, “So that’s why you’re the last piece. If Caitlyn ends up compromised…”

Jinx scoffs, but there’s hardly any energy in it, “You want me to save her?”

“I know, it’s not fair of me to ask. But…”

“But you’re still sweet on her, aren’t you?”

And that’s…that’s not what Vi was expecting Jinx to say. Having her feelings thrown in her face is probably the last thing she needs right now, or else her mind won’t be clear enough for this plan. Yeah. That’s the only reason why. Not because she doesn’t want to think about Caitlyn.

“I…” she damn near stammers, “I don’t know how I feel about her right now. The things she’s said, the things she’s done,” all things Vi isn’t sure she can forget. Or forgive. She needs time to think, and right now she doesn’t have it. “It doesn’t matter. What does matter is this—do you think, if it came to it, you could save her life? If it meant saving Vander?” Vi looks at Jinx then, making sure not to miss any sort of tell or giveaway that would be a mismatch with her words. 

Jinx huffs, and now it’s her turn to look resigned, “Yeah, I guess I can. But you’re right, I’m not happy about it.”

Vi lets out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding, “Yeah, me neither.”

For a minute or so, everything is silent, only the soft sounds of the commune beneath them making any noise.

Vi decides that there’s one last thing she needs to make sure Jinx knows.

“Just so you know, you’re also the contingency plan. If it turns out we were wrong to trust her…I want you here to protect Vander.”

Jinx doesn’t say anything to this, but Vi can tell she’s rolling that around in her mind. Vi’s struck by the feeling that she needs to be sure, really sure, that Jinx is on board with the plan. It’s not that she doesn’t trust Jinx to not go off and do her own thing, but rather she needs to be sure that she hasn’t just eroded their bond before it really had a chance to bloom. But also, Jinx is still here. She let Vi explain. And she’s been agreeing to it so far. Maybe their bond is stronger than Vi thought. 

But she still needs to check. 

She leans into Jinx’s space a little, speaking softly, “Are you sure you want to do this? Just say the word and I’ll shut it down.”

Jinx takes so long to respond that Vi starts to think she won’t, but when she finally does, her voice is a quiet, fragile thing, “This isn’t you tryna go back to her?”

Another minefield, but Vi knows exactly where to step. 

She takes a chance, wrapping her arm around Jinx, “It’s not. I’m with you, always.”

She feels Jinx relax into the side-hug, “Then yeah, let’s do it.”

—

With everything squared away with Jinx, Vi heads back deep into the fissures, where Caitlyn is waiting with a pair of handcuffs and a cloth hood. 

Vi can’t seem to help herself, and the teasing remark comes out without warning, “Damn, at least take a girl to dinner first.” Vi shoves her hands in the pockets of her jacket and looks away as she realizes exactly how flirtatious that sounded. 

This also means that she doesn’t see how the tease lands on Caitlyn, if it lands at all. 

She brings her gaze back when Caitlyn speaks up, tone all business, “If we’re going to do this, now’s the time.” Caitlyn takes the electrified rope attachment from her rifle and hands it to Vi as she speaks, and Vi pockets it in such a way where it hardly looks like she’s holding anything at all. 

Then, Caitlyn holds out the unlocked handcuffs. 

Vi eyes the cuffs and lets out a breath, “Let’s just get this over with.” She turns her back to Caitlyn and puts her hands behind her, pointedly trying not to think about how easy it was to just make herself vulnerable in this way.

Behind her, Caitlyn puts the handcuffs on. She does so more gently than Vi’s ever been handcuffed before, which is a weird fucking thing to think on multiple levels, but Vi does so anyway. But, gently or not, when Caitlyn comes back around to stand in front of her, Vi has to fight her instinctual impulse to headbutt her. 

Vi…really doesn’t do well with being handcuffed, but she thinks she’s doing a good job at pushing down the old feeling of panic that claws through her. It helps that Vi knows that these handcuffs are defective, she broke them herself. Their ease of escape is crucial to the plan.

She doesn’t let the panic go away completely, because that feeling will help sell the ruse. Vi’s base level of irritation will also help in that regard, along with her activities for the last few months. Thanks to the pitfighting, Vi’s already littered with cuts, bruises, and bloodied bandages. In other words, she looks like she fought back. 

Now for the final touch.

Caitlyn brings the hood behind Vi’s head, arms hovering on either side of Vi’s neck. Vi is abruptly aware that this is the closest they’ve been to each other in months, and she can see every detail of Caitlyn’s face. The other woman looks at her with too many emotions swimming in her eyes, partially obscured by a failing mask of stoicism. 

“Vi,” Caitlyn’s hands drop just a fraction, her wrists lightly touching Vi’s shoulders, “Whatever you do, don’t underestimate Ambessa.” 

Vi’s breath hitches, just a bit, when she sees the concern breaking through in Caitlyn’s teal gaze. “I won’t,” she says. 

The hood is brought down, covering Vi’s vision and breaking the immersion of the moment, throwing Vi back into reality and leaving her questioning what the hell just happened. Something she can’t, or maybe won’t, name rolls around in her gut, and she has to take deep breaths in to make it go away. 

Vi feels her arm being grabbed in a firm, but not painful grip, and then she’s being guided forward. Since Vi isn’t sure when they’ll be in sight of any of the patrols, she starts acting her role right away, looking every bit the defiant, unwilling captive that she’d be, were the circumstances different. That she has been before.

She tries to pull herself away from Caitlyn repeatedly, forcing Caitlyn’s grip to tighten enough to where it nearly hurts, but it’s fine, she’s just making the ruse more believable.   

By the time they actually get to the camp (from the best Vi can tell), Caitlyn practically has to drag Vi in. It’s all part of the ruse of course, but Vi won’t say she doesn’t get a kind of enjoyment from being a little shit about this. She can imagine the furrow between Caitlyn’s brows now. 

Vi is forced to stop walking, and she can hear Caitlyn next to her giving orders to the guards stationed to hold her while she lets Ambessa know she’s here. 

As she’s handed off, Vi can feel the difference acutely, as the holds of the guards are actually bruising, and they don’t give any subtle, indescribable indications of caring about or even realizing Vi’s distress. 

She can’t hear what is being said inside the tent until Caitlyn says her name loudly, and then the guards are shoving her inside, and she’s being thrown to the ground roughly. Fuck, that actually kind of hurt. A kind of growl leaves her throat as she breathes heavily, the aggression she feels being as real as it is fake, because while she wasn’t expecting the royal treatment, no one said anything about being goddamn ragdolled.

“Restrain her to the pole,” she hears Caitlyn say, voice hard and clinical the way she’d expect the Sheriff to sound. Vi hates it. 

Vi’s pulled up to her feet with nothing but brute force and handled roughly as she’s pushed up against a pole, guards working behind her to tie—or maybe hook, Vi can’t really tell, and it doesn’t matter regardless—her cuffs to the pole. This part of the plan relied entirely on Noxian soldiers, or at least these ones specifically, not being familiar enough with the design of Enforcer’s handcuffs to recognize a broken pair when they see one. While Vi could lockpick the standard model if she had to, using an already broken pair was the most obvious choice, especially on the off-chance that the Enforcers had upgraded their gear recently. 

At least in this case, luck is on their side, as the guards leave Vi tied to the pole with no complaints.

The hood is torn off of Vi’s head, and after adjusting to the change in light, Vi’s eyes focus on Caitlyn’s hard and scornful stare. 

It’s all part of the plan, but it still feels so much like that day that the derisive quip Vi gives is all too real, “So much for happy reunions.”

Caitlyn only takes a couple steps back, glare just as harsh and lips pressed together in a thin line. And behind Caitlyn sits Ambessa Medarda, the woman cutting a very intimidating figure, even when sitting, elbows braced on her knees as she leans forward. The command radiating from her is astounding, and the gold of her outfit shines from the light emitted from the lantern beside her. 

Ambessa looks at Caitlyn with pride, but also a significant amount of suspicion, “Well done Caitlyn,” then she nods to the large man standing at attention next to her, and he leaves the tent with just a hum. It could be Ambessa desiring to have whatever conversation is coming alone, but Vi has a feeling that it’s something more akin to a contingency. 

Once again she feels more than justified in secretly adding Jinx to the plan. 

After the man leaves, Vi decides she needs to do something to make the suspicion lining Ambessa’s eyes clear, so she lurches forward as far as she can, straining against the strong rope binding her to the pole, face inches away from Caitlyn. 

There are many reasons why Vi does what she does next. 

Selling the ruse, her hatred of being in handcuffs (even if they’re broken), the fact that Caitlyn is giving her the same look she gave Vi when she told her that she should’ve left her in Stillwater. 

The point is, Vi does something neither had expected by spitting in Caitlyn’s face. 

And for just a split second, Vi worries that she just made a mistake, that she just fucked everything up because she couldn’t calm her own impulse for just once in her damn life. 

But Caitlyn just wipes the spit away, and looks at her with no change in her eyes.

The plan is still on. 

Ambessa, however, is still suspicious, eyes even further narrowed than they were before. Something about the situation must be giving Vi and Caitlyn away, or at least hinting at that, but Vi isn’t sure what it could be. 

She stands up and walks over to Vi in a few steps, then she grabs Vi’s face with her hand, forcing Vi to look at her. As Vi’s gaze is forced upwards, she catches Caitlyn’s eyes widen a fraction, so she knows that neither of them were expecting this physical encounter. 

Ambessa looks down at Vi, eyes searching for something, her face impassive but for a subtle curl of the lip, “I would have your tongue, for such a disrespectful display.” Ambessa doesn’t seem to find whatever she is looking for, because she lets Vi go and steps back. “Be grateful that your Sheriff believes in mercy.” The general speaks the word ‘mercy’ in a tone dripping of disdain, and the way she says ‘your Sheriff’ tells Vi that this is as much a test for Caitlyn as it is a threat to them both. 

Caitlyn knows it too. “This is no mercy,” she says, eyes not leaving Vi’s. Then she turns around to look at Ambessa, “Because I’m leaving her to you.”

A raised brow is the only change in Ambessa’s face, “You don’t want to take care of her yourself?”

“No. You and I both know what she meant to me. She,” Caitlyn ever so slightly, almost unnoticeably, hesitates here, “is my weakness. If I stay, I may be compromised.” The words are sensible and convincing, and they’re also not something Vi and Caitlyn discussed at all. Vi wonders how much of that is real, how much of the words come from her thoughts in the months they’ve been apart. It pokes at the hurt in her chest all over again.

But even if they hurt, they’re a blessing, because something in Caitlyn’s words, or maybe her demeanor, seems to be what finally eases the doubt in Ambessa’s mind, as the woman relaxes slightly. Not completely, or even halfway, but Vi doubts that a woman of Ambessa’s experience would ever let her guard down so easily. Caitlyn told Vi not to underestimate Ambessa, after all. 

That makes Vi’s task much harder.

But not impossible. 

At the far desk, the man that Vi had tailed down this way in the first place turns to Caitlyn and Ambessa holding a strange device. “It’s time,” he says. 

He must be the one that did this to Vander, Vi realizes, and for a brief moment her heart stops. Then it starts again and beats with a fury as rage courses through Vi. It enrages her that he is this close and she can’t touch him, can’t fucking annihilate him for the torture he put Vander through. Who knows what that man must’ve done to turn Vander into that?

Her teeth grit as Vi swallows the fury down the best she can, soothing it somewhat with the thought that if the plan works, there will be nothing in her way when she comes for him. It helps to think that, at least a little bit.

Ambessa simply motions with her head for Caitlyn to follow, and Caitlyn leaves her rifle on the ground, leaned up against the walls of the tent. Another one of the riskier parts of the plan—hoping that Ambessa doesn’t notice the very obviously missing electric rope attachment on the gun. But the woman doesn’t even seem to give the gun a cursory glance, and Vi could almost cheer. On the outside, she just scowls at Caitlyn as she walks away, and Caitlyn appears not to spare Vi a second thought as she marches outside of the tent behind the man. 

Now alone, Vi and Ambessa look at each other, both gazes calculating and appraising, and neither make any effort to hide that. But, ruse or no, Ambessa clearly has the upper hand, and she knows it, meaning that where Vi’s gaze is tinged with a kind of resistance, Ambessa’s is laced with triumph. 

Vi slumps just a bit, making sure not to look too confident, but also not too defeated, since that’s something she never is.

When Vi breaks the eye contact, Ambessa turns away, walking towards a small side table with a bottle and glass on it. 

“Vi,” she starts. “Child of a symbol, survivor of both Piltover’s decrepit undercity and its harshest prison.” Ambessa takes a hold of the bottle, uncorking it, and she pours herself a glass of what appears to be wine. “Your resilience is undeniable. Strength like that has potential.”

Her words remind Vi of months ago, the one conversation she shared with Silco, the slimy bastard. It has the same kind of slippery compliment, a mask for some other meaning. Except where Silco used his words more like a front, a part of his crafted facade, Ambessa doesn’t seem to put much effort in crafting her facade at all. She just is.  

Vi smirks a bit, still mostly looking down, “Careful, almost sounds like you might respect me.”

Ambessa leans against the table, glass in hand, and she takes a sip of the wine, “Make no mistake, young Vi, I do respect you. That sort of fire is not so easily cultivated.” She sets the glass down next to the lantern, hand reaching for the knife on the same table. “In other circumstances, I might have offered you a position in my organization.” 

Vi’s head snaps up incredulously at that, “Do I look like I’d ever join a warmongering pig like you?” 

The insult doesn’t phase Ambessa, in fact Vi would even say she looks rather amused, “Maybe not,” she allows. “But of course that is of no consequence, since it won’t be possible. You cause too many complications. You’ve captured Caitlyn’s heart, and I have invested too much in her for you to distract her now.” With the knife in hand, Ambessa turns to face Vi fully. 

She means to kill Vi right now. 

Time to stall and bring Ambessa’s guard as down as Vi can possibly get it. No pressure. 

Vi hangs her head back down, “You don’t trust her.”

“She’s brought her former partner to me on a silver platter,” Ambessa says, which isn’t actually a response, Vi notes. But then Ambessa adds, “Would you?”

Vi chooses not to answer that, not necessarily appreciating the way Ambessa turned the conversation back around. And while she stands in thought, her mind starts working ahead, envisioning a plan of action, choreographing her next words like a play. 

A smile almost breaks through, since, if this works, she’s going to enjoy it. 

“You know, my dad taught me about trust. He told me if I wanted it, there were only three things I needed to do,” Vi keeps her gaze pointed downwards. If she looks at Ambessa, then Ambessa won’t think she’d be able to surprise Vi. But if she lets Ambessa think she’s more likely to have the element of surprise…then Vi will be able to counter with a surprise of her own. 

Her hands start working at the cuffs, getting the broken piece loose, “Be honest, even if it means telling a self-righteous windbag that her breath smells like a cesspool.” With one of her hands free, Vi slowly and carefully works on unlocking the cuff on the other one, “Be patient. Still haven’t quite cracked that one, but being tied up sure helps.” With both hands free, spaced apart just enough to keep the cuffs from falling off of her completely, Vi stops there. Waits. Baits. The timing of this has to be perfect. 

Ambessa’s voice carries a bit of suspicion, but also the hubris of someone who has always been the witness to her opponents’ last words, “And the third?”

Vi looks Ambessa dead in the eyes.

“Just shut the fuck up.”

—

Vi runs as fast as she can to the commune, Caitlyn’s rifle in hand. 

Please say the plan worked, please please please.

Don’t let the universe take this one thing away from her. Please.

She barrels past confused attendants, hardly sparing them a second glance and a shouted “sorry!” behind her when she accidentally bumps into one of them. Her leg muscles ache as she approaches Vander’s building. 

Suddenly, Isha’s by her side, she must’ve just come down from the loft. And as she gets right outside the building, she notices the Noxian soldier Ambessa had nodded away passed out on the ground, and parts of the glass covering Vander’s dome broken. 

Vi slams open the door, panting, and she sees…

Everyone’s okay. Jinx is giving Vander a light embrace, and Isha rushes past her to join them. As she walks up to her family, relieved smile on her face, she sees someone on the floor from the corner of her eye. 

Caitlyn. 

Right. 

Her face drops as she realizes what’s happened here, that Jinx must have been forced to interfere, and now Caitlyn knows that Jinx is here, and that Vi lied to her. But at the moment she can’t bring herself to care about that, because her family is okay. 

She gives Isha’s little hat a light tap, and brings her head to Vander’s. She could sob with the pure relief that rushes through her. 

If only she could stay in this moment forever. 

Vi knows it can’t last, they still have to get Vander out of here before the Noxians come back, and who knows what Caitlyn will do now that she’s seen Jinx here, but Vi selfishly lets herself just sink into the warmth of her family around her, lets the rest of the world melt away just for these few precious minutes. She looks at them all, and smiles. 

And then the peace shatters.

A bright light envelops the commune, accompanied by a loud mix of rumbling and ringing. 

Then the screaming begins.

Vi pushes the door open as she rushes outside, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. But as she looks around, she’s at a loss. Gone is the warm glow that bathed the commune, and in its place is a stark, cool darkness. And all around her is that screaming, louder now that they’re outdoors, and she can see that it’s coming from all of the members of the commune, who are slumped on the ground, a strange glow coming from the marks on their heads.

But then the glowing stops, like the light is sucked away, and suddenly every member of the commune falls over in silence. Vi thinks that they might be dead.

What the fuck?

But Vi has no time to process that because Vander starts roaring from inside the building, which takes on an eerie red-orange glow. 

No, god, not Vander too! The Herald…something must’ve happened to him, and now it’s affecting everyone he’d ever healed. But Vander’s healing wasn’t complete. What would this mean for him?

Her question is unfortunately answered as Vander stumbles out of the open door, roaring incessantly, a glowing orange material that looks to be fucking lava coming out of his mouth and eyes. 

Vi gasps at the sight of it, and she’s violently thrown back to that night, back to the last time she’d lost Vander. But instead of the sickly purple veins, there is now this volatile flaming orange…and he seems to be in even less control. 

Vi immediately steps in front of Jinx and Isha, hands down and away as she tries to pacify Vander the same way she did in the tunnels, approaching slowly, “Vander…”

But this time, it doesn’t work. Vi can tell the man is in so much pain, vomiting molten material onto the ground, barely able to stand. The lava drips from all over his body, as if he’s corroding from the inside. He looks at Vi then, and, despite the inhumanity of his appearance, Vi can tell that he is crying. 

It makes her want to sob with him, cry out because of her own helplessness. She can’t get close to him, not like this, and she doesn’t know what to do.

Whatever semblance of control the man had vanishes as the beast roars, hot magma spraying everywhere. 

And then, with no warning, he attacks the Noxian soldier that had been laying prone just moments before. Vi would like to think it was a protective instinct taking over, but…

The beating is nothing short of gruesome, the way Vander, or maybe the beast, now, tears the man apart with not even a hint of mercy or anything short of terrifying ferocity. And Vi can only watch helplessly as Vander loses himself to the beast. 

She hears Caitlyn gasp from beside her, and without thinking she turns her head to see what she’s looking at.

It’s Ambessa, freed from the electrified net, with dozens of soldiers.

Ambessa looks from Caitlyn down to the body of her brutalized soldier, and a kind of grief and rage twists her features as she lets out a sharp battle cry. The soldiers charge them. 

There’s no time for thought, Vi immediately puts her hands up and stands in front of everyone, ready to fight until her last breath. Because this is not a fight they can win. Except they must. 

It’s chaos. 

Soldiers rush them like a wave, and most of them go past their group to attack Vander, who is taking care of them with a thoughtless ease. 

Vi manages to dodge a slice from one of them, quickly ducking under their arm and giving them an array of punches in the face and where the gaps in their armor are. 

From her side, Jinx is shooting soldiers left and right. Somewhere in the smoke, she knows Caitlyn’s making her own shots too. 

Isha, where is Isha?

Vi continues dodging wanton spears and disarming soldiers where she can. She picks up a dropped spear and uses it to finish off some of the writhing soldiers on the ground.

She looks around wildly, trying to find the little kid, but she can’t see her anywhere. 

She punches a soldier in the head and they go down. She dodges another one’s attack, and kicks out their knee, sending them tumbling down too. Another comes at her with a spear, she sees it.

But she doesn’t move fast enough. 

It cuts open her lower abdomen, and she feels a significant portion of her strength leave her immediately as she screams out in pain. Thick rivulets of her blood already start flowing out of the wound, and as she presses her hand against it she can feel it becoming warm and damp with the crimson thread of blood. She falls to her knees in a heap.

Then there’s a presence by her side, touching her left arm. It’s Caitlyn. Vi looks up to see Vander, who’s already been impaled by so many spears, smack Jinx harshly, sending her flying back. 

And then finally, finally, she sees Isha. Who looks at Jinx. And then at Vander. 

Caitlyn helps Vi to stand, and it’s like Vi can see everything happening in slow motion. Isha runs, as fast as her little legs can take her, straight towards the battle. Jinx slowly starts bringing herself to her knees as Isha runs right past her, pushing herself off of a fallen shield into the air. 

Vi loses track of her for a moment, stumbling that direction, but way too slow, and then she sees Isha again, right behind Vander, Jinx’s gun in hand. 

Vander, whose claws are just a little too close, and are coming down towards Isha, fast. And Isha, who’s overloaded Jinx’s gun with too many Hexcores.

Vi and Jinx both realize what’s about to happen. 

“ISHA!” They scream as one. 

Jinx runs, but Vi knows she’ll never get there in time, so with all of her strength she pushes herself from Caitlyn’s grip and sprints to her sister, grabbing her roughly and stopping her from going any further. Jinx may never forgive her for this, Vi doesn’t think she’ll forgive herself, but Vi doesn’t care. She’s not losing her. Vi fights against Jinx’s flails, determined to protect her from the coming blast.

Except that blast doesn’t come. 

Because when Isha’s eyes lock onto Jinx’s, and the girl gives Jinx a gesture that must’ve meant something to the two of them, Vander’s claws tear into her back.

Isha screams.

The child falls to the ground, gun clattering to the side, and the beast stands over her, ready to strike again. 

Suddenly, Vander is impaled by a thrown spear to the front, and he staggers back, away from Isha.

Neon green enters Vi’s field of vision as a glowing trail of it zips by her and Jinx faster than she can follow, almost instantly getting to where Vander and Isha are. Quick as lightning, Isha is plucked from the ground by someone Vi can’t make out, and the neon trail speeds away, going towards the edge of the battlefield. 

Immediately Vi, Jinx, and Caitlyn follow, Vi ignoring her gaping wound searing her with every step. She doesn’t know what the hell just happened, but she needs to get to Isha, now , so she pushes past her limits and runs.

As the smoke of the battlefield clears, Vi sees Isha being gently laid on the ground by someone whose back is turned to them, long coat covered in various brightly colored drawings. Those clothes seem incredibly familiar…but it can’t be.

“Who—“ Caitlyn starts to question, but she’s cut off when the figure turns around. 

It is.

“Ekko!” Vi shouts in shock, relief, confusion, and a whole bunch of other feelings she doesn’t have time to think about because the shout just made the searing pain in her abdomen even worse, and her ears begin to ring as everything starts to become fuzzy.

“Vi?” Ekko says back, looking at her in confusion and then a lot of concern. As Vi sways, he makes an aborted movement towards her, and her attention leaves him as twin cries of “Vi!” from Caitlyn and Jinx take up her focus.

Then, in the growing haze, she hears someone say “We need to get out of here!”, and she looks, and is that fucking Jayce?!

What the hell is going on?

Her eyes catch on Isha, who’s on the ground, not moving. No…

“Isha, she…we need to…” Vi mumbles, and Jinx rushes over to Isha’s side while Caitlyn takes up the brunt of Vi’s weight, and Ekko replaces Jinx on Vi’s other side. 

Jinx looks at Vi from her position crouched next to Isha’s little body, her violet eyes wide, “She’s alive!”

Caitlyn looks between the both of them, “We need to get both of you to a hospital, now!”

A pained roar tears Vi away from Isha back to where Vander is. When she catches sight of him, a choked scream dies in her throat. The beast, the man, has dozens of spears stabbed into his body, molten blood spilling everywhere as he is forced onto his knees. One last spear catches him in the neck, and as he roars and falls, Vi can feel the darkness coming in to catch her too, her vision starting to go black around the edges. 

As she collapses, she stretches her hand out weakly, reaching for the beast that she can’t see as anything other than her dad, dying in front of her for the third time.

And she can’t help but think that this is her fault. Because she dared to try and be happy, to find peace with her family. Because when it comes to Vi, the universe will always come to collect.

“Vander…”

She’s out before her head hits the ground.

Chapter Text

Caitlyn is face-to-face with her mother’s killer. 

She’s right there. 

All Caitlyn would have to do is give the order, and Jinx could be carted out of here within minutes. Seconds, even, given the pair of Enforcers she has guarding the entrance to this wing of the hospital. She won’t leave their safety to chance. 

Vi and Isha are both in surgery, the deep lacerations each having received most certainly needing stitches. The doctors said that Isha especially was lucky to be alive. Jinx had flinched at that, and even Caitlyn was ashamed of the sick satisfaction that landed in her chest at the sight. Even if Jinx is her mother’s killer, Isha is still a child. 

A child that clearly idolizes Jinx, if the crudely colored hair is anything to go by. 

Caitlyn has been seeing many such cases of that hair coloring, as of late. 

It had started small. Shortly after being elevated to Sheriff and partnering with Ambessa, one of Caitlyn’s newly-formed teams for raiding Shimmer dens had conducted a bust, and a rather belligerent suspect had shouted “Jinx was right!”, straight to her face.  

A few days later, the first of many acts of vandalism was found along the wall of a shop near the Council’s tower, a replication of Jinx’s monkey symbol. That one kept Caitlyn up the entire night, remembering a similar drawing on a steamed mirror.

Then came the dyed hair. 

The riots began soon after.

And when Piltover responded…

Jinx’s nature as a symbol spread like wildfire. 

It is detestable, that Zaun could unite around someone like Jinx. Do they not recognize the danger she poses? The way she has forced Piltover’s hand?

Though, right now…Caitlyn would be hard-pressed to say Jinx looks like a danger to anyone, eyes hollow, knees pulled up against her as she perches in a chair. She hasn’t said anything at all since practically begging Caitlyn to get Vi and Isha to safety. Caitlyn’s not sure she’d ever want to see Jinx shouting in such a desperate, panicked tone again. 

But even if Jinx appears harmless, Caitlyn keeps her guard up. 

The last time she trusted her heart, the last time she thought Jinx was more than a deranged woman…her mother paid the price for her naivety. 

For months, this is all she’s wanted. To be close enough to this…this monster so that she could finally dole out the justice she deserves. Throw her in a cell to rot. Months she’s spent carving out pieces of herself until there was nothing left but the sharpest edges, the only ones strong enough to handle the decisions she’s been forced to make. 

And yet, Caitlyn stays her hand. 

She glowers at the tile floor as her mind works. Why? What’s stopping her? She can get justice after all this time. 

Maybe it’s the knowledge that in days or weeks, Ambessa will be back to raze Piltover to the ground. Maybe it’s that this is a hospital and that is no place to arrest someone. Maybe it’s because of Jinx’s panicked screams at her to get Vi and Isha to safety.

Or maybe it’s not for a noble reason at all.

Maybe it’s because Ekko is here, and Vi is here, and while Caitlyn might be able to withstand his disgust, she’s not sure she’d be able to last under Vi’s scathing anger.

The point is, she doesn’t arrest Jinx. She just sits in this waiting room with her and with Ekko and with Jayce. 

Jayce. 

Caitlyn feels a sense of relief when her thoughts take a more comfortable direction. 

The man had practically appeared out of thin air. He hasn’t said much of anything since urgently telling them all what they already knew, and he seems to be lost in his own thoughts as well. 

She has missed him. She looks at him now and sees how his hair has grown, how his clothes have dirtied, how he grips his deformed hammer like a lifeline. What happened to him? What’s stopping her from asking? She can’t seem to get the words out of her mouth. 

But Jayce seems to sense her staring, and he looks at her, and before she could even try to get a word out, he just shakes his head. 

Not here . 

Caitlyn feels a bit of indignation at that. Her best friend just comes back after being gone for months and he wants her to wait?! 

She sighs inwardly. Very well. Her mask of stoicism slips right back on, if anyone had even noticed it slipping in the first place. 

Her gaze turns to Ekko, who is actually already looking at her, scowl hardening his face. How long has he been staring? 

Caitlyn meets his stare, and Ekko doesn’t back down, in fact his eyes narrow further as he pins Caitlyn with a look of barely-concealed rage. 

Caitlyn doesn’t very much like being on the receiving end of a look like that, “May I help you, Ekko?”

“That depends,” Ekko shifts, leaning forward, “Can you explain why half my people are recovering from injuries given to them by your Enforcers, Sheriff?” The last word is hissed with such acidity that Caitlyn actually flinches. 

Mind running back through reports, Caitlyn tries to remember what he is talking about. Caitlyn never authorized any targeted raids on the Firelights base. She had never even mentioned its location. So that couldn’t be it. 

There is no way of knowing if the arrest reports that has been coming across Caitlyn’s desk included any of the Firelights; she had not met any of them long enough to remember their faces. 

That thought sits uncomfortably with her. 

So does the thought that the Firelights were being caught in the crossfire in the first place. 

Just like when Marcus was the Sheriff, when Silco had the Enforcers in his pocket. 

Seeing that Caitlyn has no response for him, Ekko barrels on, “You gonna say it’s because you think we’re loyal to Silco? That we’re dealing in Shimmer? That we’re working with her?” He inclines his head towards Jinx, who doesn’t seem to be listening to their conversation at all, lost in her own world. “You gonna tell me it was all a misunderstanding?”

Caitlyn recognizes Ekko’s crude reminder of her words. But that’s not fair. Things have changed since then. 

“No, I—”

“I cannot believe I ever let Vi talk me into trusting you,” Ekko seethes, voice quieted down to a harsh whisper. “I should’ve known you were just a fraud. You said some nice words, but when it came down to it, you couldn’t back it up. None of you Topsiders ever do.”

The mention of the woman getting surgery in the next room, the woman that Caitlyn had been trying not to think of for months, brings her mask of stoicism down completely. The reminder that to Ekko, Caitlyn will never be more than a Topsider hurts more than she cares to admit, especially when she thinks that Vi…might think the same. But that hurt is quickly replaced with anger. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He doesn’t get that it was all necessary.  

And as her irritation rises, she thinks of how all the intelligence she’d been seeing for months said that Ekko disappeared without a trace. Just like Jayce. 

That means he hasn’t been here. He has no right to judge her. 

Hasn’t he, though? a small voice asks her. A voice that almost sounds like her own. 

She ignores it. 

Caitlyn rises to her feet, frustration forcing the movement, “We were keeping the peace!”

Ekko gets up right away, meeting Caitlyn’s glare, “Peace? Get real. You were kicking back with a Noxian warlord, so you can stop with the bullshit.” 

They get in each other’s face, then, unwilling to back down. Ekko’s nostrils flare, and Caitlyn’s jaw tightens. Each wearing the anger of an injustice done like a brand. Maybe Ekko has a point, but Caitlyn refuses to take this from him, not right now. And she has become so used to repressing any doubt she’s felt, she’s not sure how to stop. 

Caitlyn feels a hand on her shoulder. She doesn’t look at who it is, already knowing, and Jayce speaks quietly but firmly, “Knock it off you two, we’re in a hospital.”

Jayce has even less room to talk right now, where was he during the last few months? 

“Not now, Jayce,” Caitlyn shoots him a warning look. 

“Back off, Jayce, I’ve still got words I’d like to share with you.” Ekko spits simultaneously. 

Jayce looks between the both of them and reluctantly does what he’s told, still clearly looking worried. But unfortunately Caitlyn is just going to have to push that aside for now, because she still needs to clear the air with Ekko. 

She lets out a breath, “Yes, I did ally with Ambessa, and I realize now that was a mistake—“

“A mistake?!” Ekko just barely doesn’t shout. “You break into our homes, you throw us into prison, you sit back while declaring war on us and you want to act like you didn’t know damn well what you were doing?!”

“My mother was killed! By her!” Caitlyn shouts, pointing at Jinx, who is paying their conversation no mind, still fidgeting with her hands. 

“So?” Ekko says simply.

Caitlyn’s mouth works dumbly for a moment before she can sputter out an “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. So what?” Ekko shrugs. “There’s hardly a kid in Zaun who hasn’t lost a parent to a violent end, but you don’t see us going around with our boots on people’s necks ‘cause of it!” Ekko pulls back from his close distance, crossing his arms. “So try again, find a different excuse, because that one won’t fly with me.”

Caitlyn utterly seethes at Ekko’s words. How dare he deny her her grief? 

But…is that really what he’s doing?

Yes! That’s exactly what he’s doing, she can’t doubt herself now. Not after she has already committed to this path for months. 

Because it wasn’t just that Jinx killed her mother. It was everything she did. Kidnapping her from her home. Acting as a manipulative monster, manipulating Vi’s love for her, and Caitlyn’s empathy towards her. Then, she attacked the Council, just because she could. 

This was her fault.

Not Caitlyn’s. 

And she won’t let Ekko pass that judgement. 

“You have no idea what she’s done,” Caitlyn spits. 

Ekko’s fast with the rebuttal, “Oh trust me, I know a hell of a lot more than you. But I don’t let what I feel get in the way of what’s right .” 

The remark cuts deep, piercing right through all of Caitlyn’s ready-made defenses. Because it brings her right back to him, to Dr. Reveck. Caitlyn hated that man for what he’d done in creating Shimmer. But she thinks she hates him more for the way he tried to justify it. For love, he said. That was no defense for his atrocities. That was no justification at all. 

She hated him because in the end, he was everything she feared. Everything that deep down, deep deep down behind all the shields of denial…she had already become. 

But Caitlyn doesn’t want to acknowledge that. She doesn’t want to recognize how much she had carved pieces of herself to pursue Jinx like a woman consumed. She doesn’t want to feel anything but the rage and single-minded determination again because it hurts less. So she lets those feelings swallow her, and she lashes out, just like she’d done months ago in a dirty alley with a woman she loved so much, but couldn’t stand the sight of, “Well then perhaps you might consider yourself the exception to Zaun’s depravity.”

A chill runs through the room immediately, and Caitlyn can see Jayce stiffen in his seat from the corner of her eye. And Caitlyn regrets the words as soon as they leave her. They had just been almost instinctual, but that was no real excuse. And she can’t take them back now. 

Ekko’s voice grows quiet with that specific kind of false calm before an unyielding storm of anger, “What did you just say?”

“I…I apologize, that wasn’t—“ Caitlyn stammers, knowing that she had said something inexcusable.

Ekko talks with a faux sort of amusement, “No no, say it again. Please. I’m always looking for a reason to assault an officer.” He pushes himself in her face, then, ready to take their argument to another level.

But before Ekko can make good on that threat, the double doors to the waiting room open, with a nurse coming through. 

Ekko is quicker to react, “What’s going on? Are Vi and Isha okay?”

The nurse almost seems to debate answering him before saying, “Yes, they are both out of surgery now. There were no complications, both are expected to make a full recovery with the proper bed rest.”

Caitlyn steps forward, “Are they stable?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Then prepare to transport them to the Kiramman estate, we will be looking after them there.” Caitlyn states with a tone of finality. There was never any chance she was going to leave them in the hospital, not when the manor would be far more secure. She has no idea what Ambessa’s play is going to be, but Caitlyn doubts she would be above such a cheap tactic. 

The nurse nods, “We will meet you at the transport bay,” then she turns and leaves, going right back through the doors. 

Caitlyn and Ekko give each other one more anger-filled glance before heading through the other set of doors towards the transport.

—

The ride to the manor is silent.

Not because there are no conversations to be had, but rather no one is willing to have them. Jayce is being a mystery to Caitlyn, and Ekko…well, he’s refusing to look at her, probably knowing that if he does they’ll likely get into another shouting match. 

His opinion should not bother her so much. 

But it still does. 

When they finally arrive at the grounds of the estate, Caitlyn directs the hospital staff to wheel Isha and Vi’s cots towards the wing with the bedrooms. She had already planned this out. Isha will be placed in one of the guest rooms, and Vi will be in her room. 

Just so she can keep watch, of course. 

But once they start wheeling Isha’s cot into the allotted guest room, and Vi’s cot doesn’t follow it, Jinx grows agitated, “No,” she says, haltingly. 

They all turn to look at her, then, and Caitlyn has to tamper the impulse to prepare for an attack. Jinx is just…standing there, looking vaguely troubled. “You gotta put them in the same room,” she says, quietly, hollowly, “Vi will want to know she’s safe.” 

It’s the first thing Jinx has said in several hours, and she looks away and plays with her hair.

Caitlyn wants to argue.

But she also knows Vi. Jinx is right, loathe as she is to admit it. Even when bleeding out, Vi was trying to get to the girl. Isha will probably be the first question she has when she wakes. 

Caitlyn turns to the hospital staff and directs them to bring both Isha and Vi to her room, which is only just down the hall. She ignores the growing feeling of discomfort and dread as they get closer, because she can’t stop thinking about the last time Jinx had been in this room. When she had been hit over the head and taken from her place of safety. 

She allows herself to clench her fists for exactly one second, then purposefully, forcibly, relaxes them with a breath out. She needs to stay calm. 

They set up Vi and Isha on opposite sides of Caitlyn’s bed. It’s certainly large enough to fit both with no problems. Caitlyn remembers the first time Vi was in this bed. The conversation they shared. That sheer intimacy built between them over the course of days. 

The intimacy she destroyed with the harshest words she could find. 

Caitlyn had been wrong for that. She knows it. She knew it then but the anger blinded her, and although the anger simmers just under the skin now, seeing Vi at her most vulnerable has a way of piercing through that haze. 

The staff exit the room, and Caitlyn takes a seat beside Vi’s side of the bed, just watching her face, which is as relaxed as she’s ever seen it. She almost forgets that she’s not alone, but she’s reminded when she hears footsteps about the room. After stealing another glance at Vi, she looks at the other people gathered around. 

Jinx is in the chair on Isha’s side. Jayce and Ekko hover rather awkwardly. Ekko looks at Vi and then, surprisingly, Jinx with concern lining his features, but when he meets Caitlyn’s gaze that quickly morphs back into a scowl. 

He looks like he wants to say something, but after a quick shift of the eyes towards Vi, he decides against it.

Probably for the best that they don’t disturb the injured patients. 

Jayce approaches Ekko and lightly lays a hand on his shoulder, “Ekko,” he says, and Ekko turns to look at him, “I think you and I should talk, I…I know what we need to do, to save your tree.”

Ekko hums, “Well I’ve got some questions for you, so you’re probably right.” 

“Come on, I know somewhere else in this place we can talk.” Jayce starts leading Ekko out of the room. Jayce…was probably one of the people who knew the grounds most, given how much time he had spent there over the years. He could be talking about any place. Any place that wasn’t here. Caitlyn’s not sure if she’s hurt by the fact that Jayce doesn’t say what he wants to say with her in the room.

Ekko gives Caitlyn one last glare, as if to say this isn’t over . But Caitlyn gets the feeling it is. Jayce looks at Caitlyn too, and she can tell that this glance means there is an explanation forthcoming. Good. She would very much like to hear that. 

The door shuts behind them, leaving Caitlyn alone. With Jinx. Standing vigil at the bedsides of Isha and Vi. 

Vi. 

Caitlyn is able to get a good look at her now, the other woman sleeping soundly, not covered by that black jacket. The hospital staff had changed her into some sort of compression top, and now Caitlyn is able to see much more of her. 

How skinny she’d gotten. 

Vi was still very well-built, there is no question about that, but any bit of fat she had has been cut away, replaced by a much leaner figure. 

Has she been eating well?

The thought is so tender it takes Caitlyn out of the moment completely. When was the last time she had allowed herself to feel anything other than anger? Anything beyond those brief moments of hesitation? Even the nights she spent with Maddie were nothing but moments of distraction, and she knew it.

She has missed Vi. 

Caitlyn could lie and say that she had not, that what she had with Maddie was enough. 

But she doesn’t think she has the energy to lie to herself anymore. Not about this. Not when the woman she had loved, still loves she thinks, is laying in front of her, having almost died that day.

Thinking of the events of the last several hours sours Caitlyn’s mood. Because then she remembers other, unpleasant factors. 

Such as the fact that she and Jinx are together in this room. 

Vi had lied to her. 

Caitlyn hates that this is the thought she has, and she tries not to simmer with the seething rolling around in her chest, but the fact is that Vi lied about Jinx. 

Jinx was a contingency. 

Because Vi didn’t trust Caitlyn. 

Caitlyn still does not understand why she has not done anything about the fact that Jinx is sitting just ten feet away from her, on the other side of the bed. Or she could have done something when they had gotten to the hospital.

She hates how much those violet eyes and blue hair and horrible laugh have haunted her, all this time. Sometimes she’d see them out of the corner of her eye, hear the laugh whispered in the air. More than once, she’s shot at nothing. 

When Ambessa had offered to train Caitlyn in hand-to-hand early on in their partnership, she accepted without a second thought. 

She would never be caught unawares again. 

Jinx…was a monster. 

A monster that Caitlyn had spent months and months pursuing, but never finding. A monster that haunts her nightmares. A monster that took her mother from her. A monster she had been determined to keep Piltover safe from.

Everything she had done in the last few months had been for that purpose. Keep the city safe. Fulfill her duty as Sheriff. Do not fail. 

She had never expected all of this to last for so long. 

In the first month, she had yet to be rid of all her foolish naivete, it seemed, because she had sincerely thought that with the addition of Ambessa’s forces and experience, they would apprehend Jinx within weeks. 

But then time dragged on. And she became so much more desperate. 

Caitlyn did the things that not that long ago she swore she’d never do, or never would have even thought of doing. But that is only because that younger version of her didn’t know. She knew nothing of Zaun’s true horrors, or what could be accomplished when there was not a corrupt Sheriff in place. 

She knew nothing of directing raids and strike teams, of installing blockades, of meetings after meetings after meetings that left her so far removed from the city she was turning upside down. 

When the riots started, Caitlyn implemented a mass crackdown on them. She ensured that dozens are hauled away for questioning. Surely, Jinx must have been involved. Only she could have incited the undercity in such a way. But the questioning revealed nothing but angry people. And that wasn’t useful to Caitlyn, so she ignored it. 

After four months, she began to send people to Stillwater. For holding. They would still have trials after all, but there were so many to arrest and question and Piltover’s other prisons weren’t useful for this purpose. That’s what she told herself. It wasn’t that she wanted anyone loyal to Jinx to suffer. No. She was not vengeful. She told herself this enough that she begun to believe it. 

She banned the use of the underground solitary cells, of course. She’d seen their inhumanity. She would not stoop to that level of depravity. (A part of her at the time told her in a voice not her own that she was full of shit. And another part that she repressed just as hard knew that the other was right.) (The cells weren’t dismantled. Just in case.)

Time blurred after that. Just a monotonous routine of meetings, paperwork, infrequent forays into Zaun, interrogations at Stillwater, restless nights with Maddie at her side. None of it meant anything to her. It was just routine. And it never gave her what she truly wanted. 

Jinx. 

There was progress in other ways. Chembarons dead, arrested, or quiet. The Shimmer trade brought to a halt. 

But none of that meant anything to her either. 

Mel was still missing. 

Ambessa continued to make her own plans, but they never interfered with Caitlyn’s so she let it be, even if Caitlyn’s suspicions grew. 

Jinx was still at large. 

And then came Dr. Reveck, and Ambessa’s ambition could no longer be ignored. Not when Caitlyn was walking between dozens of mangled bodies. Seeing them was like a wake-up call, in a way. Not just to the depths of Zaun’s depravity, but also to Ambessa’s. Because Ambessa was perfectly willing to make use of a weapon that did that, and she was perfectly willing to do it behind Caitlyn’s back. Caitlyn…could not allow that to happen. 

But she had no idea how to stop her. So she went along with her, down to the fissures, down to the commune. She scoped the place out, looking for a place she might be able to snipe the beast and stop Ambessa’s plan before it began. But she struggled to find a spot that would allow it, and with the commune barring weapons from being brought inside…she didn’t think she could get close enough. 

She was going to give up. But then Vi re-entered her life. And it turned out that beast was her father. Caitlyn couldn’t take that away from her. 

Which meant that she couldn’t take that away from Jinx. 

Jinx was a monster.

But at the moment, she just looks like a girl worrying over her sisters.  

Almost as if she were reading Caitlyn’s mind, Jinx turns those violet eyes up, those violet eyes Caitlyn had nightmares about, and she locks them onto Caitlyn’s. 

“What are you waiting for?” she says, without warning. 

Caitlyn’s eyebrows shoot up, “Excuse me?” She hadn’t expected to even exchange a word with Jinx, and now they’re about to have an entire conversation? What else did this woman want from her? Hadn’t she already taken enough? Caitlyn was being far kinder than Jinx deserved by not already throwing her in a cell. 

“I’m here, I’m not leaving,” Jinx says, rather obviously. “So just get it over with and arrest me already.”

What? Caitlyn’s mind stills for a second as she tries to process the statement. The request, even. Jinx is…turning herself in? Why? After months and months of pain and hurt, and she wants to do what she could have done at the very beginning? Why now? 

“Is that all you have to say for yourself?” Caitlyn asks, instead of giving a voice to any of the questions in her mind, because bitterness is the easiest thing to reach for. 

“What else do you need me to say? Do what you’ve been wanting to do for months now. What you convinced my own sister to do,” Jinx shifts her head downwards to look at Vi, breathing softly on the bed. “At least for a little bit.”

The hiss comes with ease, “She knew you needed to be stopped.” 

“And she still left you,” Jinx shoots back, but there is hardly any energy or vitriol behind it, “Or at least that’s what she told me. Vi said you wanted to use the Grey, and that’s why she quit. But I think you and I both know that she’s not the one who left.” 

Caitlyn picks up on Jinx’s judgement immediately, and it enrages her. The gall of Jinx to think she has any sort of high ground when it comes to Vi. “You cannot seriously be judging me after you rejected her every time she tried to reach you.” She seems to have forgotten that Caitlyn was there for much of their family drama, and while she was scared out of her mind at the time, she was still plenty aware to see what was happening. 

“Shut up. You don’t know anything about me and Vi,” Jinx hisses, looking the most alive she has this entire conversation, eyes dark and teeth grit. But even that small bit of vitality slips away as her exhaustion returns, and her head dips, “You were supposed to be different from all of them, from all those Pilties who look down on us like we’re nothing. But you couldn’t be anything other than what you are,” Jinx reaches out and brushes Isha’s hair from her forehead, “Just like I’m just a jinx, in the end.” 

Caitlyn thinks there must be some kind of history here, one that she is not aware of. Her desire to know more wars with the revulsion she feels listening to Jinx talk like she isn’t a killer. It’s like she is being forced to put together two very different pieces of one person. It makes her head spin, and leaves her feeling ungrounded and confused. 

Jinx begins picking at her cuticles, “One of these days, Vi is going to realize that we’re the ones who are disappointments, not her.” By the end of her words, she’s drawing blood. 

“I…she…what?” Caitlyn’s mind reels from Jinx’s implication, and she still feels left-footed about the fact that she’s actually sitting here having a conversation with the woman, so forgive her for being not as verbose as she normally is. 

“Oh come on, don’t tell me you don’t know,” Jinx says with the feeling that she is rolling her eyes underneath the bravado. “Vi thinks she’s responsible for everything. Always has.” And she says it with such fondness that Caitlyn has to look away. 

And she still can’t think of anything to say in response. Because what Jinx says rings true. It all makes a horrible kind of sense, and Caitlyn doesn’t know what to make of it all. What she knows is that a feeling of guilt begins to rise within her, and she doesn’t know if she can deal with that right now. 

Jinx makes sure Caitlyn doesn’t get the chance, “Well, it doesn’t matter now, because I’m turning myself in. I’m done running.”

“What about Vi?” Caitlyn asks, betraying just who is always sitting in the back of her head.

Jinx shrugs, “Just tell her whatever you need to tell her.”

Caitlyn isn’t satisfied with that, not quite. She tries a different approach, “There won’t be a trial for you, nothing that ends in any way beyond you being found guilty. You have to know that.” Does Jinx know exactly what she’s asking for here? There will be a trial of course, Piltover’s legal processes are sacrosanct after all, but it would practically be a farce, a witch hunt. Already decided before Jinx stepped into the room. 

Jinx doesn’t say anything for a while, but Caitlyn can’t tell if she’s thinking or if she’s just gone back into her own head. Eventually, though, she speaks up again, voice hollowed out and raspy, like she’s barely even trying to speak, “I didn’t know your mom was there. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference, but…I didn’t know.”

Caitlyn’s eye twitches. Why did she have to bring up her mother? “Is that supposed to be an apology?”

“No,” Jinx says, infuriatingly. “Because I don’t feel bad about what I did. I just don’t want you thinking it was personal.” She turns her body towards the door of the room, looking away from Caitlyn and holding her hands out, “Now, just get on with it and arrest me, Sheriff.” 

The flare of rage Caitlyn feels from hearing Jinx not even apologize about killing her mother sends her to her feet immediately, but it’s like the fire is smothered as she stomps to the door, where Enforcers are waiting. 

Caitlyn pauses, hand on the door. She doesn’t have to do this. But she shakes that thought as soon as she gets it, because what is she thinking? Not only has this been her goal for months, but Jinx is practically begging for it. 

So why does it still feel so wrong?

“I am sorry about this,” Caitlyn says softly, not daring to look behind her. 

A mirthless chuckle, “No, you’re not.”

And Jinx is probably right. 

—

Caitlyn has Jinx taken to the bunker, where a set of makeshift cells have been created. 

The the cell door closes, she takes a moment to just look at Jinx. Look at her mother’s killer. Look at her goal, achieved. 

She’s not sure she likes what she sees. 

Jinx is curled up in a ball in the corner of the cell, looking towards the walls. She is not moving outside of picking at her cuticles, and her back rising and falling from her breaths. She does not look…alright. 

Caitlyn doesn’t even know why she cares. She shouldn’t. This person took her mother from her. Caitlyn sacrificed so much of herself and who she used to be to get exactly this. 

She should be overjoyed. 

But the victory feels hollow. 

She needs to get back to Vi. She rides the elevator back to the top, and then goes to the manor. 

Caitlyn does not station any guards at the bunker.

Chapter Text

Awareness comes back in bits and pieces. 

Vi swims through time as she awakens, flashing from the attack on the commune to the pit to prison to the cannery. All the times she’s gotten up after getting hurt, after getting knocked out, after being worse for wear. So many times that’s happened now. 

A pain shoots through her as she remembers everything…Vander going down, Jinx struggling in her arms, the bright light of Ekko’s hoverboard, Isha bleeding out.

She blinks her eyes open.

“Shh. Easy there.”

Vander?

Wait, no, it’s Loris. 

“Took all of three docs to patch you up,” he says, leaning up against the back of the chair he sits on. 

It’s not the first time she’s seen Vander in Loris, but now it hurts for a completely different reason. Losing Vander a third time…it’s raw. 

So she focuses instead on the fact that Loris is here. Because last time she saw him, she was drunk and telling him to fuck off, and as far as she knows, he did. 

She raises herself up from laying down to sitting up, “Loris? What…what are you doing here?”

“Well,” Loris scratches the back of his head, “After we, uh, parted ways, I’d been keeping an eye on you, making sure you didn’t get yourself killed. Knew you’d gone down to where that magic healer was. When I went down myself, I saw you being carried out by one of the Firelights. I might’ve followed after that.”

Vi processes this. Loris had still been watching her from afar? Even after she pushed him away? She…she didn’t deserve that. Not then, and certainly not now, not after she had rejected his kindness so viciously. She can only remember flashes of their final argument, as drunk as she was, but she can also remember the weeks and weeks of pure nastiness before that too. Vi’s surprised he could still care about her after that. 

Loris takes Vi’s silence to mean that she isn’t satisfied with his explanation, so he adds on, “You were in bad shape from what I could tell, I wasn’t sure you’d pull through. But looks like you can thank that thick noggin of yours.”

Heh, Vi huffs out something that could be considered a chuckle at that one. One thing about her, she always gets up again. Always survives. For better or for worse.  

As she adjusts her position, pain blazes across her abdomen, and she’s hit with a memory of what was probably a few days ago now, of holding Jinx back while Isha was struck in the back with razor-sharp claws. She groans out, “Where’s Isha?”

Loris only points with his chin a little past her, “They told me you’d probably ask about the kid first.”

Vi looks to her left and sees Isha on the other side of the bed. She’s breathing. She’s just sleeping. Vi reaches out and strokes Isha’s hair a few times, without even thinking about it. Isha’s alive. 

Some of the tension leaves Vi as the relief washes over her. She’s only known the girl for days, but she so easily made her way onto the list of people Vi cared about. Of the people she wanted to protect. 

Her mood darkens as she remembers her colossal failure on that front. Isha could have died. She’s only sleeping in this bed, hooked up to a machine just like Vi, because of Vi’s failure. In fact, if it weren’t for Ekko…

“Where are the others?” Vi asks suddenly, “Jinx? Ekko? Caitlyn?”

“Slow down with all the questions there,” Loris says, but not harshly, just with a bit of humor and a touch of concern, “Ekko went back down to Zaun, according to Caitlyn. Jinx…well, Caitlyn wanted to be here to tell you herself.”

Vi doesn’t like the sound of that, “Loris,” she turns her head to him, “Spit it out.”

Loris sighs deeply, looking down and then back into Vi’s eyes again, “Your sister…was arrested.”

Vi gapes as shock and rage course through her, “Even after Jinx saved her fucking life?!”

Loris only shakes his head, “I don’t know what happened. I’m sure Caitlyn was going to tell you all about it.”

“Oh she will,” Vi starts to leave the bed, ignoring the warning pain trying to keep her down. She feels large hands on her arms, but before she can tell Loris to let her get the fuck out of here, she realizes those hands are helping her, not stopping her. 

She stands on shaky legs at first, but the longer she stands, the more stable she feels. This isn’t the first time she’s had to walk off a horrible injury. And knowing her luck, it probably won’t be the last. 

Vi feels Loris’s steadying hands release her as she makes for the door with purpose. She doesn’t have a plan beyond saying some choice words to Caitlyn and finding out where her sister is being held, but that’s fine, she’ll figure it out as she goes. 

But before she pushes the door open she stops, hand on the handle. She looks back at Loris, who’s still standing there, watching her go. Since she and Jinx found that letter…she’s been trying to make sure things aren’t unsaid anymore. You never know when you might not get another chance, she would know. And she just has this feeling that she won’t get another opportunity for a while. 

“I…I’m sorry, for the things I said, back then.”

“You weren’t in your right mind,” Loris says, like it’s that easy. Vi thinks that maybe Loris is too forgiving for his own good. Sounds like someone else she knows.  

“Well…thank you, for being there. And being here,” Vi doesn’t really know what to do with herself in the face of Loris’s seemingly endless well of kindness. He reminds her of Vander so much that it physically hurts.

“Anytime,” Loris says. Vi takes that as the end of the brief conversation, but then Loris adds, “But before you go, there is one other thing I wanted to say.” 

Vi turns around and faces him, confusion probably written all over her face.

But Loris isn’t bothered, “I’m sorry too. I feel a bit responsible for, well, a lot of what happened after you left the Enforcers.”

And now Vi really feels off-balance. Not only does she not know what to do with Loris’s apology, but she also doesn’t think she deserves one. Definitely not from him. Probably not from anyone, honestly. She never needs them, and no one ever gives them to her anyway. So Loris handing her one like this…it’s almost foreign. 

She hopes she doesn’t sound as uncomfortable as she feels, “You really don’t have anything to apologize for…” she trails off, not sure how to continue or complete that sentence. 

“Vi, I introduced you to the pits. I drank with you every night, because it helped me not have to deal with my own problems,” Loris says, and Vi feels so selfish because she can’t readily remember what those problems were, “I let you push me away, and part of that was because I couldn’t bear to see what I’d done to you.”

Alright, Vi really can’t listen to this anymore, “Loris…don’t blame yourself. I would’ve found the pits eventually, or if it wasn’t that it would’ve been something worse. You helped me get off the streets. And the drinking…I’ve been drinking for a long time now. That would’ve happened with or without you,” she turns away, unable to stand the topic of this conversation anymore. Especially not when she has much bigger priorities. “Now, I’d like to continue this, but…”

“I understand, go give Caitlyn a piece of your mind,” Loris says from behind her. The boiling anger in her chest flares up again at the reminder.

Vi looks back, just barely, “Could you watch over Isha for me?”

“‘Course, what else would I do?” Loris replies easily. 

Vi nods, feeling maybe a little foolish but also maybe a little warm, “Right.”

Then she storms out the doors and down the hall, unsure of where she’s going but hoping she’ll see or hear Caitlyn somewhere in this unbelievably enormous house. She’d spent weeks here and she still doesn’t think she’s seen all of it. 

As she stomps (childish? maybe, but she’s a little beyond thinking about that right now) through the manor, she eventually comes across a door with voices coming out of it. Caitlyn. 

She doesn’t think twice before bursting through the doors with an exasperated half-shout, “Arrested?!” The sound bounces off the walls. 

Vi barely registers Maddie’s presence, as focused on Caitlyn as she is. Caitlyn says something or other to Maddie, Vi doesn’t really care what it is, and then Maddie’s walking towards her. For a second, she gets entirely too close, but then she keeps walking. Good. Because she’s already tightly coiled with anger and it wouldn’t be useful to unleash that anywhere but at the person who locked up her sister. 

As Maddie leaves the room, Vi scowls at Caitlyn, breaths heavy with anger.

“Vi,” Caitlyn says finally, in that same infuriating tone of voice befitting of a Sheriff. 

“She saved your life,” Vi seethes, rage and disbelief coiling around every word. 

Caitlyn pushes herself off of her place leaning on the wall, trying to speak in a pacifying tone that Vi summarily ignores, “If you will calm down for one—“

Fuck that shit, her sister is in jail! “Knowing you’d never have done the same for her,” Vi finishes, arms gesturing expressively. 

“We’ll never know, will we?” Caitlyn shoots back brazenly, arms crossing as a certain air of defensiveness surrounds her. “You didn’t let me in on that part of your plan.”

Vi’s anger only rises at the tone and accusation. “Clearly the right call, since you can’t trust her enough not to shove her in a box.” As she speaks, Vi paces the room and places her hands on her hips. It infuriates Vi that her intuition in the end was correct. Caitlyn couldn’t let go of her single-minded hatred long enough to see that Jinx has changed, and that Vi would always protect her. 

“Trust?” Caitlyn parrots incredulously, “You believe I’m so daft I can’t recognize a contingency? She wasn’t there for my benefit. You didn’t trust me to follow through!” Yes, and Vi was right to do so! If this is how she treated Jinx after her sister saved Caitlyn’s life, Vi doesn’t want to know what she would’ve done had she known about Jinx beforehand. And Vi doesn’t like how lowly Caitlyn seems to think of her. It was a contingency, but it was also for Caitlyn’s benefit, but of course she wouldn’t think of it that way. 

As Caitlyn speaks, Vi continues to pace, but by the end of it she’s had enough of Caitlyn’s judgement. She stops and storms up to Caitlyn, “Can you blame me? How long were you sidled up with that shifty, self-serving war pig? She oinked poison in your ear, and you just ate it.” Vi has never been more disappointed, and everything she’d wanted to say in that canyon sits at the edge of her tongue now, waiting to be released.

“I know!” Caitlyn shouts, throwing the model ship she’d had in her hand on the ground. She breathes heavily after the outburst, and moves herself to halfway sitting on the side of the room’s large green chair. The shout echoes around the room as silence falls.

Vi watches Caitlyn and waits for her to say more. But she doesn’t. She just…sits there. Like acknowledging what she did was enough. Un-fucking-believable. It pisses Vi off, and her fists ball at her sides.  

“That’s it? You know? You have nothing else to say?” Vi hisses lowly.

“What do you want me to say, Vi?” Caitlyn looks and sounds defeated, which only adds fuel to the fire that is Vi’s anger. She doesn’t get to be defeated, not now, not after months of treating Zaun like an enemy. Not when Vi is finally going to tell her what she should’ve been saying months ago. 

Vi’s arms flail at her sides, “I don’t know, maybe ‘I will release your sister’?”

Caitlyn looks at Vi with a strange sense of calm. A forced one, perhaps, “You know I can’t do that.”

Bullshit. Vi starts pacing again. “Why not? You’re the goddamn Sheriff! You tell the Enforcers to jump, they ask how high.”

Caitlyn shakes her head, “It’s not that simple. You might think she has changed, but she still has to answer for her crimes.”

Logically, Vi might be able to understand Caitlyn’s point. Might. But it’s not about logic right now, it’s about her sister, sitting in a jail cell and Vi would fight all of Piltover if it meant setting her sister free. 

“And answering for her crimes means hauling her to jail and throwing away the key?” Vi scoffs, “I shouldn’t even be surprised, considering you’ve been rounding people up for months now.” And here comes the other old anger, the rage Vi had beat back with punches and alcohol for months, because she’s heard more than enough about what her former partner’s been up to. Whatever Caitlyn is to her now. Currently, she thinks it might not be much, because Vi cannot believe the things she’s heard. 

Caitlyn shoots up to standing, defensive, “That is not what we’ve been doing!”

A dark and fake amusement fills Vi, “Enlighten me then, what else does it mean when dozens are being sent to Stillwater?” A huff of laughter filled with anger and disbelief later and she sobers, “Stillwater! Really, Caitlyn?” 

Vi should’ve known, after she had to talk Caitlyn down from sending Smeech’s man to that hell, that Caitlyn would come to rely on that place like a crutch. But she had hoped foolishly that Caitlyn would’ve retained that part of her that had seen the horrors of that prison, would’ve still known it needed to be shut down. 

Vi should’ve known when Caitlyn told her that she should’ve left Vi in Stillwater, right to her face.

She was a fool. 

“We needed a place with security! It’s not as if Piltover is rife with holding cells.” And it’s Caitlyn’s pathetic attempt at a justification that really gets Vi to start seeing red, so she forces herself to back up a few steps before she does something they’ll all regret. 

Vi’s gestures are sharp and cutting as she shouts, “You knew what they did to me and you still sent my people there! How could you?”

Caitlyn continues speaking with that infuriating veneer of calm and stoicism, and Vi wants to rip that mask clean off, “It’s not the same Stillwater you knew. The cells you were housed in will never be used again, and much of the old staff were dismissed. Conditions have improved.”

“Oh that makes me feel so much better!” Vi says, dripping with sarcasm, “You know that’s bullshit.” 

Before Caitlyn can respond to that, Vi keeps going, deciding to drop the reality of what Caitlyn’s been doing right on top of her head, “Do you even know what I’ve been doing these last few months? Fighting. In a fighting ring. Illegal, obviously. What do you think would’ve happened if we got busted? A champion fighter with a record?” Vi’s voice falls back down from its lilt to a low snarl, “I would’ve been right back in Stillwater, and you would’ve approved it.”

Caitlyn, for her part, looks shaken, “I would never have allowed that.”

“We’ll never know, will we?” Vi parrots Caitlyn’s words from earlier, both mocking and piercing. She’s tired of talking about herself, that’s not what her real problem is, “But this isn’t about me. This is about you, abusing your power just like every Enforcer. Just like Marcus.”

“I am not Marcus.” Caitlyn says seethingly.

“Aren’t you?” Vi questions, a kind of vulnerability and desperation being a little too evident in her tone, so she puts a wall of fury up, “The Princess of Piltover got one little taste of the way we’ve been living in the Lanes for years and you turned your back on us.”

“We dismantled Shimmer production,” Caitlyn says, like that means something. 

Vi scoffs, “Don’t act like that was your true goal. Everything you did, it was because you wanted to get to my sister. The moment you saw her shooting that rocket, you dropped every pretense you had about wanting to help the undercity, because it was easier. It was easier to blame Jinx and to blame us instead of realizing that maybe the undercity refuses to go down without a fight.” Vi can’t stop herself now, it’s like all the bullshit she had to put up with for months is coming back.

“You cannot seriously believe that your sister is innocent,” Caitlyn interrupts, indignant and disbelieving. 

“Is that what I said?” Vi gives Caitlyn a challenging glare of her own, “Now just fucking listen. You turned your back on me. And you know the worst part?” Vi’s voice grows quiet, almost soft, as some of the anger cools to a simmer, and some of the energy leaves her, “I don’t even hate you.” Vi’s glare softens into something else, something more desperate and sad and frustrated.

“I should, shouldn’t I?” Vi says, “You threw my sister in jail, you had me living in this house in this city where I had to put up with so much shit. I betrayed everything I stood for, for you and for Jinx.” By this point, Vi starts rambling as her feelings begin to overwhelm her now that the anger isn’t holding them back, “And I know, okay, I know that a lot of that is my fault and it’s what I deserved. But some of it is on you, because you would never understand. You think I like being angry at you? I hate it! But you turned your back on us, and I can’t just forget that.”

“Vi…” She catches Caitlyn approaching out of the corner of her eye, but she puts a hand up.

“Don’t. Please just don’t, not right now,” she lets out one deep breath, re-composing herself, “I don’t have time for this. Just tell me where Jinx is.” She looks up into Caitlyn’s teal eyes, and Caitlyn’s brows are furrowed in concern. Too little too late, Vi thinks solemnly. 

“She’s being held in the bunker.” Caitlyn says finally, a little hesitantly. 

“Thank you.” Vi says genuinely, before adding on, “Don’t follow me.”

She leaves without another word, ignoring all the parts of her that scream to turn around and run back to Caitlyn, apologize for everything she said. But her sister is more important than that. 

Vi remembers where the guards are stationed. 

Her sister is not spending another minute locked up, not if Vi has anything to say about it. 

—

Swiping the keys from the guard’s tower is simple. If she wasn’t tunnel-visioned on getting her sister out, Vi might’ve had some thoughts about that. But Jinx is the only thing she’s thinking about now, so she doesn’t consider it at all. 

Riding the elevator down to the bunker, Vi wills it to go faster. She remembers those first few panic-filled hours and days in Stillwater. Waking up there, hurt and cold and confused. Not knowing why she was there. Not knowing that she’d be there for seven years. Not knowing if Powder was even alive because the last thing she saw was Silco standing over her. 

No one came to help her then.

In fact, when they heard her frantic screaming, they came to beat her til she shut up. 

No one ever came to help her. 

She would rather die than let Jinx experience that. 

Finally, the elevator reaches the bottom floor, creaking as it settles. The second the door opens Vi’s rushing out, trying to get to the cell as fast as she possibly can. She sees Jinx’s shock of blue hair in the middle one, and as she approaches, she takes in the sight of her sister. She…doesn’t look okay at all. Her hair is down for the first time Vi has seen in over seven years. It sprawls around her, unkept. She’s curled into a ball, picking at dry and cracked fingernails. 

Vi wraps a hand around one of the bars, “Jinx?”

Jinx barely moves her head, looking at Vi through only one of her eyes, “What are you doing?”

Vi can’t tear her eyes away from Jinx’s morose form. This is just…unnatural. She starts fumbling with the keys in her hand, “I swiped these from the guard station. I’m getting you out of here.” As she looks for the right key, she feels the need to keep talking, to fill the air with noise and chatter like Jinx normally would, “I’ve been thinking, I don’t know what’s going to happen, with Caitlyn going against Ambessa, but I want to be with you, and Isha. What if we went back down to Zaun, help the undercity? You’re a hero down there, they believe in you. And with Ekko back, maybe we can rewrite your story with the Firelights. What do you think?”  

A certain kind of desperation lines her tone as she speaks, because something is wrong with her sister and she doesn’t know what it is, she needs Jinx to look at her with both eyes, to smile, to say something that doesn’t sound so incredibly hollow. 

“Sure, Vi,” Jinx says, entirely unconvincingly, and Vi finally gets the right key and unlocks the cell door, pulling it open in a rush and running inside. She practically throws herself on top of Jinx, discarding the keys, embracing her as hard as she can, holding her head in her hand and allowing herself to cry in relief. It’s okay, she’s getting Jinx out of here, she won’t have to face what Vi did. It’s okay.

Vi could say something now, but she chooses not to, instead opting to sink into the relief that holding her sister allows. She doesn’t know what’s troubling Jinx, but they’re gonna get through it together. 

“You’re never gonna give up on me, are you?” Jinx asks a little breathlessly, but also a little resigned. 

And the answer comes automatically to Vi, because no, she’ll never—

She doesn’t get to finish the thought as the air is knocked out of her. The second her arm hits the ground to catch her, she realizes what’s happened. Jinx just hit her. To get Vi off of her. 

Vi hears the cell doors lock. Her stomach drops. The keys are gone. 

She turns to the door, “Hey!” She ignores the wave of pain coming from her stomach as she holds it, bracing herself with one arm. Jinx is standing outside of the cell, looking almost like a ghost. 

Her sister starts backing up, shaking her head, looking everywhere but right at Vi, “You don’t have to worry about me anymore. You don’t need to feel guilty about being happy.” She looks Vi in the eye, finally, and Vi almost wishes she hadn’t. She’s never seen her sister look so empty. “You deserve to be with her.”

Vi really doesn’t like the way Jinx is speaking, doesn’t she realize the only person Vi wants to be with is her? That everything has been for her? “Wait!” She jumps to her feet, grabbing the cell bar. 

Jinx doesn’t seem to hear her, dropping the keys and continuing to back up, “There’s no good version of me.”

Vi looks down at the discarded keys and back up to her sister, and she presses herself further against the bars like that’ll get her any closer to bringing her sister right back into her arms, “What are you gonna do?”

Because the way Jinx is sounding…no, no she can’t be thinking that. Please, no!  

“Break the cycle,” Jinx says cryptically, stepping into the dark, her faintly glowing eyes being the only thing Vi can see. 

No! Vi hits the bar of the cell with her fist, “Jinx! Please!”

But Jinx only disappears into the dark, leaving Vi alone yet again. And the reality of her situation crashes down on her as she realizes that she’s locked inside this cell. She’s trapped. She can’t get out. And her sister is going to…is going to…

Vi can’t even bear the thought, and her crying turns into shouts of agony and despair as she grips the bars tightly, etching lines into her hands. 

Then she’s not in the bunker anymore. She’s in Stillwater. She’s fifteen and her family is dead and she doesn’t know if her sister is alive and she’s shaking the bars wishing that they’d bend under her strength, but they don’t. Because she’s not enough. She’s failed, again. 

She can’t get out. 

She’s stuck.

She remembers endless days and nights rotting away inside a dark cell, nursing injuries no one bothered to treat, trying not to forget the sound of her sister’s voice. 

Vi lets out a roar of pain as the memories bombard her, and she does the only thing she can think to do whenever the memories or the worry or the fear got to be too much, and she strikes the wall with all her might. Then she does it again. And again. And again. And her knuckles split open because she doesn’t have even the most basic form of protection on her hands, but she doesn’t care. The pain is grounding. The pain is all she has. And it’s punishing. 

Because she’s locked in here. And no one is coming for her. And her sister is out there and she’s hurting and Vi can’t do anything and it’s just like Stillwater, it’s just like Stillwater, it’s just like Stillwater—

And then, it’s like the panic just stops. In its place is a faint hum, a fuzz, a numbing sensation running up and down her body. And she remembers, no she’s there .

Like a puppet with its strings cut, she crumples to the ground.

She’s seventeen, and she had just tried to escape Stillwater yet again. She’s lying on the dirty floor of a dark, dark cell, listening to the echoing footsteps of Enforcers leaving her to bleed out. Everything hurts. Her eyes are crusted with dried tears. She can hardly breathe because each breath brings with it a new wave of pain. And she’s shaking. She’s hurt, and she’s scared, and she’s just realized that this is the rest of her life. This cell. This prison. She will try and try and try to escape but this is it. 

Vi is going to die here. 

She stares blankly at the wall, what she thinks is the wall because it’s too dark to see anything, and she understands that fact with a brutal clarity. 

She’s never going to see Powder again. 

And she’s never going to see Jinx again. 

Because she fucked up. This is her fault. If she had said something, done anything different, she could’ve fixed this.

But now she’ll never be able to leave. 

Her heart races in her chest as she tries to claw her way out of the flashback and back into reality, but she’s unsuccessful. She’s stuck as a teenager on that bloody floor, even though she knows, somewhere in her, that that isn’t true. 

It’s real enough now. 

Vi is completely helpless. 

—

She doesn’t know how long she stays like that. It could’ve been a few minutes, it could’ve been hours. But she finally breaks out of the trance, remembering where she is and what’s happened, when she hears the tell-tale sound of the elevator coming down to the bunker. 

Vi clambers onto her feet, not wanting anyone to see her like this. She feels her knuckles sting as she presses her hands onto the ground to get up. Dried blood prickles on her exposed hands. 

She feels utterly pathetic. 

As the elevator finally comes to a stop, Vi stands with her hands wrapped behind her head. She hopes that whoever it is will let her out. Please, let her out. She feels so entirely exhausted in the wake of the flashbacks and the severe mental break, and she needs to get the fuck out of here right now. 

She needs to find Jinx.

She holds onto that thought like a lifeline before she can devolve into another spiral of panic. Find Jinx. Hope she’s not too late. She can’t be too late. 

If she is…Vi thinks she just might go over the edge too.

Vi hears footsteps coming toward her. She swallows down the memories of Enforcer’s boots and turns to look at who it is. 

It’s Caitlyn. 

“Thought I might find you here,” she says, unlocking the door.

And what goes through Vi’s head at the playful remark is not only relief, but something else too. Something much more volatile.

Red creeps along the edge of her vision as Vi teeters along an edge that she cannot fully define.

Chapter Text

After Vi leaves the room, Caitlyn collapses into the chair.

She’s just given the go ahead to set her mother’s killer free. Because there’s absolutely no chance Vi won’t break Jinx out. Underneath everything Vi had said was that singular desire. 

And because of Vi’s predictability, or maybe Caitlyn’s deeply buried empathy, Caitlyn had ensured that the bunker would be without any guards to stop Vi. 

Has she gone mad?

Vi had asked Caitlyn not to follow, demanded it really. Caitlyn could still do so, she doesn’t have to listen to Vi after all…but she remains in place. Why? Why does she stay? Why does she not stop that criminal from being set loose?

Because she still trusts Vi.

That truth settles like a weight that has always been there. Even through everything, she trusts Vi. Vi believes Jinx has changed, and Caitlyn…trusts that. 

She does not trust it enough to fully think that Jinx won’t betray Vi, though, but she tries to believe otherwise. 

She’ll give it time. No matter the case, Vi doesn’t want Caitlyn to go after her, and she left the room clearly still angry. 

And Caitlyn…she has a lot to think about. Because while she’s angry too, angry and indignant, she’s also…she doesn’t know what she is. Vi’s fury swims in her head, along with her disbelief and her disgust and, truly, her everything. 

Like it never left. 

But it’s not so simple anymore. Vi simply cannot understand the decisions that Caitlyn has been forced to make, because she has never been in Caitlyn’s position. How do you balance your need for justice with an old, naive conscience and advice from an experienced general?

Caitlyn was doing the best she could, and no one seemed to recognize that. 

So she feels…defensive, in that way. Even more defensive than she felt when it was Ekko or Jinx trying to tell her off, because this was Vi, the woman Caitlyn had by her side in the hardest weeks of her life, who Caitlyn pushed away because…

Because Vi couldn’t follow through. 

Or maybe it was because Caitlyn couldn’t bear the weight of Vi’s judgement. 

Shame prickles through her body, but Caitlyn tries to push it down. There is no time for self-pity, she must get back to planning for Ambessa’s inevitable attack. 

But she’s frozen, still hearing Vi’s argumentative tone echo through her mind. 

Vi thought her no better than Marcus. And that hurts. It’s a crack in her armor, a wound she thought she’d close, the idea that she was as horrible as him. 

It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. 

Yes, Caitlyn had made mistakes. Allying with Ambessa was certainly one of them. But she was no Marcus. She did not accept bribes, she did not stray from the path of justice and peace and order. She is not him. She is better. 

But was she better for the undercity?

It’s a variation of a thought Caitlyn has had many times over, one that she’s pushed away time and time again because there was no room for that outlook in her pursuit of Jinx. There was Piltover, and there was Zaun, and Zaun was already united against Piltover. 

Even now, that thought sits sourly with her. Vi claimed that Caitlyn had turned her back on Zaun, but that wasn’t true! She dismantled Shimmer production, she had seen how harmful that substance was…

But why did she really do that? Was it to protect Zaun? Or was it to hurt the specter of Jinx? Was it just to help Piltover’s bottom line?

The doubt creeps in from all directions, and Caitlyn can’t seem to stop the rising tide of it. 

But what can she do? The past is the past. She did what she could. 

The lie is not as convincing as it used to be.

—

Caitlyn is slumped in the chair, hand on her head when she hears a familiar voice, “Cait?”

She turns her head from studying the ceiling towards the door. It’s Jayce. Finally. 

“Jayce,” she says as she quickly rises to her feet. Now that Jayce is standing in front of her, she can study him with no distractions. For as long as Caitlyn has known him, Jayce has never grown out his facial hair, and now here he is, with a full beard and hair longer than she’s ever seen it. It almost looks haggard. And how skinny he is…just what happened to him?

“Are you finally going to tell me what’s been going on with you?” Impatience makes Caitlyn’s voice come out sharper than she intended, so she softens, “It’s been months since you’ve disappeared, and then you suddenly show up in the middle of a battlefield?”

“It’s…a long story,” Jayce sighs out. For a second, that’s all Caitlyn thinks Jayce will say, but before she can tell him exactly what she thinks of that he adds, “Will you come with me? I can explain on the way, and there’s something that you need to see.”

Caitlyn’s posture loosens as she lets out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Finally, some answers. “Alright, but I deserve a real explanation.” Even though Caitlyn is irritated with him, there’s a sense of familiarity in it. It’s not the first time Jayce has been unnecessarily cryptic about things. Probably won’t be the last, if Caitlyn is being honest. 

Jayce walks out the door, and Caitlyn follows. 

“You’re right, you do,” Jayce admits, which makes Caitlyn feel an immature bit of triumph. Jayce brings that out in her. As they walk through the halls of the manor, clearly towards the front door, Jayce continues, “Before I...disappeared, my lab was broken into.”

Caitlyn’s eyes widen, “What? By who?” She hadn’t heard anything about this. After Jayce’s disappearance, each of his usual haunts were thoroughly investigated. Caitlyn made sure of it. But there was nothing, no leads, no hints in any sort of direction. It was as if he’d evaporated into thin air. 

Viktor was gone too, but to Piltover’s elite, that was less of a priority. Not a priority at all, actually. And now that Caitlyn thinks of it, that’s rather…callous. Maybe they should have looked harder for Viktor. 

Jayce interrupts her thoughts by answering her question, “Heimerdinger, if you can believe it. Him and the boy from the undercity, Ekko.”

What? Heimerdinger and Ekko? A former Councilor and a Zaunite…what were they even doing together? Why break into Jayce’s lab? Ekko’s involvement is what truly puzzles Caitlyn, she’d expect him to have even more disdain for Heimerdinger than for her. But she supposes this explains why Jayce had sought out Ekko earlier. Or maybe even why they both showed up at the commune.  

They leave out the front gates, Enforcer guards locking them once more.

“I assume that’s why you spoke to him before me, then,” Caitlyn says finally, after her deductions have run their course. 

“Yes and no,” Jayce shrugs. “They’d broken in because they’d found evidence of corruption on a leaf from a tree deep in the underground. Corruption that matched what Viktor and I had seen when testing plants with the Hexcore.”

A tree deep in the underground…it must have been the Firelights’ tree. She can see Ekko putting his dislike aside if it was for the good of his group. 

Jayce keeps talking as Caitlyn takes in that bit of information, “It was…worrying, to say the least. Heimerdinger and Ekko thought that it could’ve been because of an overuse of Hextech, ‘pissing the Arcane off’, as Ekko put it.” Amusement lines Jayce’s tone, but Caitlyn doesn’t share it. She’s been reminded of Ekko’s belligerence recently and that argument still feels raw. 

“So, long story short, we investigated the Hexgates’ failsafe. And…that’s when it happened,” Jayce explains. Caitlyn notes that they’re walking towards the repaired Council tower. But she focuses her attention back on Jayce. She didn’t miss the way he tensed at the end there. Whatever ‘it’ was, it was nothing good. She itches to reach out, to comfort, but that’s not her best arena, not right now. “One minute, we’re at the base of the Hexgates. The next, we’re in some kind of new dimension, with some kind of core in front of us.”

They walk inside the tower, moving briskly to the elevator. It appears they’re going all the way to the top. Why? Why take her here? Caitlyn holds her tongue so that Jayce can finish.

“And then…it was like it absorbed us. Then we were gone. I woke up in…I can only describe it as hell. It was desolate. Lifeless,” Jayce says, and Caitlyn can see the newfound weight on his shoulders. And she suddenly understands his new demeanor. This was a man that had been through something awful, who survived something that maybe shouldn’t have been survivable. Seeing him like this aches. 

Caitlyn does reach out this time, lightly grabbing Jayce’s wrist. At the contact, Jayce looks down at her and gives a slight smile of appreciation. Caitlyn’s glad she was at least able to get that much. 

When the elevator stops at the top floor, though, Jayce goes right back to a stern seriousness, looking straight ahead as the doors open, and walking immediately when they do. 

As they approach the Council chambers, Jayce says, almost looking over his shoulder, “But then I learned it wasn’t hell at all. It was the future, our future if we don’t stop it.”

Before Caitlyn can even think of a way to respond to that, Jayce nods at one of the Enforcers stationed outside the doors. Together, the officers open the doors, revealing the Council chamber in its repaired glory. The room is illuminated by the light of the early afternoon, bathing all of it in a warm glow. 

In the center of the Council’s roundtable is a smaller table, with something on it covered by a cloth. Caitlyn looks at Jayce questioningly, but he doesn’t look at her, just strides over to the middle of the room. 

“This is what I wanted to show you,” he says, pulling the cover off of the table. 

A sharp inhale escapes from Caitlyn. Lying on the table is…some creature , some thing . It almost looks to be made of marble and gold. It almost looks like a person, or at least human-shaped, except it has no eyes, or mouth, or any facial features at all. It almost looks…robotic, but there is still something terrifyingly organic about it. It’s…unnatural. And yet something about it seems almost familiar.

Caitlyn is at a loss, “What is that?” she manages finally. 

Jayce’s tone is determined, but also resigned, “This is what’s coming for us, all of us. Piltover, Zaun, maybe Runeterra itself.”

She can’t look away from it, studying each of its unnatural details, “Where did it come from?”

“Viktor.” 

Caitlyn looks up at Jayce sharply at that. Not just at the name, but also the despondent way in which Jayce says it. This is…hurting him, to see his partner go down this path of…whatever this is. 

Jayce doesn’t meet Caitlyn’s eyes when he speaks, “You remember that I’d been trying to heal him from the damages he’d sustained in the attack, using the Hexcore. Well…it worked. Or at least I thought it did. It…changed him, fused with him. But it was still him, underneath all that. Or so I thought…” Jayce trails off.

He seems to shake whatever thoughts he got lost in a way and starts up again, “He wasn’t happy with what I’d done, though. He left. He told me that ‘our paths diverged long ago’.” And there’s a wistfulness there, as Jayce says it, that makes Caitlyn pause, but she’s not entirely sure why. 

She has nothing to add, yet, so she waits for Jayce to continue, “It wasn’t until after I’d seen the future that I understood what he meant, and what I had to do.” Finally, Jayce meets her interested, concerned, and disturbed gaze. “Hextech was a mistake. That future I saw? It was because of Hextech, and it was because of Viktor, spreading Hextech among the people.”

At last, something clicks for Caitlyn. 

“The commune…” she trails off, mind still working, filling in the cracks. “The magic Herald down in the fissures.”

Jayce sighs, “Yes, that was him.” Then all of a sudden his demeanor turns defensive, more frantic, “You have to understand, I had to stop him.”

Caitlyn senses that tell-tale feeling of her stomach beginning to drop as Jayce’s meaning starts to become clear for her. But she must be sure.

“What are you saying?”

“…I killed him,” Jayce says, voice just above a whisper, “Or, I tried to. But this came for us earlier today, so I know that it didn’t work.”

Now it all makes sense. The ringing noise at the commune, all the attendants falling slack, the screaming, the abruptness of it all.

Caitlyn’s voice is breathless as she understands many things at once, “It was you…that’s why…oh, Vi…” Vi’s father was being treated, somehow by Viktor and his Hextech. But Viktor’s death, or almost-death maybe, reversed all that progress. It is why he’d lost all sense of reason. 

And why he was dead.

“Cait, what is it?” Jayce asks, and for a brief moment all Caitlyn can feel is a kind of…of possessive anger, fierce and flowing freely.

“Do you even know what Viktor was doing, when you killed him?” Caitlyn just barely doesn’t sound completely disgusted. She forgets where she is, she forgets what Jayce has told her, she forgets the thing laying in front of her. 

She only remembers Vi and the heartbreaking way she reached for her father, calling his name.

“I had to—”

But Caitlyn cuts him off, exasperated and somehow feeling guilt roll around in her gut, “He was healing people!”

“He wasn’t, Cait,” Jayce says pacifyingly, but with a hint of impatience, “It might have seemed like that, but sooner or later it would’ve become this.” Jayce gestures towards the creature on the table. 

“We didn’t know that,” Caitlyn says with indignation, “No one knew that.”

“I know, and I…I’m sorry, that you had to see it.”

“Well, it’s not me you need to apologize to,” Caitlyn mumbles, heart not really in the dig. Her anger was a flash in a pan, long gone now. She just feels…poorly, all around. 

After allowing a minute of silence, Jayce changes the subject, demeanor shifting to be something much lighter. But it fails, because Caitlyn can see right through it, to the real exhaustion lying underneath, but she allows him to think he’s convinced her. 

“Now that you know all the terrible things going with me,” he says, “what’s with you? What happened while I was gone? You seem…different.” His words become hesitant at the end, and it ticks Caitlyn off. 

“Of course I’m different,” Caitlyn snaps, and then she regrets it when Jayce’s face falls a tad.

“Are you and Vi still…?” He ventures.

“No.” Caitlyn says maybe a bit too sharply. “No, not now. Maybe not ever.” Her voice goes quiet at the end as the utter wrongness of that idea hits her. 

“What happened?”

“I…we had our differences of opinion.”

Jayce levels her with a knowing look, “Cait, you think I can’t tell when you’re keeping something from me?”

Caitlyn sighs, knowing when she’s defeated. He can do that cryptic avoidance to her, but the minute she tries it…typical. “We searched Zaun for weeks. We couldn’t find Jinx anywhere. I…She couldn’t…I was so angry,” Caitlyn looks away, shame prickling at the base of her neck, “I said things. Things I can’t take back. And I left her.”

Jayce softens at the admission, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

Caitlyn doesn’t know how to respond to that, so she lets it stay silent between them for a while. They’re both lost in their own thoughts anyway. 

That is, until she blurts out, “I’m Sheriff of Piltover, now.”

And that gets a startled reaction from Jayce, “What?” It’s not neutral. It’s unsettled.

“I thought it was the right thing to do. The only thing I wanted was her, Jinx, the person who took my mother from me, and I did almost everything I could think of to get her.” Except keep her locked in her cell, apparently, but she lets that thought go, not willing to go down that line again.

Jayce’s eyes narrow in suspicion, reading between the lines of Caitlyn’s words. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“I forged an alliance with Ambessa Medarda.”

“The Noxians? Cait!” Jayce’s disbelief and disgust is palpable, and Caitlyn can’t take it, not from him too. 

“I know, okay, I know! It was a mistake. But I was desperate. I thought with her forces and her experience, I could have Jinx within weeks. But that’s not what happened. Instead I worked with her for months.” Caitlyn wraps her arms around herself, a soothing gesture that hardly does the job. 

Jayce shakes his head, eyes faraway, “The one time I listened to her, a child ended up dead…what could’ve ever convinced you that working with her was a good idea?”

“You weren’t here!” Caitlyn shouts, the loneliness and grief thick in her outburst, “No one was here. Vi was gone, you were gone, my father has been so lost in his own grief that we barely speak anymore…all I had was Ambessa, as sad as that is. And I thought she’d be able to bring me the justice that I needed. That I thought I needed.” Caitlyn hardens then, grim determination settling in her face, “But no more. She made her move at the commune, and I made mine. Now, along with these creatures it seems, she’s coming for Piltover.”

Jayce sucks his teeth, suddenly looking discomfited, “About that…” he starts, and Caitlyn pins him with a rather unamused expression. “When we fought this creature, Viktor spoke to us through it. He’s working with Ambessa now.”

Caitlyn gapes, “What? But Ambessa is the one who attacked his commune!”

“He doesn’t care,” Jayce shakes his head, disapproving. “As long as he’s able to complete his mission, how it happens isn’t his concern. Not anymore.”

Shit . This situation has just grown even more alarming. 

That concern must show on her face, because Jayce says, “I’ve called an assembly with the Council and representatives from Zaun. It’s happening in an hour. I already told Ekko, and he should be there. You should be there too.” He places a hand on the table, “If we’re going to beat this, we’re going to need all the help we can get. I want the undercity to fight with us.”

Caitlyn nods, lips set in a hard line, “I’ll be there.” It’s going to be a…difficult sell, putting it lightly. But surely Zaun and Piltover can put their differences aside to face a common enemy, right? 

Why does that thought feel…incomplete? 

“Thank you,” Jayce says, and Caitlyn can tell that he’s truly grateful. 

She smiles, and it’s real in a way that they haven’t been for quite some time, “I’m glad that you’re back. I missed you.”

Jayce pulls her into a side-hug, “Missed you too, Sprout.”

—

After she and Jayce part ways so that he can prepare for the assembly, Caitlyn decides that it is about time she checks on the bunker. None of the Enforcers stationed around the manor or that part of the city have said anything about Jinx escaping, but there’s no doubt in her mind that Jinx is long gone by now. 

Vi, however…she is only halfway convinced. And if Vi is still there, perhaps she could bring up the assembly and the coming battle with her. But as soon as she has the thought, she wants to dismiss it. Vi is still recovering from that nasty injury. She should be resting. The second she hears about this, she’ll insist on being a part of it.

Caitlyn decides that she won’t tell Vi—if she’s in the bunker of course, and call it her intuition, but Caitlyn just has a gut feeling that that is exactly where Vi is. 

Which is why when the elevator stops at the lowest level, she is woefully unsurprised by seeing Vi in Jinx’s former cell, arms around her neck. Caitlyn notices the keys dropped on the ground, so she picks them up and walks over to the cell door, ready to let Vi out and…she doesn’t know. Comfort her? Would Vi want that, from her?

As she approaches, she’s rather thoroughly reminded of their first meeting. Something stirs in her heart, at that. 

As Caitlyn unlocks the door, she says, a little teasingly, “Thought I might find you here.”

Vi’s shoulders tense, just a bit, but Caitlyn isn’t sure why. Vi turns around fully to face her, “Where’s Jinx?” 

Now that Caitlyn looks at Vi, she thinks that something might be wrong. Vi’s eyes almost seem to be red and puffy, though it’s difficult to tell underneath the smudged makeup. Has she been…crying? Maybe she has taken Jinx’s betrayal harder than Caitlyn expected. 

She decides not to bring it up as she figures out how to traverse this discussion, opting to answer Vi’s question, and ask one of her own, “She’s escaped. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

But Vi doesn’t look satisfied by that answer, in fact she becomes even more distressed, “Where the hell are the guards?” she almost shouts with a frantic energy that Caitlyn can’t figure out. 

Caitlyn holds her hands up placatingly, “Vi, calm down, you—“

But she doesn’t get to finish the sentence before Vi cuts her off, “Don’t tell me to fucking calm down! My sister is out there—!” Vi stops herself there with a strangled cry, and then her voice dips down to something low and grit out, like she’s forcing herself to remain composed, “Where are the guards, Caitlyn?”

Caitlyn’s eyes search Vi’s own, trying to understand what has gotten the other woman so upset, but she draws a blank. It’s all she can do to keep her tone steady when she answers, “I dismissed them.”

“What?” Vi’s tone sounds like it’s dancing on an edge, like the last dregs of a facade of calm. It’s making Caitlyn nervous, and she hates the uncertainty. 

Maybe if Caitlyn explains, that will help ease Vi’s…confusion, maybe? Caitlyn just feels so lost and she wants to help. All the anger she had towards Vi had already been slowly melting away, and now it all but disappears at seeing Vi in this state of disarray. 

“Vi, I knew you were going to free your sister. It was only natural,” Caitlyn says slowly, pacifyingly. “And, I’ll be honest with you, I’m not entirely surprised that she left you here.” She can’t help the tiny hint of acridity lining her tone. That will probably never go away, when it comes to Jinx. But for Vi, she may be willing to try.

Where Caitlyn had expected her words to soothe, Vi’s demeanor only grows darker, and Caitlyn is thrown off-guard by the seething words, “If you knew, then why are you only here now?”

Now Caitlyn is truly worried, this kind of mood is unlike anything she’s seen from Vi before. Of course she’s seen Vi angry, she did earlier that day, but this was different. This was deeper. And maybe their relationship is nowhere near the level of Caitlyn being able to ask for this level of honesty from Vi, but for god’s sakes she just recently saw the woman almost die in front of her, again, so maybe she’s feeling sentimental. 

“Vi, what’s wrong?”

But that must’ve been the wrong thing to say, because Vi explodes, “You knew!” She sputters, “You…you let my sister lock me in this fucking cell! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Do you hate me that much?!” 

Caitlyn flinches back from the force of Vi’s words, from the way they drip in rage and betrayal. 

She’s made a horrible mistake.

She can fix this, right? “I could never hate you!”

“Did you even think of what it might feel like to be locked in a cell again?” Vi’s eyes shine with unshed tears, and Caitlyn feels absolutely horrendous. This is just a horrible misunderstanding, while she might have suspected Jinx would do something like this, she didn’t know.

She ignores that the answer to Vi’s question is a resounding and sobering ‘no’.

“I…I didn’t know—“

Vi doesn’t hear her at all, and she starts pacing again just like she had earlier, “No, of course not, because you don’t give a fuck about me! I’m not even a real person to you!” Spit flies from her mouth because of how worked up she’s become. “And you certainly don’t give a shit about my sister who saved your damn life! Did you even notice how close she was to going off the fucking cliff?!” 

And suddenly everything starts to make a terrible sort of sense for Caitlyn. Not just Vi’s fury, but everything. Why Jinx turned herself in. Why she was so damn quiet. 

If it had been anyone else, Caitlyn would’ve surely noticed the signs. 

But because it was Jinx…she didn’t care. She only cared that it had gotten her what she wanted, even if in the end she knew that something was off enough to give Jinx the tools she needed to flee.  

“Because of you, my sister might be dead!” Vi shouts. Then her tone changes to one of a hissed venom, “But you’d like that, wouldn’t you? ‘Sheriff of Piltover kills terrorist’, I bet you’re itching for those headlines, right?”

Caitlyn can’t even muster up the indignation to get defensive, because every word from Vi pierces like an arrow, as there’s a grain of truth in each of them. And the way those light blue eyes blaze with something akin to hatred pins Caitlyn in place. 

Vi pushes past Caitlyn and exits the cell, striding towards the elevator with purpose. Caitlyn can only turn around and watch her go, struck speechless by the vitriol Vi has levied her way. 

Before retreating into the darkness, Vi turns around and scowls at her one last time, voice low, “Fuck you, Caitlyn Kiramman. If my sister is dead, I will never forgive you.”

Then she turns on her heel and strides away. Moments later, Caitlyn hears the elevator going up. Caitlyn just stands there, and stares. Frozen in place. Mind carefully blank, but only because the shock briefly shuts everything else out. 

What just happened?

The simple question sends her brain into overdrive as the shock morphs into an infuriatingly vague sense of distress. How can she fix this? There must be something she can do to fix this. As her mind works, it finally begins to process the last few minutes, the words that were said. Vi’s words of bitterness and viciousness and hatred. 

Vi…hates her. Oh god, Vi hates her. 

Caitlyn staggers back, hitting the wall roughly and sliding down as the realization lands. That wasn’t just anger. Caitlyn has seen Vi angry. This wasn’t that. With anger, there was still hope that what was broken between them could be fixed. Earlier that day Vi had even said she hadn’t hated Caitlyn. Caitlyn thought that she hadn’t allowed herself that hope but she knows now, in that hope’s absence, that it was still there, buried deeply underneath her denial. 

But now that hope is all but dead. Because the way Vi spoke to her, the way Vi looked at her. That was raw, unfiltered, cold-hearted fury and loathing. 

The kind that Caitlyn has so readily leveled at Jinx.

Tears spring to Caitlyn’s eyes as she understands that she’s lost Vi for perhaps the final time, that in the end Vi would always choose Jinx over her. But why wouldn’t she? Jinx is her sister, her flesh-and-blood, and Caitlyn is someone that Vi only knew for weeks. But Caitlyn always thought, no she knew, that what they had was something special. 

Not anymore.

Because of Jinx. That vile woman, always taking things from her!

Except…Vi was never really hers, was she? 

The brief flare of anger dies as soon as it comes, Caitlyn is too exhausted to maintain it. 

Maybe Vi was, at one point, but Caitlyn was the one to push her away, all those months ago. Caitlyn was the one who chose to see her as nothing more than where she came from, in that one critical moment. Caitlyn was the one who knew of her love, and her guilt, and her sense of responsibility, who unintentionally used this and didn’t care as long as it got her Jinx.

It wasn’t just Vi who chose Jinx—Caitlyn had chosen Jinx over Vi, had chosen hatred over her love, long before Vi had done any such thing. 

And the truth, for once, is so easily known and understood, perhaps because her armor of denial and indignation has been slowly chipped away, bit by bit, ever since seeing Vi again at the commune. And now all that’s left is doubt and the self-hatred that’s been simmering within her since the beginning, and all of the guilt and the shame she’s repressed has been reborn, slamming down upon her like a wave. Any weak defense she can muster is nothing compared to its force. 

What…what’s happened to her? 

Ekko and Jayce and Vi…their revulsion, their rejection, their contempt, it all replays over and over and over, matching those deepest feelings that Caitlyn had locked away for so long now.

Ekko, he burned right through her justifications, her fiercely won assertions, and in her defensiveness, she said a horrible thing that she didn’t even believe. 

She didn’t believe such a thing, right? 

But then she remembers more thoughts and feelings and words. Animals, criminals, terrorists. Piltover versus Zaun, like it has always been. Like she was always told growing up. Like she had been breaking away from for a few crucial days…

Then her mother died. And it had proved Piltover correct. 

Right? 

Jayce, he was so upset that Caitlyn would ever turn to Ambessa. The death of a child…Caitlyn never knew. If she’d known, she’d have never—

But that isn’t quite right isn’t it? 

She doesn’t have the energy to lie to herself anymore, to convince herself of anything to make herself feel and look better. 

Caitlyn knew of Ambessa’s brutality, she knew it was a necessity of who she was. No, she was not envisioning dead children, but it wasn’t something she could say she was surprised about either.

Isha is a child. 

Caitlyn had never even considered that children could be at the commune. And she brought Ambessa and her soldiers there. 

She feels disgusted with herself. 

And Vi…her words were the most revealing of all. And the most piercing. The comparison to Marcus she can’t seem to brush aside, the complete unraveling of Caitlyn’s true motivations, the way she had mistaken Caitlyn’s chilled fury for hatred.

And Stillwater. 

Caitlyn can still remember the utter appall she felt, talking to that warden that day. The unease she felt, walking around that grimy, nasty prison. Even then, it hadn’t fazed her that there was an inmate in such a place with no record at all. It wasn’t until later, when Caitlyn had talked to Vi, had understood what they did to her there, the extent of Marcus’s corruption, that it turned into something horrific for her. 

And she sent dozens there. Dozens who hadn’t even proved that they deserved such vile conditions. If anyone deserved them at all…

Because she didn’t care. She didn’t care about the abuses she’d learned about. She didn’t care about that form of justice. She only cared about her own justice. Send them there, if it means getting them off the streets and her closer to Jinx. 

Dear god, she had essentially allowed the brutality of that prison. She even kept the same warden employed! Why? Why did she do that?!

Because her anger blinded her. It twisted her perception until it returned right back to that naive view of the world, even as it pretended to be more in tune with the reality. A pretense she allowed, because she knew better. She knew what happened to Vi, but any time she’d catch wind of a prisoner being injured, she wrote it off.  Prisoners fighting each other, a necessary use of force. But it wasn’t. It never was. 

What has she become? What sort of monster has she allowed her grief to twist her into?

When had she become no better than Dr. Reveck?

All these months of pain, and for what? For justice? What did that even mean anymore? Was she truly committed to that ideal, when she has just let Jinx go? What did she even want?

Caitlyn didn’t know anymore. At some point, it all had become meaningless. It was only the idea of justice she wanted, because when it came down to it, when Jinx was right there in front of her…she didn’t see the monster of her nightmares. 

She merely saw a young woman with troubles of her own. On many levels, Caitlyn still hated her. But she loved Vi more. Or she thought she did. She clearly had not loved her enough. 

Where has that old softness of hers gone? Her empathy? Her compassion? 

Did they all burn in the fires of the rocket that killed her mother? Were they scared out of her by Jinx’s capture of her? Did they die when Jinx turned her empathy against her?

Or was it Caitlyn’s choice? Did she methodically bury them under the guise of duty and vengeance and righteous fury because it was easier? Maybe Vi was right. Maybe it was so much easier to fall back on what she knew. She had retreated into it like a coward, let it shield her from the base desires of her wrath.

When? When did this happen? When did her determination become a source of pain, rather than pride? A thing to justify rather than revere? What happened to the Caitlyn that defied everything and everyone to bring Silco to account? 

She cannot recognize that girl anymore. Everything about who she is now is sharper, hollower, harder. Ambessa’s influence, but also, she recognizes, her own choice. 

Maybe it was the memorial attack. When her emotions were so raw, and so easily distorted. After that, all she could see were shades of red. That’s when it happened. Or that’s when it became too much to ignore. And Vi knew that. 

That’s why she agreed to become an Enforcer. 

Oh.

The realization settles like a truth so evident that Caitlyn can’t believe she never understood it. But now it’s so obvious. At the time, Caitlyn hadn’t even bothered to question Vi’s change of heart. She was just happy that Vi would be with her in this. She’d thought that the attack had finally opened Vi’s eyes to the reality of their current situation. 

But it was Caitlyn who was blind, because that’s not why Vi did it. She sees it now. Maybe part of her at the time thought her sister to be too far gone, or maybe not, but Vi had also joined for Caitlyn’s sake. Not just because Caitlyn had asked, but because she didn’t want Caitlyn to lose herself to the pain and the rage and the hate. And Caitlyn did, in the end, after she’d discarded Vi. Because she thought Vi was distracting her when she was really keeping her grounded. 

That is why Vi had asked her not to change. It wasn’t control; it was kindness. It was trying to save her from herself. And Caitlyn had rejected that.

She has failed Vi so thoroughly. 

That woman…even now, Caitlyn is finding new things to admire about her. Vi’s single-minded devotion to protect the people she loves, Caitlyn is in awe of it. How much it shapes her every decision, probably her every thought. 

But knowing that also makes Caitlyn sad for her too. When was the last time Vi has chosen entirely for herself? Has she ever? Caitlyn recalls what Jinx had said, about her and Caitlyn being the disappointments, not Vi. It makes the question so easily answered. Vi does not think highly of herself at all. And Caitlyn probably made it worse. 

Can she feel more wretched? 

A heart so full of love and devotion, purified but never broken. Had Caitlyn…ever had that? Even just a little bit? When her heart’s fire wasn’t snuffed out, who was she then? What had driven her?

What was she shooting for?

Caitlyn startles with a soft gasp as the memory hits her out of nowhere. A trophy, a party, Grayson…

Now she understands. 

She knows why she’s been so astray. Because she lost herself. She lost her true purpose, her true aim. She always meant to protect, to save, to help. But for months and months now, she’s been imposing, enforcing, hurting, seeking vengeance. 

Grayson would be ashamed of her. She’s ashamed of herself.

So what is she going to do about it?

Because Caitlyn cannot stew in self-pity forever. She’s a thinker, but she’s also a doer. 

She had given Jinx a chance to take responsibility for her crimes. It’s time for her to do the same. But how can she make up for what she’s done, the harm she’s brought to the undercity? To Ekko? To Vi? Can she? 

Can any amount of good deeds undo her crimes?

She doesn’t even know where to start. But just then, she remembers something—she needs to get to the Council’s chambers. The assembly! She’s been so preoccupied she’d forgotten the promise she’d made just hours ago. It must be starting any minute by now, she needs to hurry. 

As Caitlyn scrambles to her feet, and rushes towards the elevator, a new fledgling thought begins to take shape.

Responsibilities that she has shirked for months. A meeting between Piltover and Zaun. A chance for the cities to finally talk to each other. 

Maybe it’s not too late to do the right thing.

Chapter Text

This world’s gone sideways. 

At least, that’s what Sevika thinks. How else could you explain a messenger from Topside coming to down to the undercity with the request that Zaun send representatives to an emergency meeting with the Council? The sheer brazenness of it gave Sevika pause. When has Topside ever asked for anything? 

Her first thought, just like everybody else’s, was that this was some kind of ploy to arrest them all for some bullshit charge or another.

If it’s not a trap, then Sevika thinks it can only mean one of two things. Either Topside has finally, somehow, gotten its head out of its ass and is going to give Zaun the respect it deserves—unlikely, impossible—or, and this is probably what it is, Piltover is in deep shit, and they’re now going to beg for Zaun’s help. The latter possibility makes Sevika bristle, but that’s not all. 

If Topside needs their help, needs Zaun…this is an opportunity. An opportunity that Sevika cannot pass up. 

And that’s how she ended up here—venturing Topside in broad daylight following behind a Council attendant and an Enforcer, with a Firelight by her side. 

The Firelight, Scar, he doesn’t seem nearly as restless and uncertain as she does. Almost like he knew this was coming. Which, maybe he did. He’d already been standing on the bridge when Sevika and the other two had gotten there. Sevika decides she won’t question it for now. She’s just glad she’s not going to be the only Zaunite there. 

God, two Zaunites traversing Piltover. Sounds like a great way to get ambushed. 

Months ago, they would’ve been fighting each other. As soon as they surfaced and started sabotaging their Shimmer lines, the Firelights made an enemy out of Silco. He sent her after them, he sent Jinx after them, he sent everybody he could to stop them from tampering with their bottom line. 

Including Enforcers.

And Sevika stood by him when he did it. 

It was supposed to be the better option for Zaun. Consolidate the Undercity under one enterprise—his. Undermine the Enforcers through their own corruption. Eliminate any threats to Zaun, even if they came from within. 

That’s what Silco said, and she believed him. 

But now that Silco’s dead…she’s seeing things a bit differently. His death left a power vacuum that threw Zaun into chaos. That, plus the insurrection that had happened right before that, just goes to show the fragility of Zaun’s “unity” under Silco, if it could even be called that. They were so focused on that and not nearly enough on fighting back against Topside. And in the last year or so before Silco’s death, Sevika knew that. She was growing impatient. But she wanted to believe in him. 

She knows now, though. Silco lost sight of the true enemy, and given that she was his number two…so did she. 

Well, not anymore. 

Sevika’s never been much of a leader. She always preferred to be the hand, the knife, the executioner of the vision. The kingmaker. It was what she was good at. 

But it never got her what she wanted—a Zaun free of Topside’s exploitation. 

So she’s been taking a different approach. Organizing under her own merits. Brokering peace among the chembarons. Not standing behind anyone but herself. 

But that’s not quite working either. Zaun…needed a symbol. It needed someone to rally behind. And that someone just wasn’t her. Maybe it could’ve been, if she had just done that at the beginning. Before Silco. Maybe even before Vander. But now…Zaun remembers who she used to be. Who she used to work for. And even if they agree that they need to put their energy towards fighting Piltover, they’ve still got grudges. And she’s not sure she can blame them for holding onto them. As long as they don’t get in the way of the real fight, people’s personal feelings about her are the least of her concerns. 

She thinks that Scar might hold a grudge. 

Or maybe not.

She can’t get a read on the Chirean. Really, she thinks that he might be like her. A kingmaker. He’s been the Firelights’ second-in-command for as long as they’ve been around, but ever since their leader disappeared months ago, he’s been leading them. Does he struggle too, leading?

Whatever the case, he has her respect, because he fights for the undercity. He was open to hearing her out, at that rally. At Stillwater, he was the only one to even look her way, sending her a nod that Sevika thinks might’ve been the confirmation she needed to believe that he’s had a similar experience as she had. At the very least, she knows that they’ve both done a lot of the groundwork in uniting the undercity the last few months, and they don’t have the added benefit of being a symbol.    

So. They’re not friends. But there’s a mutual understanding between them that supersedes any past animosity. It’s built on months and years of collective organizing and shared experience with the brutal oppression of Piltover and now Noxus too. And today, it’s built on a shared understanding that this meeting may just be the first real chance for freedom that they’ve seen in years, in entire lifetimes. 

They enter the shining Council tower, completely repaired from Jinx’s attack months ago. Sevika can’t help but scowl. Topside can fix up buildings blown to bits in a matter of months, but there are still buildings in Zaun destroyed from accidents years ago. Just another reason why she’s going to cling to this chance like a lifeline.

An elevator greets them at the end of the hall, and it has its own attendant. Sevika fights the urge to only sneer at the grandiosity of Piltover’s upper crust. She hates being Topside, with all its gildings and luxuries. It’s not real the way Zaun is. And the knowledge that Topside gets to be all this—all this wealth, all this opulence—while Zaun is crushed under its heel and used, makes her simmer with anger. They take and take from the undercity, and now they’re probably about to take something else—their lives for whatever bullshit cause they think is important. 

The elevator stops at the top floor, and Sevika and Scar are led towards an enormous pair of doors. Another Enforcer is stationed outside of those doors, a rifle in their hands. Sevika tenses, and she can sense Scar do the same behind her. But the messenger and the other Enforcer just keep walking. Right. They’d never even think such a weapon could be used on them. 

Reluctantly, Sevika continues to follow them. These are the Council chambers. The symbol of Piltover’s shamelessness. They sit in this tower and they decide Zaun’s fate, again and again. They choose for Zaun to suffer. It’s what they want. That’s why Zaun needs to be rid of them if things are ever going to get better. That’s why Vander’s solution was never going to work. 

The doors to the chambers are opened, and the Zaunites walk inside. Already, members of Piltover’s elite stand around the round table, and they look at them with an animosity that doesn’t even bother to be veiled. Sevika sends them a fierce glare right back. Like she’d ever wilt to Piltover’s upper crust. She and Scar are led to the right side of the table, closest to the door. Great, their backs are to the door. They can’t see what’s coming. Whether that was intentional, or Piltover is truly that ignorant…the chances are fifty-fifty. 

Neither she nor Scar are much the talkative type, so while the Topsiders talk amongst themselves, they stand in silence, watching the room, waiting to see what the hell they were brought up here for. 

Thankfully, for their sanity, they don’t have to wait very long. The doors open and a set of heavy steps accompany them, along with a lighter, quicker set of steps clearly made by heels of some kind. 

Sevika turns her head to look behind her, seeing a rather tall man in a white coat with many decorative embellishments. She thinks this might be Jayce Talis, the Councilor. But she only has memories of some of Piltover’s older propaganda posters to go off of, and those don’t last long in Zaun. Well, it doesn’t matter. He’s a member of Piltover’s ruling class, and that’s all Sevika needs to know.

Behind him is a woman. She wears a form-fitting white cloak, and Sevika can see golden tattoos accenting her dark skin. 

She’s strikingly beautiful. 

Her appearance sends shockwaves throughout the room. They know her. And she does seem familiar to Sevika too…she must be a Councilor as well. 

“Mel?” The Councilor with the golden eye cover looks at Mel with wide eyes, voice breathless in shock. 

“Shoola,” Mel greets, dipping her head. “Everyone. I understand that my appearance before you now raises many questions. I’m afraid we do not have the time for me to give any more than a brief explanation.” She steps closer to the table, hands clasped in front of her, the absolute picture of poise. “I was captured by an enemy of my mother’s, and I made my escape about one week ago now. I am fully prepared to resume my duties as a Councilor of Piltover.”

And now Sevika knows exactly who this is. Mel Medarda, richest person in Piltover. Daughter of Ambessa Medarda, the general leading the Noxians that have been terrorizing the undercity for months. A plethora of conflicting feelings make themselves known in Sevika, but she covers them all with a blanket of disdain. 

“That hardly explains anything!” One of the members of the elite shouts, but Sevika can’t tell who it came from. Other remarks of varying volume come about as well, but Sevika hardly pays attention, none of this matters to her anyway, just let them move on from this so they can get to why they’re really here. 

“That’s enough!” Jayce says. He walks by Sevika, turning and focusing on the empty space at the other side of the table’s opening to the left of Sevika. He seems to gain some kind of information from the sight, but nothing worth discussing it seems. 

“Forgive me,” Jayce says, quieter, as he keeps walking to the middle of the roundtable. “But we don’t have much time.”

Mel settles at the open space to the right of Sevika and Scar. From here, Sevika can take her in in more detail. The light of the room catches her hazel eyes in such a way that they almost look to be glowing. Unexpectedly, those eyes shift to meet Sevika’s, making eye contact. Mel smiles lightly, and Sevika looks away, her heart giving an odd beat. She shakes the feeling, she needs to get ahold of herself. 

“A storm is coming,” Jayce continues, “The likes of which Piltover, perhaps Runeterra itself, has never faced.” He pulls the sheet off of the table in the middle of the room, revealing…

What the hell is that?

Gasps echo around the room, but Sevika’s focus narrows on the…thing on the table. It’s unlike anything she’s ever seen before, and she’s seen a lot. The white and gold, it reeks of Piltover. 

Jayce isn’t bothered by the room’s collective shock, “This creature infiltrated the very room you’re standing in. And we barely survived. Hundreds more are on the way. The Noxian general is leading them.” 

Now that piques Sevika’s interest. Noxus plus some kind of inhuman, indestructible soldier? That’s a problem. But why is it a problem for Piltover? Last she checked, Piltover and the Noxians joined forces to wage war in the undercity. What happened to their amicable partnership?

She sneaks a glance at Mel. The woman doesn’t appear to be shocked, only stern and focused. Bad blood between family? 

Sevika shifts her focus back to Jayce. These Topsiders really are going to ask Zaun to clean up their mess just to cover their own ass, aren’t they?

“This isn’t a fight for ideals or territory. It’s a fight for humanity itself. I’m asking…no, begging you, every one of you, Topside and bottom,” Jayce keeps speaking. Sevika wonders if he really believes his own bullshit, and she can’t stop a scoff from escaping her. “To aid us in this coming war. And it will be a war.”

Now Sevika’s really getting pissed off, because how is this Councilor going to act like they haven’t been waging war in the undercity for months? Now it’s coming Topside and it suddenly becomes a problem? She’s not even surprised, but it still infuriates her.

“Now, this isn’t a fair request,” an understatement. “But it is our only hope. The forces against us are too great. We need every hand we can get.”

At this point, Sevika’s just ready for this little speech to end. Unless he’s about to say they’re going to negotiate the terms of Zaun’s participation, Sevika’s leaving. If there really is a fight coming, if this isn’t some trick, then the undercity needs to prepare to protect its own.

And clearly, Piltover isn’t even going to pretend to help them with that, because then Jayce says, “We’re abandoning the city’s outskirts to stage our defense at the Hexgates, the final bastion of our salvation.” Of course. Of fucking course they’re abandoning the undercity, if they even count it as part of the city. Jayce says more but it's lost in the blood rushing through Sevika’s ears as the old anger takes hold. Why did she even bother coming Topside? 

Sevika exchanges a side glance with Scar, and she can tell he’s thinking the same thing. What does the undercity get if they fight Piltover’s battles for them? What the hell are the Noxians going to do that they haven’t already? That Piltover hasn’t done already? They got some nerve asking for Zaun’s help with nothing in return. And with the way these upper crusts are leering at her and Scar, she knows they’re not gonna offer shit even if they ask “nicely”, whatever the hell that means anymore. 

As others begin to leave the chambers, Sevika turns on her foot, ready to silently tell Topside to kiss her ass.

But then the door slams open. There, breathing heavily, is Caitlyn Kiramman, Piltover’s goddamn Sheriff, “Wait!”

For whatever reason, Sevika does, and so does Scar. They stand still, everyone does, as Caitlyn enters the room and comes to a stop at the roundtable, at the empty space Jayce had eyed earlier. She briefly looks at Mel with wide eyes, and almost looks like she’ll say something to her, but she looks away towards the rest of the room, “Everyone, please, hear Jayce out. We will all perish if we do not fight together.”

Oh great, more of this bullshit. That’s it, Sevika’s done. She turns to leave again.

“However,” Caitlyn adds unexpectedly, which makes Sevika’s head whip right back around to hers, “I also know that if we want Zaun’s help in this fight, we cannot demand it. We must negotiate it.”

Sevika damn near openly gapes. Maybe this world really has flipped upside down. A Topsider, not even just a Topsider but their Sheriff, the same Sheriff that has been openly antagonizing Zaun for months…wants to negotiate? She briskly walks right back up to her place at the table, interested to see where this goes, and she sees some of the other Councillors and elites do the same.

“Sheriff Kiramman,” says one of Councilors (or at least Sevika assumes they are), a tall man with a long face, white hair, and pompous cloak with a ridiculous neckline, “What could we possibly be negotiating with them?” The Councilor’s eyes narrow as he stares down Sevika and Scar, and Sevika has to resist the urge to flip him off. 

“Instead of asking me, why don’t we ask them? Representatives from Zaun were sent here, were they not?” Caitlyn says, looking at Sevika. Sevika has no idea what her play is, because there’s no way this isn’t a play. You don’t just go from partnering with Noxians to fighting for Zaun. She doesn’t trust this. But as she glances at Scar and he nods, she decides she’ll go along with it for now.

All eyes are on Sevika as she states firmly, “Sovereignty.”

Immediately the room explodes in outrage, but Sevika notices that Caitlyn doesn’t show any signs of that. In fact, hardly anything in her as changed, other than a slight shift in her presence, like she’d expected this.

“Everyone quiet down,” Caitlyn speaks over the cacophony. Her voice carries all the authority that Sevika has come to loathe. She looks to Sevika, “And your terms?”

“You cannot seriously be entertaining this?” Neckline scoffs, scandalized. Sevika is quickly growing exhausted being around these people, and she bets Scar is too. Any self-respecting Zaunite would be.

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Mel cuts in. 

This sends another round of gasps and shock through the room. Sevika can’t believe that she’s actually agreeing with Piltover’s elite about something, because what ? What is this about this isn’t the first time they’ve discussed sovereignty for Zaun? When the hell was this?

Before Mel gets the chance, Shoola explains, “The night the Council was attacked, we were prepared to broker a peace with Silco. This included sovereignty for Zaun.”

Why the hell hadn’t Silco told anybody about this?

Though, as the brief flash of anger fades, Sevika thinks about how that night went down. They hadn’t seen each other after Finn and Renni tried to pull off their little takeover. That brokered peace could’ve happened anytime after that. 

But why hadn’t he told Jinx?

Maybe she’d killed him before he even had the chance. Sevika doesn’t actually know how it happened, just that Jinx did it.

Then another thought comes to Sevika. What if he did tell her, and one of the conditions was that Jinx be handed over to Piltover? If Silco agreed…then that would make him the man she originally agreed to follow.

But not a man she’d follow today.

While Sevika thinks on that, the Councilors continue to spew their hatred. “And we’re supposed to support them now ?” Another one, a short woman with her white hair in buns, seethes. “After they’ve brazenly attacked our city? When they’re holding our lives hostage?”

“What exactly do you think you do to us? We’re taking care of our people, something your Council has never done,” Sevika spits, arm gesturing expressively. 

“Our children starve in the streets,” Scar adds, a cool disdain contrasting Sevika’s fiery rage, “Every day, we die from treatable illness and infection. Our homes are raided by Enforcers daily. And you think we’re the violent ones. Why do you think Jinx shot that rocket?”

Sevika notices that Caitlyn’s stoic facade seems to crack just a bit, at that, like the words made her think too. She’s not entirely sure what to make of that.

“Don’t you all see?” Caitlyn says, voice pleading. “The writing has been on the wall for some time now. It is on all of us to grant Zaun its independence.”

“What gives you the right to decide was is and isn’t our responsibility? You’re not a Councilor,” hisses neckline, again. 

Caitlyn gives the Councilor a hard glance, “I have every reason to be in this room. Need I remind you that I am currently the Sheriff of Piltover? But if you’d prefer it, I’d be happy to inform you that House Kiramman’s Council seat remains open, and I am leader of House Kiramman.” Caitlyn puts her arms behind her back, standing straight and regal. “You can consider this my inauguration, Councilor. Unless you’d like to oppose generations of tradition.”

The room is silent, no one dares argue with Caitlyn. Her ability to command a room would impress Sevika, if she did not hate everything the woman stood for, or everything she personally did to the undercity in the past several months.

More importantly, Sevika has no care for the petty squabbles of the upper crust, she only has room for one thing, which is fighting for Zaun. And this Caitlyn Kiramman seems to want to hand her that on a silver platter. There must be a catch. 

“What do you really want, Sheriff?” Sevika narrows her eyes, “Because there’s not an Enforcer or Topsider alive who wants to see the undercity be anything more than what you all think it is: a poor, crime-ridden, violent den of suffering.”

Caitlyn doesn’t lose that unwavering look of determination, “It’s as I said, I want to negotiate.”

Sevika furrows her brows, lost, “Why?”

“Because we need you in this fight,” Caitlyn says, as if it’s a self-evident truth. “And it is the right thing to do.” 

And oh, Sevika has a lot of thoughts about that particular choice in words. 

From behind her, Scar interjects before she gets the chance, “And why should we believe you want to do “right” by us?” Sevika’s glad it isn’t just her who’s skeptical. 

“You have every right to have no trust in me. Months ago, I pledged myself to help Zaun, but when the time came I turned my back,” Caitlyn explains, having the decency, or maybe the gall, to look ashamed. “Today, I am committing myself to putting an end to the needless pain, and I’m starting here.” Caitlyn moves her gaze off of Sevika and Scar and turns to the rest of those gathered around the table, “I am not leaving this room until we can come to an agreement that we all are comfortable with.”

Her speech is well-given. Convincing, even. But Sevika won’t let go of her mistrust so easily. How many times had the undercity been screwed over by Topsiders, well-meaning or not? “Why? Why this? Why now?”

“Because I have seen the state of the undercity. I have seen the result of Piltover’s hubris and oppression, and very recently I have been forced to contend with how I myself have engaged in it,” Caitlyn says, startlingly honest. Sevika’s sneer softens just a bit as Caitlyn keeps speaking, not just to her, but to everyone, “I am not proud of that, but I cannot take it back. All I can do is move forward. I may not be able to do anything to make it up to the people I’ve hurt, remove the trauma from the innocents I’ve thrown in jail, but I can do this.”

“You’re looking to completely undermine Piltover itself!” shouts another man, this one with a long gray mustache. He may or may not be a Councilor, Sevika is far beyond caring at this point. “The undercity is Piltover’s, no matter what asinine name you choose to call it. We refuse to even consider this ridiculous proposal.”

“At the expense of your own people?” Scar asks, voice hard but not uncaring.

When no response comes, Sevika snorts and glares openly, letting the room know of her obvious distaste for them all. “Face it, you need us. And if you need us then you damn well better be ready to negotiate, because we’re not helping for anything less than what we want.”

Jayce finally pipes up again, “They’re right, we need them in this fight.”

“And how would you know? How did you even know about this creature? Or this apparent war?” Mustache sputters.

“Because I lived it, Councilor.”

Jayce goes on to explain a rather harrowing story of a horrific potential future. That is, if he is to be believed. Sevika is not quite sure if she does.

“That is why I know we are not prepared for this,” he finishes, “and we stand no chance of winning unless we have Zaun’s help. So if they want independence, we must give it to them.”

Caitlyn continues on from there, “If it weren’t for the continued animosity between our cities, if it weren’t for Piltover depriving Zaun of basic human decency, then we would not even be in a position where Noxian forces are poised to attack.”

Sevika raises an eyebrow at that, but elects not to say a word. 

“Caitlyn’s right,” Mel says, tone brooking no argument. “It took my mother mere weeks of agitation and instigation to get exactly what she wanted—Piltover declaring war on the undercity, because she wanted to take Hextech for herself.” She looks around the room while the others take that in. “Animosity between Piltover and Zaun is a weakness, and Ambessa simply won’t be the last to exploit it. We must broker peace between the cities, and we must do it now. Even if our cities separate, our sheer proximity makes our cooperation crucial.”

The other Councilors seem to consider Mel and Caitlyn’s words. Sevika doesn’t quite like the reasoning behind the arguments, because they make it clear that they don’t want Zaun’s independence for the good of Zaun’s people, but their own. But Sevika isn’t surprised, Topside has only cared about itself, which is why Zaun’s independence is a must. And, she supposes, the opposite is true too. Mel and Caitlyn speak of Piltover’s disdain for Zaun being a blind spot. But maybe, even though it’s doubtful a third party would want to invest in Zaun as it currently is, someone could manipulate Zaun’s hatred for Piltover. It’s a discomforting thought. 

“Shall we get started then?” Caitlyn asks, setting her hands on the table. None of the other Councilors seem ready to air any more complaints.

Well shit. 

This is actually happening. 

“Fine,” Sevika lets out a breath, steeling herself for a conversation she’s not quite sure is real (or that she’s even prepared for). “Let’s talk terms.”

—

Several hours later, after the sun has already set and eyes begin to droop, the deal is made. 

The terms are tentative—some are iron-clad, while others will need to be revisited at a later time. Sevika and Scar may have a lot of experience in organizing the undercity around collectivity, but they aren’t Zaun’s spokesmen. Nor are they businessmen, and much of the terms are economic in nature. 

But here’s what they’ve got, after several frustrating and infuriating hours of back and forth. 

First, no longer will Zaun be under the Council’s rule. They’ll set up their own government in time (as soon as possible, really), but both Sevika and Scar understood that was a conversation that Zaunites needed to have amongst themselves, with no interference from Piltover, so they refused to allow the Councilors to try and hijack what form their government will take. 

Second, all Enforcers will be removed from Zaun’s streets immediately, and they will no longer have any jurisdiction there, given that Zaun will be its own political entity. This term was easier to come to an agreement about than Sevika had expected, but that’s probably because they were already going to abandon the undercity anyway to the Noxian threat, and there were times that Enforcers rarely ventured down into the undercity, such as when Vander had brokered his deal with one of the former Sheriffs. 

Well, this time, that deal wouldn’t be able to cave to political pressures. 

Third, until Zaun is able to invest in its own hospital system, all Zaunites will be able to be treated in Piltover’s hospitals. Scar had pushed hard for this one. For years, Shimmer was the only healthcare available in Zaun, but the Firelights refused to use it. He knew more than most the price of no doctors in Zaun. 

The wording of this term also stipulates that the treatment in Piltover’s hospital must be free. Piltover’s healthcare is supposed to be free anyway, but more than enough Zaunites had been scammed by their scumbag doctors for both Sevika and Scar to demand that this stipulation to be added. 

Those were the three agreements that were concrete and immediate. The others, while just as important, were to be the subject of future meetings between Piltover and Zaun’s respective governing bodies. 

One of these is that Zaun would gain control of all of the industry on its soil. Sevika wanted this to go into effect immediately, but she was forced to concede just a bit, to allow for a grace period to be set up in the future, and for Piltover to have control of most of the port trade (an improvement to them currently controlling all of it, but Sevika still isn’t quite satisfied. But she’s not a businesswoman, and has no plans on being one, so she’ll let this go for now). The Councilors also discussed the possibility of Piltover and Zaun having a specialized trade deal between the cities, but again, that’s not quite Sevika’s forte, so she let that discussion be tabled for the time being. 

Lastly, Sevika, Scar, and the Councilors agreed that all other terms of Zaun’s independence would be discussed after the battle against Noxus, when both sides have accounted for their losses and are prepared to rebuild. Sevika and Scar made sure that this period wouldn’t be any longer than a month, because, at least for Sevika, she can’t trust Topside as far as she can throw them, and she wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to use vague wording to put this off indefinitely.

The agreement is written up in three copies. One for the Council, one for the Sheriff and the Enforcers, and one for Sevika and Scar, Zaun’s temporary representatives. She holds the paper now, the almost negligible weight of it undermining the utter importance of the words written there.  

And with that, the negotiations end.

But before departing, Sevika, still pumped full of adrenaline, looks at all those gathered, right in their eyes, “Zaun will fight with you in this war. But,” she warns, “if Topside even thinks of backing out on this when it’s over, then there will be blood. We’re never going back.” 

Once she’s satisfied with the way the threat settles in the faces of the Councilors and all the other members of Piltover’s elite, she pivots on her heel and strides out of the room, finally ready to get out of this place. 

It’s only when the elevator doors close, leaving her and Scar alone, that the reality sets in. 

In a manner of hours, everything that she has been fighting for her entire life has come to fruition. The work is of course not over, not by a long shot. But this is the biggest step that has ever been taken in the betterment of Zaun.

“Did we just…?” Scar says, breathless, from the other side of the elevator. Seems like reality has just hit him as well. 

Sevika nods shakily, “I…I think so,” she looks at Scar, “Can’t say I trust Topside to follow through, but…” she trails off, almost as if voicing the rest of that thought will make it disappear. 

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Scar crosses his arms, looking pensive. “But before we can even think about that, we gotta convince the undercity to join this fight.”   

Sevika grips the paper in her hand, just enough to lightly crease it, “This isn’t just a fight against Noxus, it’s a fight for our independence. I don’t think Zaun’s gonna be that hard to convince when we drop that bombshell on them.”

“An independent Zaun…never thought I’d see the day,” Scar’s voice is full of awe.

Sevika smirks, “Just make sure you actually live to see it.”

Scar sends a sly smile right back, “You too.”

The moment of camaraderie comes as a surprise to Sevika, but it feels natural too. For years, she hadn’t allowed herself to build true connections, for fear that they would cloud her dedication to fighting for the undercity. They were weaknesses, blind spots. Vander was distracted by his children. Silco had no such distraction, which is why Sevika chose him. But by the end, he was just as distracted by Jinx. So, Sevika would forge professional alliances, but she would never grow attached. She’d spent nights at Babette’s, but never created anything real. And she was okay with that.

Or at least, she thought she was. But after Silco died, she was surprised to find a kind of kinship in Jinx of all people. She didn’t hate it. She’d known Jinx for so much of that girl’s life, and maybe now that she lacked the distance of duty to hide behind, long buried instincts of some kind made her almost protective of Jinx. And then there was Isha, and not even Sevika could resist being endeared to a kid like that. 

After Stillwater, though, Sevika wondered if she was falling into the old trap, developing the same weak spots as Vander and Silco. So, after she’d parted ways with Isha, she kept her distance. Stayed away from that side of the undercity for a few days. 

But now…everything has changed. And these remarks shared between her and Scar…they’re charged with something more than a begrudging mutual respect. There’s potential here, potential to actually care.

Can she afford this? Can she build those connections she had denied for so long?

Was distancing herself a mistake? The Firelights…their entire group was built on those close bonds, and now Scar is here, having negotiated the independence of Zaun right along with her.

Sevika leans her head back against the cool metal of the elevator as it reaches the end of its descent, and she closes her eyes.

She truly couldn’t believe it. Vander’s dream, Silco’s dream…no, her dream—after so much struggle and so much strife and so much blood, sweat and tears…she thinks that it might finally be realized. 

Zaun and her people…

They’re finally going to be free.

Chapter Text

At first, Ekko thinks the device doesn’t work. 

Powder’s face, looking up at him while she holds her Ekko in her arms, is the last thing he sees when he blinks out of that reality. He feels himself moving through the Hexcore, but when he opens his eyes, he’s still in Powder’s hideout. 

Except he’s not. 

It’s the same old and abandoned turbine, but it’s different. There’s no guard rails, for one thing. No candles either. The light here is cold. Neon graffiti lines the metal. Gadgets of all kinds are strewn about the place.

It clicks for him, then. 

This isn’t Powder’s hideout again. It’s Jinx’s. He’s back. It worked. 

Heimerdinger…

Ekko allows himself a brief moment to mourn the man. At first, the alliance with the former Councilor was only practical. He needed to get back to his base. But then he started actually helping out with some inventing here and there. And no, Ekko still wasn’t happy with the way the man had sat by and let the undercity suffer for decades , but, by the end, he’d begun to take a liking to the guy. 

And now he’s gone. 

He’ll have to break the news to the rest of the Firelights.

Right. He needs to get back to the base as soon as possible. Once he’s reconnected with his people, he’ll try to seek out Jayce. That’s assuming that he also returned…

Ekko will just have to find out. As enlightening as this little trip through an alternate universe has been, it hasn’t quite told him how to save his tree. 

God, he hopes it hasn’t gotten any worse.

Ekko grips his Z-Drive tightly for a moment, finding grounding in it. There’s…a lot he needs to think about. But first he needs to check in with his people. 

—

The Firelights thought he was dead.

After he bangs on the door with his coded knock and it’s rolled open, he’s greeted by the wide eyes and gaping mouth of Scar, who immediately pulls him into a bone-crushing hug. Behind him are Blick and Osha, two of the near-founding members of the Firelights, who gleefully shout that Ekko is alive before joining the hug. 

After that, Firelights start pouring out from every part of the base, surprised and overjoyed to see their founder return.

Ekko’s home. 

Later, once Ekko has been greeted by literally everybody there, checked on the tree (doing just fine, thankfully), and gotten something to eat, he sits with Scar in Ekko’s room. He would just have this conversation out by the tree, but everyone keeps coming up to Ekko. He doesn’t hate it, but he would just like a bit of privacy for a while. Because he’s got a lot to chew on.  

It’s been months. And in that time, there have been a lot of new moving pieces in the Lanes, and as he listens to Scar relaying them all to him, his head spins. 

The first world-shaking piece of news to learn is that Shimmer and the chembarons infighting is apparently not the biggest of Zaun’s worries anymore. Nope, that dishonor now goes to the Piltover-Noxus partnership that is actively raining hell down on the undercity under the guise of “restoring order”. Restoring order for Piltover, anyway.

“Restoring order” means finding and apprehending Jinx, which they’ve failed to do for months. 

What they have done, though, is cart innocents off to Stillwater, violently break up rallies, and terrorize the people of Zaun repeatedly. 

And—and this is the real kicker for Ekko—this is all being done under the leadership of their new Sheriff, Caitlyn Kiramman. The woman that Vi had begged for him to trust. The one who said to his face that this city needs healing. What a fucking joke. Ekko is beyond pissed, but woefully unsurprised. He doesn’t know how that woman had managed to fool Vi, but he shouldn’t have allowed himself to be fooled.

And, fuck, Ekko hadn’t blindfolded her and Vi when they left the base. She knows where the base is. The Sheriff of fucking Piltover knows where the Firelights’ base is. 

Pushing away that crisis….Ekko almost threw something when Scar told him what he knew about Vi. Apparently, someone matching Vi’s description was seen walking around in an Enforcer’s uniform, near the time when Ekko disappeared. That Enforcer hasn’t been seen since, but that could mean anything. 

What the fuck?! 

He must’ve traveled to another alternate reality, because there’s simply no way that’s possible. 

Years of idolization clash with the news being presented to him, and it threatens to break under the weight of it. There…there had to be a reason. If Vi of all people became an Enforcer, there had to be a reason. 

That hardly makes Ekko feel better though, because this is a betrayal. But maybe, maybe, maybe Ekko could accept it if there was a good enough reason.

Oh who is he kidding, there is no good enough reason. 

And the fact that the Enforcer that Vi had begged him to trust became the Sheriff that was bringing Enforcers and Noxians alike down on the Lanes?

What the hell, Vi?

Once Ekko has marginally calmed down about that shitty bombshell, Scar tells him about Jinx. This news is far more welcome to him. Over the past months, she’s apparently inspired a movement in Zaun. She broke Scar and a whole bunch of folks out of Stillwater! He…feels a lot of different feelings about that, but he knows for sure that a sort of pride is there. Jinx, fighting for the undercity? Not under Silco? He needs to talk to her. Not just because of this, but it’s certainly being added to the list. 

He needs to talk to Vi too, but that won’t be nearly as enjoyable of a conversation. Except, even though he’s furious, he did just come back from an alternate reality where Vi was dead. And no matter how mad he is at her, he’s at least glad that she’s alive. 

It reminds him of how he’d felt about Jinx for years. Maybe still does? It’s really confusing, and it’s not like he ever let himself really sit and think about his feelings. There was always too much to do. Still is.

Lastly, though at this point this should’ve been the news Scar led with, given Ekko’s visceral reactions to nearly everything else, there’s supposedly a magic healer deep down in the fissures where the encampment is. Or, was, since there’s apparently a commune of sorts there now. 

“Has anyone been down there?” Ekko asks, an idea beginning to form.

Scar shakes his head in response, not opting for anything more than that. 

“What if I go check it out?” Ekko says, because the Firelights do best when they know all the going ons of the undercity. 

“Ekko, we just got you back, don’t you want to rest?” Scar pushes back unexpectedly. 

“I’ve been gone long enough,” Ekko says. There’s a lot more he could add, but he leaves it at that, like those words can cover everything he’s come to know. 

Being in that alternate timeline, it’s rekindled something he hadn’t even realized he lost. Hope. Real hope, that things can change. That they can make things change. That instead of always fighting for their little corner of peace, they can make that happen for the entire undercity. 

Shit might be bad now, and he might have a new spark of anger burning in his chest, but he’s also got that kernel of hope, and he’s not gonna lose it this time.

So he wants to go to the commune. Because, if it’s real, then whoever this healer is might also want to help the undercity heal. And Ekko will always be open to that. He thinks it might be time for the Firelights to do some outreach.

—

Ekko has no idea what the hell is going on, which is a state he’s increasingly tired of being in. 

When he arrives at the commune, it’s chaos. Soldiers wearing the colors of Noxus are rushing through the strange gate, and because of the smoke and haze on the inside, Ekko can’t see much more than that. As he hovers closer, he can see fighting, lots of fighting. 

And then he notices a…creature. It appears to be a wolf hybrid of sorts, except it’s also spewing what seems to be hot magma? What the hell? Most of the soldiers are trying to subdue, or more likely kill it, stabbing it with the spears, but the beast is largely unaffected, swatting them away while growling and roaring. 

Then, with no warning, he hears a harrowing scream of “ISHA!”, and before he can even think of what that means (a name, maybe?), he sees a little kid under the beast, holding a very familiar gun that’s sparking dangerously. And worse, the beast sees the kid too. 

He moves without thinking, willing his hoverboard to go as fast as it possibly can as he bends down and scoops a fallen spear, right as the beast claws into the child’s back and they let out a blood-curdling scream. The beast looms over the kid, ready to strike again. 

Ekko’s only got one chance. Shit, he wishes he’d brought his Z-Drive, but he’d left it in the secure care of the Firelights, just in case the commune was not a friendly place. He didn’t like being so mistrusting, but a device like that couldn’t fall into the hands of someone who wanted to misuse it. Well, he’s slightly regretting that now, because if he gets this wrong, or if the beast is too strong, or if he’s too late, that kid is going to die. 

He throws the spear as hard as he can, right into the beast’s torso. It staggers back away from the kid. Perfect. Ekko slips through the gathered crowd, just barely dodging heads and spears, and he grabs the kid. He makes himself scarce at once, heading right back to the edge of the battlefield. He has a little bit of practice treating injuries on the field, he might be able to patch the kid up, depending on how deep the cuts are. Either way, he’ll need to adjust his hold on the kid if they’re going to have to travel far. 

Ekko hops off the board, gently laying the kid down in the grass. It’s only then that he notices the child’s clearly-dyed blue hair. Is this a Jinxer? 

Then he suddenly hears a voice behind him, “Who—“

He turns around, ready to fight, but that instinct immediately becomes more than a few layers of confusion as he looks into the equally shocked faces of Jinx, Vi, and Caitlyn Kiramman. Okay, he’s getting really tired of not knowing what the hell is going on.

“Ekko!” Vi cries out, and before Ekko can even think of remembering what he’s heard about her, he’s immediately relieved to see her alive, but also confused, and then concerned as he notices the way she’s flagging, and oh my god is she bleeding out right now?!

“Vi?” is all he can think to utter, and he steps towards her, but stops when Jinx and Caitlyn rush to her side. 

And then suddenly another person joins their little reunion—Jayce, and he looks like shit. “We need to get out of here!” he says.

What the fuck is happening?

—

Ekko eventually gets some answers, some , when Jayce asks to speak with him. After they’d rushed Vi and Isha to the hospital. After he’d had a face-to-face conversation with Piltover’s new Sheriff and found her lacking, supremely.

After he’d watched Jinx as a shell of herself, and he has no idea why, and no idea where to start with fixing that. But for now, he has to put that aside, because Jayce has news about his tree and maybe about whatever the fuck Jayce got them into, and he’s always gotta put his people first. He just wishes Jinx could be his people too. 

But that’s a problem for later.

Jayce leads them into yet another exceedingly grandiose room. It’s just…uncomfortable being here. When Zaun is the way it is. It certainly doesn’t help knowing whose house this is. 

Ekko closes the door behind him as he enters, and then he turns to Jayce, who asks, “Do you have any idea where Heimerdinger is?”

Well, that’s a very loaded question to start with. Ekko sighs, “He…he sacrificed himself, to bring me back here.”

“Oh,” Jayce says, and now everything feels rather awkward. “He was a good man.”

“Yeah…” Ekko trails off, not particularly wanting to get into his complicated feelings on that, and especially not with Jayce, who had shown his privilege throughout their fateful meeting. He decides to rush things along, “Well, I hate to be insensitive, but…”

Jayce nods, “Right, right,” he sets his hammer against the wall. Ekko finds it a little weird that Jayce almost acts as if he’s reluctant to part with it, given how much he keeps lugging it around.  “First, what happened to you, after the core?”

Ekko puts his hand on the back of one of the chairs in the room, “We got sent to this alternate timeline, though Heimerdinger had been there for, like, three years before I got there. Hextech wasn’t invented there. And…it was almost perfect.”

“Sounds like you had a much better experience than me, then,” Jayce says with a bit of forced humor, before the light smile drops, “It sent me to our future.”

Jayce goes on to tell Ekko about all of the horrible things he’d seen in that future, how it was all because of Hextech. Guess that explains why the alternate timeline was so different. Or, one of the things. Ekko hasn’t had the chance to really think it over yet, but he thinks there’s gotta be more to the story than Vi dying and no Hextech. 

Jayce finishes with coming back to this time, this universe, and ending up at the commune.

“I shot Viktor, but I’m not sure if that was enough,” Jayce explains, sounding exhausted, “If not, then we need to be ready. There were hundreds of those things in the future, we have to expect that those are what’s coming. And if so, everyone needs to fight.”

“Everyone, huh?” Ekko repeats, side-eying Jayce, “You mean Piltover and Zaun.” He crosses his arms, shifting his weight to his other foot, “You realize how hard of a sell that’s gonna be, right?” Firstly, there was the fact that the story is simply unbelievable. They have no proof of the horrors Jayce had seen. And then even if it was believed, Zaun isn’t itching to fight on Piltover’s side for anything.

“I’m calling an emergency Council meeting in two days, but first I need to actually reclaim my seat on the Council,” Jayce says, mulling something over. “Ekko, you’ve seen that there is a problem with Hextech, you know there’s a danger in it. You can convince the undercity to help us!”

Yeah…no.

“Okay, first off, I’m just one guy, man. I can’t speak for the whole undercity, nor is everybody going to listen to me,” Ekko starts pacing, just a bit, “I’ll be there at the meeting, to back you up, but also for Zaun. And so will other Zaunites, because you’re going to send someone down to the Lanes and invite us to the meeting.”

Jayce nods absently, “Right, you’re right.”

Ekko gets the feeling that whatever Jayce saw in the Hexcore—because his description probably didn’t do it justice at all—really fucked him up, because the man only seems to be halfway present during this conversation. He almost feels bad for Jayce.

Not bad enough to not be a little snarky, though.  

“I know I am. Now, I need to get back down to the undercity and tell my people about what’s coming.” 

Ekko turns to leave, but he decides to give Jayce some parting words before this meeting, because a thought he’d had earlier has just blossomed into something more. 

“I’ll leave you with a piece of advice,” he says. “At the meeting, be prepared to listen. I’ve got a feeling that Zaun’s price for help won’t be free.”

That’s an understatement, but he’s not going to tell Jayce exactly what he’s thinking. See, because this could be a chance, a real chance for Zaun. This situation has given Zaun bargaining power. The way Ekko briefly had when he had the gemstone. The bargaining power he had to give up. 

But he won’t say this to Jayce, because so far Jayce has sounded just like any other Piltie, looking down on the undercity. And Ekko doesn’t want Jayce to renege on these plans for a meeting between the cities. 

So, he leaves it at that, and heads out the door. He thinks he can remember how to get to the exit from here. But as he walks, he wants to turn around, go back to the bedroom that Vi and Isha were in. 

Back to Jinx. 

He hesitates in his steps for just a second before he remembers that no, the Firelights need him, his people need him. For now, everything up here is settled, but down there, there’s always a new crisis to handle. 

So, he leaves. He puts his own feelings aside yet again.

Maybe, after the meeting, he’ll allow himself a moment of selfishness. Maybe then. 

But not now.

—

Two days later, Ekko and Scar head topside. 

The Z-Drive hangs off of his shoulder. He probably didn’t need to bring it, but being in Piltover makes Ekko uneasy, and it just feels better having the device on him. He’s not making the mistake of not having it again.

They’re waiting on the bridge for whichever Zaunites will follow Jayce’s messenger when Ekko spots a shock of red hair running straight for them.

Is that…?

“Vi!” Ekko shouts, waving his arm to get her attention.

Vi’s clearly surprised to see him, given the way she double takes. She rushes over and stops in front of them, breathing heavily, “Ekko? What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for…” Ekko almost decides to explain everything right there, but something about the way Vi’s looking at him doesn’t sit right, “It doesn’t matter.”

“It’s good that you’re here,” Vi says, a bit frantic. She places her hands on Ekko’s shoulders, “We need to go right now.”

“What’s the problem?”

“It’s Jinx, she’s in trouble.”

At the mention of Jinx, Ekko immediately wants to follow, no questions asked. But he can’t do that. Not with such an important meeting about to happen. Not with his people’s safety on the line. The entire undercity’s, maybe. “Vi, we—“

Vi cuts him off, clearly panicked, “Please, Ekko! I think she’s going to hurt herself.” 

Ekko’s heart stops. 

He’s wrenched back to another time that he was on this bridge. A time when Jinx was so casually going to blow them both up. When she did blow herself up. 

Fuck. He has to go with Vi. He can’t let Jinx just kill herself. Not after he’s finally being honest to himself about what she means to him.

But the meeting. 

His sense of responsibility wages war against the feelings in his heart, just like it always does. And he doesn’t know what to choose. 

But then Ekko feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns and it’s Scar, with a knowing look on his face. “Go,” he says, “Save her. I can handle things myself.”

Save her. That’s right, that’s what Ekko does. He saves people. He nods at Scar, sorry to make him face this alone, but there’s also no one he trusts more with this. 

He turns to Vi, “Alright, I’m coming with you.”

And the relief and gratefulness she breaks into is so palpable, Ekko kicks himself for ever thinking he could say no. 

“Let’s check the Last Drop first,” she says, “If she’s not there, then I think I know where else she might be.”

If it’s the hideout, then Ekko thinks he might know too. But he doesn’t say that. He just gives a curt nod, “Got it, let’s go.”

—

As they parkour around Zaun, Ekko quickly realizes that Vi is moving a lot slower than she should be. Then he remembers that it’s been just days since she had surgery. 

Damn, Vi is tough. But he’s also worried about her moving like this. Too late for that now.

The slowness in which they move also leaves time for other things to creep in, such as the simmering anger boiling deep in his chest that he thought he’d locked away. It bubbles as the memory of Scar telling him of Vi’s alleged activities reverberates in his mind, becoming the only thing he can hear after some time. 

Maybe it’s a distraction from his crushing worry over Jinx (and over Vi, if he’s being honest), but the fact is that it circles in his brain over and over and over until he can’t keep the rising tide of revulsion back, so he blurts out: “Did you join the Enforcers?”

Vi, about to jump to another rooftop, stops. She doesn’t look at him when she dismisses it, “Now’s not the time to talk about this, Ekko.” She makes the jump, leaving him on the roof alone. 

No shit it’s not the time, but now that he’s asked it, the can of worms has been opened. “You think I don’t know that?” Ekko jumps across the gap, pitch rising in frustration. “But I can’t stop thinking about it, so just humor me. Did you join the Enforcers?”

Vi stops running ahead, standing still on the edge of the rooftop. Her shoulders tense, but then they relax as she quietly answers, “Yes.”

Fury overtakes Ekko immediately, “What the hell, Vi?”

“I know!” Vi shouts, whirling around, face contorted in distress, “I’m sorry, Ekko. I know that doesn’t mean anything, but I really am.”

“You’re right,” Ekko snorts as Vi turns back around, ready to jump down, “Sorry doesn’t mean shit. How long were you with them? How long did you forget where you came from?”

Vi winces and sighs, “It was only a few weeks.” She steps off the roof, bouncing off the sides of the buildings down to the alley below. 

Ekko follows, “You say ‘only’ like even one second was an acceptable amount of time.”

“I know,” Vi says, sounding small and unlike her. At least she has the decency to be ashamed. “I betrayed the undercity, I betrayed you, I betrayed Jinx, and I betrayed myself, and I’ve regretted it every day since. It was just…complicated.”

“Un-complicate it then,” Ekko hisses, sliding down a wall. 

Vi ducks under a hanging pipe, “It was the only thing I could think to do to help both Jinx and Caitlyn.”

“Oh bullshit!” Ekko’s spat response is automatic, “How could that possibly be the only option?”

Vi looks at him over her shoulder as they run down an alleyway, “I told you, it’s complicated!”

“There is no fucking complicated about this!” Ekko’s anger reaches a boiling point, “You do realize our base is compromised, now, right?”

That causes Vi to stop for a second, and she turns and looks at Ekko, horror in her eyes, “No, Caitlyn wouldn’t—“

“How could you even try to defend her?” Ekko hisses, getting close, “Have you seen what the hell your Piltie’s been doing in the Lanes?”

Vi’s eyes narrow in irritation, “Of course I fucking know. Trust me, I’m just as pissed as you.” Vi turns away and gets back to running through Zaun. They gotta be getting close by now, daylight long gone down in this level. 

“Can I? Trust you?” Ekko sneers, following behind, “Because the Vi I remember would never have joined those attack dogs.” It’s low, but Ekko doesn’t care. Vi has admitted to turning traitor on the entire undercity, she deserves a few low blows for that. But it still feels wrong. 

He expects Vi to hiss something just as scathing back, she’s always been able to take it and dish it out. But she doesn’t. She just says, “Well maybe I’m not that person anymore.” And the way she says it is so…sad and defeated, and it makes Ekko equally pissed and upset. 

“I cannot fucking believe you right now…” he grumbles. 

Vi jumps down into a makeshift hallway, with him following, and says, “Listen, I—oh shit.”

Ekko looks past her to see why she cut herself off. Then he gasps too. 

The Last Drop…it’s burning, thick black plumes of smoke drifting up up up into the air.

Shit. Jinx.

—

Ekko and Vi make the unanimous decision to go to Jinx’s hideout as fast as possible, their interrupted conversation the last thing on their minds. 

Jinx Jinx Jinx

That’s all his mind is telling him, because Jinx burned the Last Drop. Jinx is planning to kill herself. Jinx is going to kill herself and Ekko can’t have that. Not after everything. Not when they haven’t even…

Well. 

They go deeper and deeper into Zaun, way down into the fissures. Ekko’s not even sure how Vi knows the way to Jinx’s hideout, but she’s probably thinking the same thing about him. And neither of them are in any state to discuss that. 

All either of them know, or at least this is how Ekko feels, but knowing Vi she’s certainly thinking something like this, is that they need to go faster. Get there faster. Find Jinx faster. At this point, every second counts. 

At this point, she could already be dead. 

But Ekko refuses to believe that. No, Jinx is alive. Jinx is alive and they’re going to save her. The last two members of their little family are going to save the other. That’s what families do. That’s what their family does. It has to be. 

They make it to the hideout in minutes, carefully dropping themselves down into the crack in the earth. And as they make their way to the old turbine, there they see her—Jinx. Her hair is down, but it’s tangled and matted. Makeup is smeared all the way down her cheeks. That’s the least of Ekko’s worries, though, because then he sees what’s in her hands. 

A grenade.

She seems to be putting a gemstone inside of it.

Vi is rushing forward immediately, making it to the middle of the turbine, “Jinx! Wait!” Ekko follows behind, standing next to her, hand on his Z-Drive in case the grenade goes off. 

Jinx’s head snaps up, “Vi?” Then she notices him, “Ekko?” Her voice is quiet, raspy, utterly broken. It makes his heart ache to see her like this, and based on the way Vi’s eyes well up with tears at once, it makes her heart break too. 

“We just wanna talk to you,” Ekko says, hand out, pacifying.

“Please,” Vi begs, shaking her head, “Don’t do it.”

Jinx shuts the grenade, abruptly shutting off the blue glow of the gemstone, “Get out of here,” she says weakly, and she pulls the pin, blowing them all up.

Except not, because Ekko pulls the cord of his Z-Drive, bringing them all back, though leaving him a bit smoky. Not that anyone notices, not even him. 

Jinx just stares at them. Ekko tries a different approach, “Pow…Jinx, please, we just wanna talk.”

“Please,” Vi begs, again.

But Jinx only looks away from them, “You can’t be here. You’re not real.” She pulls the pin again.

Ekko pulls the cord. They’re back again, and Ekko actually felt the explosion that time. He has to sit down. Vi’s about to say something, but Ekko cuts in just ahead, because she doesn’t have the added experience of two failed attempts at getting through to Jinx that he does. He needs Jinx to understand that they’re real. 

“I think I’m gonna catch my breath for a second. See if I can talk an old friend out of blowing all of us up.”

Jinx’s face changes slightly, at that, but Ekko can’t get a read on it. 

“Jinx, please,” Vi says, stepping forward, “Think of Isha. That kid adores you.”

“Sevika will look after her,” Jinx says dismissively, looking down into the fissure below. And before Vi or Ekko can say anything else, Jinx tips forward, “I’m sorry, but I’m done talking.”

“No!” Vi screams, reaching out, and Jinx sails off the edge of the turbine. Except she doesn’t, because Ekko pulls the cord again.

Ekko’s not sure how long his quick reflexes are going to hold out. Long enough. He feels disoriented, so disoriented that Vi gets out ahead of him and actually grabs Jinx’s arm, taking an incredible risk that…pays off.

“Jinx, please,” she says, looking at her sister in the eyes, “I’m not going to sit here and let you die. You were right, I’ll never give up on you.”

Jinx looks up at Vi, and what’s there is truly vulnerable. “You’re…you’re not supposed to be here. I told you to be happy.”

Vi shakes her head, tears falling freely now, “I won’t be happy without you, Jinx. You’re my sister, I will always choose you.”

“You shouldn’t,” Jinx says darkly, eyeing the ravine below again. “Isha. Mylo. Claggor. Vander. Silco. That’s what happens when you get too close to me. I ruin people.”

“No, that’s not true!” Vi refutes vehemently, stepping even closer. Close enough to stop Jinx from jumping off the edge. “I’m here. Ekko’s here. We’re not going anywhere.”

Jinx looks at him then, really looks at him as if seeing him for the first time, and Ekko quickly thinks of words that have helped him, “You know, I learned from someone…very special…that no matter what happened in the past, it’s never too late to build something new. Someone worth building it for.” And Jinx’s observant eyes look down at his Z-Drive, down at the tell-tale monkey sign of her craftsmanship, even if it wasn’t her craft. 

Her gaze moves back up when Vi adds, “We need you, Jinx. You’re not alone.” 

And tears well in Jinx’s eyes before she throws herself in Vi’s always waiting arms. They hug for a moment before Vi lifts her head, looking straight at Ekko. There’s a lot swimming in this gaze, but Ekko doesn’t think about it. He only sees Vi moving one of her arms, clearly inviting him into the hug, and he just goes for it. That strong arm wraps around his head, and he feels his own eyes grow misty.

They’re all okay.

There’s hope.

They stand there, together, for quite some time.

—

Later, after Jinx has needlessly apologized for what she was about to do (“no apologies, it’s okay, you’re okay, we’ve got you”) and they’ve said a whole lot of nothing to each other, Ekko manages to convince Jinx to come with him (and Vi) to the Firelights’ base. 

She’s largely silent as they make the trip there. It’s unsettling. Not that Ekko has spent a lot of time with Jinx, at least time that didn’t consist of them fighting, of Ekko begging her to leave Silco and join him and being rejected each and every time. 

But things are different now. Now, he might actually be able to convince her to stay. At least for a few days. At least until Ekko doesn’t think she’ll throw herself off of the nearest bridge. 

Vi and Ekko recognize that what Jinx needs right now is a distraction, and while Ekko tries to think of a conversation topic, Vi does the honors for them, “So…Ekko, what were you two waiting for when I found you on the bridge?”

Although the question is meant for Ekko, he can tell that Jinx is listening. And actually, this topic might be perfect. Hope for the undercity and a coming fight might give Jinx a purpose. 

Or at least, it always gave him one. 

So, Ekko says, “If you’d believe it, we were waiting for a meeting with the Council.”

Vi looks at him with wide eyes, “The Council? What could they possibly want?”

Ekko sighs, “Something’s coming. Something big.” And he explains, telling Vi and Jinx about what Jayce told him. He decides that now isn’t the time to get into his own adventures through time, that’s something he wants to keep close to his chest. Just for now. Maybe just for him and Jinx…

Something about telling Vi about her alternate self’s death…doesn’t seem like a good idea. Actually, now that he’s thinking about it, that really would not be a good idea. Vi was already going to drive herself crazy just because she was gone from the Lanes for seven years. She blames herself for everything. And sure, Ekko’s still pissed at her, but not pissed enough to tell her something that would surely claw at her own tendency to self-blame. She’s got enough to feel shitty about as is.

So, he leaves that out. He just lets Vi and Jinx know about the amassing Noxian and arcane forces against them, and about Jayce’s plea to both cities. 

“Shit…” Vi says, verbalizing a bit of what they’re all feeling. 

Jinx’s reaction is a little different. She looks at him, “Shouldn’t you be at that meeting?”

“You needed my help,” Ekko says simply, because it kind of was that simple. 

“I thought you were the ‘boy savior’…you should be saving the undercity.”

“First off, you’re the only one who calls me that,” Ekko says, trying hard not to roll his eyes. “Secondly, it’s handled. And I had somewhere more important to be.”

Jinx doesn’t say anything after that, and so they make the rest of the trip in silence. As they approach the entrance, Ekko realizes that he’s just given away the Firelights’ base to Jinx. But he’s okay with that. He…wants her here. Wants her to know.

Silco’s gone, and as far as he knows, Jinx isn’t working with any other chembarons.

He can trust her. 

—

When they’re let inside the base, Ekko notices the shocked looks on Osha and Blick’s faces, even if they only last for a split second. Which means Jinx probably did too. 

Having Jinx here may very well be a hard pill to swallow for the other Firelights, but for once, Ekko doesn’t let himself care about that. He knows that Jinx being here doesn’t put them in danger, and he wants her here. That’s the end of it. 

For now, they sit in his room, away from prying eyes. Ekko and Jinx are on the bed, while Vi is leaning up against a wall. Ever one for distraction, Jinx has already decided that they’re going to be talking about the fight ahead. 

“We’re gonna need weapons,” she says. 

Vi sighs, a put upon thing, “We can probably consider my gauntlets as good as gone now…damn, I gotta go back Topside.”

“Psh, sucks for you. Ekko and I, we can outbuild those Pilties any day,” Jinx says, knocking their shoulders together, and Ekko feels a warmth curling in him at the compliment. But then Jinx gasps lightly, coming to a realization. “Actually…what if we did? What if we made those new gauntlets for you?”

And Jinx looks so intense, so focused…it’s like Ekko’s in the alternate timeline all over again, building his Z-Drive with Powder. They probably could, but…do they really have the materials for that? The time? Neither of them have made gauntlets before, and who knows if they have any time to experiment. 

Ekko also thinks something much more selfish, underneath all that. That he’d like to just have these moments of stolen peace with Jinx, on his own. He knows he’s wrong for thinking that, but he still does. Doesn’t help that his anger at Vi is still there, just underneath everything that’s happened in the last hour. 

Before Vi could say anything about the suggestion, Ekko swallows his own hesitance and cuts in, “As much as I really love that idea, I think it might be better for you to get them from the source, Vi.”

And he looks at Vi then, willing her to understand that he isn’t being personal about this, that it’s not that he wouldn’t want to experience the fun process of inventing for her sake…but there’s just too much uncertainty right now. 

He doesn’t even know why he was worried. This is Vi. Of course she understands. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Next time, Jinx.” She says when Jinx starts honest-to-god pouting. “And actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I should probably check on Isha, right?”

At the name, Jinx perks up a bit, before sinking back down into something a lot more desperate and vulnerable. 

“Are you leaving me?” She says in a small voice. 

“No!” Vi crosses the room in a few strides, sinking to her knees and grabbing Jinx’s hand, “No, never. If you want me to stay then I’m here. But I’m also…very angry with Caitlyn right now and I don’t want Isha to be alone in that mansion.”

Very angry with Caitlyn, huh? Ekko almost wants to give a snarky reply to that, but he knows that there’s such thing as a time and place. Unlike some people he knows. 

“And…I hate to say it,” Vi continues, placing one of her hands on her stomach, “But I think I might be really close to pulling out some stitches, and having some doctors on hand wouldn’t be a bad idea…”

“Vi!” Jinx is instantly alarmed, hovering her hands over Vi’s abdomen. And Ekko isn’t too far behind, because really? Though, he’s not surprised. Alternate Powder was definitely on to something, Vi is always scared, and her strength has always come from that. He didn’t know how he didn’t see that before. 

“Oh please, I’ve had worse,” Vi scoffs, “And I had to make sure you were safe.” 

“Alright alright,” Jinx snorts, dismissive hand gestures and all, “I…I think I’m starting to get it now. Really get it.”

“Good,” Vi nods, straightening up again, clearly reluctantly letting go of Jinx’s hand. “You know where I’ll be. I’m not sure when this fight will be but…well, I was going to say come visit, but it might be better to avoid going Topside if you can. I’ll…leave you and Ekko to it.”

Then Vi goes, knowing the way out and back to Piltover. Ekko would follow, especially knowing her tendency to ignore her injuries, but Vi left Jinx in his care because she trusts him, and she wouldn’t want him worrying about her over her sister. So, he’ll just have to trust that she’ll make it back fine. 

Once Vi is out the door, and they’re (finally) alone, Jinx lifts her head and looks right at Ekko, searching for something. Her demeanor has completely shifted, becoming something heavier and more…agitated.

Had she been putting on a front?

“Now that Vi’s gone, it’s time to cut the bullshit, Ekko,” she says, eyes narrowed.

Baffled, Ekko says, “What are you talking about?”

Jinx pulls away from him, crossing her arms, putting up a wall between them, “We both know you don’t actually care about me anymore, so why did you really come with Vi? Ready to finally get back at me? Punish me, maybe?” 

It makes Ekko’s heart ache to hear that Jinx would really think him so low. “What? No! And of course I care about you, how could you think I don’t?”

“I rejected your help over and over.” Jinx says flatly.

“Yes.” Ekko acknowledges her statement slowly, getting Jinx’s point. Because eventually he stopped trying. And they both knew that.

“I’ve tried to hurt you.” Jinx tries, tone full of sadness and regret, and Ekko thinks that they’re both thinking of the bridge. Of all the fights before that.

“You did…” But Ekko fought her back. And yes, it was exasperating, horrible, heartbreaking to fight her, to have her reject his plea at every turn, but Ekko’s not letting go of this one chance he’s been given to finally get through to her. 

“I’ve killed your friends.”

And, okay, Ekko was expecting that. At the very least, the looks of Osha and Blick clued him back in to the fact that Jinx being here might be a source of tension for the Firelights. But the Firelights were a haven for the formerly misguided, the formerly manipulated and abused, the former pawns in Silco’s game. They’ve had former enemies join their ranks, This, well, he can’t pretend it’s no different. He wishes it was like that, but it’s not. 

Things are complicated with them, but when haven’t they been? Not since that fateful night.

“I…yes, you have,” he says, mind working out the best way to say what he needs to say. “And I…I’m not sure if I can forgive that. But, I think it’s something we can move past, if we’re willing to. We’d just need to…take it one step at a time.”

By this point, Jinx is crying, tears falling out of frustration and a pain deep within, “Why? Why are you so willing to…to look past this? Why do you care? I’m not…good.”

Suddenly, Ekko is struck by an idea. Vi’s gone, which means that he can share this story with Jinx. And he thinks it might help her, to know of this other version of her, how she is still that person, which is the lesson Ekko was made to learn. All that compartmentalization, washed away by Powder’s presence. 

“Listen…I want to tell you something,” Ekko grabs Jinx’s hand, willing her to look at him with her (beautiful) violet eyes. “But you have to promise me you’re not going to tell anyone else. Not even Vi. Especially not Vi.”

Slowly, hesitantly, Jinx nods, “…Okay.”

“Alright, so you know how I’ve been gone for months?” Jinx hums affirmatively, so Ekko continues, “I…I was in another timeline, where things played out differently.”

“Okay, how hard did you hit your head today?” Jinx jokes, clearly trying to push herself away from this conversation.

But Ekko won’t let her, “I’m being serious. The Lanes…there was fresh air and daylight, even down to the Last Drop. No Enforcers in the streets…”

And so, he tells her. Tells her about the improved Zaun. Tells her about Mylo and Claggor all grown up. Vander and Silco, brothers again. Her alternate self (her, but a little to the left). 

He doesn’t tell her about Vi, not at first, her alternate self’s loss still sitting almost like a wound in his heart, but nothing escapes Jinx’s notice. “Vi, where was Vi?” she asks, though Ekko can tell she’s already figured it out. 

“Vi…she was dead,” Ekko says, a little louder and more stilted than he intended, “She died in the explosion…the one at the job I told you all about.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

There isn’t much else to say after that, Jinx taking in the reality Ekko had lived through and Ekko not sure if Jinx wants him to say anything else. She plays with her hair in a way that’s entirely too endearing. But also very her. 

“Could,” Jinx says suddenly, voice quiet and unsure. “Could you tell me more about the other me? About…Powder?”

And Ekko is all too happy to oblige. 

(And when Jinx asked Ekko to cut her hair, to look like Vi’s, he did that too).

(And when Jinx asked other things…well, he did those too.)

—

But what Ekko and Jinx hadn’t done was check the door, which had never closed completely after Vi’s departure. 

And what they hadn’t known was that a third person was on the other side of it, listening in on the account of an alternate timeline where everyone she knew and everyone she loved was happy in a way they had never gotten to be in this one.

Everyone besides herself, because in that beautiful timeline...she was dead.

Chapter Text

It had been an accident, honest. At least, it had been at first. Vi truly hadn’t meant to listen in so much on Ekko and Jinx’s conversation. 

She was on the way out of the Firelights’ base, just like she said, but as she walked, Jinx’s playful suggestion stuck with her. Ekko had shut it down, but Vi actually really liked the idea. She was tired of relying on Piltover, and she didn’t want to go back to the manor, to…Caitlyn. 

Well, okay, part of her wanted that, the part of her that screamed at her for all the harsh things she told Caitlyn when she left that cell. She needed to apologize for that. And Jinx…was okay now, so she needed to apologize for that too. And Isha, Vi needed to look after her, so she needed to push whatever reservations she had aside and be there for her.

But…Jinx’s suggestion, it warmed Vi’s heart, and god, maybe she could have this, maybe she could watch her siblings work together with those brilliant mechanical minds of theirs. Fight with them like she was always meant to.

So, she had turned around, made the trek back up to Ekko’s room, where she’d left the door cracked. And it seems that no one had bothered to close the thing after her. She walked up to the door, hand outstretched, ready to lightly knock to announce her presence. 

But then she’d heard Ekko’s voice, “…ise me you’re not going to tell anyone else. Not even Vi. Especially not Vi.”

Vi stopped. What? 

Did Ekko really not trust her anymore? The thought makes her heart ache, and shame rolls around in there too, because, yeah, she probably deserved that. 

However, one thing about Vi…she doesn’t like secrets being kept from her. Not one bit.

So she had stayed by the door, eavesdropping. She didn’t feel good about it, but she needed to know what was being kept from her. 

“I was in another timeline,” Ekko had said, “where things played out differently.”

Jinx’s first instinct had been to joke, but Vi was inclined to take Ekko at his word. And after Ekko emphasized that he was in fact telling the truth, so was Jinx. And the picture that Ekko painted, of a better undercity, a healthy and respected undercity, a place where everyone, everyone was still alive…it sounded like a dream. It was like everything she had ever wanted as a child. That she’d still wanted, even today, though she couldn’t say she had much hope she’d ever get it. 

As Vi had listened on, she had wondered. This didn’t seem bad at all…why did Ekko want to keep this from her?

But then Jinx had stopped Ekko, asking a question Vi herself hadn’t even thought to have, so preoccupied with her alternate family’s happiness as she was.

And Ekko answered that question, “Vi…she was dead.”

Oh.

She was dead.

She was dead.

Her family was happy and alive and whole…and she was dead. 

The admission had pierced her like a bullet, forcing her to stumble back. Whatever else Ekko and Jinx discussed had become lost in the tunnel vision.

None of her thoughts had been able to form fully, but immediately certain feelings had made themselves known. A kind of guilt and disgust and despair, being the most paramount of them all. 

And one thought broke through as well—no wonder Ekko hadn’t wanted her to stay. Jinx needed to recover, to heal. 

And, even though she had not fully come to the conclusion yet, hadn’t fully analyzed what she just learned, Vi knew one thing: she wasn’t made for that. She didn’t make things better. 

She made them worse.

—

Vi doesn’t remember the trip back to Piltover. Her body made it back through muscle memory alone, while her mind was busy elsewhere, reconsidering everything it thought it knew, reaching unfinished beginnings of conclusions she wanted to reject.

By the time she made it back, her injury was really starting to hurt, to the point where she couldn’t ignore it like she usually did. So she limped to the manor, sneaking in probably entirely ineffectively, but the point is she made it to the bedroom window, and Loris, kind Loris, was there, helping her in, taking a look at her face that was wetter than she remembered it being earlier and asking if she was okay.

She didn’t answer him. She just needed to sleep it off. 

So Loris had helped her back into the bed, where Isha rested beside her, and she passed out without another word.

After that, Vi is like a ghost. She goes through the motions.

Loris sticks around. Apparently, he’s helping train people in how to fight and take down the Noxian soldiers. It’s…fitting for him. She’s glad that he’s found a purpose in this fight. Loris also acts as Vi’s source for news outside of this godforsaken manner, since, for once, Vi is actually doing the smartest thing for recovering from her injury and resting. 

It gives her far too much time to think, but it’ll put her in the best condition possible to fight, whenever the fight comes, so she does it anyway. 

But it’s because of Loris that she learns about the deal made with the Council, about Zaun coming to Piltover’s aid in exchange for its independence. 

That’s…amazing.

And, according to Loris, there were only two Zaunites present at that discussion—one of Ekko’s Firelights, and Sevika. 

Vi…doesn’t even know how she feels about Sevika anymore. She had been so angry at her for the longest time, holding onto her betrayal for seven years. But then Vi fought her, twice, and it didn’t do anything. It didn’t mean anything. It didn’t fix anything. It was just a waste. 

And Sevika meant something to Jinx now, that much she could tell, just from the way Jinx had mentioned her taking care of Isha when…yeah. 

And, apparently, Sevika had been working on uniting the undercity for months. While Vi was busy drinking and fighting, Sevika had been on the ground, doing real work. She always did want to fight for the undercity. 

Doesn’t that hurt to think about? How someone she had hated for so long did a better job at fighting for and caring about the Lanes than Vi did? Vi, who had wanted to take the fight to Piltover as a teenager, who had to be talked down by Vander. Well look where that got them. She deserved Ekko’s disgust. She feels so separated from Zaun now, from where she came from. She betrayed it, and nothing even came from that betrayal. 

Does she even have a right to celebrate its independence?

At least in this regard, Loris and her are similar. Zaunites who turned their back, for one reason or another. Who regret it. But Loris doesn’t seem to care the way that she does, and she could never turn that part of her off like he apparently can.

Vi keeps Loris at a distance, but their bond still grows over the days and weeks, and Vi is too weak to stop it. 

Isha wakes up a couple days after Vi returns. Vi is laying in bed, talking to Loris, when he notices the girl beginning to rouse. Vi immediately turns over, helping Isha sit up. The girl is clearly scared and confused, certainly having believed she was going to die, and Vi’s heart twists in her chest seeing the girl’s cries and wild, darting eyes. Vi tries her best to explain what’s going on, but she also doesn’t know if she’s answering all the questions that Isha has, with the girl not asking them in a way Vi fully understands. 

Vi had actually picked up sign language in Stillwater, prisoners resorting to it when they were barred from speaking or making noise, but Stillwater has its own dialect of sign language, being a mish-mash of the various sign languages used in Zaun and the creations of the imprisoned. So, Vi can’t fully understand Isha when she signs. 

Vi sends Loris out to get some paper and a pen, and when he returns, the conversation between Vi and Isha goes much easier. Isha immediately asks about Jinx, and Vi simply says that Jinx is safe in the undercity. Isha wants to go to her, and as much as Vi understands that, and wishes she could allow Isha to go so that she’d be away from Vi’s bad luck, she can’t. Isha was injured a lot worse than Vi, and she needed the doctors here. So Vi says that. 

And Isha pouts about it, which is adorable, but eventually she calms down.

Over the days, Isha uses this as an opportunity to properly bond with her newest sister, and Vi can’t say no to her. She always had a blind spot when it came to her family. Even when she knows that distancing herself is for the better, the moment those golden eyes look at her…she folds. 

They play card games, pretend, color, Vi reads to her…it’s nice to spend time with Isha, Vi finds. It allows the thoughts plaguing her to be at least somewhat manageable, mostly because she has a reason to ignore them. 

She tries to still keep Isha at some modicum of distance, because this is temporary. She’ll take care of the kid until the fighting’s done, and then Jinx will take care of her again while Vi…well, she doesn’t know, she hasn’t thought that part through yet. She just knows that she shouldn’t be here. A whole timeline served as proof of concept. Things are better when she’s not there. So she should go. 

But it’s so hard to leave, even to merely think of it. She’s never been good at following through when it comes to distancing herself from family, not when deep in her heart all she wants is to be around them, to be able to protect them and love them the only way she can. And she doesn’t know if this time will be any different. 

Caitlyn comes by, at least once a day, if not more. Neither of them say much, especially at first. Vi wishes she’d stop coming, but another part of her just as strong doesn’t want that. But Vi still rejects every olive branch Caitlyn extends, no matter how much it hurts her, because she understands so much more now. She’s finally understanding what she knew from the beginning: that all of this—Caitlyn’s mother dying, Zaun’s plight, etc.—is her fault, and she won’t allow herself to make things worse by attaching herself again.

But Caitlyn still comes by, bringing Vi food and such, increasingly trying to talk to her even though Vi is hardly much of a conversation partner. 

Vi knows that Caitlyn thinks Vi’s silence is because Vi is still angry with her. And she’s not entirely wrong about that, Vi is definitely still angry, but she’s also too tired to truly keep it up, and it’s buried so deeply now, with other emotions taking prominence instead. 

No, Vi’s silence is because every time she sees Caitlyn, she hears the other woman hissing at her that she should’ve left Vi in Stillwater, and even though it’s painful, every time she comes by Vi is reminded of how much she agrees. Caitlyn reminds Vi of all of her countless failures since being released, all the pain she’s caused the people around her. 

When Caitlyn visits, Vi hates the way the other woman looks at her with sadness in her eyes. She doesn’t know what it means, and even though she wants to ask, she swallows the words. She won’t let herself get attached. Not this time. 

She allows the broken pieces between them to stay that way, not willing to glue them back together, the way she always had.  

The stitches are removed after the first week. The tissue there is still tender, certainly nowhere near healed yet, but Vi is going to lose her mind if she has to stay in bed for most of the day for even one more day, so she starts walking around the manor grounds after the stitches are out. 

When she had stayed here the first time, she spent a lot of time in the gardens. The feeling of sun on her skin was almost novel, if not long-missed, and the flowers were an awe-inspiring sight. 

She goes back to the garden, now, every day. It’s a wonderful distraction from the gray (ha, isn't that a fun choice of words) that has filled her days this past week. It gives her something to think about outside of her own self-blame and hatred. She feels like she’s coming close to a breaking point of some kind, but what exactly that entails she doesn’t know, and she doesn’t like that. It’s like there’s some kind of conclusion she’s hurtling towards, but she doesn’t know what it is. 

—

Three weeks later, and it’s time.

Vi sits in the bunker with the other major “anchors” of the battle strategy—Caitlyn, Mel Medarda, and Jayce. Ambessa’s ships had been spotted off of the coast of Piltover’s port around sunrise, which means the fight is here. 

Her injury is…not as healed as she’d like before being thrown into another battle, which is why she’s forced to sit while the rest stand, but there’s no other choice, she must fight. It’s the one thing she can do. Jayce already created her a new pair of gauntlets, and they sit on the floor, ready to be worn. 

Isha’s safely at the manor, which is where she will stay. No surprise sacrifices this time, Vi was about as clear as she could be about that, and even though she disagreed with it, she knows that Caitlyn stationed a few Enforcers there to protect both Isha and her father. 

For now, Piltover will have to start the fight alone, Ambessa and her forces approaching faster than expected. A messenger had been sent down to Zaun, but there’s no telling how long it might take for Zaun to get up to Piltover, but Vi doesn’t imagine it will be too long after the fight begins. But she’s glad that Jinx and Ekko aren’t on the front lines, or at least they won’t be right at the beginning. They’ll be safer that way. 

But Vi isn’t going directly to the front either, at least not at first. Because of her injury, they decided that like Mel, she’ll be more supporting the back of the lines, everyone manning the distance weapons since they’ll likely be targeted. She’s also supposed to help people get to field medics, who will of course be at the very back, in the most protected areas. 

“I need everyone to buy me as much time as you can so I can shut down the Hexgates,” Jayce says, bracing his arms on the table and looking at the model of Piltover there. “It’s our only chance.” Jayce looks at Mel then, who puts down a spherical figurine on the model. 

Caitlyn looks at the figurine, “Viktor’s at the center of all this, isn’t he?” And Vi only knows that Viktor is one of the people they need to stop, because of Ekko. She knew that he was working with Ambessa, and he was the cause of some apocalyptic future Jayce had seen. And that’s all she really needed to know. She knows her role is to fight and protect, and that’s good enough.

Jayce looks down, eyes far away for a moment. “We’re meant to lose this fight. If he reaches the Hexgates,” he looks at Caitlyn, and then at Mel, “then the commune will be nothing in comparison to what he’ll do. His obsession with ‘saving’ everyone…will be our demise.”

The commune? How is that—?

Oh shit.

Viktor was the Herald. Vi’s surroundings fade away as the realization sinks like a stone. That’s why Jayce was there, that’s what Ekko meant when he said that Jayce tried to stop Viktor and failed. He tried killing Viktor at the commune. That’s what made everything go awry. Flashes of the commune, the screaming and the magma and the cries of Vander and Isha blaze a trail in her mind, making her relive the moment she saw her father die again.

But if Viktor was the Herald…that means…

That means that Vi’s family, that little bit of peace she’d wrangled away from the universe, it was never going to last. It was never meant to. If the universe didn’t take it away the way it did, it was just going to do so another way. It was inevitable. If Vi wanted peace at the commune, she was always going to fail.

Fail.

She can’t fail now. Ekko, and now Jayce have stressed the importance of this battle. And Vi’s hurt, but she has to fight. She can’t fail. She can’t let this crushing discovery flatten her because she can’t fail. She needs to protect the back lines. If the family she has left is going to live, she can’t fail here. But is she even good enough? Is she enough?

If anyone is talking, she doesn’t hear them, eyes boring a hole into the table, not that she sees that, as lost in her memories as she is. 

But then she feels a cool hand grip her own, which forces her to unclench the fist she hadn’t realized she’d been balling. 

She looks at her hand, then up at the source of the touch. Caitlyn. Her brows are furrowed in obvious concern, and Vi doesn’t know how to respond. This kind of touch…it’s the most intimate they’ve been in months. And in all of her turmoil, Vi wants to lean into it. 

But then she remembers harsh words, harsh truths, and a distance she needs to keep. 

So she looks down and reluctantly moves her hand down to her lap, forcing Caitlyn to break the contact. 

—

Vi runs.

She runs and she pants and she runs some more, holding onto the person slung across her back tightly. Just gotta get to the tower, just gotta get to the tower, field medics are at the tower. 

Explosions ring out all around her, and she dodges arrows as she runs.

She makes it through the doors of the tower, and the Enforcers there shut them immediately. Vi slides on her foot and sets the person she’s holding onto the ground, then regains her footing, disengages her gauntlets, and drags their limp form across the room to where medics are waiting.

The medics take the helmet and mask off of the Enforcer, revealing a woman Vi has never seen before, hair done up in simple black braids^[1]. The woman gasps as she struggles to take in air, blood running from her mouth. As a medic places pressure on the wound on her chest, the woman reaches out, hand touching Vi’s shoulder.

Without thinking, Vi grabs that stray hand, trying to ground both the woman and herself as her breathing grows more struggled. 

Come on, stay with us, Vi wills without words.

And when Loris shouts for everyone to get down, Vi grabs the back of the helmet of the Enforcer beside her and forces them both to duck.

She holds onto the hand of the woman in front of her, but the life in their eyes fades fast, and their hand grows limp. No. No no no. Vi didn’t even know this person’s name, this Enforcer that’s just died in front of her, she can’t look away. 

But someone pulls her away, forces her to tune back into the reality around them, the fight that’s only just beginning. It’s fierce, and Vi doesn’t think it’s going well. 

As far as Vi can tell, Zaun hasn’t arrived yet, but she knows they’re coming. She knows for sure that Ekko wouldn’t turn his back. 

Suddenly, there’s something banging at the door. Shit, the Noxians got here that quick? Enforcers already start bearing their weight against the door, and she quickly joins them, putting her gauntlets back on and activating them to give them even more power in holding the door.

But they can’t hold it forever, and with a mighty push the door is forced open by whatever’s on the other side. And what’s on the other side is…two Noxian soldiers on Shimmer. Oh fuck. 

Immediately one brings their fists down on Vi, and Vi puts her gauntlets up to block, and out of the corner of her eye she notices the entire armament of normal Noxian troops following the two Shimmered-up ones. And she sees a soldier aiming at the Hextech transit gate. The Hexgate that’s currently being operated by Loris. She immediately ducks away from the one Shimmered-up Noxian and knocks that soldier the fuck out.

She shouts to the Enforcers in the room, “Protect the gate! I’ve got the big ones!” 

Vi runs back to where the standing Shimmered soldier is advancing, and she vaults up in the air to punch them right to the ground. She turns to see the first one getting up in ridiculously-tough Shimmered fashion, and Vi puts her fists up in a fighting stance. She’s immediately on them, not letting them get even a second’s reprieve as she hits them with a flurry of punches imbued with deadly force. These guys are tough, they can take it better than a normal person can. And this one does, but not well enough, being well and fully knocked out by the time Vi is done.

Vi recovers quickly, ready to take care of the second soldier, when she notices them around a few other normal Noxian troops, attacking two Enforcers. She runs up behind them, throwing a few soldiers to the side and grabbing the arm of the Shimmered one, roaring as she throws them to the ground, giving them one, two, three punches to the face. 

But while she’s making sure the guy is knocked out, she catches a nasty blow to the back of her head, making her stagger. 

She catches herself on the wall, blinking away the stars that arise and seeing a few Noxian forces beginning to advance on her. One, then two of them are headshot by the remaining Enforcers in the room, and Vi uppercuts one to the jaw and brings her hands together just to bring them right back down on the other’s head. 

In the momentary reprieve, Vi takes stock of the room, there’s only a few Enforcers remaining, and a lot more Noxian soldiers advancing. 

And she watches as a few of those soldiers take aim and fire, arrows tearing right through Loris, who slumps at once. 

Tears spring to Vi’s eyes immediately, “Loris!”

She sprints towards him, maybe she can get him to the medics, please—

Another soldier, a big dude, slams into her side, throwing her to the ground. She flips herself onto her back just as the soldier tries to stab her with a spear, but she catches it with her gauntlet and struggles against the force of it, trying to push it away from her. 

After a second, she forces the spear to the side, immediately grabbing the soldier by the face and slamming him to the ground. As she rises to her feet, she sees at least a dozen Noxian soldiers advancing on her and the few Enforcers left, forcing them back closer to the machine. 

But then she hears the whirring of…what sounds like a really large turbine?

She looks behind her.

It’s Jinx. She made her hideout fly. And her hair…

Jinx rains multicolored bullet fire down on the Noxians, and Vi ducks for cover. Then Vi sees the telltale neon green of the Firelights’ hoverboards, and she spots Ekko flying through the room, knocking down a few of the soldiers. With the Noxians stunned, Vi and the Enforcers have a chance, and they get right back to the fight. Vi knocks out soldiers left and right, their armor standing no chance against the might of her blows when she puts so much force into them. 

She clocks an Enforcer heading to where Loris was stationed (Loris, who please still be alive), and Vi covers his dash. Jinx and the Firelights leave as quick as they came, but it’s alright because the tables have turned. There’s only a few Noxians left now, and Vi and the other Enforcers have got it handled.

Except one of the Shimmered Noxians Vi thought she’d taken care of gets up again, rushing to the shipping container being lifted by the activation of the Hextech device. But when the soldier tries to stop the container from being launched, Vi slides in and uppercuts them straight in the jaw, then she punches them in the head, making them slam into the container, then she grabs and throws them straight into the electric arc of the machine. And the shipping container is launched, taking the soldier with it. 

As chaos rains in the battlefield below, the Hexgate is silent, all the Noxians defeated and the Enforcers left able to lick their wounds. 

But Vi only has eyes for one thing, the slumped form of Loris, laying face down on the ground, having been cast aside when the person currently manning the machine needed access. Vi rushes to Loris’s side, tears already filling her eyes as she thinks of all the wasted opportunity between them, all the things she didn’t say because she didn’t want to pull him in and ruin him. But as she turns him over and sees his lifeless eyes, she knows that it was too late. She already marked him for death. I’m sorry, Loris.

A few tears escape as she hauls herself up. The battle’s not over yet. But as Vi only begins to conjure up her next move, suddenly a bunch of things seize the Enforcer manning the machine. They’re white, humanoid, and have gold trimmings, and they grab the man and do something to him, giving him gold markings too. And before she can even begin to process that, something jumps up from the ground below, right in front of her. 

Two of those things, and in the middle…

Vander. 

Vi’s jaw drops as she sees the completely emotionless eyes of the beast. That’s not Vander anymore, she tells herself (though how much she believes that is a matter of debate). It has the same gold trimmings as the other creatures. 

This must be the Herald’s…this must be Viktor’s doing. 

But as Vander, no—the beast—gets higher and higher in the air, it’s suddenly pelted by Jinx’s multicolored bullets, forcing it to fall to the side.

“Vi!” Jinx shouts from high in the air. The beast locks onto the sound of her voice immediately, launching itself so much farther than should be possible, straight onto Jinx’s flying hideout. 

Shit, Jinx! Vi starts panicking because how the hell is she going to get up there?

But then Ekko flies into her field of vision, looking at her and gesturing his head to the side of the building. They’re gonna go save Jinx. 

She runs, running through the room and away from the grip of the rising tide of the white and gold creatures. She runs to the golden guardrails outside of the tower and leaps off of them, right to where Ekko comes through with his hoverboard augmented to fit two. 

No words even need to be exchanged to know the plan. They fly up to Jinx’s lair, and Vi jumps off, using her gauntlets to propel her forward, striking the beast where it looms over her sister. 

Vaguely, Vi senses Ekko come in on the other side, and as the flying turbine stabilizes she realizes he must have grabbed the steering wheel.  

But she doesn’t have time to think about that right now, because the beast gets up and attacks her viciously, though that’s not quite the right word because of the eerie calm on the beast’s face. The last time she had to fight it, fight Vander, it was snarling and roaring and had its gaping maw open. Now, it’s like it’s at ease, or maybe so completely determined to complete its mission that it can’t even show any emotion.

It’s not him, it’s not him, he’s gone, Vi tells herself as she fights to keep the beast from harming Jinx or herself.

But then the beast gets the upper hand, lifting her up in the air and limiting her air supply dangerously. She slams her gauntlets down on the beast’s arm, but it does nothing, so she pushes into its face with all her might, and that forces it to let her go, and she drops to the ground, coughing. 

She just barely hears Ekko’s shout of “Take cover!” before she’s violently jolted by the turbine crashing into the side of a building, and the sheer force of it knocks her out. 

—

Metal creaks as Vi comes to, and as she lifts herself by one of her gauntlets, she gets a good view of exactly where (the main Hexgate) and how high up (very) they are, and for a moment she’s transfixed by the view of the water. But as she brings herself to standing, she starts to feel herself pulled away, towards what turns out to be the middle of the room, because she’s actually on the side of the wall. She’s…extremely lucky that she wasn’t any further near the gaping hole in that wall. 

Jinx coughs from the middle of the room, and Vi pulls herself away from the transfixing view and runs to her. But as she runs she notices Ekko, sitting in a pile of debris, including what seems to be the old hands of the clock (or one of them anyway) they busted coming in here, and he is also just starting to return to consciousness. She stops running and quickly throws the debris off of him, offering her hand and helping him up.

“Where’s Jinx?” he asks weakly, looking down at one of the clock hands. 

“Over here,” Jinx coughs, and Vi goes back to running for her, getting the debris off of her just as quick. 

“You two okay?” Vi asks as Ekko comes running over, one of the clock hands in hand and hoverboard on his back. They both nod, and Vi lets out a breath, relieved that they’ve both seemed to come away with just some scratches and bruises. 

“Thanks for the save,” Vi says, raising her fists.

“We’ve got your back,” Jinx smiles, pulling her gun up.

Ekko snorts, and shifts his grip on his new weapon, “We’d never leave one of our own behind.”

They stand as one, backs together, looking around the ruined room for the beast. The golden light of the late afternoon bathes everything in an orange hue of warmth, very much the opposite of the situation at hand.

But…having her family together, fighting united like this, that makes her warm in a way little else could. 

Her pleasant thoughts are forgotten as she looks up and spots him. The beast. Vander. Both and neither. He stares at them with eerie glowing eyes from atop his perch of Jinx’s wrecked turbine. When Vi stills, Jinx and Ekko both turn to look as well. 

“Vander?” Jinx says, searching, and when Ekko doesn’t react Vi understands that she must have told him everything. Good, someone had to. Jinx's tone is lined with a hope that Vander would break through and recognize them. But Vi knows the terrible truth just by looking at him. He’s gone.

And that thought is only strengthened when the beast disappears, only to reappear at their sides, lunging forward with a clawed hand. Vi, the closest to it, blocks the fierce jabs, while Ekko goes in and smacks it in the head, knocking it back, and Jinx shoots it as it regains its balance, but the bullets do nothing at all. 

The beast is back on top of Vi in an instant, and it’s all she can do to dodge, she can’t get a clean hit in at all, but Ekko comes back around, on his hoverboard now, and manages to distract the beast long enough for Vi to get an uppercut to its jaw. And this time, its face doesn’t even split. It’s much stronger than before. 

This is bad. 

But Vi has never known giving up, and she’s not starting now. So she keeps punching, harder and harder and harder, making the beast fall back, back, back. Jinx keeps shooting, trying to find a weak point, and Ekko flies around, distracting it, knowing that his blows don’t have the power of Hextech or chemtech on their side. 

The beast strikes at Vi in a move she can’t dodge, but Ekko manages to knock her aside just in time. Jinx, Vi, and Ekko work as a team, getting good hits in when they can, but never enough to put the beast down for very long. If it weren’t for the context, Vi would probably enjoy this, fighting side by side with her siblings. But this thought doesn’t even breach conscious awareness, as horrible as the reality of their situation is, siblings up against their father’s (or family friend’s, in Ekko’s case) corpse, if that’s what this could be called now. 

They fight fiercely, but the beast is strong and overwhelming, and nothing they do seems to leave much of a mark. 

Vi is knocked back into Ekko, and the beast lunges for Jinx, but then all of a sudden it’s like someone turned the gravity off, and they all start to float in the air. Vi grabs onto a pipe in the floor and Ekko latches onto her, and Jinx propels herself using her gun, which Vi is just now noticing has a saddle on it? Her sister, everybody. As soon as Ekko regains his balance on his hoverboard, Vi lets go of the pipe, using the propellers built into her gauntlets to launch herself at the beast, which is pursuing Jinx in the air. 

Jinx tries to get the beast with a rocket, but it misses, and Vi and Ekko are in hot pursuit. The beast grabs Jinx, and Vi flies in, pushing it off of her and carrying it across the room while Ekko stops Jinx from falling too far. Vi tries punching the beast but misses, the air throwing off all of her normal measurements. She tries again and hits nothing but air, so this time she kicks herself away from it, ready to propel herself into a different movement. 

But before she can do that, her view of the beast is abruptly broken up by two figures flying right between them. 

Wait, that’s Jayce. And Vi can’t tell what the other one is, but it doesn’t look like any of the other creatures, so it must be Viktor. Shit, Jayce is in real trouble. As he and Viktor go through the roof, Vi looks to where Ekko and Jinx are.

“Ekko!” Ekko’s gaze turns to her, “That was Jayce and Viktor!” she dodges another clawed blow from the beast, “Go after them! Jinx and I got this!”

Ekko nods, but as he goes to retrieve his fallen weapon from where it floats in the air, the beast propels itself from a piece of debris towards him, almost like it knows to protect Viktor. Shit! Vi uses her gauntlets to catch up with it before it can get its claws in Ekko, pushing it into the wall. 

She looks up and sees some white glowing lines—are those hands?—coming down from the ceiling, but she’s forced back to paying attention to what’s right in front of her as the beast recovers, grabbing her by the neck again. She sees Jinx dodge one of those hand things too, but then the beast grabs her by the neck too, lifting them both up. What the hell is it doing? 

But then she sees the hand thing come back, latching onto Jinx, and as one comes for her, she sees Ekko flying up and out of the room, going towards the roof. 

It’s up to you now, Ekko, she thinks, as the glowing lines attach themselves to her face, and the world leaves her in a bright white. 

—

When Vi returns to herself, she’s falling. And she hits a metal platform roughly, hearing a sickening crack in her left arm as she does. Fuck, that’s either broken or dislocated. She screams as she pulls the arm out of the gauntlet, the pain becoming too much for just a second before dying back down into the dull ache that is her entire existence. She’s pretty sure the wound on her abdomen has torn open, and she can feel warm blood running down her head as well.

“Vi!” She hears Jinx shout from above her, and the metal creaks and groans under her, and she thinks she can feel it moving. Is it loose? Shit. 

Vi brings herself to standing, slowly, and Jinx shouts to her, “Vi! Hurry, you can make the other ledge!”

But Vi’s not looking at that right now. 

She’s looking down. One of Jinx’s grenades is at her feet. It must have fallen off of her sister in the chaos. She’s not sure if Jinx has even noticed. 

But more importantly, she looks down at him. At Vander. At the beast. 

She’s so tired. How many times does she have to watch her father die? How many times will everything be taken from her? How many times will she live, while everyone she loves dies? 

All at once, everything she had been sitting with for the past three weeks, the past few months, perhaps the past seven and a half years, clicks into place. 

That was the whole point, wasn’t it? It all makes sense now. This is what the universe has been trying to tell her. This is why every time she seems to get a glimpse of peace or of happiness it’s taken away. 

Because she doesn’t get that. Not her. She destroys it. She ruins happiness for everyone else. Ekko’s alternate timeline, it showed her the truth that she’d refused to believe for so long. Her family and everyone she cares about, hell everyone she knows, they can’t be happy if she’s here. 

And that makes so much sense, such a terrible sort of sense, even if it’s so, so painful, because why can’t she be happy with them? Why can’t she have that one thing? Was she just made to ruin everything? That would check out wouldn’t it? All she does is put people in danger. Ekko and all of the Firelights, they were in danger because of her attachment to Caitlyn. Because of the series of events that she started that ended in Caitlyn’s mom dying. If she hadn’t been released from Stillwater, none of that would’ve happened, just like Caitlyn said. 

She tried to deny it, but she can’t, not anymore. No matter where you look, at every horrible event that has shaken the lives of her family, Vi is at the center. Vi is the bottom line. It’s on her. It can’t be a coincidence. It’s like she’s all of their pain, or at least the cause of it, given physical form.

Ekko spent all those years alone.

Caitlyn lost her mother.

Isha nearly died.

Loris is dead.

All because of her. 

Fuck, her sister had tried to kill herself…because all Vi does is hurt people, and makes them want to hurt themselves. She tried so hard, so hard to love her family so fiercely, to protect them, and she thought she’d done a good job, but no, that was the whole problem, and she has blood on her hands. She attaches herself too strongly, she’s too much, she ends up strangling them all with her love and her awful heart. She had the right idea in that tunnel, she’s not made for softness or gentleness. Prison and pitfighting carved those things out of her. Or maybe she never even had them. She’s not good. 

Ekko’s visit to another time proved it—this world would be better off without her. And Vi is nothing if not responsible, so she’ll be sure to clean up her mess on her way out. 

Because this is the only way, isn’t it? 

This is the only way that her family will be happy and safe. Jinx will be free of their past. And with Jinx by his side, Ekko won’t be so alone, and Vi won’t have the chance to ruin him. Caitlyn will be free to be whoever she wants to be, unshackled by burden. Isha will get to be a child, not forced into maturity like Vi was. Everyone will be happy. Everyone will be safe. And she’ll correct the universe’s mistake.

That alternate timeline showed the truth. She was meant to die in that explosion. But she didn’t, and that’s why everything ended up so much worse. Countless lives ruined, all because of the fluke of her survival. She was never supposed to live, but every time the universe tried to fix that mistake, she just kept coming back.

That’s why Vander came back too, came back like this. It was a lesson. And she’s learnt it. Sometimes, things just need to stay dead. 

God, this is why every time someone around her changed, she was always left behind, wasn’t it? The signs were there all along, and she was too blind to see them. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She shouldn’t be here. She should’ve died. 

As she looks down at him, at this monster she’s created, she knows what she must do. And, god, she can’t truly call him a monster. Because she knows the truth now. He was never a real monster. Neither was Jinx. 

It was her. Vi was the monster all along. 

Because who else can create a monster but another monster? 

And who else can get rid of one, but their creator?

“You can’t save him,” Jinx cries, as the decision slots into place. Jinx is right. Vi can’t save him. 

But she can save her sister, one last time. 

Vi bends down, grabbing the grenade, “Jinx,” she says, throat growing heavy as she straightens up again. 

“Vi! What are you doing? Get out of there!” Jinx’s voice grows shrill in its panic. Vi notices Vander start to rouse. She needs to do this now, there’s no time for more than a few words. 

Vi turns around, looking Jinx right in the eyes, taking in the last glimpse of her sister that she’ll ever get. 

Her smile is wet as she says, “I love you. And I’m sorry.” And she really is, she wishes Jinx wouldn’t have to see this.

Vi drops to a kneel in an instant, lifting her gauntlet and slamming it into the metal, and the platform comes loose, plunging her and the beast into a freefall. Vi unlocks the one gauntlet she has left, freeing her right hand, which grips the other side of the grenade in her left. Jinx’s face shatters as a guttural scream tears itself from her, and Vi simply looks up at her sister and smiles, content in finally ensuring her family’s happiness, forever. 

She pulls the pin.

Neon green blazes a trail behind Ekko as he pushes his hoverboard as fast as it can go. Because he just saw the metal under Vi give way, and there’s a grenade in her hand. Come on, faster. They’re falling. The grenade is going to explode. Ekko can’t fail. Come on!

Three things happen almost simultaneously. 

The beast lashes out and slashes at Vi, cutting her at the side of her neck where her tattoo is.

Ekko grabs Vi, who instantly goes into shock.

The grenade explodes. 

Ekko just barely manages to get him and Vi out of the blast radius, and he loses control of the board for just a second, but he regains it before they’re sent careening into a wall. He looks up, to where Jinx is sobbing above. 

“Jinx!” He shouts, panicked and frantic as he presses his hand against Vi’s neck which is gushing with blood. But Jinx doesn’t hear him, lost in her own grief. He flies up closer and shouts her name again, which gets her attention this time. 

She brings her head up and her eyes dart to him, and then to the prone figure in his arms. “Vi!” she all but screams. 

“Come on! I’m getting her to a medic.” Ekko says in a rush, and Jinx hops onto the hoverboard, and Ekko flies them down to the ground, where field medics are everywhere. He thinks he notices Caitlyn on the side, and she notices him, eye (singular, because her other one is cut out ) widening at the figure in his hands, but Ekko has no time for that at all. 

“We need help!” Ekko screams as he jumps off the board. A couple of medics come over to him immediately, seeing Vi’s neck injury, and they hurriedly put gauze on it. 

One of them looks at him and Jinx, “You need to get her to a hospital, now! This is the best we can do; we don’t have the necessary equipment out here!” That’s all Ekko needs to hear. He knows where the closest hospital is.

He and Jinx are off at once, speeding through the air and weaving between buildings like their lives depend on it. Because Vi’s life does depend on it. The woman is completely limp in his arms, unconsciousness having claimed her the moment her neck was cut.

The ride to the hospital takes about a minute, and Ekko and Jinx burst through the doors of their emergency room, screaming and altogether sounding unintelligible. 

But it doesn’t matter, because the doctors and nurses are at their sides immediately, probably expecting admissions from the fight. They take Vi from Ekko’s arms and rush her into surgery, directing him and Jinx to stay in the waiting room. Jinx tries to fight it, tries to follow them, but Ekko simply puts a hand on her shoulder and shakes his head. Let the doctors do their job, there’s nothing they can do now.

That thought sits just as sourly with him as it does with her. 

In the chaos, Ekko and Jinx hold each other’s hand, begging and pleading to whatever apathetic force is listening that they were fast enough.

Chapter Text

As Vi is pulled from unconsciousness, her awareness begins and ends with only her body, which feels impossibly heavy, and yet also light. Light, because for once she can’t feel any pain. 

Is she finally dead?

But then that awareness slowly expands, filtering in other things: a steady pulsing sound, the sensation of something in her arm, the feeling of her body sunk into a bed, blankets on top of her.

Her vision is still blurry as her eyes blink open, and her thoughts are sluggish. She can’t figure out what’s happening. She’s…not dead, she thinks. But where is she?

“Where…?” she all but whispers, voice crackling at the edges, despite its low, low volume. Her throat is dry, like she hasn’t drank anything in ages.

Immediately, a blurry figure (a person?) that she hadn’t noticed by her bedside shifts, moving off of the bed and sitting straighter. 

“Hey, she’s waking up!” She hears them say. She thinks that she can make out the electroshock blue of her sister’s hair. Is this Jinx?

Then another figure comes into view, this one on her other side, standing and looking at her. As her view clears further, she can see that this is Ekko, backlit from a soft light coming in from a window, a light that she can see illuminate tiny particles of dust in the air as her vision comes back completely.

“Vi! Can you hear me?” Ekko says, leaning forward and taking up much of her field of vision. A field of vision she can’t shift much, because moving her head seems too much right now. The general sluggishness she feels prevents that thought from becoming a panic, and her fingers twitch when she wills them, to her relief.

“Jinx…? Ekko?” She rasps, eyes moving from one to the other. 

“Oh good, you at least know who we are,” Jinx jokes, but her heart’s not in it, a kind of concern laden in her tone and nervous twirling of her hair. 

Ekko sits down in a chair that Vi hadn’t noticed until now. “Do you remember what happened?” he asks, voice soft.

Remember…?

Flashes arise in a burst. Fighting, a lot of fighting. All three of them, standing together. Vander, attacking them with not a flicker of recognition in his eyes, just the beast now. And then Vi falling, falling, falling, and suddenly feeling a sharp agony in her neck. Then nothing.

“Vander…I was falling…” Vi’s hand, now able to move, goes to her neck, and she feels a coarse roughness there. Bandages? 

Ekko nods, “Yeah, you got cut pretty bad. There was,” he looks away for a second, far away, “There was a lot of blood.”

She can’t stand the horrified and nervous look on his face, so her response is automatic, “‘m sorry.”

But Ekko just looks even more upset when she says it, and she aches to reach out and soothe it.

“Do you remember anything else?” Ekko asks again, and this time Vi really pries at the memories, trying to fill the missing gaps between the flashes. More come up, but it’s much of the same. More of the fight, more of the fall. She remembers a…a grenade? Her brows pinch together as the pieces don’t make enough sense yet.

Her attention is pulled away as Jinx speaks up, abrasive but not uncaring, “Yeah, can we talk about what the heck that little sacrifice play was? We would’ve been just fine if you’d jumped across!” Her distress is even more evident than Ekko’s is to Vi, the way it’s barely hidden by the bravado and admonishment. 

But her words also jumpstart Vi’s mind, providing the final boost she needed to remember everything, and it all comes rushing back with a vengeance. 

The conversation she overheard. Looking down at Vander, making a decision there. Understanding what she had to do, what she’s done to the people she loves. And she was ready, she was ready to die. She was willing. And she tried it, she tried to take her and Vander out, together, tried to finally set things right. 

But that choice was taken from her.  

She’s still alive. She failed.

“No…” Vi croaks, brows drawing together as the enormity of her failure crashes down on her. She needs to fix this. 

Above and beyond her, Jinx and Ekko exchange a look of confusion, but Vi hardly registers it. 

“I shouldn’t be here…” 

She starts to move, banishing the leadenness from her body as she slowly, too slowly, brings herself to sitting up.

“Hey, what are you—“ Ekko cries out, and Vi’s not moving fast enough, she needs to go, that was her chance and she ruined it, she lived, she wasn’t supposed to live!

Vi cuts across him, feeling at the tubes coming out of her arm, “I shouldn’t be here!” She vaguely registers the beeping sound in the room getting faster and more intense, but her attention is solely on the fact that she needs to get away and finish what she started. Please, please she knows she should be dead, she knows, don’t hurt them anymore, just let her out of here and she’ll end it.

But then she feels hands on her shoulders and free arm, gently but firmly holding her down, and that only makes Vi try harder, but it’s difficult to struggle against the fuzziness that brushes up against her strength.

“Vi stop it, you’ll hurt yourself!” Ekko shouts, straining against her. 

Vi still tries pushing herself up, despite the way her strength flags, “I don’t care! I need to go, I should’ve—I need to—“

“Need to what? Kill yourself?” Jinx says wryly, but it’s just that same concern hiding behind humor and affected apathy again. She doesn’t actually know that that is exactly what Vi plans to do. Or maybe she does. Vi doesn’t know. “‘Cause that’s what’ll happen if you leave right now. Just stay here, Vi. Please.” Jinx’s voice grows soft, both imploring and forlorn, by the end.

But Vi is nothing if not steadfast, and even as her strength leaves her and she settles in a sat position, she cries, “I’m trying to protect you!”

Jinx scoffs, “From what? The fighting’s over!”

Vi shakes her head, “No, no, you don’t understand!” They don’t get it, they don’t know that she can’t be here. They’ve won for now, but sooner or later some new tragedy will befall them, and if she stays then it will be because she was too selfish to do the right thing. 

“Then make us understand Vi!” Ekko says pleadingly. “We want to help you.”

“You can’t help me, this is the only way, I understand now,” Vi speaks lowly, distractedly, thoughts turned elsewhere, towards trying to figure out a new plan. How long until the curse of her existence takes effect again? Surely the universe understands that it’s out of her hands right now.

Ekko’s brows furrow in confusion, “What are you talking about?”

Vi’s gaze clears once again, and she looks between Jinx and Ekko, “You guys don’t need me, I’ve seen it. Just look at what you’ve done without me. Ekko, you’ve created a whole community. Jinx, you were healing and uniting Zaun under you. You’re building futures, while I’m just the one who’s stuck in the past.” Her tone is morose, but not quite so heavy as the word implies, as if she is just stating a fact, which she is. That’s always been her problem, she can never let go. But maybe Ekko and Jinx can. Maybe they can make better decisions than she ever did. 

She begs them with her eyes, “Just let me go.”

“Vi…” Jinx whispers, tears welling up, and her sister reaches out towards Vi’s hand.

But the moment is broken when a new person barges into the room.  

“Vi!” 

That voice, is that Caitlyn?

Ekko is immediately on his feet, and his body blocks Vi’s view of who it is, even though she can’t think of anyone else whose upper crust accented voice would call her name with such concern. 

“What the—? Who the hell let you in here?” Ekko tenses, and Vi imagines that a harsh glare is accompanying the spat words. 

Jinx looks in that direction too, and likewise her features contort to express disdain, “Buzz off Piltie, nobody has time for you right now.”

But the person just walks closer, looking down at Vi in worry and certain kind of wistfulness, even as Ekko stands between them. 

It really is her. Immediately, Vi notices that Caitlyn is wearing a black eyepatch over her left eye. Or maybe where her left eye had been. What happened to her? And what is she doing here?  

“…Caitlyn?” Vi says, voice breathy. 

“Have you forgotten what get out means?” Ekko sneers when Caitlyn makes no effort to move. 

A complex mixture of feelings roll around within Vi, and she doesn’t have the energy to make sense of them. All she knows is that something in her is screaming that she doesn’t want Caitlyn to leave, and she latches on to that, the only clarity she has in the emotional mess within.

“It’s okay, she can stay,” Vi says quietly. Everyone’s eyes widen, but Vi continues staring at Caitlyn, where a kind of surprise and gratefulness swirls around in her remaining eye. 

Jinx only shakes her head, but it’s rather theatrical, “…I’ll never understand you, sister.”

Ekko glowers, discontent rolling off of him in waves, “Fine, but only because for whatever reason, Vi wants you here.” Then he unexpectedly mellows, “And…Scar told me what you did, at the assembly. I still don’t like you, but…that was cool.” Vi…isn’t entirely sure what he’s talking about. Scar, that was a Firelight. Is he talking about the meeting with the Council? But Caitlyn hadn’t talked to Vi at all about that, at least not that Vi can remember. She…didn’t always listen fully when Caitlyn had visited, too busy trying to keep as much distance between them as possible. 

And as she looks into Caitlyn’s eye, she thinks that she might have failed at that too, her heart taking on a new quality in its steady beat.

Ekko lets Caitlyn past him to Vi’s bedside, and everything else falls away for a moment as Vi takes in Caitlyn’s new appearance. Her effortless beauty, changed but not reduced. Without thinking, Vi reaches out, and Caitlyn lets her, and Vi lightly brushes her thumb over the eyepatch.  

“Your eye…” Vi’s voice is just above a whisper, and the guilt makes itself known as she wonders what happened. How did Vi fail to protect Caitlyn this time? Was this just the first of the many prices to pay for her continued life?

She takes her hand away like it burns. She shouldn’t get close. She’ll make it worse. 

But the moment between them only truly breaks when Jinx coughs and says, “Well, as touching as this is, we weren’t done talking.” 

And suddenly, it’s like Caitlyn remembers where she is, and what she walked in on, like she’d never registered Jinx or Ekko’s presence at all, “Is this a bad time? I can leave…”

Jinx sighs, “Nah, stay, Vi wants you, don’t you Vi?” She looks at Vi then, a put-upon smile on her face. But then she says, “And actually, maybe you can help us. See, my sister here has gotten this idea that we’d be better off without her.” She says it so casually, almost like it could be a joke.

But Caitlyn seems to know it isn’t one. “What?” her eyebrows shoot up, her shock almost endearing in its way. She looks back down at Vi then, face sad, “Vi, you…you don’t really believe that.”

Jinx has phrased it…pretty accurately. They would be better off without her. So Vi speaks dispassionately, “Of course I do, it’s a fact.”

Caitlyn only raises a brow, disbelieving, “And where is the evidence for this supposed fact?”

“It’s all my fault,” Vi says simply.

“What is?” Caitlyn asks gently.

“Everything!” The frustrated words force themselves from her with a frantic energy. Why won’t they just understand? She looks between Caitlyn, Jinx, and Ekko, trying to make them finally agree with her. “Any way you slice it, it’s always on me, always has been. Your mom died because of me, you killed Silco because of me, you lost everyone because of me. Vander and Mylo and Claggor and hell even Benzo! They’re all dead because of me. If I hadn’t tried to turn myself in, or if I hadn’t told Powder to stay behind…things would’ve been different. I caused everything!”

Ekko’s eyes are lined with exasperation, “You can’t blame yourself for that! You didn’t know what would happen!”

But Vi only shakes her head, “Doesn’t matter whether I knew or not, it’s still my responsibility.” Everything is on her, that’s a truth she’s known for so much of her life now, she doesn’t think she could know anything different.

“That is ridiculous,” Caitlyn says. And maybe it is to her, to someone who doesn’t know like Vi does. What does she know of responsibility anyway?

“It’s the truth,” Vi shoots back. “Every last death, every painful memory, every horrible tragedy…they’re all because of me.” Frustration builds within as Jinx and Ekko and Caitlyn don’t seem to get it, and so does an anxiety, as the longer she stays alive, the more chance there will be for another bad thing to happen. They need to understand that they can’t save her, she doesn’t deserve saving. 

“Why do you even believe that?” Caitlyn sounds despairing, but Vi doesn’t care.

“Because I’m supposed to be dead.” Vi hisses. Maybe now they’ll understand with this one terrible truth.

The room falls silent in an instant, everyone taking in the enormity of what Vi just said. Where Caitlyn looks horrified, Jinx and Ekko look gutted, and they share another glance.

Vi keeps her gaze on them, answering their unvoiced question, “I overheard you two at the base,” she says sullenly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you tell Jinx not to tell me and I…” she trails off, what she did being rather evident. “But it’s good that I did, because I get it now, I understand. I’m what’s holding you all back. Living through that explosion was a mistake that you’ve had to pay for in my place. When I was dead, your lives were damn near a utopia.”

Can’t they see now? How this is indisputable? Ekko and Jinx knew about this timeline, why are they even bothering to argue? Maybe they are just too sentimental, just like her.  

“I don’t think it was that simple,” Ekko says, leaning forward, eyes swimming with emotion as he thinks of that other time. “You died there, but that wasn’t the only thing different. I’ve been thinking about it, and I think there were a lot of differences, some I hadn’t even considered at the time. Like Heimerdinger, he was able to get the Council to do right by Zaun. Vander, Silco, and Sevika united the undercity.”

Jinx jumps in desperately, “Remember the letter we saw? Maybe Silco saw it.”

“Exactly. There’s so much we don’t know,” Ekko says, reaching out and touching Vi’s leg through the blanket, a warming gesture, “Maybe Piltover had different Councilors, or maybe Piltover didn’t exploit Zaun in the same way from the beginning, or maybe any number of changes that we’ll never know,” Ekko looks up and away, then back at Vi. 

“My point is, that timeline wasn’t better because you died. When I was there, your death was a wound that never closed. Everyone missed you so much. And yes, they were alive, but not because you died. Just like you being alive now is not the reason they’re dead.”

Vi sits on that, steadfast conclusions warring with a glimmer of hope in her chest. Hope that she doesn’t have to die. That she can be here too. But she doesn’t want to allow herself to believe it. Ekko could be wrong. There’s still so many other reasons why she’s the reason why everything is so fucked, the alternate timeline was merely the most eye-opening. 

“You’re not to blame for any of it, Vi.” Caitlyn says, to emphasize Ekko’s point.

But Vi only looks to the person who’s been quiet, into Jinx’s violet eyes that are so dim. She remembers all those months ago, being tied up in that chair, Jinx reminding her of her failure, of her fault. 

Weakly, she says to her sister, “You told me that I created Jinx.”

Ekko and Caitlyn turn to Jinx, and her sister flinches, but she responds without hesitation, “I was wrong.”

Jinx shifts in her seat, a little uncomfortable but calming herself with the way she fiddles with Vi’s blanket. She looks around, not quite at Vi, when she says, “I…Silco always told me that Powder fell down a well, he wanted me to believe that Jinx and Powder were different. Wanted everyone to believe that. But he was wrong. Lately, I’ve been thinking that Powder and Jinx are not so different after all. I think that I’ve always been Jinx, just like I’ve always been Powder.” 

Then she meets Vi’s gaze, remorseful, “I shouldn’t have said that to you. It wasn’t right.”

But she was right.

The voice is quiet, but it might as well have been screaming with the way Vi heard it so clearly. It sounded like her sister, years and years ago.

These months, Vi has come to understand that Jinx is still her sister, even if she’s not the same as before. But Vi can’t let go of that night. The night everything fell apart. When she betrayed everything she was as an older sister and struck her sobbing sister, hissing at her that she was a jinx, imbuing her with the mindset that allowed her to attach herself to Silco, to…to come so close to killing herself just weeks ago. 

Her chosen name, her unstable mind…it all comes from that night. Maybe Jinx was always in there, but it was Vi’s fault that she couldn’t explore that side of her in a better environment, one that didn’t force her to think of herself as two different people. 

So as much as she wants to, she can’t shake the guilt and self-blame and sheer self-hatred that developed after seven years of reliving that night each and every grueling day she spent in that cell, nothing else there to occupy her headspace. Not with just a few words. Even though all she wants to do is be able to trust her sister in this. But the mistakes she made that night are ones she can never take back, and she doesn’t understand why her sister doesn’t hate her as much as she hates herself.

Some of this must show on her face, because Jinx’s face falls, “You don’t believe me, do you?”

“I’m sorry…” Vi breathes, knowing that her mistrust must pierce like a blade, but she can’t lie to her sister. 

Jinx pulls away, “No! Don’t be sorry! Just…just—ugh!” She pushes up to standing in a frustrated rush, roughly scooting her chair back to where it nearly falls over. She strides to the corner of the room, by the window, eyes vibrant, and she pulls at her bang. Ekko stands too, crossing the room and standing in front of Jinx, putting a hand on her shoulder, and they get close together then, perhaps whispering, but Vi can’t hear. For not the first time, Vi curses being confined to this bed. She itches to reach out, cross the gap and comfort her sister, ease that worry and distress away, even though, as the one who brought it on, she doesn’t know if she could.

Her attention is brought away from her siblings when Caitlyn speaks up from her left, “Is it because of what I said to you?” Vi rolls her head over to look at her, unsure of what she means, “Why you’re so eager to believe that we blame you, is it because of what I said?”

I should have left you in Stillwater. If you weren’t here, none of this would’ve ever happened.

The cutting remark had hurt so much at the time, and in the weeks and months after. But now, Vi feels numb to it. Maybe because she’s no longer in denial of the truth of what was said. It was harsh, but it wasn’t wrong. It was exactly right.

“Caitlyn,” Vi says her name more gently than she should, “you didn’t say anything that I didn’t already know.”

The woman across from her looks stricken, “Don’t say that! What I said to you was unacceptable.” 

Vi tries to ease her former partner’s pain, “Caitlyn—“

“Please, Vi, listen,” Caitlyn cuts her off. “I’m not saying this for you to forgive me, in fact I wish you wouldn’t forgive me if it means that you are thinking of yourself for once—but I am so deeply sorry for the ways in which I’ve hurt you. I was wrong when I said that I should have left you in Stillwater. I was hurting and I wanted you to hurt too, and that was no excuse.” Caitlyn’s teal eye glistens with tears as she reaches out, gripping Vi’s hand lightly. The unexpected contact makes Vi’s breath hitch. 

Caitlyn continues, eye full of regret, “My life was made better because of you. And it is because I pushed you away that I fell into the trap of grief and hatred that led us to this moment. It was my decision to do that. There was nothing else you could have done, you were perfect .”

And Vi wants to refute that, she was nowhere near perfect. She wasn’t even enough. She gave up everything and she wasn’t enough, how is that not her fault?

But Caitlyn doesn’t give her the chance to voice her denial, because then her gaze shifts to something more emotional, more intimate, more vulnerable, “I love you dearly, Vi, and you deserve more than what I’ve given you. You deserve the world. If nothing else, please, just know that.”

Vi can only breathe in the admission. Caitlyn…loves her? They’d never said the words to each other, in those few weeks that they had. But Vi loves in actions as much as she does in words, so she might as well have confessed a thousand times back then. 

Deserve…

When was the last time someone said she deserved anything positive? Jinx did, but those were words said in the midst of despair and isolation, not to be trusted when it was just Jinx trying to push her away so she could do the unthinkable. And Caitlyn here says them so genuinely. She truly believes this. She believes that Vi deserves good things. 

But Vi is not so sure. If she deserved good things, why did she never get them? Why did she have to watch her family suffer over and over, helpless to do anything about it no matter how hard she tried? If her family is in pain, then no, she doesn’t deserve good things at all, because it means she’s failing. And that deserves no reward. 

In the back of the room, Ekko breaks away from Jinx, who seems less agitated now, but still clearly upset, looking out the window down to whatever view is below. Caitlyn moves over a little as he comes to sit back at Vi’s left side.

“I hate to say that I agree with her,” he starts as he sits down, leveling a weak glare at Caitlyn, “But she’s right. You’ve been dealt a shit hand. We all have. We didn’t deserve what we got. Benzo, Claggor, Mylo, Vander…none of them deserved what they got.” 

Ekko sighs, putting his hand back on Vi’s leg, up around her thigh. His touch is firm, and when Vi looks at him, it’s like she has double vision, half of her seeing Ekko as he is now while the other half sees her Little Man. She’d missed so much…her sister, her brother, they grew up when she wasn’t looking, when she couldn’t look.

“That night,” Ekko says, voice low but emphatic, “I lost everything. Powder was…beyond my reach, and I thought you were dead along with everyone else. And because of Silco, I had to be on the run in my own city. But you know what helped me through all that?”

He looks up from where was looking down at his own hand, and Vi sees something determined there, the kind of passion that allowed him to build himself up during these years, “You did. You were my hero, Vi. I wanted to be like you, and that’s what got me to create the Firelights. I was trying to live by your example. I wanted to be for others what you were for me.” 

He wanted…to be like her? The words touch Vi, somewhere deep inside, warm her. She hadn’t even done anything worth idolizing. Ekko was her little brother, of course she took care of him, just like she took care of Powder and Claggor and Mylo. It was what she was supposed to do. And yeah, there was a time she wanted to turn that protective fire to all of the undercity…but that was snuffed out through a series of events she doesn’t want to think about.

To her surprise, Ekko keeps talking, “And when I found out that you were alive…fuck, I was so happy, so happy.” A light smile graces his face, breaking through the seriousness that ages him. He looks so young when he smiles. She wants him to smile more. “Even if things are weird between us right now, I’m still so much happier to see that you’re alive rather than dead. Before we ever got a chance…to be a family again.”

Tears prickle at Vi’s eyes for a moment, because god, Vi wants that. She wants that so much. She wants to be a family, her and Jinx and Ekko and now Isha. Caitlyn…that’s complicated, but in this moment she could even say she wants her to be a part of that too.

But she can’t. She can’t let herself have that. She can’t give in. She’ll ruin it, she knows she will. Any happiness that she has ever had has been ripped away, and she won’t make that mistake of thinking she could have it again. But the longer she sits here, the harder it is to enforce that distance. Giving in would be so much easier.

As her mind is in turmoil, Jinx slinks back to the bed, this time forgoing the chair to just sit on the bed itself. “Move over,” she says to Vi.

Vi considers pushing back, but Jinx will still help herself anyway, so she relents, scooting herself over until she’s at the left edge, which makes Ekko and Caitlyn shift their positions slightly too. Jinx makes a bit of a show of getting comfortable sitting on Vi’s right side, which tells Vi she’s gearing up for something. Something uncomfortable. 

Once she’s settled, she says in a voice so fragile, “Do you really think that I’d be happier without you?” 

Vi hates that her answer comes so easily, that the possibility of a different answer doesn’t even cross her mind. Maybe that answer would have done so weeks ago, when they were in the commune, when Vi was so blissfully unaware of the inevitable tragedy that would unfold.

But now, all she can do is mutter, “…yes.”

Surprisingly, Jinx doesn’t miss a beat, only looking sad when she says, “I wouldn’t. Not for one second. You saw what happened when Isha was just hurt. If you died…I’d shatter into so many pieces that I don’t think I’d be able to put myself back together again.” Jinx wraps her arms around Vi’s right, giving it a gentle hug and leaning her head against Vi’s shoulder, “I love you more than anything sister, you have to know that.”

“I wouldn’t blame you,” Vi says without thinking, the self-loathing boiling over for just a second, “If you didn’t, anymore.” She’s done horribly by her sister, really, she’d understand. She remembers the bridge, and the cannery, and the alley, and how Jinx had approached her with such a confusing mix of care and disdain. But things were better between them now, weren’t they? Or was it all just part of the mix?

Jinx immediately brings her head away so she can look at Vi, shock and upset evident in her face, “Do you think I’m—? I’m not lying!” She moves her hands down to grip Vi’s own tightly, tears springing to her eyes. “Shit, Vi, what’s happened to us? You really think I’d lie to you about this?”

And her tone is so heartbroken, it puts cracks in Vi’s tired heart too. She feels wretched, even more than she already did.

“No…” Vi trails off, looking away, but she only sees twin looks of devastation on Ekko and Caitlyn’s face, and those are too difficult to look at, so she moves her head away and closes her eyes. “I don’t know…I just don’t understand how… ”

“Because you’re so easy to love,” Caitlyn says, squeezing Vi’s left hand, and Vi’s eyes pry open again.

“And because you’re my sister,” Jinx says wetly.

“And you’re my sister too,” Ekko’s eyes shine as well.

It’s getting so hard to not give in, but Vi still holds back, “Guys, I don’t deserve—“

“It’s not about deserving,” Ekko cuts in, but not unkindly, “We just do, Vi. We love you and we want you here with us. Things are better when you’re around. Can’t you see that?”

“I…” Vi’s voice catches in her throat, “I want to, but…” 

“But you can’t? Because you think that when you believe it, we’ll just leave you?” Jinx says knowingly, a smirk with no mirth lifting her lips. “Vi, I’ve been there. And it was you who showed me that I had people who cared about me. Won’t you let me—let us—do the same for you?” 

Her resolve is faltering in the face of what could very well be everything she’s ever wanted. But would it last? “But what if I’m right?” Vi’s voice is high, vulnerable and much closer to how she sounded years ago. “What if I really do ruin everything?”

“Vi,” Caitlyn says, forcing Vi to look at her, “Just forget everyone else for a second, think only of yourself, not how your decisions affect anyone else. Do you want to die?”

Just herself? She wants to die to protect her family from the misfortune she guarantees. If that wasn’t a factor…

“I…I don’t know,” she realizes as she speaks, and she wants to cry. “How do I not know that?!” The environment around her begins to fall away as the understanding that she doesn’t even know whether she wants something as basic as to be alive or not crashes down on her. Is it getting harder to breathe? Her heartbeat gets louder in her head and more erratic and she thinks she isn’t getting air. Why isn’t she getting air? Why doesn’t she know anything about herself?

But then a voice cuts through all of that, prevents the panic from spiraling into something completely out of her control, “Hey, hey, Vi, look at me,” it’s Caitlyn. She slowly brings her hands to Vi’s face, giving Vi time to push them away if she doesn’t want them. When she touches Vi’s face, it’s gentle, and she guides Vi’s gaze to hers, “That’s okay, it’s okay not to know. Just breathe with me, can you do that?”

And Vi does, following the rise and fall of Caitlyn’s chest for a few breaths. The rest of the panic melts away, and she’s back. And before she can begin to feel shame at her own lack of control, Caitlyn speaks again, “Do you know what you want right now? It can be anything.”

And that’s…easy. There’s one thing that she always wants. “I want…my family. I just want to be with my family.” Vi sighs, “But I can’t have that.”

“Yes you can,” Ekko says, tone allowing for no argument. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“And don’t you dare leave either,” Jinx adds.

The tears stinging the corners of her eyes threaten to fall, and at first she shakes her head, not wanting herself to have this, “I can’t…” but then her resolve crumbles, and she’s just a kid finding her dead parents on the bridge, a teenager losing her entire family in one night, “Please…please don’t leave.”

And the tears slip out, quietly and hardly noticed.

Jinx’s arms wrap around her at once, pulling her into an embrace as she says into Vi’s shoulder, “Never.”

The embrace is unexpected, and Vi feels paralyzed, unable to bring her arms up to complete it. She watches, almost feeling outside of herself, as Ekko carefully pushes past Caitlyn to join the hug.

Vi looks down at him, where his locs brush up against her neck, as Caitlyn says, “There’s one thing you’ve been forgetting in all of this.” Vi shifts her eyes to her in question, and Caitlyn stands, joining the hug from Vi’s side, bringing her head to Vi’s hair, “You’ve discussed all the pain that we’ve endured, but you’ve suffered too.”

Vi’s breath catches and the tears build up again. She’s so close to breaking. So, so close. But years of never being allowed that chance hold her back, leaving her stuck with a few stray tears silently running down, and the rest of her not moving a muscle.

“Mom, Dad, Vander,” Jinx says into her shoulder. The bridge, the cannery, the commune, the Hexgate. An abrupt and unceremonious ending to her childhood. Becoming the protector without one of her own. 

“Mylo, Claggor, Benzo,” Ekko says into her chest. Helpless, only able to watch in horror and despair. Alive until they weren’t, never having a chance to prepare, to react .

“Stillwater,” Caitlyn says into her hair. Hurt, bleeding, hungry, stuck, trapped, alone alone alone. Death and sickness and cruelty, so much apathy and disregard for human life that the only thing she knows is violence. Sharpening her, honing her, corroding her.

“Pitfighting,” Jinx lists. Lost, aimless, self-destruction, she hates herself she hates herself she hates herself.

“Being forced to choose between me and your sister,” Caitlyn adds on. Tearing her apart, leaving her shattered and distraught, trying to hold on to the one familiar thing she knows, the one bit of kindness she’d had after years of cruelty. Her failure, utter failure to keep anything she’d ever loved. Choosing wrong every time and losing everything.

“You’ve been through so much shit, Violet,” Jinx says, on the verge of sobs, “and you never deserved any of it.”

Perhaps it’s the use of her full name, a name she hadn’t heard for so, so long, that finally gets through to her. For years and years and years, she’s been forced to put on the brave face, the angry face, the strong face. She had to push everything aside for the sake of others, and later for her own survival. She never got to sit down and grieve. The one time she had that opportunity, she drank it away and preferred to spend her days killing herself slowly than actually thinking about it. Because all the things she’s lost…she thinks it might be too much. She might drown under the weight of it all.

And now there’s only more to add. Loris, her only real friend, not a sibling, not a lover, a friend… he’s gone. And just like with everything and everyone else, she never had a chance to say goodbye. 

The scars of Stillwater, they still have their grip on her, and she thinks they always will. The horrors and atrocities she endured…she couldn’t even put a voice to them if she tried. They haunt her nightmares and linger in the back of her waking moments, ready to strike if she doesn’t have her guard up. 

And all of the aching loss, it feels endless. Vander, dead in front of her four different times. The rest of her family all in an instant. 

Except, not all of them. 

Jinx and Ekko are here. They’re not gone. They’re still alive. And they will stay that way, Vi will accept nothing else. 

Slowly, her arms raise, and she brings them behind the heads of Ekko and Jinx, pulling them into her as she accepts the embrace in earnest, broken from her paralysis. 

Above her, Caitlyn strokes her hair with a gentleness that brings her back to childhood, to her mom and dad, still alive, “You’ve been carrying so much, haven’t you?”

A choked sob escapes her, the first sign that the dam she had relied on for so long is about to break. But she tries, maybe in vain, to hold it in. She doesn’t crack. She doesn’t falter.

But then Ekko says into her chest, “You can let go, Vi, we’ve got you.” 

And she does.

Vi breaks, the sobs coming out with such force that it almost scares her. A long, drawn out keen claws out of her throat, unable to be held back. The wailing is so violent that it hurts, burning the back of her throat but she can’t stop, because while she’s cried before, it’s never been like this, it’s never been letting everything go, it’s never been years of grief and guilt and trauma on full display, no longer able to be hidden away and forced down.

She holds onto Ekko and Jinx like lifelines, and she cries over what she was going to do, what she was so ready to do. Because she was, she was ready. She was ready to die. In that moment, the pain had been too much, and she had a perfect reason and a perfect opportunity to finally end it all.

But that opportunity is gone now. All that’s left is her, stripped bare of all of her walls and defenses, held onto tightly by her siblings who will never let her go. By Caitlyn, who keeps coming back.

She can’t do it. She doesn’t want to die. She can admit the truth, the real buried truth to herself now. She just wants to finally live. No more fighting to survive. No more barely making it. She wants to live with her family and dammit she wants to be happy too.

And she’ll be damned if the universe tries to take that from her.

Chapter Text

Multiple lacerations to the left side of her neck, rupturing her external jugular artery. Re-opened laceration wound on the stomach. Dislocated left shoulder. Various areas of internal bruising and poorly healed internal bleeding. Generalized hand trauma. Etc.

So, apparently Vi was worse off than she thought. The doctors have certainly not loved her condition, especially when it came to the bruising, the poor healing, and the hand trauma, since apparently those were “old” and “repeated” injuries. For Vi, it was just another day. 

It’s…really weird, being in a hospital like this. Vi has never been treated in a hospital until recently, because Stillwater’s medical ward definitely does not count. And that’s when they bothered to drag her in there, those times when she’d almost certainly die without the intervention.

The doctors tell her they want to keep her for a few weeks. Vi isn’t particularly enthusiastic about the idea, but she thinks it would make everyone happy if she stayed and let herself be treated, so she agrees. And between Zaun and Piltover’s new deal, and one of her frequent visitors being a Councilor (and when the hell did that happen?), Vi doesn’t even have to worry about scumbag Piltie doctors trying to scam her with bullshit expenses or ineffective treatments.  

And even though she’s stuck in a hospital in Piltover, she’s hardly alone. While they can’t stay in her room forever, Jinx, Ekko, and Caitlyn visit often enough that it feels like it. Jinx will even stay overnight, and Vi finds comfort in that. 

As the days pass, Vi notices that the visits start to become lined with a strange kind of tension, as each visitor she receives has some sort of unspoken conflict with her that they need to hash out. But for some, having that conversation takes longer than others.

—

Three days after Vi wakes up, Caitlyn visits again. She brings flowers, and Vi recognizes them from the manor’s garden. Striped carnations, dark pink around the edges and a paler pink on the inside. They were some of Vi’s favorites. The gesture is sweet, and so utterly foreign. Flowers don’t exactly grow in Zaun.

Caitlyn sits in the chair to Vi’s left, placing the flowers on the table on that side. Vi suddenly feels the need to fill the silence. 

“I…heard about Jayce,” Vi says, remembering what Ekko had told her about the going ons of the outside world. “I’m sorry.”

A tear escapes Caitlyn’s eye, and she gracefully wipes it away, “Thank you. It’s been difficult.” Caitlyn then looks far away for a moment, looking at something Vi can’t see. “But I suppose that I’ve already had experience in grieving him, these past months.”

“Still,” Vi says, “to have him back, even for a few days…” she trails off, speaking from a recent experience of her own. One that is raw in a whole new way, given the other memories that accompanied Vander’s third and fourth deaths.

And Caitlyn knows this too, “I know. And I’m sorry about your father.”

Vi breathes in, moving her eyes away, trying to ignore the way her eyes glisten at the reminder, “Like you said, it’s an old grief.”

“But it never goes away,” Caitlyn says, voice just above a whisper as it parrots what Vi said to her all those months ago. 

Vi swallows, “No, it never does.”

Together, they sit in silence for a moment, thinking of their own losses. Vi’s heart aches for Caitlyn, she knows that Jayce was like a brother to her, and Vi knows all too well the feeling of losing a sibling. Caitlyn’s hands fidget from where she has them folded in her lap, and she worries her lip. She’s mulling over something, Vi figures.

But she doesn’t like this awkwardness between them, so she changes the topic, “So…Councilor and Sheriff, huh?” Vi smirks, “Looks like you really are Piltover’s favorite daughter.” The remark is meant with humor, but Vi recognizes the echoes to another title she lobbed at Caitlyn in circumstances hardly so kind. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Caitlyn brushes a stray hair from her face, very nearly smiling. But then her mood grows more somber, “It’s not what I wanted for myself. For my life. I never wanted to be a Councilor like my mother…and, frankly, I’ll only be the Sheriff in name. My deputy will be doing most of the grunt work while I perform my duties as Councilor.”

“Then why do it?” Vi asks. “Why be a Councilor? You could have just given up your seat.” Caitlyn finally had the opportunity to live outside her mother’s shadow, but she goes right back under it?

Caitlyn inclines her head, as if to acknowledge Vi’s point, “I could’ve, but this role, no matter how much I hate it, is the best way to pay my debt. Right the wrongs I did unto the undercity.” She looks at Vi steadily, “Unto you.”

And while Vi is touched, and in a way happy that Caitlyn is taking this step, a part of her cries out against seeing Caitlyn make this sacrifice, knowing how much it meant to her to have a job all on her own merit, not a birthright, “You don’t have to give up your dream.”

Caitlyn huffs a chuckle, “I think you have the least room to lecture me about sacrifice, dear.” Her eyes widen when she realizes what she just said, and Vi flinches at the endearment. 

The tension in the room comes roaring back as the reminder of what they once were to each other makes itself known. A line they’ve been dancing around for days, or perhaps weeks, appears before Vi, and she is woefully unprepared to restart the routine.

Caitlyn takes the lead, asking the question Vi had been expecting, even if dreading, “Can we talk about…us?” Her eye shines with a kind of hope and trepidation, and even though Vi could refuse, table this conversation for yet another day…she really can’t. Not this time. This awkwardness has to be resolved, one way or another, because Vi can’t stand not knowing where to step.

“Okay,” she intones. 

Caitlyn looks away, wringing her hands some more, “I don’t…I don’t know where we stand, anymore.”

Vi shrugs, the gesture too casual for the topic, but there’s little else she can do when sitting in a hospital bed, “Neither do I.”

And Caitlyn stays silent after that, mind still working, probably. But Vi was always quicker, so she finally voices the apology that’s been lining her throat all this time, the one she had denied herself when she believed that distance was the best idea. “I’m sorry, for what I said to you, in the cell. I shouldn’t have put that on you, you didn’t know about Jinx, or about me.”

Caitlyn puts a hand up, preventing Vi from saying anymore, “I’m going to stop you right there,” she says, but gently, “You weren’t entirely wrong. I knew that something was wrong with your sister, but I hadn’t considered it would be that. And you were right to be angry that I hadn’t considered how being locked in a cell would affect you. I might not have known for certain you were down there, but I could have released you earlier if I'd just checked. But I chose not to, thinking we both needed time to cool off. I’m sorry.

“But that’s not the only thing I need to apologize for,” Caitlyn adds when Vi doesn’t respond right away, too preoccupied with trying to figure out what the “right” way to respond to an apology is.

Vi mentally waves her off, “You already did.” Really, it was fine. Vi doesn’t need any more apologies. She’s heard enough. She’s never had so many, and she doesn’t know what to do with them. So she’d rather not hear them at all. It’s more familiar that way. 

But Caitlyn raises a challenging brow, “And that was enough?”

The direct question, and the way she asks it, stops Vi from giving her automatic reassurance. And it causes her to actually take a moment to think about what Caitlyn is really asking. But no, her automatic response is right, she doesn’t need any more apologies. Really. It’s kind of making her uncomfortable, she’d rather just move on. 

“I apologized to you when you were in no state of mind for us to have a real conversation about this,” Caitlyn says, tone a little sad. “But you are now, so let’s talk.”

“What is there to talk about?” Vi says, a tiny flicker of frustration popping up in her chest. “There’s no point in bringing up the past.” Seriously, she’s really just ready to put this behind her, because the more they sit here and talk about it, the more it’s going to bring up memories and feelings that Vi doesn’t want to remember, and she’s still so exhausted from wailing her heart out three days ago. Like…she got it out then. She’s fine. They can move on. 

But it’s like Caitlyn reads her mind, “You don’t move on by pushing everything down.”

“Why not?” Vi bristles, the defensiveness coming out like a reflex, “That’s worked for me so far.”

Caitlyn refuses to rise to the bait, “Now you’re just being belligerent on purpose,” she says flatly, tone bordering on an exasperation of its own. “Can you please just take this seriously?”

“I am taking this seriously, Caitlyn,” Vi says, arm gesturing with her. “I don’t know what you want me to say, I just want to move on, it doesn’t matter anymore.” Can’t she just drop it? Vi doesn’t really want to talk about this. What’s the use in bringing it up? It happened, it’s over. Clearly, Caitlyn feels bad about it. And that’s it. She just wants to move past all this. 

Caitlyn sputters, looking incredulous, “Doesn’t matter? A week ago I saw Ekko holding your nearly lifeless body.” Caitlyn’s eye fills with tears then, devastated, and it makes Vi deflate a bit, makes her want to wipe those tears away, and apologize for making her worry. But then she remembers that she’s not supposed to be doing that anymore, so Vi keeps her hands to herself. 

“Then,” Caitlyn continues, “when I was finally able to go to the hospital to see you, I learned that you had tried to end your life, and were fighting against your siblings so that you could try again.” Caitlyn’s eye is hard, but not quite in anger, but rather in a storm of concern. “That kind of pain doesn’t arise in a day, Vi. It comes from leaving things unfinished and unsaid, and I’m not going to let you do that to yourself with me. So let it out, be angry.”

Angry? Caitlyn wants Vi to be angry with her? Caitlyn’s words butt up against the walls Vi has built around her feelings towards the people she cares about, especially her anger, and it leaves her feeling irritated because of her confusion, “I just don’t understand, why do you even want me to be angry?” No one wants that, least of all Vi, so if Caitlyn could just drop this, that would be wonderful for everyone, Vi thinks. 

“Because you should!” Caitlyn half-shouts, frustrated and leaning forward to get closer to Vi. “That is a natural reaction to being mistreated. Why do you keep refusing to be angry?” 

Mistreated? That’s a bit overdramatic, isn’t it? 

So then why does it ring so true? 

Vi ignores those thoughts in favor of answering Caitlyn’s question. Maybe if she does, then Caitlyn will just leave this alone, finally, and they can get back to defusing this weird tension that’s been built between them. But Vi fears that maybe the only way out is through. Through this conversation she really doesn’t want to have. 

Because, despite how often she feels it, she doesn’t like being angry. Not at the people she loves. It’s so incongruent to how she generally feels about them, and it never leads to anything good. She learned that lesson harshly, in a brief lapse of control that she will regret for the rest of her life. 

“I don’t like being angry at the people I care about,” Vi says, voice low with warning and despondence, “Nothing good happens when I am.” Vi looks down at her fists, which have curled around the blanket. She’s transported back to that night, that horrible night, and it takes all her mental strength to stop the flashback in its tracks, squeezing her eyes shut. 

Caitlyn shifts at her bedside, bringing a hand over and resting it on Vi’s thigh, much like how Ekko did a few days ago. And just like then, the touch is grounding, and helps the last dregs of that night fade away. Vi looks up at Caitlyn, then, and finds so much care and concern in the other’s eye, and it reminds her of a much more pleasant memory, one in another bed, in another time. But that memory eventually became haunting too, a reminder of the warmth she had lost and continued to unsuccessfully chase. 

“I understand your hesitance, but bottling things up and never talking about them is exactly what brought us here,” Caitlyn says gently, carefully. “And don’t act like you were never angry with me, we both know that is a lie. While they were harsh, the things you said to me that day didn’t come from nowhere.” 

Vi presses her lips together, knowing that Caitlyn is right. Those words did come from somewhere. A bone-deep disappointment and something even more buried, something she never let herself fully feel or explore because it was horrible whenever she tried. It was one of the many feelings she drank away, or locked behind so many doors she couldn’t even name what it was. But with Caitlyn’s words, it starts to reveal itself, slowly.

Caitlyn’s gaze is firm, “You’re allowed to be angry, Vi.”

Is she? It doesn’t feel like it. 

The bitter thought makes Vi pause. Where had that even come from? Since when was she bitter? Vi doesn’t like the way that thought feels to her. She is not bitter . 

Maybe Caitlyn has a point. 

She sighs, “Alright, fine,” she puts her hands up in a gesture of defeat. “Maybe I am angry. But really, it’s not that bad.”

Caitlyn doesn’t even pay the backtrack any mind, “Why are you angry, Vi?”

The other woman asks her this so genuinely, like she really wants to know. And this whole conversation has been chipping away at Vi’s walls, and her energy to maintain them. So she gives in, and actually thinks about it, bringing her eyes down to look at her lap. Her words come out as half-baked, rambling things, “I…you never stood up to your dad for me. He acted like I was dirt under his shoe and you never said a word.”

And oh, that did bother Vi, didn’t it? She remembered how hurt she was every time it happened. And she had brought it up to Caitlyn, back at the manor, but even then, that was just her lashing out, not really sitting with the feelings like Caitlyn is asking her to do now. This is better. But it still brings up old hurts, and after that first one, more come to mind. 

“I hated all of those awful things you said about my city and my people,” Vi says, voice quiet and slow. “You called us animals and criminals, the same insulting bullshit all Pilties spout. But you were supposed to be different.” Vi chances a look back up to Caitlyn, and the other woman looks ashamed and guilt-ridden, but not overly so. It’s restrained. Vi can’t tell if she likes that or not. Is it a gesture of her trying not to take the attention away from Vi’s feelings? Or does she really not care? Vi knows that it’s probably the first, but this is why she doesn’t like getting angry, because now that her irritation is rising, her judgement starts to distort, and it feels more like the latter. 

Her voice grows louder, more pained and furious, “And I’m angry about everything you did after we stopped seeing each other. Patrolling my streets, carting away my people off to the place where I was damn near tortured for seven years. You turned your back on every good intention you had, and that hurt.” She fully looks at Caitlyn now, but she doesn’t register any change in the other woman’s face, completely focused on all the reasons that are starting to spill out of her, the rising tide of her fury unable to be held back now that Caitlyn’s abuse of authority has been remembered. 

“You sprung that fucking badge on me, and you acted offended when I didn’t want it, because you hadn’t considered my feelings at all,” Vi scoffs. “You just wanted a yes man, and you couldn’t take it when I couldn’t give you that. You didn’t even consider the fact that the only reason I wasn’t homeless was because of you. Did you even wonder what I had to do after you left? It was only thanks to Loris that I wasn’t on the streets for longer.” Her voice comes close to breaking at the end as her throat grows choked, the emotions starting to become overwhelming. 

But there is still more, and this time the words pour out of her as a shout, indignant and upset, “And I’m angry that after everything, you left me!” Caitlyn’s face falls, guilt breaking it into something wretched, but Vi is beyond caring about that, angry tears starting to blur her vision, “I gave up so much of myself, for you! I gave up on my sister, I didn’t search for Ekko, I put on the uniform of the people who killed my parents. All for you, because I loved you, because I couldn’t lose you. And you left me.” Vi’s eyes narrow in revulsion, in betrayal, in rage, “And then you have the nerve to sit here when I’m at my lowest, to care about me, to love me back!” 

By this point, Vi is nearly panting due to the force of her words, and she makes herself take a couple of calming breaths before she truly loses control of herself, pushing the anger back down into something more acceptable as other feelings take its place. Despair, shame, guilt. “And I don’t even want you to leave,” she says, broken. “I’m so angry, I feel so betrayed…but I still want you. How pathetic is that?”

That’s how it feels to her. The tears slip out, hot as they roll down her cheeks. Because she’s finally admitted to herself just how betrayed she feels by Caitlyn…and that despite all that, she still loves her. She feels like such a fool. Why can’t her foolish heart understand? But even the thought of not loving Caitlyn anymore feels so horribly wrong. When Vi loves, she loves intensely, and unconditionally, and no matter how much you hurt her, she’ll always come back. That’s how it has always been. 

And she finds that she doesn’t quite like that way of things, anymore. 

She wants to be secure in her love, where she doesn’t halfway expect it to be wrenched away from her, by the universe or otherwise. With everything stripped bare, she can admit that now. But she still wonders if she deserves that. Caitlyn would think she would. But that’s the problem. If Vi jumps back in to a relationship with Caitlyn, she’ll go right back to her old habits. Contorting herself to fit whatever version of herself Caitlyn needs, just to ensure she can keep her. 

That’s no way to love, is it? 

Caitlyn’s eye shines as she cries too, and she shifts forward, more and more until she’s off the chair and on the floor, as close to Vi’s bedside as she can be without being on the bed itself. She looks up at Vi, rueful, and she reaches out, holding Vi’s hand steadily, and Vi welcomes the touch, even if the entire gesture bewilders her. 

“I’m sorry,” Caitlyn says wetly, “I know that I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it as many times as I need to. I am so sorry, Vi. My behavior towards you was inexcusable, and my actions in the undercity were unnacceptable. I knew better. I was so lost in my grief and my rage that I believed myself justified, and I allowed myself to heed Ambessa’s advice, which only made things worse.” The regret in Caitlyn’s eyes is replaced with a sort of steely determination, “I am doing everything in my power to make things right in Zaun. That is why I’ve assumed my seat on the Council, to see Zaun’s independence to fruition. But as for amends towards you specifically…how can I make it up to you?”

Vi doesn’t know. Her throat is dry as she quickly tries to find the words, find anything she can say.

Caitlyn beats her to it, “Maybe I can’t. I know that no apology could ever be enough for the harm that I’ve put you through.” She pulls Vi’s hand closer to her, just slightly, probably unintentionally so. “Even if it was unintentional, I abused my power over you when I presented you with the badge. I treated you like an object,” she spits the word with such vehemence, betraying her own self-hatred. “Perhaps there is no recourse for me. I would not ask that you forgive me. I don’t even think I can forgive myself.”

Vi has to fight every instinct she’s built over the course of her entire life not to immediately try to comfort Caitlyn here. She has to let Caitlyn stew in her guilt and her shame, and she hates it. But Caitlyn needs that. And Vi is not a vindictive person. She never was. Having Caitlyn in front of her, essentially groveling, makes her deeply uncomfortable. But…a not small part of her is touched as well. It soothes some of the anger within. But not all of it. 

It doesn’t make her forgive Caitlyn. She could. Or she could fool herself into thinking she’s forgiven and forgotten, at least. But that’s what she always does. And just a little bit of prodding made Vi’s anger roar with a nearly uncontrollable fury. Caitlyn…had a point. She can’t move on by just burying it all. That doesn’t work for her anymore. Or maybe it never did. 

Which means that now she has to actually think about forgiveness—when she can give it, when she can’t. 

And right now…

“I want to be able to forgive you,” Vi says, the words being the simple truth. “I care about you so much, which is why this hurts so much…” She sucks in a breath as realization dawns, “But I think I need time. I just need time.”

Caitlyn…well, she isn’t happy, but her gaze is understanding, and she gives a clipped nod, “Well, you do have a world of that now.”

And Vi can’t help it, but the half-joke actually makes her chuckle a little, “I do, don’t I?”

Time. A future. She hasn’t had either of those in…so long. Stillwater was an eater of time, a destroyer of futures. And after being released, it was just one crisis after another, followed by months of living at the edge of the abyss. Then it was even more crises to deal with. And now…it’s just time. 

Time to heal. Time to grow. Time to change. 

Caitlyn eases herself back up to the chair, probably made uncomfortable kneeling on the floor. But she doesn’t let go of Vi’s hand, and Vi doesn’t make her either. 

Once she settles, she asks Vi, voice light, “Where will you go, when you’re discharged?”

“I…” She doesn’t know. She hadn’t really thought that far. Always living in an eternal present. 

“If you’d like…” Caitlyn starts hesitantly, looking away as a faint blush colors her cheeks, “I would like having you in the manor again, with me.” She meets Vi’s eyes, “I could use you, in this fight.”

And Vi is surprised to find that the suggestion…doesn’t really appeal to her at all. But she can’t quite look at Caitlyn when she says, “I don’t think I can live in Piltover. I don’t belong up here,” she gives a sad smile, so faint it could hardly be called one. “Not even with you.”

Caitlyn looks disappointed at that, but she doesn’t miss a beat, “Then maybe I could come with you.” It’s said like a question, but it isn’t.

“You’re needed up here,” Vi shakes her head. At Caitlyn’s denying look, Vi hardens her gaze slightly, “You know you are. They might’ve agreed to grant Zaun its freedom now, but there’s no guarantee that Piltover won’t go back on that.” She squeezes Caitlyn’s hand, “I still believe you can make this city better. But you’ll have to do it without me.”

Caitlyn looks down then, clearly resigned but accepting of Vi’s thoughts. And Vi knows that it’s not her responsibility, but she can’t stop herself from trying to offer Caitlyn even a modicum of comfort. She just can’t leave things unsaid. 

“Listen,” she rubs her thumb over Caitlyn’s knuckles, and revels in the vulnerability to be found in Caitlyn’s teal gaze, “I still love you. And I know now that you love me. But I think that we both know that love…it’s not always enough to sustain a relationship. I want you with me. But I also know that right now isn’t the right time for that.”

Vi takes a breath, gathers her thoughts, “I still haven’t forgiven you. And, I won’t lie to you, I don’t trust you anymore. Not completely. What’s broken between us can’t be fixed.”

Caitlyn’s expression grows crestfallen, so Vi hurriedly adds on, “Right now.” Caitlyn looks at Vi with a glimmer of hope. Vi looks at their joined hands, “If I let you back into my life right now, I’ll make the same mistakes all over again. I’ll latch onto you like you’re my anchor, and I’ll pay the price. I’ll lose myself.” She moves her eyes back up to Caitlyn’s face, “I don’t want that, and I don’t think you want that either. I need time. I need to be on my own.”

Vi blinks, and the next words feel sour, even if they are true, “I’m not trying to lead you on. I don’t want you to wait for me. If you find someone…”

“I won’t,” Caitlyn says at once, inflexible, like it’s an easy truth.

“Okay,” Vi isn’t quite so believing, “But if you do, go for it. Please. I don’t know if I’ll ever…” she trails off, not sure how to finish that sentence, because to acknowledge that fully makes her sad. That she could be so broken that she could never have love the way she’d always wanted…that hurts.^[1]

Caitlyn is patient, calmly picking up on Vi’s meaning, “It’s alright, Vi, I understand.”

Vi tries not to believe that this is a mistake, that she is unnecessarily cutting herself off from this woman that she loves. But then she remembers all the broken pieces between them, and all the shattered parts of herself. She’ll cut herself on these edges if she’s not careful. This is the right decision.

“So…this is goodbye, then?” Caitlyn asks, voice quiet, vulnerable, unsure. 

“Goodbye…” Vi says, the word feeling not quite right, “That sounds so final. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned this past year, it’s that nothing ever stays dead. Not forever.” Vi reaches out with her free hand, putting it on top of Caitlyn’s, sandwiching it between her own. She looks Caitlyn in the eye with a slight, but genuine, smile.

“Think of this as see you later.”

—

A few days later, Ekko brings news from Zaun.

“Sorry I haven’t been up to visit that much,” Ekko says as he settles down in his seat. “Things have been kinda hectic down in Zaun.”

“You seriously have nothing to be sorry about Ekko,” Vi waves him off, feeling immediately almost embarrassed from the apology. “What’s up in Zaun?”

“Well, you already know about the deal with the Council,” Ekko starts, and Vi nods. “Yeah, so now we’ve been real busy trying to get some sort of government together so that we can start having the rest of the negotiations.”

“Oh,” Vi breathes. Damn, the pieces are moving fast. 

“Yeah, I know,” Ekko says upon seeing Vi’s shocked expression. “I knew we weren’t gonna wait around but…it’s like everything has changed so quickly,” he sighs. “I’m kinda struggling to wrap my head around it.”

Vi reaches an arm out and gives Ekko a squeeze on the shoulder, “Well, there’s no one better for Zaun than you, Ekko.” She reassures. “What you did with the Firelights was amazing.” It really was. He might not have done it alone, but he was the initiator, and the Firelights’ leader. It’s just as much his accomplishment as any other founding member’s. 

But Ekko always stays humble. “Well, I’m not the only one a part of this anyway,” he says, looking away, a tiny bit flustered. “Other than me, Sevika and Scar are on the Union—that’s what we’re planning on calling it, we all agreed it had to be something different from Piltover’s.” 

Vi nods, because that makes sense. The Union. Zaun’s Union. Huh, she kinda likes the sound of that. Feels…fitting for Zaun, and all of its disparate parts.

“We’re working on getting some new members,” Ekko explains, “We definitely at least need some people familiar with the business side of things.”

Then his expression shifts, and he looks at Vi in an appraising way, “I…I was wondering if maybe you’d want to…”

He’s asking her? Vi can’t keep the shock off of her face. A part of her finds it darkly hilarious that both Caitlyn and Ekko have asked for her help with this, but on different sides. And there’s also an irony in it. When she was younger, she would’ve jumped at the chance to be a leader for Zaun, to be right there at the negotiating table. But…she’s been gone for so long, unfamiliar with what the city has become, and more importantly, she doesn’t think she has that right anymore. Not after accepting that badge. She’ll help Zaun, there’s no question about that, but she’ll find a different way. 

“Ekko, I…I don’t think I can. It’s not that I don’t want to help the undercity, because I do, and I will, but, the things I did…I shouldn’t. I’m not what Zaun needs right now. Not like that.” 

“I disagree, but I respect it.” Ekko says, crossing his arms. Then his expression shifts, becoming something of a mixture between vulnerable and upset.

“Do you think you could finally explain to me what the deal with that was?” He asks, voice sounding a little strained, like he’s holding himself back. “We never got to finish.”

Vi exhales and gives a curt nod, “Yeah, okay. You deserve an explanation.”

Ekko’s tone becomes imploring, “I just…I need to know why. Why join them? Why turn your back?”

Vi looks away, unable to stomach the pain in his eyes, the reminder of the horrible thing she did by putting on that accursed uniform, becoming one of the boots on Zaun’s neck. “I felt like I had no other choice. And I know that’s bullshit now, but that’s how it felt at the time.”

Sighing, Vi buys herself time to put her feelings into words, to give Ekko the explanation he deserves even if it brings Vi discomfort to be so open about something like this.

“Caitlyn…she got me out of Stillwater,” Vi says, and she looks at Ekko, then, eyes hard from memories she’d rather leave untouched, “I know you’ve heard the stories, we all heard the stories, but believe me when I tell you that you have no idea what it’s like in there. It’s…I wouldn’t wish that place on my worst enemy.”

Vi shifts her eyes away again, studying her standard hospital blanket, “So after she did something like that for me…there was this obligation I felt. And not just that, because I fell in love with her too. With that Caitlyn. Sweet, and kind, and determined. Not…not the person she became,” and Vi’s voice grows despondent as she remembers those weeks of a steady change in the woman she loved, the difficulty of it. Vi swallows all of that away, her recent conversation with Caitlyn being too fresh on her mind, the mind that still screams at her for making a “mistake” by letting Caitlyn go. But it wasn’t a mistake.

“Anyway, when the bombing happened and her mom died…I was so sure that it was my fault. I’d convinced Caitlyn not to shoot Jinx, and I was sure that I’d created Jinx in the first place, that she wasn’t my sister but some monster taking her place. And I had to do something to make that right.” She remembers how deep those feelings of guilt ran. They still do, but Vi knows better now. Mostly. It’s hard.

“I’m not proud of it,” Vi admits. “In fact I hate myself for it. Before the badge…I wanted to be the one to…deal with Jinx, on my own, but Caitlyn wouldn’t go for it. So she suggested that I become an Enforcer instead.” She chances a glance at Ekko, who looks on in a mix of anger, disbelief, and pity. She has to look away, not prepared to face any of those emotions. 

“At first, I basically told her to shove it,” Vi smirks lightly, but there’s no amusement in it, just a sadness as she recalls being unable to hold on to her own principles in that crucial moment. “But I thought I owed it to her, to do this thing that she wanted me to do. And it wasn’t just that. I was also scared.” Ekko flinches, but Vi doesn’t truly register it. “Caitlyn was…going down a path that I couldn’t follow, and I wanted to pull her back, and I thought that wearing the badge was the only way I could.”

Vi turns all of herself to Ekko as the shame coils up and down her spine, making her eyes water, “God, I really think that there’s something wrong with me,” the words spill out, less planned and more stream-of-consciousness as Vi grapples with what all of these recent admissions mean for her. “Whether it’s Caitlyn or Jinx, it’s like I lose myself. I get so attached. I mean Jinx is my sister, so that makes sense, right? But Caitlyn…I just couldn’t lose her, I couldn’t. I thought that becoming an Enforcer was the only way I could keep her. I was willing to betray everything I knew, just to keep her.”

She…had not meant to just dump all of that on him, and when the energy of the moment falls away, a kind of embarrassment makes itself known. On one hand, Ekko is kind of the only person she could talk to about this. But on the other…he already has to carry so much, and she should be keeping things like this to herself. 

Right? 

The three of them had been so adamant as to otherwise…

“So…that’s the explanation,” Vi says instead of thinking any more about that. The words were already said, it’s too late to take them back. “I told you, it’s complicated.”

Ekko looks thoughtful for a moment, lips pulling together as he takes Vi’s words in. His face flits through so many different emotions—disappointment, anger, pity—but it settles on a kind of neutral acceptance, maybe something more akin to resignation. 

“I guess I understand it now,” he says finally. “I don’t agree, obviously. And I’m still not happy. But I get it, I guess.”

Vi thinks he’s probably sugarcoating it, “You don’t have to understand, it’s okay. I know that what I did was unforgivable.”

Ekko winces, “I wouldn’t say that. I’m still mad now, but if you do the work to make up for it, I think it’s something we can move past.”

That’s more than she deserves, Vi thinks, but she wisely doesn’t say that, “You really think so?”

Ekko uncrosses his arms, bracing his hands on his knees as his posture relaxes slightly, “You remember what I said about Jinx, back when we first saw each other again.” It’s not a question. “I’d given up on her. Or at least I thought I did. When I stopped her, on the bridge, we fought. But I couldn’t finish her off. I could hardly get more than a few hits in, because she looked at me and…I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.”

Vi knows the feeling. 

“I’m saying this because I know how hard it is to forgive what others might call unforgivable, or to at least move on from those things, because I don’t think that forgiveness and moving forward have to be the same thing,” Ekko says, leaning back, “We’re family, Vi, and I don’t want to lose that, no matter how mad I am at you.”

Suddenly, Ekko’s demeanor shifts, and a flicker of her Little Man is there, small and scared and too young for this shit, “I…when I came down and saw you falling from that platform…I didn’t know if I could save you. I thought I was going to watch you die in front of me.” His voice grows choked as he tears up, “I thought you’d die with this weirdness between us never being resolved. I don’t want that. I’ve lost too many people.” By the end, his voice is shaky as his body trembles, trying to hold itself back from the obvious onslaught of tears. 

This, Vi knows how to fix. She leans forward and opens her arms, and after a brief glance of hesitation, Ekko almost jumps into them, and Vi can feel the front of her shirt growing suspiciously wet as she holds Ekko tightly, never too old to be hugged by his older sister. 

Vi is sad for him. Like her, he’d been forced to grow up too fast. And sure, Vi was able to handle the responsibility, but she can see how it took its toll on Ekko, even if he took it like a champ. He looks so tired . When does he get to rest? Who saves him? 

These are all things Vi should talk to him about, and she will. But perhaps not today. He seems distraught enough as is without bringing up his own shit. And, as her conversation with Caitlyn recently reminded her, Vi has time. 

Eventually, Ekko pulls away, discreetly wiping his eyes even though they both know he totally just cried a river into Vi’s chest. But Vi is just happy he was able to at least let go of a little bit with her. God knows he probably needed it. 

Then Ekko unexpectedly sobers and says, “I also wanted to apologize to you today.”

Oh god, not another one of these, Vi really can’t take it. Especially not from Ekko, who has done absolutely nothing that Vi can think of, “I really don’t think there’s anything you need to—“

Ekko cuts her off, “Respectfully, you’re the last person I’ll hear that from.”

And, okay, rude, but…Vi might see his point, thinking over the last couple weeks.

“Point taken,” she huffs.

“Anyway, I wanted to say I was sorry for, well, not being more honest with you,” Ekko admits, shifting his gaze away from Vi’s questioning look. “I kept the alternate timeline from you on purpose. If I’d just told you outright…”

Yeah, no, Vi’s not going to let him do this to himself, “Hey, don’t blame yourself,” she says, reaching her arm out and patting him on the knee. Affection, freely given. “I know, rich coming from me, right?” she says wryly. “But I’m serious. You didn’t have to tell me anything, I’m the one who eavesdropped anyway.”

“And,” Vi adds, suddenly feeling vulnerable, “I probably would’ve done the same thing, in the Hexgate, whether I knew about the other timeline or not. If it was between me and Jinx, I’d choose her in a heartbeat. You know I would.”

But Ekko won’t let go of it so easily, “I just feel responsible, I guess.” And doesn’t that sound rather familiar?

Vi smirks self-depreciatingly, “When did you become so much like me?”

Ekko doesn’t share the same dark amusement, answering entirely honestly instead, “When I had to model myself after you to survive.”

And that makes Vi lose the teasing tone immediately, “I’m sorry—“ she catches herself, knowing that after everything, they’re not going to let her apologize as much anymore (even when she should). “I wish you didn’t have to be alone, all this time,” she amends. 

“I wasn’t alone,” Ekko shakes his head. “Not the whole time. The Firelights, they’re like my family too,” he says quietly. “Not quite the same way you are, and not like how Jinx is, but they were there when I needed them.”

Vi gives his knee a squeeze, “Good, I’m glad you had some people behind you.” And really, she is. She wouldn’t wish being alone the way she was on anyone. As much as Vi hates everything about it, Jinx at least had Silco in some awful way.

After a silent beat, Ekko speaks up again, “There’s just one last thing I wanted to ask.” Vi nods for him to go ahead, curious. “After the bombing, why didn’t you come to me? You know I’d always help you, no questions asked.”

Vi blinks. She…hadn’t expected this question. But maybe she should’ve. Ekko really has become so much like her, and it almost hurts. “The feeling of responsibility, I guess,” she says, mind working. “To Caitlyn, I mean. I wanted to leave. I wanted to make sure that you were…that you were still alive,” she looks away briefly, remembering the explosion on the bridge. “And I still feel so guilty that I never did.”

“But I felt like I couldn’t leave,” Vi continues after a moment, “And, well, you know what happened after that. And after Caitlyn and I,” Vi hesitates, but decides that telling Ekko about the entirety of that argument would do more harm than good, the same decision she made with Jinx all those weeks ago. “Went our separate ways, I was too ashamed to even think of seeking you out, and I didn’t think you needed or would've even wanted me around anyway.” Vi looks down, the shame rushing back. The guilt coming from multiple directions.  

Ekko seems thoughtful for a second, “Maybe I don’t need you in the same way I did. We’re a long way away from those days,” he says wistfully. “But I still need you Vi, you’re my big sister. I’ll always need that.”

Vi smiles, a genuine thing, “And I’ll always need my little brother.”

After a moment—quiet, but full of warmth—passes between them, Ekko says, “You know the door’s still open for you, right? The Firelights, we’ve got room for you.”

Vi’s breath catches for a second. Even after everything…? But yeah, of course he would. Vi would do the same for any member of her family. She should stop being surprised that they would extend that same grace to her, shouldn’t she? Doesn’t mean she’s not warmed by the gesture. But before she can make mention of any of this, a question pops up in her mind, unable to be ignored.

“Is Jinx staying with you guys?”

Ekko gives her a flat look, “You ever gonna think of yourself?” But then he softens, “Yeah, she’s there. Me and Jinx, we’re…”

Oh. Wait, is he saying…? Really? Finally! “Well it’s about damn time,” Vi chuckles. 

And somehow Ekko looks shocked by her response, “What? How did you even—?”

Did he forget that she watched them dance around each other for literal, actual years? Yeah, it was a childhood crush, but even the way he talked about Jinx in the present day made it clear just where his affections lay.

“Come on Little Man, it was obvious.” Vi says, leaning into the teasing that she’d missed so dearly. And hey, it makes Ekko smile, even if it’s a flustered one, not to mention honest-to-god giggle, so that means she’s definitely going to keep it up.

“Shut up.” 

—

It’s not until Vi is nearly ready to be discharged that Jinx feels ready to start breaching the gaps between them, though it doesn’t start this way at first.

That day, Jinx comes in with Isha in tow. The girl is almost fully recovered from the wound on her back, walking and jumping around and only wincing a few times, not that the obvious pain does anything to temper her energy.

She immediately launches herself almost entirely onto the bed to give Vi a hug. And Vi holds her tightly in the embrace, careful of the wounds on her back, this kid she had never expected to know, or care about this much. This kid that reminds her so much of the years she’s lost, the ones that have gone by. And she loves the way Jinx softens around Isha.

Today is the day that they’re finally going to bring Isha back down to the undercity. She’ll be in the care of the Firelights, where there will be other kids her age, Jinx says. Good. Even more of their little family together. 

After maybe an hour or so of playing card games (Isha really loves them, Vi has come to know. She wonders where the kid learned that from), there’s a knock on the door, and when it opens, Vi’s eyes widen as Sevika walks through. 

“She’s taking Isha with her for a bit,” Jinx explains when Vi looks a little uneasy, “There’s…I wanted to be alone with you before we caught back up with Ekko.”

The most important thing that Vi gathers from this explanation is that Jinx trusts Sevika. And if Jinx trusts her, then maybe Vi can too. Everyone around Vi seems to be able to let go, to forgive, to move on. Maybe Vi can learn to do that too, do it with people she doesn’t consider family. 

Sevika catches Vi’s gaze and gives her a nod, and after a moment of hesitation, Vi gives one back. 

Sevika looks down at Isha (and Vi doesn’t miss the warmth there) who’s sitting at the edge of Vi’s bed, “Alright, kid, let’s get you back down to Zaun. Too much time up here…just not good for you.” 

A joke, but not wrong. Vi could attest.

Isha huffs, but relents, jumping off of Vi’s bed and going to stand where Sevika waits. But before they leave, Isha turns around and gives Vi a little gesture, excitedly waving her hand with her middle two fingers down^[2]. Vi’s heart skips a beat, and she slowly raises her good arm and gives the gesture back. Goodbye, but a little more loving. 

Vi notices Jinx’s eyebrows raise from her spot on Vi’s right side, betraying her surprise, but Jinx doesn’t say anything until after Isha and Sevika leave, “You can sign?”

“Yeah, I…picked it up in Stillwater.” Vi says with a slight wince, recalling the context of acquiring that specific piece of knowledge. But she can’t deny that it’s been useful, both currently and during her time in prison. “I use a different dialect than Isha, but there’s things in common,” she explains. Then she’s struck by an idea. “I could teach you, if you want. Or maybe we can both learn the kind Isha uses together.”

Jinx gives an uncommitted nod, but she doesn’t seem closed to the thought, “I’ve learned a little bit just from being around her, but…not enough.” And Vi knows the feeling.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be signing like a pro in no time,” Vi gives a reassuring smile.

Jinx smiles back, but it fades away as she looks at the door where Isha and Sevika had so recently departed, “That kid…you know, a couple of months after I met her, she almost blew herself up with one of my bombs,” she admits, and Vi’s heart beats a little faster, a sharp worry landing there. “Too curious for her own good. Obviously, she was fine. But after I saved her, I realized…I’d do anything for her. To protect her. And I would always, always be worried about her.” 

Jinx turns her head to Vi, then, hitting her with a gaze swimming with emotion and understanding, “That’s how you felt with me, wasn’t it?” 

So, this is what Jinx wants to talk about. Vi’s been relearning her sister. She knows her tendency to deflect, to use humor to mask. And now she’s been learning the way Jinx can meander to the true point, speak around what she really means like a spiral swirling to a center point. 

“I was your big sister,” Vi says simply. “My job was, and always will be, to protect you. Vander told me once that ‘whatever happens is on me’. He always made sure that I knew that my responsibility was to all of you. His last words to me, that night, were to take care of you.” 

Vi looks down as her eyes start to well, the old routine of self-loathing coming back with an ease, “All I could think about in that shitty prison was how I failed. I hit you. I let Silco get his hands on you.” She glances back up at Jinx, begging her to hear her. “I never should have hit you. I lost control of myself that night, and I’ll always regret it.”

Jinx looks away, clearly made uncomfortable by the sincerity, “Well, we’ve hit each other a lot more since then.”

Vi swallows down her first response, to deny that and tell Jinx that actions taken years later don’t absolve Vi of what she’s done. But this time, she decides she’ll take a different approach. Meet Jinx where she’s at. Navigate this conversation a different way.

“We have, haven’t we?” Vi replies, and Jinx’s eyebrows raise slightly, revealing her surprise that Vi takes her words as they are. “We…just keep hurting each other,” Vi says sadly. 

Jinx’s eyes are just as sad, and desolate, when she breathes, “You thought I was lying when I told you that I loved you.”

“No,” Vi refutes instantly, “That’s not what I thought. I was just…confused.” She should’ve known that particular lapse in judgement would not be so easily forgotten. She hates herself for ever letting her sister think that Vi thought she didn’t love her.

Her sister smirks darkly, full of despair and self-depreciation, “Thought I wasn’t capable of love like everybody else, right?”

And now they’ve started the dance. Conversations with Jinx are always a kind of a minefield, and Vi hates that. Hates that talking to her sister has become such a difficulty if they both wanted to leave unscathed. Part of Vi wants to do away with the choreography, just push through and be genuine, say exactly what’s on her mind. Her relationship with her sister is not so fragile anymore, so she probably could. But Jinx has clearly been building up to this conversation for some time, and Vi doesn’t want to push it back further. She decides the best approach will be something in the middle, only the bones of her words planned.

“Never,” she says like a fact, “Don’t ever say that about yourself.”

Vi breathes in, washing away the frantic energy and determining the best way to explain feelings she doesn’t entirely understand, “I just…when I was sent to Stillwater, I thought you hated me. I didn’t want to believe it, I’d hoped it wasn’t true, and when I found you, I thought I was right to have that hope. You used the flare. You wanted me to find you.” Her mood grows darker as the memories become less kind, “But then later, on the bridge…you shot at me,” and her voice breaks here as the reality of that hits her. Her sister had shot at her, and Vi didn’t even know why.

“The next time I saw you,” Vi continues, “You’d knocked me out and tied me to a chair, taunting me about…” she swallows down the horror, “about cutting Caitlyn’s head off. And I didn’t know what to think. But I had hope again, when you asked if we were still sisters. I thought I had gotten through to you.” Vi looks down, at her hands balling the blanket, “But then you…rejected that. Or at least that’s what I thought at the time. And I…I couldn’t handle that.”

Vi blinks, once, twice, and then she realizes the entirety of what she’s just admitted. She doesn’t want Jinx to feel bad for her sake, they were moving on. It was fine. They’d already made up weeks ago. So she quickly shoots her head up to look at her sister, backtracking, “I’m sorry, I don’t know where all that came from. You should just ignore me, clearly I must have gotten a concussion with everything else…” It rings false to her, too, but it doesn’t stop her from trying to assuage any possible guilt her sister could feel. Vi knows that Jinx wasn’t okay back then, it’s fine.

But Jinx just shakes her head, looking even more upset at what Vi just said than her long confession, “Don’t do that. Don’t put your feelings aside for me,” she presses her hands against the chair she sits in, leaning forward, “We need to talk about this, Vi.”

Do they? But Vi thinks of what Caitlyn had said, about how repression prevents moving on, not facilitates it. And Vi wants to move on.

“Are either of us even in a place for that?” she asks, a little resigned and nervous, because above all she will prioritize Jinx’s feelings, her safety. 

“I don’t know,” Jinx says, shrugging, “But I think we should still try.”

And Vi can’t say no to that, so she nods, “Okay, we’ll try.”

Jinx swallows, eyes darting a bit as her mind works. She brings her hands up to fidget with her bang, “The bridge…I, I didn’t see you then, that’s the only way I can describe it. I saw you with that Enforcer, Caitlyn, and even though I didn’t want to believe it I was so sure you were leaving me again, the way Silco always said you did. I only saw her, I thought she was taking you away from me. She was a threat. So…I shot at her. And you were there too. But I didn’t see you. Not in that moment.”

Vi hums absently, not sure how to respond to Jinx’s admission other than with the guilt and shame she feels rolling around within, the undercurrent that is always present. She’d run for Caitlyn without a second thought when that shot rang out. She hadn’t even thought of Ekko in that moment, and Vi will always be ashamed of that. She hates her own tunnel vision.

So how could she blame Jinx for hers?  

“And that night…I don’t. I can’t…” Jinx keeps starting and stopping, looking supremely uncomfortable and disturbed and haunted.

Vi reaches out, placing a hand on Jinx’s arm to steady her, “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it.”

“But I can’t let you think I ever hated you!!” Jinx shouts, energized and upset, and that seems to be all she needs for the words to come spilling out. “For years, Silco had convinced me that I only had him. He was my dad, Vi,” she cries, pulling at the bang, “And then you suddenly come back, and I basically die and get injected with fucking Shimmer, and now I’m supposed to choose between being Powder and being Jinx, and Silco was going to turn me in…it was all too much. I couldn’t trust anybody,” she says quietly, tears running down her cheeks. “For all I knew, you chose that Enforcer over me, and you were going to turn me over to the Pilties too.”

“And I joined Caitlyn and the Enforcers after that…” Vi trails off, horrified and deeply ashamed of herself, of the pain she’d thrust onto her sister, “God, Jinx, I’m so sorry—“

Jinx stops her, sniffling, “It’s…it’s okay. We’ve already talked about it,” she says tiredly. “I’m not…we’ve both done bad things.”

Maybe, but those things don’t equate. And Jinx wasn’t in her right mind at the time. Vi knew what she was doing.

“That doesn’t make what I did okay,” Vi says, begging Jinx not to give her excuses anymore. “In the end, you were right. I had chosen Caitlyn over you, because I thought you were gone.” She grabs Jinx’s hands and holds them tightly, looking right into those violet eyes. “You needed me, and I wasn’t there. I’m sorry.” 

Jinx doesn’t look away, “I want to hate you for that, for leaving me…but I can’t.”

“And I could never hate you either,” Vi says easily. “You’re my sister. No matter what, that will never change.”

Jinx’s eyes narrow, “You sure? You seemed so ready to abandon me.” 

Vi doesn’t know what else she can say to that but, “I’m sorry.” It doesn’t make up for anything, but it is a mistake she regrets, and always will. 

“I know you are,” Jinx says, relaxing again, tension leaving her gaze, replaced by an internally-focused frustration, “Ugh, these feelings just keep coming up! I want them gone,” she looks away, taking her hands with her as an outburst of energy comes forth, “I know you’ll never leave me. I know it!”

Vi can only watch her sadly, knowing that this is her fault, “I’ve let you down before, of course you can’t fully believe me.”

Jinx shakes her head, denying Vi’s words, “I shot at you, I kidnapped you and your girlfriend, and made you think I cut her head off. None of that screams I love you.”

Vi refuses to hear it, “You weren’t in your right mind.” Did those things hurt? Yes. But now that Jinx has explained them all, Vi can hardly find it in her heart to blame her, and she already struggled to do that even without an explanation. It’s just…not in her nature. And that isn’t a bad thing, right? These last few days and weeks have left her confused. She’s not sure how she’s supposed to be. Is she supposed to be anything?  

Jinx’s eyes are wet again when she looks up, distraught, “But I still did that to you, to my own sister.”

“I’m not angry, Jinx,” Vi says, leaning in closer to gently cup Jinx’s face, “Really, I understand.”

“Do you?” Jinx challenges, but she doesn’t pull away, “Do you understand?”

“You know I do.”

“I do…” Then she gives a wet smile, mirth long gone but a kind of bittersweet sardonicism there instead, “Look at us, we’re both real sick puppies, aren’t we?”

The comment is so unexpected that Vi actually giggles, “I shouldn’t laugh,” she says between fits of laughter, “But…”

“But I’m right,” Jinx says, knowing. Because yeah, they’re both a little fucked up aren’t they? But they’ve got each other, and there’s a kind of comfort in knowing that. 

Once the amusement fades away, Vi pulls back, preparing herself to darken the mood once more, but some things need to be said clearly, “Listen, I know we’ve already gone over this, and I know you say it’s not my fault for what happened to you, but I don’t think I can ever say how sorry I am for what I did to you that night. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t okay.” She needs Jinx to understand that what she did that night was awful. And, okay, yes Jinx said Vi wasn’t at fault for her path, Vi still can’t help but think that she had to have been. If she hadn’t hit her sister, if she hadn’t called her a Jinx…everything would have been different. At the very least, it put her in a position to be fucking kidnapped and taken to Stillwater. That’s her fault.

Jinx tries to wave her apology away, “Vi, really, it’s fine.”

Vi is unyielding, “No, it’s not.”

But Jinx just grows agitated in the face of Vi’s steady self-blame, “It is.”

And Vi can’t help but grow frustrated in return, “It’s not!”

“I destroyed our family!” Jinx shouts, the abrupt change stunning Vi for less than second, Jinx’s volatility becoming a thing she is used to.

“No, Jinx, you didn’t,” Vi says gently, but firmly, “Don’t ever say that. You were just trying to help. You were a child. The one who destroyed our family was Silco—“ Vi stops herself. Jinx won’t want to hear that. And…is it even right? It’s what she’s told herself for seven years, placing an entire lifetime of hatred on this one man. Vi does still hate him, but there was another culprit in their tragedy. One more elusive, but still entirely to blame. “No, it was Topside. That’s the only reason we were ever put in that situation.” If it weren’t for Piltover’s oppression of Zaun, they never would’ve broken into the apartment. Vander and Silco would’ve never been torn apart. None of it would’ve ever happened. And the realization settles so…easily, like it’s something she’s always known, underneath it all. Others certainly had their hands in it, like Silco. Like herself. But Piltover was the root of it all.

But then Jinx says something that Vi doesn’t expect, looking at her with a kind of pity that Vi doesn’t know what to do with, “You were a kid too, you know.”

“I—“

“Don’t give me that, you were a kid. We all were.” Jinx cuts across her, scoffing. “Do you think…do you think that maybe Vander was wrong?”

“What? No, of course not,” Vi’s response is immediate and visceral. “I was the oldest. Our parents were gone. It was just…natural that I kind of…step in. Take care of the family. I could handle it.”

“Well maybe that wasn’t a good thing.” Jinx huffs, looking away. Then she softens, “I never really thought about it ‘til recently, now that I’ve been revisiting our childhood after refusing to think about it for so long…but…you were always there. You were always with us. Watching over us. Protecting us.”

She looks at Vi differently, but Vi can’t put her finger on the change. She thinks there’s a deep sadness there, like despairing an injustice done, one that she cannot change, “I remember those days hanging out with some of the other kids whose parents stayed around the Last Drop. We played, had some good laughs. And you were there too, do you remember? You’d talk to everyone. But…it was like you always kept them at arm's-length. You were there because you felt like you needed to be. To watch us. To watch over the other kids. Back then, did…did you ever make a single friend?”

Vi looks into her sister’s eyes, and she realizes that the sadness there…it’s for her.

“I…I didn’t have time for that,” Vi says, unable to look any longer at those despondent eyes, “Watching over everyone, it was what I was supposed to do.” It was true. She had responsibilities. She didn’t have time for other kids, other than fulfilling the responsibility she felt over them, such as when she taught other kids how to fight so that they could protect themselves. She was devoted to their little family. No time for anything else. No need. 

“And you don’t see anything wrong with that?!” Jinx’s voice is strained, exasperated, despairing. It makes Vi’s heart hurt, because she doesn’t know how to fix it.

“I…” she trails off, not sure what she could even say. It was just the way things were, how she felt about it didn’t matter. 

Jinx leans back, posture growing closed off as she huffs in irritation, “God, I can’t even talk about this with you, it makes me too sad.”

Vi tries to comfort her, let her know that this was nothing to be sad about, “Jinx, it’s okay, really. I never resented it, not for one moment.”

“But you should’ve!” Jinx cries, arms dropping down in front of her. “When I met Isha, it was terrifying how she became almost my entire world. And that was just one little kid. And I’m older than you were.” She hugs herself, self-soothing but also something nervous in it. “You had to take care of four of us as a teenager. Don’t you feel used?”

“No!” Vi responds vehemently, automatically. “I…you guys needed me.”

“But what about what you needed?” Jinx shoots back, not letting this be. “When was the last time you did something because you wanted it? And don’t say that the only thing you wanted was to keep us safe or some other crap like that.” Jinx stares at Vi, waiting.

And Vi…doesn’t know. A similar thought had sent her into a panic weeks ago, but now she thinks of it with a kind of numb impassivity. One that makes her feel empty. Her entire life, everything had been about her family (and later, Caitlyn, and Vi was only beginning to understand the problem with that). Getting back to them. Keeping them safe. Prison offered her no choices. Even the tattoos she flaunted were meant to be a way for her to remember herself and her family, to retain her individuality for their sake. 

Their sake, not her own. That’s…Vi isn’t sure she likes that. She’d never thought about it before.

When Vi doesn’t answer, Jinx continues, voice even more wrecked than before, “I’ve seen you, Vi, when you think you’re alone. I’ve watched you drink yourself into a coma and lose fights you should easily win, in some strange ritual of self-punishment.”

Say what now? Jinx saw her? 

“You were there?” Vi asks, voice small. That was her at her absolute lowest, if a few weeks ago doesn’t count, anyway. No one should have seen her like that.

Jinx only tilts her head to the side in sympathy, “Of course I was, I’m your sister.”

Vi presses her lips together, a new kind of shame rolling in her gut, “I never wanted you to see me like that.”

“Well that’s tough shit, because I did,” Jinx says in her usual brusque way, “And because I did, I know that you’ve never lived for yourself at all, have you?”

And when Jinx says it, it all comes together then. Because she hasn’t. Not for a single moment. She had been proud of that, once, of her single-minded devotion. But now, when so much has been stripped from her, so many of her walls and defenses and false thoughts…it doesn’t make her feel good at all.

“No,” Vi says, and tears spring up again, making her eyes burn, “I don’t even think I know how. Protecting the family has been my purpose for so long. I don’t even know who I am outside of that.” 

Her head hangs as the weight of the confession rests upon her shoulders, bringing her to a point of a specific kind of desolation, of knowing that she has never lived just to live. 

“Maybe that’s why I always come running back, no matter how much I’ve been hurt. I can’t have no one to protect,” Vi whispers, thinking out loud more than anything. “Like with Caitlyn.” 

Vi looks up at Jinx then, who in turn appears sympathetic and a bit discomforted. “She asked me to live with her,” Vi confesses. “I turned her down. I want to be with you and Ekko. Join the Firelights. I’ve got…a lot to figure out. But I don’t want to do it alone.”

Jinx smirks then, “Good. It would be boring without you.”

Vi knows what she really means, because Vi is not the most entertaining person. Or maybe she is. She needs to find out, because right now she doesn’t think she knows who she really is at all. 

She reaches out and gives her sister’s hand a squeeze, the physical touch coming to her as easily as breathing. Now might be the time for a change of subject. “I’m supposed to be discharged tomorrow,” she says, looking down into Jinx’s eyes. “Take me home?”

Jinx’s smile becomes far more genuine, far softer.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

—

Jinx, true to her word, is right by Vi’s side when she’s finally discharged. 

Her abdomen is back to being on the road to fully healed and her left arm will have to be in a sling for the next few weeks. Although her neck is still covered with bandages, Vi knows that the wounds are going to scar. Four lines, running across her tattoo.

The walk down to the undercity is rather uneventful for once, they’re even meandering. When was the last time she walked between the cities without the use of parkour? Vi’s not even sure that she knows. 

The sisters cross the bridge, which has a number of people walking across it in that specific moment. Vi just watches everything, the view of the river, the people walking by, the skylines of the two cities. Forced together, but at last apart. It is a beautiful day outside, warm with a clear sky. And Vi just takes it all in.

She was so prepared to leave all of this behind.

She thinks that she’d been prepared for a long time, now. Learning about the alternate timeline was far from the first time she’d thrown herself into battle with reckless abandon. Far from the first time that she didn’t care what happened to her. Maybe that knowledge had brought those thoughts and feelings into conscious awareness, but they’ve been there for longer than she’d like to think about. Her life…had no value on its own, it only mattered that she could protect another.

Well, that’s not the case anymore. Right now, she knows that this motivation is more fragile than it should be, and so dependent on the three people most important to her. But that will change. It must. She doesn’t want to go back. If she breaks like that again…there would not be another chance. So she’s holding tight to this one, and she will get better. 

Her thoughts are pulled away as Jinx tugs on her arm.

“Come on,” she says when Vi looks down at her, “There’s somewhere I wanna stop by first.”

And Vi follows. As they get further into the undercity, Vi has a feeling she knows where Jinx is leading them, especially as they don’t start descending into any of the fissures. And it’s a bit difficult, getting to this place without using the most obvious jumps, but eventually they make it. 

The rooftop she’d shown Jinx, all those years ago, right before it all went to hell. 

The view…it’s not exactly as Vi remembered it, with some new buildings dotting the skyline and some old ones no longer there, but it’s similar enough to evoke the memories. Zaun and Piltover. Two cities, bisected by a river that seems so, so small from here. 

In his last visit, Ekko had let Vi know that Zaun’s Union had been formed, meaning that Zaun is now officially independent, at least in name. It’ll take time, probably years, to see the terms of independence through to their conclusion. Man, poor Ekko, Vi thinks, he’ll be stuck in meetings for the rest of time. Perhaps it wouldn’t be that dire, but it’ll probably feel that way. 

“What’re you gonna do,” Jinx says suddenly, “once that shoulder of yours heals?” She sits down on the ledge, swinging her legs to and fro. Vi sits to her left.

Vi has been considering what she will do. She wants to provide for the undercity, to contribute to making Zaun better. She wants to, and she needs to, to make up for the harm she caused as an Enforcer and incidentally enabling Caitlyn’s actions in a way. But she couldn’t be part of the Union. It wasn’t her style, and it wasn’t where she could have the best impact. Not to mention, she doesn’t think she deserves to be seen as a leader. 

No, Vi has been having other ideas.

“Well, I had one thought…” Vi says, trailing off as her thoughts grow more somber, “The Last Drop. It’s gone now.”

Jinx deflates a little beside her, “I’m sorry, I know that was your home too, and I destroyed it.”

Vi puts a hand on her knee, “Please, don’t apologize. I understand why you did it.” She smiles softly, “Sometimes you gotta destroy the old to bring in the new.” She looks back out onto the cities. “Sometimes…change is necessary.” And Vi thinks that she’s starting to finally understand that now, that sometimes…shit happens. Sometimes, things and people just change. It’s not always the fault of something or someone. And sometimes it’s good.

Jinx huffs out a playful scoff, “Psh, when did you get so sappy?”

“I’m going to ignore that,” Vi says with a roll of her eyes, “Anyway, I’ve been thinking about it, and I think what Zaun could use is a new place for everyone to gather, build up our community. The city doesn’t feel unified the way it did. It needs something like what The Last Drop used to be. I’d like to rebuild it, but make it even better. Make it our symbol of a new start for Zaun.” Vi turns her gaze over to look at Jinx, who’s still gazing out to the horizon. “I could use your help.”

“Well with a proposal like that,” Jinx replies, wry but warm, “how could I say no?”

And doesn’t that feel simply…right. The two of them, rebuilding The Last Drop together. Forming those new memories, together.

Speaking of memories… 

“Do you remember the last time we were up here?” Vi asks, filling the comfortable silence between them, feeling a bit nostalgic. 

“Yeah, I do,” Jinx says, a bit subdued for her, but it’s not entirely sad. Bittersweet perhaps. “It…was one of the last good memories I had, back then.” Back when she called herself ‘Powder’, Vi knows that’s what she means. 

And the guilt bubbles up immediately at that, “I should’ve let you come with us, to save Vander.” Vi says, hanging her head and looking at nothing in particular, “I sat here and I told you that we stick together…and then I left you behind.”

Jinx simply shakes Vi’s guilt away, “You were right to leave me behind. I was so young back then, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot, lately. And whenever I do, I think of Isha.” Jinx puts her hands down on the sides of the ledge, and leans forward a little, but not in any kind of concerning way, just a shift of position. “I would never bring her to something like that. I’d be so scared.” She turns her head and violet eyes meet gray-blue. “You did the right thing. You couldn’t have known that it would all go to shit.”

Vi has probably been told this a dozen times by now. But for some reason, this time…it almost seems to stick, truly puts a dent in nearly a decade of self-blame and guilt and what-ifs. So Vi sighs, bracing her elbows on her knees, “I guess I can’t change it now.” It’s happened. She…has to move on. 

Jinx leans against Vi, and the openness she’s exhibiting makes Vi smile. “You were just doing your best,” Jinx says. 

A part of her starts yelling about how her best wasn’t enough. But another part, one she’s trying to listen to more, tells her that she was just a child too, that she did the best she could do for a fifteen-year-old responsible for four kids. That sometimes life is random and unfair, and there was nothing else she could have done. 

“I think I’m learning to accept that,” Vi breathes, voice barely rising above the bustle of the city below. 

“Good,” Jinx says, just as quietly. “I think I am too.”

Both of them, so similar despite it all. Both so ready to take the blame, to think everything was their fault, even if they approached it differently. Both having so much they need to heal, but with their bond rebuilt and growing every day, they don’t have to heal alone. Vi knows that they need each other. There’s no one she’d rather have by her side.

Jinx then knocks their shoulders together, getting Vi’s attention and gently breaking the heartfelt moment. She points in the distance, just like Vi did years and years ago, pointing to Mylo’s middle finger graffiti, which is still there after all these years. The sight makes Vi’s heart skip, and a kind of sadness and relief settle there. 

“Hey, remember how you told me about Mylo falling on his ass?” Jinx prompts lightly, tone rife with amusement as she skillfully changes the topic back to that night eight years ago now.

Vi chuckles, “Ha, yeah, and then I showed you my—“ she turns her gaze downwards to the thin pipes, and stops when she realizes that the toy bunny is no longer there. “Wait, it’s gone…I guess a gust of wind or a bird finally knocked it down.” Just another of the many small changes she’d have to get used to. 

“Actually,” Jinx’s voice sounds like it’s carried on a wince, causing Vi to tear her eyes away from the empty pipe and over to her sister. “I took it.”

Vi is at a loss, and she looks at her sister a little differently, “You kept it? All this time?”

Jinx exhales a bit, clearly swallowing the discomfort she feels at the intensity in Vi’s gaze, but Vi can’t help that, her eyes are just expressive. “I wanted to have that piece of you with me.” Clearly, the intensity becomes too much, because Jinx flusters a bit and looks away, “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Vi very much could make a big deal out of it, but she decides that they’re on a comfortable edge right now, between an intensely serious and deep conversation and something more shallow, while reaping the benefits of both. Is this what it’s like, to traverse old history without it being a minefield? 

“Do you still have it?” Vi asks, shifting her eyes back to watch the cities, all the bustling and the ships flying. 

“Ah, it was on my…” Jinx scratches the back of her head, a nervous tick, “It crashed with us, into the Hexgate.”

“Oh.”

Jinx tips her head back, looking thoughtful, “Who knows? Maybe it’s still there. Seems like things have a way of sticking around, with us.”

“Heh, maybe.” Vi says, though her heart’s not really in it, remembering what happened in that place. “But I’m not sure I want to go up there, not anytime soon.”

“Yeah…” Jinx hums, clearly just as discomforted by the idea of going back up to the Hexgates, having just as many bad memories there. 

Another silence falls between the two sisters again, but it’s slightly more uncomfortable this time, coming about because of a lack of knowledge of how to proceed now that a spare landmine has been detected, a point of ache neither are willing to address at this moment. 

Jinx kicks her feet where they hang off the ledge, clearly mulling something over.

Vi considers prompting Jinx to share, but before she can, Jinx breaks the silence, “Hey, so, I was thinking…I think I wanna get away from this place,” she makes it a point to swivel her head around. “Not forever, but…I wanna travel, see what’s out there in the big bad world.” Jinx looks at Vi, violet eyes gleaming. “Would…would you wanna come with me?”

Travel the world with her sister? 

Months ago, Vi had proposed this very thing, but in a much different way. It was a desperate, frantic thing. But now…this is a real, legitimate, thought out request. 

And immediately, Vi wants to say yes. Let her and Jinx go off together, just enjoy each other’s company and see all this world has to offer. Be sisters, united again.

But then Vi gives it more thought, swallowing down that instant response. Vi…has no real desire to travel the world. Certainly not right now, perhaps not ever. She wants to lay roots, be part of a community that was denied to her for so long. She wants to fight for her city, the way she’d wanted to all those years ago. She wants to build.

And she wants to find herself. Who she is, when not bound by the same responsibility that she has had for almost her entire life. She could still do this with Jinx by her side, in fact she’d prefer it. But she can’t do it if it’s just the two of them alone, because she’ll fall into the same patterns, just like she would if she’d lived with Caitlyn.

Which is why she must decline.

“You know I’d go to the edge of the world with you, sister,” Vi starts, leaning forwards and hoping that this would soften the blow. “But…I think I want to stay here, in Zaun. I think that this is where I belong, at least for right now.”

Jinx only nods, “I had a feeling you might say something like that.”

And Vi can’t help but think of Jinx’s feelings in all of this, ready to put her own feelings to the side if needed, “You’re not…disappointed?”

“Do I look disappointed?” Jinx jests, looking at Vi with an expression that certainly couldn’t be called disappointed, but Vi also knows it’s an act, and at Vi’s unimpressed look, Jinx sobers. “But seriously, don’t worry about how I feel. You gotta do what you want, right?”

Jinx’s words are light, but the message in them is firm. It’s a gentle reminder of what Vi needs to learn. How to put her own feelings, wants, and needs first sometimes. Sometimes , because she doesn’t think she’ll ever get to a point of doing that every time. Putting others first will always be her nature, Vi thinks. But…she needs to find a better balance. And that’s what Jinx is reminding her of. 

“Yeah, I do.” Vi says simply, instead of voicing any of that.

“Besides,” Jinx swings her arm around Vi, forcing Vi to bend down a bit towards her, and she pokes Vi in the chest, “I’m always with you sis. Even when we’re worlds apart.”

Vi’s eyes get wet at that, but they’re happy tears. Because it’s true, isn’t it? No matter what happens, no matter where they are, Vi and Jinx will always have each other. Always.

She mirrors Jinx’s gesture, slinging her own arm around her sister and making the embrace a mutual one, bringing the sides of their heads together. She says nothing, just smiles at the way her sister relaxes into the embrace. Two sisters, one heart. 

Together, they look out on Piltover and Zaun, bathed in the warm glow of the evening sun. But Vi only has eyes for Zaun. Her home, finally on the path to freedom that Vi had yearned for so long. She sees its buildings, its people, its everything.

And Vi thinks that if she squints, she might even be able to see a future. A future full of change. 

And she thinks that maybe, just maybe, she may even be looking forward to it.

Chapter Text

Seven Years Later

“A free Zaun!”

Glasses clink together all throughout the packed room.

It’s the biggest event of the year—Zaun’s Liberation Day. As it has the past five times, the big celebration is being held at The Last Drop. Technically, The Last Drop Community Center, but everyone knows that it’s just The Last Drop. The first party also doubled as an opening celebration, since it took a whole year to get the place rebuilt, redocrated, and refurnished. 

And Vi was there for the whole thing. In fact, she spearheaded it. The new The Last Drop was her brainchild; there was not a crack in the wall, a panel of wood, or dust bunny that she didn’t know about. That is also why most consider her to be the owner of The Last Drop, even though Vi has made it clear that the new community center is owned by Zaun itself. But still, she’s regarded as its owner because no one has put more blood, sweat, and tears into it than her. Officially, she’s the Director. If you ask her, though, she’d say she’s just the bartender. Which woefully undersells everything she does there, according to just about everyone she knows, but what can she say? She’s humble. 

The Last Drop’s bar is actually non-alcoholic, but for big parties like this, they’ll bring in a supply of alcoholic drinks in partnership with some of the other bars around. 

That doesn’t stop Vi’s glass from being filled with sparkling fruit juice, though. She hasn’t drank in years. 

She is joined by four others, standing in a tight circle next to the bar area.  

To Vi’s right is Ekko. Her eyes catch on the neon green armband around his left bicep, which is left uncovered by the sleeveless side of his off-white crop top. The other sleeve is long, covering his arm down to his wrist. He wears one of his usual cargo pants cuffed at the shins, these ones a dark green, and the whole ensemble is completed with some dark brown boots. Looks like he ditched the trenchcoat today. Last time Vi saw it, it hardly looked brown anymore, all the new drawings added to it over the years. Another thing that’s changed with Ekko is his hair. He’s been growing it out, and now his locs reach down past his shoulders. Today he’s wearing them in a half-up style, and it frames his face nicely.

Still a member of Zaun’s Union, Ekko has been one of the loudest voices in their negotiations with Zaun. Outside of that, like Vi, he keeps himself busy, so he’s still the leader of the Firelights (now just a mutual aid community rather than a resistance group), and he teaches math and engineering part time at Zaun’s Academy, established three years ago. 

Isha stands on her left, her outfit an explosion of color. The black jean jacket she wears, as well as the acid wash jeans adorned with a multitude of rips, are covered with all sorts of patches and doodles, similar to Ekko’s own coat. Must be a Firelight thing, Vi figures. But the color doesn’t stop with the patchwork, because even Isha’s shoes, which should just be black and white, have paint splotches all over them, a natural consequence of her favorite hobby—painting. Isha loves art; Vi has a few of her painted pieces in her apartment, as well as a sculpture or two. She’s always happy to indulge the girl’s creative spirit. Even Isha’s hair, styled in a wolf cut, has some paint in it. Isha is actually a student at one of Zaun’s newest schools—a few years ago Zaun began establishing a school system not so different from Piltover’s. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s certainly better than anything just about anyone in this room had. Though, everyone here would also argue that much could be learned just through experiencing life, so school is not supposed to be the end all be all of learning for Zaun’s youth, unlike in Piltover.

Ahead of Vi is Sevika, holding her drink in her right arm. Her left side is covered by a dark green cloak with some golden embroidery. With Sevika holding her arm up like this, Vi can see that she’s got a white shirt on, tucked into some black trousers. Black leather boots with silver pointed toe caps complete the outfit. Sevika generally does not change up her look, but Vi can’t help but notice the way her hair has completely shifted as of late. Gone are the straight strands, and instead today Sevika is wearing her hair in shoulder-length twists. Vi thinks that this change might be influenced by a certain gold-accented someone in Sevika’s life, and she thinks she may just give Sevika shit about it later. For fun.

Vi never would have expected that she’d reach the point of being able to tease Sevika of all people, but these last seven years have seen a friendship, maybe even a kinship, blossom between the two. Turns out, they had a lot in common, that same bone-deep loyalty to a person or cause that led them astray. And with Sevika already being so close to both Jinx and Isha, an at least amicable relationship between her and Vi was a must, but even that has expanded beyond Vi’s imagination. Now, Vi sees Sevika at least a couple times a week. She’s still a member of Zaun’s Union, but she also spends a lot of time at The Last Drop, either helping or hanging out, and she’s always there for Poker Night.

And, lastly, to Sevika’s right is Scar. The silver accents on his collared dark green vest gleam in the overhead lights of the room, and underneath that vest is a black shirt and gray pants, along with some black boots with a metal toe cap. He’s also got a couple of silver rings on the hand that holds his glass, similarly shining in the light. Just like Ekko and Sevika, Scar is still on Zaun’s Union, but instead of unofficially representing the Firelights or residents of the Lanes like them, he unofficially represents medical interests in Zaun. Once things cooled down after the war, Scar had actually taken the opportunity to go to Piltover and learn from the doctors there. He was instrumental in starting the hospital system in Zaun, and is one of the best doctors around. 

It’s amazing how far everyone has come in just seven years.

Quickly downing her glass (of juice of course), Isha sets it on the counter and then signs, What time does the show start?   

Others might mistake this for impatience, but Vi knows better. Isha has never been a fan of concerts at The Last Drop, or in general. The loudness, the strobing lights, the huge crowd…not her scene. 

Vi just wishes she had a better answer for her, “Anytime between now and an hour from now, probably,” she says, setting down her own glass. “Schedule’s pretty flexible.”

Isha rolls her eyes at the vague response, and Scar gives her a comforting pat on the shoulder.

Honestly, Vi wasn’t the biggest fan of the lack of specificity either, but that’s just how Zaun rolls. They prefer their events…organic. 

Suddenly, a voice speaks from Vi’s left, in between Vi and Isha, “Mind if I cut in?”

Metal clinks together as the new arrival settles in. Their black shirt is cropped and tight against their chest, and chains run down from the shirt to the pants, which are black, baggy, and have a lot of chains, straps, and buckles of their own. Sturdy boots complete the look. Their hair is cut short, tight coils only a couple inches from their scalp, and the tips of those coils are dyed a light brown. Their yellow and orange eyeshadow makes their brown eyes pop out, and they’ve got piercings in their eyebrow, lip, and multiple on each ear. 

Vi knows exactly who this is, everyone here does.

“Hey, Gert,” Vi greets, giving the other woman a friendly side hug. Gert works at The Last Drop like Vi, and she’s there almost as much as Vi is. Vi met her shortly after returning to Zaun, back when Gert had the blue hair of a Jinxer. Gert was a friend, Vi’s first real friend after Loris, who was taken far too soon. Her presence was a great help in Vi trying to break out of defining herself only by her role towards her family. They hit it off almost immediately, and it turned out they were actually quite alike. It was Gert who encouraged Vi to get back into music. When Vi was a kid, she used to love playing the saxophone, but Vi thought she lost that with the rest of the pieces of her carved out by that night and Stillwater. Sometimes, Vi and Gert will do small gigs together. Nothing huge, Vi doesn’t really consider herself a performer like Gert is, but it is nice to play music to a small crowd from time to time. 

And speaking of music, Gert’s main band is one of the ones playing tonight. If Vi remembers right, which she usually does, her band’s the first on the lineup.

Aren’t you playing tonight? Isha signs, eyebrows furrowed at Gert.

“Yep,” Gert relaxes against the counter, “But I had to make my rounds. Can’t believe you guys did the toast without me!” She feigns looking dejected, but everyone knows it’s all an act.

Vi scoffs playfully, lightly nudging her on the shoulder, “Oh please, we all know you were busy toasting with literally anyone else here.” It’s true, Gert has this way about her where she can make friends with anybody. Everyone here has had at least a few conversations with the woman. And here Vi thought she was a social butterfly. She doesn’t know how Gert does it. 

Gert drops the act and dips her head, “Okay, true.”

“Your band’s the first one up right?” Vi asks, for Isha’s sake. “You know when you’re going on?”

Gert shrugs, looking at the rest of the group, “As soon as we’re set up. Why, someone eager for us to play?” she ends with a smirk towards Vi.

“You know I always am,” Vi says, “but some people here are sticklers for a schedule.” Vi pointedly looks at Isha then, and Isha sticks out her tongue in response. 

“Well, Goldie,” Gert says, looking at Isha, addressing her by the nickname Gert had given her years and years ago, “I can go get us set up right now, how’s that sound?”

Isha nods and gives a thumbs up.

“Alright, I’ll see y’all later then,” Gert pushes herself off the counter and gives the group a little salute, melding herself back into the crowd with ease. 

An amicable silence falls over the group, and Vi could leave it as is, but she’s also in the mood for conversation. Perfectly at home in the middle of The Last Drop, she knows she could easily make some. She looks around the room, noticing that the typical card games have already started in the corner. She shifts her eyes over to Sevika, who’s studying her drink.

“I’m surprised you’re not over at the card tables,” Vi says to Sevika, who looks up from her drink, knowing that Vi wouldn’t be saying this to anyone else.

Sevika shrugs nonchalantly, “Not feeling ‘em tonight.” 

Well that doesn’t sound like Sevika at all, and Vi wonders if she should be concerned. But Isha decides that for her quickly.

Don’t believe her, Isha signs, face teasing and conspiratorial, She’s just waiting for Auntie Mel to get here.

Ah, that explains it. Vi doesn’t know how or when it happened, but sometime in the last few years Sevika started dating a woman from Piltover. Not just that, but a Councilor. Mel Medarda to be precise. Vi has to admit, they’re kind of perfect together. 

“Ohhhh, I get it now,” Scar chuckles, dropping an arm around Sevika. “Well I think that’s rather sweet that you’re waiting for your woman, Sev.”

“Oh har har,” Sevika says dryly, expression flat.

“What? We’re just pointing out what a gentleman you are!” Ekko says in a voice that very nearly sounds genuine, but it purposefully misses the mark.

Sevika turns her head to a nondescript part of the room, “Oh would you look at that, there she is over there, seems like I gotta go now.” She shakes Scar’s arm off of her and starts walking away, towards a place where Mel clearly is not. 

“Aw don’t be like that, Sevika!” Vi says after her playfully. Sevika sends a middle finger behind her in response. 

Ekko playfully gasps, sounding mock scandalized, “Think of the children, Sevika!”

Their group laughs as Sevika completely disappears into the crowd, unlikely to resurface for the rest of the night. Or if she does, Mel will be at her side and doing most of the talking for both of them. Ah, Vi does love the entertainment that can come from being a bit of a little shit. Sometimes, she can be struck by the novelty of it, even if it’s not that novel anymore. Just this lightness…it’s not something she had imagined for herself in a long, long time. And there is a certain perfect ease that comes from knowing that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

Vi turns her gaze over to Scar, instinct to check up on her people never forgotten, “Speaking of kids, where’s Zero^[1], Scar?”

“Upstairs with the other kids,” Scar replies easily with another sip from his glass. At big events like this, all of Zaun is invited, which of course includes kids, but it’s generally understood that the kids should have their own space elsewhere away from the adults and the alcohol. Not that that always stops them, given how Isha is standing right next to Vi.

And Isha, the professional shit-stirrer, looks at Scar and signs, Really? I could’ve sworn I saw them up at the stage barriers.

Scar pales, “Not on my watch!” He turns on his foot and he’s gone, blazing a trail straight to the main stage. When it comes to Zero, Scar’s got a protective streak that could put Vi to shame, and that’s saying something. 

Isha has the decency to look a little sheepish at worrying Scar like that, I should probably go help him with that, she signs to Vi and Ekko. And round up all the other little ones too.  

Then she leaves as well, which makes Ekko and Vi the only ones left standing at their corner of the bar. Once Isha is out of sight, Vi notices Ekko sink into his lean a bit, deflating, and his expression shifts to something more thoughtful, something more agitated than pure contentment. Looks like Ekko needs a big sister, and Vi is always happy to oblige. Vi lets out a breath, hopping across the counter and grabbing Ekko’s glass, pouring him a new drink. She slides it over to Ekko, who’s turned and is facing her now.

“Alright, spill,” Vi starts, releasing the glass from her hand, “I can sense your brooding from here.”

“I am not brooding!” Ekko says, a little affronted but not truly. He takes the glass in his hand and swirls it, looking at the liquid as he does, “But…well, I just wish she was here, y’know.”

There’s no need to ask who she is. Vi feels the same way.

“Of course I do,” she says automatically. She leans her arms against the counter, “Have you heard from her recently?”

“Not since that letter from a couple months ago,” he replies, moving his gaze up to meet Vi’s eyes.

Jinx left Zaun over five years ago now, a few months after helping Vi with The Last Drop, finally making good on her promise to travel the world, the request that Vi knew she had to turn down. She sends letters (to Ekko and Isha) and postcards (to Vi) when she can, and as far as Vi can tell, she’s touched almost every part of Runeterra that she knows of. So whenever she returns, Vi knows that she’ll have some…colorful stories to share. 

Jinx’s absence has been hard on both Ekko and Isha. By now, Isha has grown used to it, leaning onto Vi, Sevika, and Ekko for support. Ekko…it’s a little different for him, his tendency to internalize making it difficult for him to verbalize his feelings. But Vi knows that tendency all too well, so he usually talks about how much he misses Jinx with her. Ekko eagerly awaits the day he can hold Jinx in his arms again, as does Vi. And although they are apart, Vi knows for certain that her relationship with her sister has never been stronger. As hard as it has been, she knows that Jinx needed this time away from Zaun, away from all of the memories it holds. 

Jinx’s last letter to Ekko came from Ionia, and she’d told him, among other things, that she’d be leaving from Ionia soon. Vi has a feeling, just an intuition, that Jinx won’t be gone for too much longer. Her absence must be gnawing at her sister as well. 

Vi gives Ekko a reassuring smile, “I’ve got a feeling that you won’t be spending next anniversary alone.”

“You think?” The hope lighting up Ekko’s eyes makes him look so young, more like Little Man from entire lifetimes ago. She likes when she can bring that youth out of him.

“She’s been getting closer and closer to Zaun.” Vi says, thinking of the way Jinx’s journey has transpired during the five years she’s been gone. “I think she might finally be ready to come back,” she reaches out and grabs his free hand, gives it a squeeze, “For good.”

If Ekko is going to say anything else, it’s drowned out by the attention-grabbing downstroke of Gert’s guitar. Looks like it’s finally time for the show. Vi gives Ekko a smile and reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before he joins the crowd. She leans up against the counter and watches. 

Seven years. 

Seven years since that fateful day that Caitlyn had hit her lowest, when everything she had done for months crashed down on her, all the ways she turned her back on the people she swore to help.

All the ways she turned her back on Vi. 

Seven years since the day that Caitlyn burst into the Council room, only one thing on her mind—do right by Zaun. And right for them meant their independence, so Caitlyn stayed in that room for hours upon hours, arguing until her throat was hoarse to get the other Councilors to agree to Zaun’s terms with very little, if any, compromises. And that effort had paid off. That day, Zaun left with an agreement that Piltover has been fulfilling the conditions of every day the last seven years. 

Outside of the immediate changes, such as removing Enforcers from Zaun’s streets, and Zaun forming its Union and becoming its own political entity, much of the beginning of Zaun’s independence was marked by negotiations. Many, many grueling meetings deciding every last detail of what independence will look like for Zaun, the timeline for it, and what the relationship between Piltover and Zaun will look like moving forward.

Zaun’s independence from Piltover had many economic implications, as Zaun’s mines and factories contained many of the raw and semi-processed materials that Piltover exported. So the cities came to a sort of a compromise. Piltover would maintain more (but not all, as it had been) of the port trade, but they would have to purchase the materials from Zaun at a fair, albeit discounted, rate. And Zaun would be able to purchase Piltover’s goods at a discounted rate in kind. And as Zaun’s economy developed, Piltover provided economic stimulation. 

Speaking of industry, one of the first things Caitlyn had done, way at the beginning of all of this, was hand over all the information she had about the ventilation system in Zaun. In a moment she will always be ashamed of, she had truly wanted to weaponize the downright poisonous gas that came from the factories in Zaun. The information on how to do so could no longer be in Piltover’s hands for that reason alone, and as Zaun was independent, there was truly no reason to hold onto it. No reason that was not malicious that is. 

It turned out that the ventilation system commissioned by the Kiramman family hadn’t even been working entirely properly, as once Zaunites got their hands on the plans, their air quality improved overnight. That Caitlyn had not noticed this grievous oversight when reviewing the plans initially had not been lost on her. 

After a few years, though, the point was moot. Zaun’s industry being in Zaun’s hands meant that there was more incentive to eliminate the factories’ harmful byproduct, and now almost none of the factories there contribute to such pollution. Zaun’s air is on the way to being as clean as Piltover’s, and Caitlyn couldn’t be more glad.

There were many other changes too. Migration agreements (for the sake of logistics; neither city had any desire to limit migration between them in any way), licensing, bridge maintenance, etc. So many little things that Caitlyn hadn’t even considered that fateful day. 

Because of the sheer breadth of negotiated details, Piltover’s Council and Zaun’s Union meet relatively frequently, and Caitlyn has come to regard some members of both groups with a sense of familiarity. Mel, and surprisingly Shoola, have become rather staunch allies at the negotiating table. As for the Zaunites, most regard her with a certain kind of mutual respect, but Sevika, Scar, and Ekko treat her a little differently. 

With Sevika and Scar, over time that respect has come to be earned, along with a decent amount of trust and even acquaintanceship. 

With Ekko, getting to a place of amicability was much more complicated. The man had many lingering resentments towards her, but hours upon hours of being stuck in meetings, as well as some apologies on Caitlyn’s side, cooled that anger significantly. And, over the last year or so, Caitlyn is starting to believe that she and Ekko have developed a kind of companionship. Maybe not quite friends, but that door is no longer shut and locked to her either. 

A few weeks ago, Piltover’s Council and Zaun’s Union dotted their i’s and crossed their t’s on the final loose ends of Zaun’s independence. Officially, the seven year transition period is at its end.

And a new relationship between the cities, wherein they stand as equals, is just now beginning to bloom. 

Through it all, one thought has been her guiding star. One of the last things Vi had said to her, “see you later”. Vi had essentially begged Caitlyn not to wait for her, but what Vi didn’t understand is that Caitlyn had already decided that she would always wait for Vi. The other woman had captured her heart in a way Caitlyn does not want any other woman to. Perhaps Caitlyn has the capacity to love so fiercely again, but she doesn’t want to, not while there is still a chance Vi would have her in her life. Caitlyn does not give up on what she wants. And she wants Vi, whatever way she could have her, whether that be a pen pal, a friend, or a lover. 

But Vi is not the only reason Caitlyn has committed herself to this path for seven years. She also did it for herself, for Zaun, and even for Piltover. Caitlyn had grown up with the ideals of progress and change and improvement, and while she found in adulthood that Piltover did not live up to those ideals, she decided that she would put them into practice. 

Caitlyn likes to think that she has achieved great things, for Piltover and for Zaun. 

And that is precisely why it is time to move on.

Caitlyn’s next Council meeting will be her last. There, she will announce her resignation, both as Councilor and as Sheriff. She has served her city as best as she could, and while she certainly could do more, Caitlyn believes that she has finally done enough. It’s time that she finds something new. 

Or, perhaps, somewhere new. 

Which reminds her, Caitlyn has a letter to write.

A few days after the big party, Vi is unlocking the door to her apartment. She could’ve decided to build herself an apartment in The Last Drop, live there the way she did as a child, but she’d decided against it. Having a space that was completely her own was rather appealing. It was even better, though, when someone was staying over, whether that be Isha, Jinx (before she left anyway), or, on occasion, Ekko. She’s had other kids around Zaun pass through a few times as well when they needed a place to sleep. And she likes it that way. As much as having an apartment to herself is novel and freeing, she also prefers the company of others. 

Pushing the door open, Vi steps inside her space. It’s not large, Vi wouldn’t even know what to do with a big apartment. It’s larger than the one she had when she fought in the pits, but that’s not saying much. 

There is a little closet to her left as she enters, and she kicks off her work boots there. One thing that Vi has discovered, living alone and not drowning in self-hatred and the like? She prefers her spaces clean. She’s lived in filth for far, far too long.

The rest of her apartment spans in front of her as she leaves the small entryway. She’s got a kitchen nook on the left, which is separated from the rest of the apartment by a countertop. Directly on the other side, to her right, is the bathroom. And beyond that is her living space, which has a red couch, table, and chair adjacent to the large, nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. Right up against the windows are her shelves holding her indoor garden. Jinx gifted her a violet plant (and Vi still has no idea where she got it), right before she left, and since then Vi’s collection has only grown, with her family and friends taking to giving her new plants and herbs randomly. The latter are useful for cooking, at least. 

But the point is, she now has all kinds of flowers, like violets, lavenders, bellflowers, poppies, cinquefoils, rosemaries, and still more^[2]. It can be a lot to some, but Vi likes the low-risk plant parent lifestyle. It still feels like such a novelty to have plants, just for the hell of it. It took a couple years for the air pollution situation in Zaun to be resolved enough to even consider growing anything down here, because Vi still lives in the fissures, close to The Last Drop. 

At the very end of the apartment is a loft, which is where her bed rests. Under the loft is her punching bag, always ready for a quick session, her “tinkering space”, as Jinx liked to call it, and a whole bunch of bookshelves, filled with her favorites and many more she needs to read.

She slaps the mail in her hand on the counter. She’ll get to it in a minute, just let her unwind for a second first. As much as she’d like to, Vi can’t be at The Last Drop 24/7. She probably would have, if it weren’t for Ekko and Jinx’s, and later everybody else’s, insistence that she not “work herself to death”. Days like this make Vi potentially see their point. She hadn’t gotten as much rest as she probably should’ve after the party, and it’s hitting her today.

Vi sinks into the couch, soaking in its soft comfort, which is healing for her aching muscles. There’s always at least a soft ache to her, most days, and typically Vi can deal with that just fine, unless the pain flares into something unmanageable. Usually, those flares are limited to her hands, but there are times that she’s been hit with a killer migraine or a sharp ache in her shoulder. 

On the table in front of her is Vi’s newest project. After moving in with the Firelights, Vi spent a lot of time just watching Jinx and Ekko work. Turns out, they had to work together to get Jinx’s hideout to fly, and since then they’ve been all over each other’s inventing and engineering. It was really cute, honestly. 

Eventually, they had suggested that Vi help them out, and Vi decided she’d try, just to humor them. 

But then she kind of liked it. Working on things with her hands was relaxing. And Vi had a better grip on all their math and stuff than she thought. It was a rather…thrilling discovery, to find that she liked to make things like this with her hands. 

So, her latest project is a mechanical clock that she’s been needing to fix. Problem is she’ll have to take apart the entire thing to fix the issue, and she just hasn’t felt like doing that. No greater time like the present, right? It’ll at least calm her down after a busy few days.  

Vi grabs a few of the tools she’ll need from her workbench, and goes back to the sofa. She slips on Claggor’s old goggles (another gift from Jinx). Time to finally get this done. 

—

By the time Vi snaps out of the trance of fixing the clock, it’s dark outside. Well, that took longer than she expected, and she still needs to eat dinner. She stands, stretching a bit, and looks over to the counter, where two damning pieces of paper sit. 

Ah, shit, Vi forgot all about her mail. 

She stands, bones creaking, and walks over to the counter, where the mail sits. Vi doesn’t receive mail too frequently, and today she’s got two pieces. Quite popular today, isn’t she?

The first is a postcard, and a gentle smile lights up her face. Jinx. 

The graphic on the postcard is deceptively simple, just a ship. The paper is also covered with Jinx’s trademark doodles. And there’s also a symbol here, a crest—a sword pointing down and a monstrous serpent wrapped around it. Bilgewater? Vi turns the postcard over and reads Jinx brief message: See you soon, sis.  

Vi’s slight smile lifts into a smirk. She knew it. Her sister couldn’t stay away forever. She thinks about telling Ekko when she sees him next, probably tomorrow, but then she figures that if she got a postcard like this, he probably got a whole letter detailing Jinx’s exact plans. 

Or maybe not.

Her sister could be unpredictable like that, and Vi loves her for it.

She makes a mental note to move the postcard over to the shelf by her bed where all of Jinx’s postcards are stored, and she turns her attention to the other piece of mail in front of her. This second piece is on much nicer stationary, just going by the rather ornate envelope. A familiarly ornate envelope. 

She tears it open, taking out the letter inside. Once she sees the penmanship, she knows exactly who this is from—Caitlyn. 

Vi has not seen Caitlyn since that day at the hospital. Three years afterwards is when Caitlyn sent her first letter to Vi, a simple thing, just checking in on Vi’s progress and how she’s doing. Vi sent one back, and since then the two have been exchanging letters regularly, receiving and sending at least one a month, but oftentimes more than that. The idea of meeting again has certainly been thrown around, but between Caitlyn being a Councilor and the Sheriff, and everything Vi does between being Director, boxing instructor, library volunteer, and a few other things, there’s simply been no good time or reason.

But that seems like that’s about to change.

Vi reads the letter, written in Caitlyn’s familiar, scrawling handwriting, and her eyes widen as she takes in the short missive.

Dear Vi, 

Would you be able to meet me at the bridge on XX at sunset? There is much I’d like to discuss with you, given the chance.

Your friend, 

Caitlyn Kiramman

Always the planner, Caitlyn had included a piece of paper and a second envelope so that Vi could send a response back. She’s always so considerate like that.

Caitlyn…

Vi had truly expected Caitlyn to move on and forget about her, but she never did. And at first, Vi felt guilty. Caitlyn was putting this part of her life on hold, for her. But over the years she’s come to see it a different way. As the shackles of responsibility to everyone melted away, Vi could at last see that this was Caitlyn’s choice. Vi had let Caitlyn go, and it was Caitlyn’s choice to continue to keep Vi in her thoughts, just as Vi kept Caitlyn in hers. 

Because Vi still loved her, of course she did. She never stopped. She had just been in no place for a relationship at the time, and she stands by that now. Everything she did here in Zaun, everything she did within herself…it would not have been possible if she had dived head-first into a relationship with Caitlyn, no matter how happy that would have made her, on the surface at least. 

Vi threw herself into her work for those first three years, and she imagines that Caitlyn did much of the same. It was just as much a distraction as it was Vi trying to find purpose, find something to drive her outside of protecting her family and living for the sake of other people. Not to mention she still had the trauma of seven years of prison to work through, and she needed to rebuild her relationship to Zaun itself, as well as continue working on her relationships with Jinx and Ekko.

The first two years were probably the hardest, when she really thinks about it. Everything was much rawer then, and much newer. It was easy to wake up with the certainty that she was no good for anyone, that she wasn’t enough, but Vi would always, at least eventually, fight those feelings away with the help of her family and later her friends. 

By the end of those two years, Vi felt like she was in a remarkably better place. She was feeling good, her family was around her and happy, Zaun was doing better by the day, she had a job that she loved and was even finding hobbies, and she even had friends. She had even begun to consider reaching out to a certain blue-haired Councilor.

And then Jinx left. Finally made good on her promise to get out of Zaun and travel the world. It hadn’t come as a surprise, Vi knew it was coming. But when it actually happened…

Vi may have backslid. Hard. Suddenly, none of her relationships felt as secure as they should’ve been. And she was plagued by a constant anxiety over Jinx, what if something happened to her while she was so far away and Vi couldn’t help her? Vi was frustrated with herself, then. She’d spent two long years building herself up to a place where she could handle being separated from her sister, and when it finally happened, what did she do? She regressed so close to the woman who’d just been released from prison, the girl who lost everything in one night. 

But she had one thing that she hadn’t then—other people. She wasn’t alone, and those relationships kept her from spiraling further, though that took some time. They encouraged her to treat herself with kindness and understanding, something she had struggled with for so long, pressure to perform etched into her very essence. She was reminded that yes, she’d spent two years working on herself, on defining herself without her family, especially her sister, but it would be difficult to break the conditioning endorsed by so many of her formative years, where one of her only goals was protecting and then reuniting with her sister.

Around a year afterwards, when Vi was still in the midst of all of this, Caitlyn had sent that first letter. Caitlyn didn’t know it, but she was a great help in bringing Vi back on track. By that point, Vi had abandoned the idea of reaching out. Based on the way she’d spiraled after Jinx left, she knew she’d latch onto Caitlyn the way she mistakenly thought she’d avoided with Jinx. That didn’t stop Vi from making the admittedly desperate decision to send a letter back. But the risk paid off. Through letters, Vi had the distance from Caitlyn that she needed. 

As time passed, Caitlyn and Vi’s letters increased in frequency, and Caitlyn became someone that Vi could comfortably call a friend. Not a lover, a friend. And that worked for Vi. She needed that. She got this old piece of familiarity, but there was a comfortable distance in it, one that allowed a friendship between the two to grow organically, not in a haze of fighting, trauma, and desperation. And alongside it, forgiveness, earned forgiveness, blossomed too.

These last few months, though, there’s been a change. Her letters with Caitlyn became even more frequent, sometimes more than twice a week. And Vi can admit, she’s been wanting more. More letters, more conversations, more Caitlyn. But she can also admit that she has been scared. Is she ready for that? Not that they’d have to be anything other than friends to each other, but that leap to actually seeing each other, rather than reading each others’ words…Vi has been weighing whether she should take that leap for months now. She’s in an even better place than she was four years ago, she thinks. But there will always be that kernel of uncertainty. 

Because it’s not like everyday is perfect. She still has bad days. Days where she’s unwilling to let anyone go. Days where she wakes up in a cold sweat. Days where she’s tense and on edge. And Vi worries that these days make her someone that you would not want to stay with long term. But she’s been trying to push those insecurities away to where they can’t bother her, twist her mind into something so hateful towards itself. 

Vi is not surprised that Caitlyn has taken the initiative to have them talk. And it was merely a request, one that Vi could easily deny. 

But she also knows there was no chance she’d say no, not now. 

Vi’s life is not perfect, but it’s hers. And she knows that there is something missing in it.

She wants this. She wants Caitlyn. So she’s going to do what she should’ve done months ago, and take that chance.

Vi grabs a pen and writes a few short words on the provided sheet— I’ll be there. She signs it off and puts it in the envelope, writing the address on the front. It’s late now, so she’ll have to drop this by the post office in the morning. She pushes the letter over to where her keys sit near the counter’s ledge.

Vi leans back on her stool. A seven year parting, at last about to close in just a few days. And Vi doesn’t feel an ounce of unease, dread, or trepidation. In fact, she feels excited and relieved. The letter arrived at the perfect time.

Caitlyn and Vi…perhaps their “later” has finally come.

No longer a Councilor, and no longer a Sheriff, Caitlyn steps into her bedroom and closes the door behind her. 

She had done it. For the first time in many, many years, Caitlyn Kiramman was beholden to none. She had no responsibilities on her plate. She was done. 

The rest of the Council had been shocked at her resignation, but they did not argue.

Much of the meeting was spent discussing Caitlyn’s replacement, which is where one of her many reforms came into play. 

One of the many economic consequences of Zaun’s independence is that Piltover’s underclass has grown, now that they cannot be conveniently pushed over the river—even if there is a healthy dose of migration between the cities. As such, Caitlyn had agitated for a guarantee that at least one (but preferably two or three) Council seats be occupied by members of Piltover’s lower houses and unaligned citizens. They had already elevated one member of a “lower house” to the Council seven years ago. And now, with Caitlyn’s resignation, they are going to elevate someone who is not of a house at all. Certainly not perfect, but an improvement.

As for Caitlyn’s resignation as Sheriff…that was a long time coming. A long time ago she’d told Vi that she’d largely be Sheriff in name, and that was true.

However, with the help of her most trusted deputy, Steb, the Enforcers were completely overhauled. No longer the Enforcers, they are the Wardens. And although most of the issues with the Enforcers were their conduct in Zaun, some of their problems did not help Piltover either, like their corruption and the influence of Piltover’s wealthiest families over them. So Caitlyn and Steb had cleaned house, sacking anyone found to have been taking bribes or engaging in other corrupt behavior. Additionally, the Wardens are no longer partially funded by individuals or families, receiving the entirety of their funds from taxes. They’d also made various protocol changes to ensure that violence would be an absolute last resort. 

And now, Caitlyn is leaving the Wardens in Steb’s reliable hands. 

At the Council meeting, Caitlyn said her goodbyes to the few Councilors she respected, most notably Mel Medarda.

“It has been an honor working beside you, Caitlyn,” Mel had said, and Caitlyn had given her a warm hug. 

“As it was with you, Mel,” Caitlyn had said back, “Take care of yourself.”

Over the years, Mel had become much more than a mere colleague to Caitlyn. She was a friend, and later almost a sister. They both had…complicated relationships with Ambessa, to say the least. But the thought of Mel as something like a sister is a double-edged one, as her presence also reminds Caitlyn of the brother she had lost in Jayce. At least her and Mel were able to bond over this loss as well.

But they were similar in ways outside of their shared losses and complicated relationships. Both of them understood the terrifying responsibility that can come from holding real power. They both spent much of their lives, or time in Piltover at least, blind to the struggles of the undercity, and failing them when they needed them most. Both saw their duty as a redemption of sorts, for their past sins, and also a commitment to doing better.

So, Mel had become a confidant for Caitlyn, and Caitlyn for Mel in turn. It made her days far less lonely, finding this kindred spirit.

But now it is time for their paths to diverge. Caitlyn knows that they will see each other again, but this time only as friends, no longer as colleagues. And Caitlyn thinks she’ll like that a whole lot more.

Caitlyn had left the Council tower a much freer woman. She’s not even beholden to the Kiramman family, anymore.

Not that she has dropped the last name, that will of course stay with her for the rest of her life. It is just that House Kiramman will end with her. She has no plans on passing down her last name, passing down the legacy. And she has no plans on staying in this enormous house filled largely with ghosts. She’s giving it all up. 

Some of the reasons are personal—Caitlyn has no love for high society, and no longer being a part of it sounds like a blessing.

But the other reasons are perhaps more important. House Kiramman’s wealth was acquired through Zaun’s exploitation. Even now, after Zaun has been freed from Piltover’s exploitative ways, the family is still wealthy because of that foundation. Caitlyn wants no part of that legacy.

Even if Caitlyn simply moves to another part of Piltover, she’ll be content. She just cannot live here anymore, and she refuses to use her family name to get anywhere in life. That was her goal from the beginning, but she had to put it aside to do what was right, to make up for what she’d done when she lost her way. 

Much of Caitlyn feels guilty, leaving her father alone like this, but even he supports her decision. Their relationship…it has certainly improved over the past seven years, but it is not quite as it was. Caitlyn has grown too much for that, far from the naive girl she was. So, things between her and her father are different, but not a bad different. Eventually, he started opening up again, and they were able to actually discuss the loss of Cassandra, as well as everything that happened afterwards. Caitlyn was apologetic for besmirching their reputation, and her father was apologetic for not being there for her, leaving her rife to have Ambessa whispering in her ear. 

But Caitlyn knows that it wasn’t simply Ambessa’s manipulations that drove her to that point. She was already long down that road by the time Ambessa entered the picture. She does wonder, though, if her father had been more emotionally available, if things would’ve been different. 

She tries not to dwell on it. Nothing good comes from mulling over the what-ifs, she’s found.

Caitlyn had offered for her father to join her in leaving this old house, but he declined. He’ll steward the Kiramman manor until the end, and from there it will probably go to a distant relative, but Caitlyn does not concern herself with that.

She wonders what her mother would think, if she could see her now. Would she approve?

No, she probably wouldn’t, Caitlyn thinks. But that approval does not matter to her anymore. She’s the master of her own fate. 

And today, Caitlyn knows what she wants. She had sent that letter with an intent and a risk. Perhaps Vi does not want her in that way anymore, and Caitlyn has made her peace with that. But that doesn’t mean she won’t try. 

So, Caitlyn freshens up, changes her clothes, and starts to make the trek to the bridge, where she knows that a beautiful uncertainty awaits.

Vi looks at herself in the mirror.

Burgundy overalls with all sorts of pockets for her tools, cuffed at her ankles. All the buttons and buckles are a gold color, shining when the light hits them just right. The top buckles are undone, leaving only the tight tank Vi wears covering her torso. She wears her typical brown work boots as well. A dark brown cuff adorns on her right arm, just like how Vander used to have his. And that’s not the only reminder of her family. Her overalls contain a few little doodles, from a little fire (Mylo) to an hourglass (Ekko). Claggor’s goggles are safely in her pocket, like always. And her hair, she’s kept it grown out these seven years, sides cut close to the scalp, with a single braid streaked with blue going around her head, just above the temples. Her sister, always with her.

Vi had considered wearing something nicer, something a bit less…her everyday clothes, but she decided against it. This is her first time seeing Caitlyn in seven years, and the other woman is going to see her as she is, not a special version of her. 

That doesn’t mean Vi is going to be fully without charm, though. She picks up the flowers she’d picked from her garden specifically for today—daffodils^[3]. Something simple, but she hopes Caitlyn will appreciate them. Whether this meeting is one of friendship, or something different, Vi wants it to be a good memory anyway. And Caitlyn had brought Vi flowers the last time Vi had seen her. She ought to return the favor.

She leaves out from her apartment. This far into the fissures, it’ll take some time to get to the bridge, especially at the relatively leisurely pace that Vi goes. Sunset won’t be for about half an hour, she’s got time.

As she slowly ascends the levels, Vi’s mind turns back to everything she can remember about the other woman. It’s almost like a floodgate has been opened, details long forgotten roaring back, feelings set aside returning with a fierceness.

Vi loves Caitlyn. It’s simply a fact of this world. Caitlyn had forged her way into Vi’s ever expansive heart and there she had stayed, even through everything. Even through the moments that Vi wasn’t sure who Caitlyn was anymore.

Caitlyn had been the first person to show Vi kindness in many, many years. Vi knows that this is why she latched as hard as she did, which was not good for her, but the fact is it’s still true that Caitlyn was the first kind face Vi had seen in over seven years by that point. At first, it simply been for entertainment that Vi kept trying to get a rise out of the young Enforcer. But then Vi found her flustering to be cute. And then Vi fell in earnest, and the teasing and ribbing became a love language all on its own.

Caitlyn…she had been ignorant, but Vi could sense the true earnest desire for better between Piltover and Zaun within her. The conversation at the Firelights’ base showed her who Caitlyn was underneath all of the social expectations.

The other woman had gone out of her way to help Vi more than once, which is something Vi can’t remember anyone doing for her since Vander. She shot Sevika, sold her gun…it was hard not to fall for that kind of generosity, perhaps a kindred spirit of responsibility towards others.

Opening up to Caitlyn, on that bed…it was startlingly easy. Vi would not call herself an open book. Her emotions might show on her face, but her thoughts are her own. But Caitlyn pried them out of her with a finesse, and Vi wanted to give her everything and more. 

Then everything changed. The distance between them was thrown back in Vi’s face, and she knew she had to stop this burgeoning relationship in its tracks before someone got hurt. Not that that worked. It took a long, long time for Vi to stop blaming herself for what came next. The kidnapping, the rocket, the depth, the endless well of grief.

But Vi had stayed, because she had left her sister and she was not going to leave another person that she loved. Not when she was so sure that it was her fault. So she stayed, and she carved out pieces of herself, contorted herself until she could fit, swallowed down every ounce of pain and discomfort and agony coming from the crushing of what little identity she had. 

And it wasn’t enough. Or, more accurately, the relationship wasn’t working. It wasn’t Vi’s fault, as she’s been made to learn again and again. It wasn’t entirely Caitlyn’s fault either, to a certain degree. Grief can change people, and Vi had been unwilling to see that. It was one of many sources of tension between them. The inherent difference in power and status between them was another, and it all came to a head in that alley.

And Caitlyn went down a path that Vi couldn’t follow, that Vi hated. And Vi had still loved her, no matter how much she tried to forget it.

They found each other again, like it seems they always will. Caitlyn and Vi seem forever destined to orbit each other, to keep coming close and pulling apart. Maybe one day they could pull apart forever. Or maybe the opposite, one day they would come close and stay that way. Today, Vi is hoping for the latter.

Because it has been seven years. And Vi has learned much about herself. And she’s changed. She’s not the same scared girl anymore. She’s so much happier, so much more fulfilled, and so much more secure in who she is. If she were to get into a relationship with Caitlyn, with anyone, she would not lose herself. Not this time. 

And Caitlyn has changed too. Vi knows how hard she’s fought for the undercity, for Piltover to fulfill all of its terms with Zaun. She’s even done what Vi had expected her to do by improving Piltover as well. She has been instrumental in making their world change, and Vi couldn’t be more proud. 

And apparently, she’s now given it all up, all the glamor and prestige of being a Councilor and a Sheriff. Sevika had told her this the other day, having heard it from Mel. 

This woman never fails to amaze her.

There is no doubt that Vi has forgiven Caitlyn. Completely and entirely. Between them, things might as well be a blank slate, and that excites her. 

Vi approaches the bridge, which glows in the warm orange light of the setting sun. Seems like she’s gotten here right on time. And as she walks to the middle of the bridge, she finds exactly what she’s looking for. 

There, standing and gazing out on the water, is Caitlyn. Vi would recognize her anywhere.

Her hair is much shorter, only down to just above the base of her neck. A black eyepatch covers her left eye, and it is skillfully embroidered with golden thread, which catches in the sunlight. She wears a dark blue button-up made of a silky fabric, and her trousers are black, mostly covering her black heeled boots.

She’s beautiful.

“Hey, Cait.” The nickname rolls off of her tongue without a second thought, and Vi doesn’t mind. She hasn’t referred to Caitlyn so familiarly in nearly eight years, and saying it now just feels right. 

And Caitlyn turns, eye wide and lips parted, clearly surprised to hear the familiar address. “Vi,” she breathes, and that teal eye softens as a light smile appears.

They both walk towards each other, then, and when they meet in the middle it's in a warm hug. Vi relaxes into the hold, and she can feel Caitlyn do the same in kind. So many unsaid things in this hug. A confirmation, a question, an answer. A hello. Not a goodbye. 

When they pull apart, it is like the whole world has fallen away. Vi can only see Caitlyn, and she can tell that Caitlyn only sees Vi in kind. Seems even seven years can’t take away that kind of resonance between them. 

Caitlyn breaks eye contact first, gazing back out towards the water. She moves out of Vi’s light hold around her hips and places her hands on the railing. Vi follows in kind, but her posture is more relaxed. 

“It has been a long time,” Caitlyn says, still turnt towards the water. 

“It has,” Vi hums. Caitlyn’s hair flows in the breeze like this, and it’s such a wonderfully calm sight, so indicative of the new world they live in.

“I’m assuming you already know, then,” Caitlyn says softly, looking at Vi from the side. 

Vi smirks, “That you’re a free woman?”

And Caitlyn giggles at that, airy and light and so endearing. Vi would like to hear more of that. “I am also in search of a new place to live,” she adds.

Vi raises an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“I…cannot live in the manor, anymore,” Caitlyn grips the railing a little tighter, head bowing before she releases the tension, “That is not a legacy I wish to claim.”

Vi says nothing at the admission. Caitlyn…gave it up? The riches? The power? The standing? Her heart flutters a bit, in her chest. Here they stand, more equal than they have ever been, and perhaps they will grow to be more equal still. 

“You wouldn’t happen to have any suggestions, would you?” Caitlyn says into the silence, glancing at Vi fully. “For apartments? Perhaps in Zaun?”

“Of course I do,” Vi replies a little distractedly, because Caitlyn couldn’t mean that, right? She doubts it, but she’ll still tease Caitlyn about it, because she can, and there’s no harm in having a little fun. “Unless…you’ve got something else in mind?” Vi wiggles her eyebrows a bit, just to really emphasize the tease.

Caitlyn’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, “What?” then realization sets in and they shoot up, and she starts sputtering as her face grows flushed, “Oh! Oh, gosh, no. That…that would be moving rather fast, wouldn’t you think? We haven’t even…”

She trails off, but Vi knows what she’s thinking. They don’t know what they are to each other right now. And Caitlyn wouldn’t mind being something other than friends.

Amusement from the teasing faded away, Vi shifts a little closer to Caitlyn, voice quiet, “Do you think I’m going to say no?”

Caitlyn looks down at her hands, which start fidgeting over the edge of the railing. “I don’t want to assume…”

“It’s been seven years, Cait,” Vi says, looking the opposite direction from Caitlyn for a moment, “and you waited for me.”

“Of course I did,” Caitlyn says easily, like it was hardly an effort at all. “There is no one else but you, my love.” The endearment is a risk, but it settles nicely with Vi, who feels warm upon hearing it. It just further confirms everything she wanted to know. Their fire is not snuffed out. Caitlyn waited…for her. She wanted her. Not because she needed anything from Vi, but because she loved her. 

As Vi’s heart warms even further, an old insecurity rises from the shadows—what has she done to deserve such devotion? Is it real? 

“Aren’t you tired of waiting?” Vi asks, voice a little raspy, and nearly broken. She doesn’t fully understand, what makes her so special, so deserving? She’s spent seven years trying to learn that lesson and she thought she had, but like always Caitlyn makes her question so much that she thought she knew. 

“I won’t pretend that I haven’t wanted you by my side, all this time,” Caitlyn says, voice bittersweet, “But it’s as I told you that day, I understand, Vi. I’ll wait for as long as you need.”

Vi looks back at Caitlyn, then, and Caitlyn looks at her. Vi’s voice is just above a whisper, “You could be waiting for a long time.”

Caitlyn nods, “I could. And I already have.” And then she pins Vi with that knowing teal gaze, the one that can see right through her kindly. “But what about you? What do you want to do?”

Vi pauses. 

So much of her life had been defined by being unable to act on or answer that question. And this second phase of her life has been all about fixing that. So she knows what she wants now. She knows how to get it. 

And she knows that she…can have this, this happiness in front of her. This future. This missing piece. She really can. 

So, Vi gets even closer to Caitlyn, radiant in the evening sun, looking her right in the eye, reaching out and taking one of those fidgeting hands in her own, placing the daffodils there and saying, “I think…I really want to start making up for that lost time.”

And she smiles.