Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Fuck.”

Jayce looked up, peering at Caitlyn who was scowling in the office. “What?”

She surveyed her board, a web of pins and string covering the entire far wall of the small room. What was once an English teacher’s office had become Caitlyn’s quarters, and she had no problem with that. It was nice to have her own space, and often necessary, thank god the door locked.

“It doesn’t make any sense, how did we lose track of him, how has nobody found any leads on him?”

Jayce frowned at her, “you’re still on that theory, huh? Sprout, face it, it’s a lost cause.”

Caitlyn shook her head, “No such thing. If you and Viktor think there’s a cure, then this is our best hope.” she studied it again, crossing her arms and scowling at each little detail. Bits of writing on his past life, pieces of images and possible trails to follow, small polaroids of graffiti found. Most of them were various groups also tracking a cure, staring with the firelights, but some were a bit more mystic; the most eye-catching a small little blue and pink emblem often with the words “get jinxed” beside them. At first Cait had chalked that one up to foolish teens, but it seemed more consistent than that, like a symbol rather than mere spray paint.

Jayce hopped from his seat, coming to stand beside her, studying it as well. “You’ve been at this for two years, Cait, maybe we have to focus on protecting our people instead of saving the world.”

“You’d really have me give up that quickly?”

“I’m just saying it’s a longshot.” He sighed, “and a distraction.”

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, “no such thing, we’re doing fine.” She bumped into him with her shoulder, “You focus on the cure and I’ll focus on this.”

Caitlyn turned, marching out of her office and into the hallway. On the one side were classrooms, each one turned into some sort of quarters for people to sleep or stay, on the other side, windows looking down into the large library that had been made into the encampment’s center. She watched people come and go, before turning away and working her way down the stairs. People greeted her as she went, often nodding with respect or coming to ask if they could help with anything. When she made it to the library, she checked in.

In the center, the crew had put together small screens, each showing the various teams and jobs required of the day and the various members needed to complete them. When all this first happened, it had been mainly attack squads, rescue teams, and supply runs, and at home base, efforts focused on organizing and fortifying the campus. It had over six large buildings, plus all the sports fields. Thank goodness there was already a fence around it, but making sure such a wall was stable and secured was necessary. Those first efforts had taken weeks, but it had worked out well enough.

All of that was ten years ago.

After that, it was figuring out how to organize a relatively haggard but large community. Hundreds of people had come to them for help and safety, and finding ways to support all of them had been no easy task. But with the elected council, they had succeeded, and had found themselves entirely self-sufficient. Hell, they were able to resume school for kids and offer families some shred of normalcy because of all of it, and it had been two years since any of them had really feared anything within the walls.

It was outside that frightened them.

A young woman approached Caitlyn, carrying a clipboard and messing with her glasses. Caitlyn smiled at her. “Sky, how are we on supplies?”

“Completely stable.”

“Should we be worried about the upcoming winter at all?”

“Should go smoothly, as long as the panels hold up and we harvest in time.”

Caitlyn nodded, moving instead to the middle of the room to approach another woman. The woman smiled gently at her, grace and poise in her body. “Kiramman.”

“You know that’s my mother,” she retorted with a small sigh.

“You are your mother’s daughter, are you not?”

“Still, those respects should be reserved for her.” Caitlyn shook her head, “I can’t possibly fill her shoes,” she mumbled.

Mel wilted slightly, placing a gentle hand on Caitlyn’s shoulders. “I’d say you’ve done a magnificent job so far, Caitlyn.” She squeezed her, “everyone thinks so.”

Caitlyn backed away, taking a breath and resetting herself, “any news from the other safe havens?”

Mel, clearly disappointed that Caitlyn had moved on so fast, just sighed, “No, nothing yet.”

“What could be taking so long?”

“The signals have been weaker as of late, interrupted we think. Besides, not all of them have such a setup as we.” She folded her hands in front of her, “we’ll have to be patient.”

“It feels like that’s all we are right now.”

“It’s the world we live in, Kiramman, best get used to it.”

Caitlyn looked at the floor, before shaking her head and making her way out of the main building and to the outside.

The quad had been turned into a communal space, taking old materials and doing what they could to make some sort of space for people to enjoy the outside world. It wasn’t what any of them once had, but it attempted to make up for the grey horror of what laid outside. Flowers and plants grew along sidewalks, small sitting areas and a firepit had been crafted. Kids raced around playing tag or messing around with small soccer balls retrieved from the gym. Adults sometimes tried to engage in creative work out here, writing or painting with whatever was found from the art building. They would run out one day, sure, but someone had to know how to remake pigments and ink.

Caitlyn plopped herself onto the step, pulling out a notebook and studying it. Most of her days were spent trying to follow leads for a cure, and while many living within the Piltover refuge were content to just focus on surviving, Caitlyn hadn’t let go of her mother’s wish, that somewhere out there was a cure, and that Caitlyn knew the two people who could make it happen.

“Ah, the notebook again.”

Caitlyn jumped up, shutting it closed, head snapping to the voice. Viktor stood not too far behind her, staring down at her with an almost unamused expression. Cait scrambled to stand. “VIktor, I thought you were in the lab?”

He limped forward slightly, leaning on his cane, “One can tire of never finding the answers.”

Cait’s shoulders sagged, “So I’m guessing there’s been no breakthrough.”

He just shrugged, “Not that that is anything new, but we had hoped to be closer by now.” He looked to the quad, carefully watching the life within it. Caitlyn followed his gaze.

“We all did.”

“We are better off than most, of course,” he observed, “but… Jayce and I had hoped to change that, to help the people beyond.”

“You are, just by trying you are.”

He just quirked his mouth in a “whatever you say” expression. “But you and this theory, have you made progress?”

“Of course not,” Caitlyn laughed bitterly, “besides, most are losing any faith in it, including your lab partner.”

“Jayce is skeptical-”

“Dismissive.”

Viktor raised a brow, continuing as if she hadn’t corrected him, “but he believes in you, as do I.” He approached her, beginning to walk off but not before laying a hand on her arm, “as do most.” With that, he made his way down the stairs and back towards the lab. Caitlyn just sighed, slumping and falling back to the edge of the step she was on. She buried her face in her hands, letting her notebook fall to the stone beside her.

“Mother, I wish you were still here,” she whispered, “I don’t know what to do.”

---

~1 year ago~

“Mom!”

Caitlyn rushed towards the returning party, pushing past the small crowd there to intercept them and to the front of the clearing. The gate shut with a loud clank behind the returning squad, all of them staring solemnly at the ground, a few of them returning weapons crafted by Jayce and Viktor to their rightful places, others checking in with the guards at the entrance. Caitlyn glanced around at them, trying to spot her mother amongst them, but she failed to see such a familiar face.

She took a few steps forward, confusion painted on her face. When she spied a council member, she approached them.

“Shoola… my mother, where?”

“We’re so sorry, Caitlyn.”

The words didn’t make sense at the time, or perhaps, Caitlyn refused to accept what they hinted at, refused to accept the reality they were a part of. She had just taken a step back, furrowing her brows at the woman. “I- what do you mean?”

Jayce had rushed to the gate, looking for Caitlyn, trying to make his way through the gathering crowd.

Marcus approached Cait, lowering his voice as he spoke to her. “We couldn't stop it in time… we- we were able to recover the body, but I’m afraid we were too late.” His gaze landed on a box and Caitlyn followed. She looked back and forth between them, before slowly walking over to the makeshift coffin, pushing it open to spy her mother’s face. She stared, unblinking, before heaving a sob and collapsing to the ground.

Arms wrapped around her, a figure holding her tight, letting her sob against his chest. Jayce just sat on the ground with the girl, rocking back and forth with her, trying to steady her sobs, ease her grief.

“She’s-”

“I know. It’s ok, Cait, I know.”

Caitlyn sobbed, choking on her own breaths, words getting stuck in her throat and merely turning small whines or sounds.

They were supposed to be safe, all of this was supposed to be safe.

That night, Caitlyn refused to sleep, and Jayce had stayed close to her. It was early in the morning when she heard two voices in the hallway outside, and she turned on her side, tuning her hearing in.

“What happened,” Jayce asked gruffly.

“She was bit. We didn’t see it coming, got ambushed, we lost two others in the fight, after it, Councilwoman Kiramman was still alive-”

“And?”

“She was bit,” Marcus repeated, “told us outright, asked us to kill her.”

“And you did?”

“Would you want to be one of those things?” Marcus hissed. “Would you have me object to her wish and watch her turn into that?” Jayce sighed, and Marcus continued, “At least this way we could bring home a body, properly honor her, as she was.”

Caitlyn felt the tears pushing forward, forcing herself to cry silently as to not let them know she was awake, clamping down on her hand to muffle her slight heaving. Outside, Jayce shifted.

“Not a word of this to Caitlyn.”

“Yes, sir.”

After that night, Caitlyn never cried again.

----

“Commander KIramman.”

Caitlyn pulled away from the girl with a slight “mmph” of surprise, wiping her mouth but staying hidden behind the desk. She sighed from her hands and knees. “What, Marcus?”

“Um..”

Well shit he saw, “Spit it out, Marcus.”

“Something you might want to see at the gate.”

She cursed under her breath. “Is it vital I see it?”

“I’d say so.”

She huffed, tearing a hand through her hair, “Fine, I’ll be right there.”

The door clicked shut, and Caitlyn pushed herself up, grabbing her top from the chair it had been thrown on and tossing it back on. She glanced at the girl with her, who was watching with a mix of confusion and disappointment. Caitlyn just threw her one of her own jackets. “Take your time. But I have to go.”

“Will you be coming back>”

Caitlyn shot her a sympathetic look, “Depending on what this is, I’d say no.”

The girl wilted, and Caitlyn, feeling apologetic, bent down to a crouch to kiss her hand. “I can always see you again?” She offered with a slight smirk. The girl flushed, and nodded with a small squeak. Caitlyn, satisfied, pulled herself back to a stand, tying her loose hair up into a ponytail. She didn’t look back as she left her quarters and shut the door tight behind her.

The girl stomped towards the gate, spying Marcus halfway. She glared at him slightly, “What did I say about entering my quarters unannounced?”

“Apologies Ms. Kiramman.”

“Commander.”

“Yes, commander.”

Caitlyn rolled her eyes with a slight huff, marching towards the edge of the refuge and mumbling, “this better be good.”

What she was met with was a few confused guards standing around a girl. She was tall, still shorter than Cait though. Bright pink hair flicked out to the side, the other half shaven tight to her scalp. She was hardly small, built with muscles that Cait’s eyes selfishly lingered on, tattoos spiraling on the girl’s shoulder and back, peeking out of the wide tank top she wore. The girl stared back at Caitlyn, and she couldn’t be sure if she was sizing her up or checking her out, either worked as she supposed. The girl raised a brow.

“And you are.”

“Caitlyn Kiramman, but that’s the question we should be asking you.”

“Ask it then.”

Caitlyn crossed her arms, staring down this stranger, “What are you doing here?”

“Just visiting,” she joked, “what do you think?”

“Considering I can’t read minds, I’m not sure.” Caitlyn looked at one of the guards. “Is she bit?”

“We aren’t sure, m’am.”

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, “How many times do I have to say this, it’s basic protocol?” She waved her hand, “Check her.”

“Hey, wha-” the girl bared her teeth, readying herself into a fighting position. “Don’t touch me.”

Caitlyn held up her hand to signal a stop, slowly approaching the strange girl. “Tell me honestly, why are you here?”

“I think I found the cure,” She said, “and I heard to come find you if that was the case.”

Caitlyn’s firm persona wavered, her hands dropping to her side as she stared in disbelief at the girl. “You’re lying.”

“Why would I risk my life to lie to you?”

Caitlyn, considered this, then looked to the guards. “Take her to the containment facility, keep an eye on her.”

The girl went from smirking to glaring, shoving the guards off her and walking the way they pushed her. “I can walk on my own,” she hissed as the small group walked towards the labs. Caitlyn just sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead and gritting her teeth. She glanced over at Marcus. “Did she say where she was from?”

“No.”

“Did she tell you anything at all?”

He shook his head, “She said she would only talk to you.”

Chapter Text

Caitlyn pushed through the door, spying Jayce and a handful of other guards in the room. The girl with no name had been restrained to a chair on the far side of the room. She was glaring at the floor, legs spread wide to balance especially with the loss of her arms. Cait glanced at her then at Jayce. “How has she been doing?”

He shrugged, “Hissing threats at us and overall being unpleasant but she hasn’t hurt anyone so I consider that a win.”

Caitlyn sighed and turned to the girl with a small frown, eyes flicking from her feet to her face. Without taking her eyes off her, she bit an “everybody out.”

Most of them disappeared from the room without protest, but Jayce grabbed her arm, turning her towards him. “What are you doing?”

“Talking to her?”

“Is that really a good idea? We don’t know her,” he harshly whispered, looking at her with something Cait swore could be apprehension, or maybe just cowed. She regained his focus with a nod.

“Which is why I’m intending to get to know her, Jayce.”

“Don’t tell her my name-”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Jayce, relax. She’s not going to bite you.”

“I can if he wants!” The girl called.

Jayce looked at her in slight fear, and Caitlyn suppressed a giggle, patting him on the arm and nodding to the door. “Go on, I got this.”

“I’ll have guards outside.”

“Whatever makes you comfortable.”

She waited for him to leave, then waited to hear his footsteps recede before slowly strolling over towards the girl. She looked up, meeting Caitlyn’s gaze with a smirk and gesturing with her chin to the restraints. “You know, this is hardly how you treat a guest.”

“Is that what you are,” Caitlyn snorted, “a guest?”

“Well, judging by the rope, I’m more of a prisoner.”

“No, a stranger,” Caitlyn corrected, “In a world where that is hardly trustworthy. So forgive my caution.”

The girl just shrugged, “whatever you say, cupcake.”

Caitlyn crossed her arms, “My name is Caitlyn.” She stopped, eyeing the girl, “speaking of, I need to know your name.”

“Why?”

“I can hardly vouch for a girl who refuses to introduce herself.”

“You’ll vouch for me?”

Caitlyn held up a hand, “I won’t consider it until you tell me your name.”

The girl rolled her eyes, but obliged. “Violet. Most call me Vi.”

“So it is your name written on your face,” Caitlyn observed, “I thought it was the number. Word of advice, if you want to stay anonymous, maybe inking your name on your cheek isn’t the best of ideas?”

“Sorry, didn’t know our world would become a crawling death trap when I planned this one.”

“Where are you from?” Caitlyn grilled, as if interviewing the girl.

“Damn, want to know my family tree next?”

“I’m being serious, Vi.”

The girl paused, as if her name in Caitlyn’s mouth was strange enough to stop her in her tracks. She glanced to the floor with a slight frown, her mouth a tight line. “Zaun.”

“You came all the way from Zaun?” Caitlyn asked in disbelief, “why on earth would you do that?”

She just shrugged again.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, “Why are you here?”

“Does it matter?”

“You said you were looking for me, why?”

“Because you’re looking for a cure, I heard.”

“Still on that.”

Vi glared “Look,“I think there’s one guy behind all this, Silco, and if he’s behind all this, then he’s also the one with the cure.”

Caitlyn shifted, refusing to show any sign of understanding, just considering the words. Vi raised her brows at her, shooting her a knowing glance, “and by the looks of it, you think so too. I’ve seen the string and cork board,” she teased, “You believe it too.”

“Why should I believe you, and even if he is behind all of this, who’s to say he has a cure?”

Vi shrugged in her restraints, “who knows, he might not, but do you see a better option?” She frowned, “it’s better than living in this for the rest of eternity, I don’t know about you but I’ll take the chance.”

“And you came to me for all this? All the way from the Zaun?”

Vi took a breath, “People have been talking about you, even that far away. Saying how you helped them, saying how you’re the most stable they’ve seen a checkpoint. The various camps talk, not a lot, but they do, and when they do, you guys always come up.” She smiled, “Piltover’s finest.”

Caitlyn studied her features, walking closer to prop herself against the table near Vi. She crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes. Vi’s gaze fell on her chest, then flicked away as if she had been caught. Caitlyn rolled her eyes. “Why go after it then? What makes you want to do this?”

“Can’t I want what’s best for the world?”

Caitlyn scoffed, “Sure, but most people recognize this is a suicide mission. Why come all the way here?”

Vi frowned. Silence filled the room, hanging there before she took a deep breath and, still staring at the ground, muttered, “I think he has my sister.”

Cait’s eyes widened, and she leaned forward. “Why would he have your sister?”

Vi shook her head, “We lost our parents at a young age, then lost our adoptive father. When it all happened, I lost sight of her, walked away to clear my head and couldn’t find her again in the chaos. Some guy took me, dragged me away to safety. I haven’t seen her for years.”

Caitlyn tilted her head, “then how do you know she’s still alive?”

Vi jutted her head towards the papers on the desk, “See that call mark you’re so obsessed with?”

“The little monkey thing?”

“That’s her sign. Something she used to doodle when we were kids. If those are out there, she is too.”

“If those are her signs, why would Silco have her?”

“Call it a hunch.”

“I’m not going after some crime lord for a hunch,” Caitlyn hissed. Vi just looked to the ground.

“When it all happened and she and I got separated, it had been after our father had fought to get us safely to a checkpoint.” She looked back at Caitlyn, “That man was Silco, and if my sister is missing and has been alive all these years, then he must have her.”

Fair enough, Caitlyn thought, then she readjusted, straightening her back, letting a few wisps of hair fall form her ponytail. “And why should I bring you?”

Vi rolled her eyes, “I can talk and I can punch, what more could you want?”

The two stayed staring at each other, Vi leaning forward in her restraints, offering Cait a “So we doing this or not” look. Caitlyn pursed her lips, sighed, then came forward to free Vi. The girl rubbed at her wrists, studying Caitlyn.

“If we’re going to do this, we’re doing it my way.”

“Whatever you say, cupcake.”

“My name is Caitlyn.”

“I know.”

Chapter Text

Vi had busied her first day free peeking around, popping her head into various rooms, studying the way the shelter operated. It wasn't all that different from where she had come from, but rather than her original refuge that focused on day to day survival, this one seemed to prioritize long term building. She was shocked at just how many families were located here, and how many of them seemed to not be missing members. The last time Vi had seen any of her family was ten years ago, she wasn’t sure she even remembered the sounds of their voice.

She quickly found that her favorite place was outside, watching as kids flew makeshift kites or tackled one another to the ground with fits of giggles. She found something healing in it, in seeing a small part of the world unbothered and unfearful. Hell, she wondered if any of these kids even knew the chaos of ten years ago, half of them weren't even alive then.

Perhaps even some of them had never run into one of those things prowling just beyond the walls.

Vi pushed herself up, staring as a group of teens walked by, teasing each other and laughing as they passed by, carrying a bag of art supplies. Vi smiled at them, resuming staring at the small trinket in her pocket, a little tin creation from her sister’s mind. She ran her fingers over it, as she always did, studying its design as if trying to piece together just how she did it. She had hit the point where she had memorized the design in its entirety, able to fully remember each piece even with her eyes closed.

“What’s that?”

Vi quickly pocketed the little creature, turning to that guy, Jayce, standing above her, hands clasped behind his back. Even in the chaos he looked somehow almost regal. He sported a plain black button up, rolled at the sleeves and gloves, and if it had been ten years ago, she would have had no choice but to assume he was some sort of business man or even politician. But now he led a refuge, clinging to the shred of normalcy any of them had.

“Nothing.”

“I know an invention when I see one.” He then just held out his hand. Vi hesitated to hand over the artifact, the one thing left of her sister, but with a sigh, she passed it his way, letting him carefully turn it over and examine it. “A crude design, but I can see it’s intention. Some sort of bomb, yes?”

“Just a nail trap,” she explained. “Made that when she was nine.”

“You didn’t make this?”

“My sister did,” Vi scoffed, “I hardly know how to make a thing.”

“Your sister made this at nine?” He asked, his voice almost impressed. “She’s smarter than I initially gave her credit for.”

“My little sister was a genius,” Vi hissed, “Just… hadn’t cracked the code yet.”

“Was.” Jayce quietly whispered, as if testing the word, making it make sense in his mind. He nodded, gently passing the makeshift trap back and watching the girl pocket it. “And what’s your name again?”

“Let Caitlyn tell you that one,” she offered, before turning on her heels and stomping away.

---

“What’s with our new guest?”

Caitlyn looked up from her ledger, eyeing Mel who was running her finger along the table before leaning against its side. Caitlyn shut her book, dropping her pen and shaking her head. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“So the bright pink girl isn’t your doing?” Mel asked with a raise of her brow. Caitlyn sighed, leaning back in her chair and staring at the ceiling. “She’s been staring all day. That girl is a strange one.”

“Tell me about it,” Caitlyn muttered, pushing herself to stand. “She’s from Zaun.”

“Zaun?” Mel dropped her arms, “What on earth would she be doing all the way here? That’s easily… two thousand miles.”

“Give or take.”

“Why would she come all the way here?”

Caitlyn just shrugged, “She claims to have been looking for me, though… to travel that distance… and alone it seems, I find it hard to believe she would come just in search of me.”

Mel simply huffed a laugh, “perhaps you’re the first to humor her, but not to hear her speech.”

Caitlyn looked at her, “You think she asked other people before this?”

“I simply think she would be wise to ask for as much help as possible.” Mel eyed Caitlyn, “Which is why I believe you travelling alone would be foolish.”

Caitlyn followed Mel’s wandering gaze, spying the half packed bag beside the leg of her desk. Caitlyn kicked it under the table, then sighed. “What choice do I have?”

“To send her on her merry way… or to offer her sanctuary here.” Mel quirked her head, “Your choice really.”

“I have to go with her.”

“And why is that?”

Caitlyn knew it didn’t make sense to explain the pain she felt seeing Vi talk of lost family. She didn’t gather much, but the ability to bring her some closure, to find her own blood, Caitlyn couldn’t stand to turn her away. Besides, she needed the cure as much as that girl needed her sister. “You want me to pass up the one chance I have to find a cure?”

“The theory again, Kiramman?”

Caitlyn walked over to her corkboard, “My mother believed this, and I do too. The answer is right there in front of us we just… have to confirm it.”

“This Silco guy, she also thinks he exists.”

Caitlyn pressed her pen to her chin, “She seems to know he does, there’s a surety to it.”

“And you’re willing to do this?”

“For the last time, Mel, yes.” She breathed, “I’m tired of sitting around. Something has to change.”

Mel just smirked, moving towards the door, “Then change it.”

----

The door slammed, jerking Caitlyn out of her thoughts, head snapping up towards the entrance.

“Why is she out of her restraints?”

“Jayce, just calm down.”

His hand fell to his side, but his glower stayed firmly on his face. “We can’t trust her.”

“We have to,” Cait said, shoving things into a bag. Jayce studied her, eyes widening, the glare turning to confusion.

“Wait, what are you doing? What is that?”

“I'm going with her.”

“Why?”

“She thinks the Silco theory is right, and if she thinks so, I’m willing to go for it.”

“It’s a theory, Cait.”

“And it’s the best shot we have. Or what, you’d rather us just give up on a cure?”

“You can’t seriously be doing this?”

Caitlyn sighed, looking at Jayce, “What would you have me do? Let this opportunity go?”

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” he cried, shaking his head, “I will not add my sister to our dead.”

Caitlyn blinked, pain on her face, “So, you’ll live the rest of your life behind walls? Never knowing who you can trust, who’s safe, fearing to go beyond it?” Caitlyn scoffed, “You’re welcome to do that, but I’m not going to join you.”

The two stared at each other In silence, Jayce’s gaze falling to the floor. Caitlyn’s shoulders slumped, and she took a step towards him, placing her hand on his shoulder. “It’s the only chance we’ve got. I say we'll take it.” Her voice broke, “We have to try.”

“I know, I know. You’re right.” He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her. She breathed against him, before pulling back, turning to her bags. He wrinkled his nose, “But you’re really going to go with her?”

“She’s the best lead we have.”

“She’s a stray,” He retorted, “She’s also crazy.”

“you’re just saying that because she scares you,” Caitlyn mused, “I think you could like her if you give her the chance.”

“She’s brash.”

Caitlyn barked a laugh, “So are you. See, you’d get along.”

“You’re really going to go with her?”

“Yes.”

“With no backup?”

“Yes.”

Jayce rubbed at his eyes, shaking his head and breathing a soft “you’re going to get killed.”

She shrugged, “Maybe. But traveling with a group will slow us down, and bring suspicion towards us.” She met Jayce’s gaze, “and I’m not going to put anyone else at risk.”

--------

Caitlyn found VI at sunset, the girl sitting outside on one of the balconies, propped against the ledge. She quietly approached, standing a few feet behind. “There you are.” She smoothed her arms against the ledge, peering sidelong at her. “I thought you may have run off.”

She laughed, “Your freaky guards would have shot me in the head before I had the chance.”

Caitlyn sighed, “Forgive them, they’re used to… worse situations.”

“Those things?”

Caitlyn resituated, “and people. If anything, this mess has revealed how the line between monsters and men never existed.”

“I’ve always known that.”

Caitlyn looked at her, watching Vi’s eyes as they stayed locked on the quad below. “I’m sorry for that.”

She smiled, “Don’t be.” She nodded to the scene in front of them, “Seems like you’ve remembered how to make people kind again.”

“I didn’t do it,” Caitlyn admitted, “I just happened to be here when it happened.” Caitlyn watched some of the kids roll in the grass, their parents not too far away, smiling at their own joy. “We don’t have to do this, you know.”

“I didn’t come all the way from Zaun just to settle here,” Vi said with a shake of her head, “We’re going. Unless you’re too afraid?”

Caitlyn rolled her shoulders, straightening herself and jutting out her chin. “I’m no such thing.” She then raised a brow at the girl, “What’s your plan out there?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, how are you defending yourself, surely you’re not going to punch the things to death with bare fists.”

Vi shrugged, “I have knuckles.”

“Show me.”

Vi removed the things from her pocket, and while they clearly were sturdy and could damage a human well enough, Caitlyn had doubts about how they would hold up against the infected, she hardly thought they were susceptible to concussions or broken noses anymore. She scoffed, tossing them back to Vi. “How the hell did you survive this long?”

“My charm?”

“Yeah, right.”

“I don’t know, I just sorta have.’

Caitlyn figured the girl would need a weapon, and after watching her, how she held herself, how she sized up strangers, the way her body moved and flexed, she definitely didn’t take her for a gunslinger like Cait, no, she was a close combat sort of girl. But she hadn’t come into the Piltover refuge with a noticeable weapon like most seeking asylum. Cait would have expected a bat, crowbar, pipe, some sort of handheld weapon to be visible when she came through the gates, but the girl wore none of that.

She really wasn’t kidding when she mentioned her fists.

Caitlyn turned to the bags, rifling through them before dragging two gauntlets over to the girl, large metal things that still allowed a decent enough range of motion without sacrificing a hard hit. She passed them off to Vi. “Jayce made these a few years ago, we mainly used them to get work done around the encampment, but he figured they’d work as an offensive too.”

Vi tried them on, twisting and turning her arm, flexing her now metallic fingers and throwing a few punches, seeing if they would actually work or would just slow her down. Soon enough, she was grinning. “These are perfect.”

“I wasn’t about to let you go out there unarmed.”

“And you?”

Caitlyn tapped the folded up gun on her shoulder, Vi nodding. She then tilted her head, “you’re totally sure about this?”

“I already said yes.”

“I’m just making sure. We- there’s really no turning around once we’re out there.”

“Vi. I said we’re doing this and I meant it.

“Then..” Vi looked at her, smiling softly, she nodded, “Let’s get going, cupcake”

Chapter Text

“So we’re just walking?”

“Yes.”

Caitlyn grumbled, fixing her bag tighter around her shoulder and stomping up the road. She was beginning to believe this was a poor idea, at the very least, supremely under planned. They weren’t too far from home base, they could always turn right around, head back, save themselves thousands of miles of trekking through danger and uncharted territory.

But that would mean giving up on all this, so Caitlyn retied her boots and kept walking.

They were lucky, for miles, there wasn’t an infected to be seen, something that unnerved the both of them. Caitlyn knew the encampment had done a decent enough job of clearing out the surrounding area, but they were now miles from it, there was no way this was only their doing. For the first few hours, it set them on edge, the two travelling in utter silence, jumping at each sound and squawk, terrified that it would catch them off guard. But after the woods truly seemed empty, they began talking.

“How old were you when it all happened?” Vi asked, glancing over her shoulder to spy Caitlyn a few steps behind her. Caitlyn considered, blowing out a breath.

“Fourteen? You?”

“Same.”

“What about your sister?”

“She was nine.”

“Right.”

More silence, more walking. “So, what were you like, before it all?”

“What, like in school?”

Vi just shrugged, “sure, hell, if you can even remember all that.”

There were two versions of everyone at this point, an unspoken rule acknowledged by everyone who was alive enough during the breakout to recall it. There was the you before it all happened. And the you after it all happened. Most of the time, they had things in common, a certain underlying personality or base interest, but things like morality, politics, emotions, the amount of violence you were willing to enact on the day to day changed. Some people threw all of it out the window, falling into a common anarchy, others tried their best to preserve what little humanity left in them, more gave up their moral high ground, trading it for survival, and if you were lucky, you didn’t see yourself as two people.

But Caitlyn had never met anyone like that.

“I don’t know,” she muttered, “I was a straight A student, I led clubs, was involved in more. I helped Jayce with his inventions at a nearby Academy, my parents funded him.”

“So… you were rich?”

“I guess you could say that.”

Vi rolled her eyes, “Should have guessed, being from Piltover.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

VI shrugged, “Just that I’ve never met a struggling Piltie before” When she noticed Caitlyn frowning she shot her a look, “tell me I’m wrong.”

“I suppose you’re not.”

Vi hopped over a log, outstretching her hand for Caitlyn to take on her way down. She hesitated, but with a slight grumble, begrudgingly allowed Vi to assist her in the dismount, landing on the dirt with a slight “oof”. Vi continued on, occasionally flexing the fingers on her new gauntlets, like she didn’t quite fit them yet. “So, did you live in a mansion?”

“I suppose that’s what you would call it.”

Vi slowly turned to her, “Do you miss it?”

“Of course I do, what kind of question is that?”

“Just checking, some people like the chaos-”

“Insane people like the chaos,” Caitlyn retorted. Vi just shook her head.

“Or people who thought it was the only way to change things.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m just saying, not everyone had it great before… for some people, this was preferable.”

“What, the death of millions? Total societal collapse, horrible suffering?” Caitlyn scoffed, “Who on earth would think that.”

“You’d be surprised.”

Caitlyn studied Vi, who kept walking as if nothing happened. The gunslinger stopped in the dirt, tilting her head slightly. “Do you think that?”

Vi, assumingly noticing her tone, stopped, turning slowly to meet Cait’s accusatory gaze, looking almost pained. “The day I lost my sister is the day my world ended,” she said, “Of course I don’t think that.”

Caitlyn, realizing she mis-stepped shifted from foot to foot and bit her lip, watching as Vi scowled slightly, turning and beginning to walk again. Caitlyn ran after her, listening to the crunching of their footsteps.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine, Cait. I know.”

Soon enough, they came upon a main road, nestled between the woods they had just come from and a small shopping center, cutting down towards what seemed to be picturesque suburbs. Caitlyn nodded to the cars in the parking lot. “Think any of them have gas?”

“Probably not, too obvious. By now it’s either been fucked by the weather or picked through by raiders.” She laughed, “I’m surprised they're not just husks at this point.”

“Are we seriously going to walk all the way to Zaun, because I hate to break it to you-”

Vi rolled her eyes, “no we’re not walking all the way there, what do you take me for.”

“I was beginning to think a girl with a death wish.”

“Oh I still am that,” she joked, “but no… I have friends nearby… and if I’m not mistaken, they could be able to help us.” She turned in a circle on the road, reading wethered street signs with a slight squint, before her eyes widened and she pointed. “That way.”

“You sure they’re still there?”

Vi just grinned, “no idea.”

-----

“Oh, great, this is how we die, isn’t it.”

“How was I supposed to see the trap?”

“It was obvious, Vi, literally right in front of you-”

“The literal point of traps is that you don’t see them-”

“For animals maybe!”

“You’re stuck too!”

“Because I was with you!”

“Are you going to keep bitching like a married couple or can you shut up?”

Both girls shot towards the voice, still swaying from the rope holding both of them up. Towards the end of the small road was a young man, no taller than Vi standing there, staring at the both of them almost with disgust. Caitlyn just blinked at him, but Vi lit up. “Mylo!”

“VI?” He shook his head, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.”

“Which is going well as you can tell,” Cait mumbled. Vi just elbowed her. Mylo rolled his eyes.

“You’re lucky you didn’t set off one of the bombs or you’d both be goners.”

“This your trap?”

“Of course it is, you think I’m going to be unprepared?” He shook his head, moving towards the root of the rope and cutting it, the two girls crashing to the floor and rubbing at their heads. Vi pushed herself up, helping Cait stand before running and hugging Mylo. He looked less then pleased, but returned it nonetheless. Then, he stared at Caitlyn, sizing her up.

“Who’s this?”

“Mylo, this is Cait, Cait, Mylo.”

As if the introductions bored him, he just looked back at Vi with judgment all over his face. “I’ll ask again, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Trying to find you and Clag-”

“Don’t.”

Vi clamped her mouth shut, frowning. “What happened?”

“I-” Mylo just rubbed at his face, sighing, “I’m figuring that out myself.” Then, as if pushing it from his mind, he studied Vi. “Why are you looking for me is probably the better question.”

“Mylo, I’m looking for Powder.”

Mylo stared dumbfounded at her, before bursting out laughing. “You’re looking for her? After all these years, Vi, face it, she’s a goner.”

Vi shook her head, “That’s what I thought but-” Vi ran over to Cait, rummaging through the bag on her shoulder.

“Hey!”

But Vi ignored the bothered Caitlyn, dragging out her notebook, furiously paging through its contents. She held it out to Mylo, letting him stare at the pages. “Those are her symbols, Mylo, she’s still out there. And I think Silco has her.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, this again?”

“No, Mylo, listen to me, we’re onto something here.”

“I’m not coming along for some suicide mission.”

Vi shook her head, “You don’t need to…” she shot him a small puppy face, “but I’d appreciate you helping us with it?”

“You want me to help you get yourself killed?”

Vi just held up her hands, “Hey, then you never have to deal with me again? Win, win right?”

Mylo considered this, looking back and forth between Caitlyn and Vi before sighing with a shake of his head. “This is so stupid,” he grumbled, before he pocketed his knife and turned away. “Well? Move it.”

Vi beamed, looking back at Cait and tossing her notebook. Caitlyn caught it, shoving it back in her bag with a slight huff, before rushing to catch up with the other two.

The main street had been turned into one giant death trap, and seemed to let people know that outright. Traps were scattered about the concrete and dangled from buildings, spray paint on makeshift signs and drywall shouted threats and fear mongered messages in bright colored all caps. Even the road itself seemed unfriendly, more cracked, more dead looking, cars were piled together, not abandoned in their last position but moved to make a maze along the street. Caitlyn pulled her gun from her shoulder, readying it just in case.

Mylo spied her, and laughed a bit. “This place is safe as long as you’re with me. Only have the traps to worry about.” He pointed towards a field in the distance, gated and caution-taped to hell and back. “Once you get past there, you’re on your own.”

“How did you clear this out?” Caitlyn asked bewildered, “especially by yourself.”

“I wasn’t totally alone…” he said sadly, “But luckily, most people had left in a panic, not many infected in the town itself… once we gated it, it was everything beyond that worried us.”

“Impressive,” Caitlyn admit. Mylo offered her an appreciative nod. Vi just studied Mylo.

“Claggor-”

“What did I say about that?”

“Hey, he’s my friend too-”

“Who you haven’t seen for ten years, Vi.”

“It’s not my fault I got separated from you all, Mylo, we were all kids. It’s nobody’s fault.”

Mylo sighed, “Yeah… I know.” Then he refit his hardened shell back into place, “New rule, no mentioning Claggor from now on?”

“Who’s Claggor,” Caitlyn asked innocently.

“I said nobody, ok? He’s nobody, let it go.”

Caitlyn and Vi shot each other a look, Vi just shrugging. They both shut up, following behind Mylo in silence. They came to the main gate, Mylo pushing it open to let the girls slip through before tightly closing it behind them. He gestured to a building on the hill. “See that house, that’s home base. So move it.”

They slowly made the trek up to it, moving into the house and all taking a deep breath, releasing the tension that they all were holding. Mylo pointed a finger at all of them. “Nobody touch anything, got it?”

Vi just rolled her eyes, “Fine, Mylo.”

The house was perfectly built to withstand disaster. Weapons of all sorts were tacked to the walls, ammo stacked high on bookshelves in the foyer. Caitlyn walked further into the house, spying a kitchen that looked untouched by the disaster and despair just outside. Plants bloomed from sleeves, hanging to stained glass windows. The place was clean, almost pristine, and the fridge stocked with legitimate food. How one guy had managed what took the encampment weeks and hundreds of people was beyond her. Vi walked into the kitchen, smiling at the curiosity and bewilderment on Cait’s face, she leaned against the frame of the door. “Mylo was a prepper before all this went down. He figured something would go wrong.” She scoffed, “Can’t believe he was right.”

“You two were friends, before all this happened, weren’t you.”

Vi nodded, “Sure was, we had been in separate places for a week before it happened. Him and Claggor were staying with a friend… who also happened to be a prepper.”

“What happened to the friend?”

She shrugged, “He was old as shit, probably kicked the bucket.” Caitlyn nodded, still surveying the room. Vi pointed. “I’m going to go talk to him about what we need, yeah?”

“Mhm.”

Vi left the room, leaving Caitlyn to poke around. She moved to the living room, also in mint condition. It reminded her of movies, where the room looked just lived in enough but also a bit too pristine to feel fully real. There was a fireplace on the far wall, a ledge above it with picture in frames. Caitlyn moved closer to peer at them. One was Mylo and a boy, the two leaning on each other and beaming at some invisible thing. Another was Mylo lounging on the couch, that same boy sitting on the floor in front of it. Two adults stood nearby, and a little girl ran through the room. Christmas lights were in the corner of the photo, the end of the tree just visible in the framing. The last one caught her attention the most. There was a man hugging four kids tightly. Two of them were the boys in the other images, but the last two were girls, one with pink hair and the other light blue. Caitlyn gently grabbed the photo, lowering it so she could cradle it in her hands, brushing over the glass. The pink haired girl beamed at her, the very same way Vi did, because that was Vi.

“We were cute, right?”

Caitlyn turned to Vi, who was peering at the photo as well. Caitlyn held it up to her with a slight smirk, “You were so adorable, what happened?”

“I’m still adorable, thank you.” Vi gently took the photo, smiling fondly at it. “I can’t believe he still has this.”

“Who are they?”

Vi smiled at her, “Well, obviously it’s me and Mylo… that boy,” she pointed, “that’s he who must not be named,” she teased. “And that,” she said, pointing to the Man, “that’s my father… Vander.” She frowned then, gently brushing her thumb over the blue haired girl. “And she’s my sister.”

“Powder…”

She nodded, “Powder.”

Caitlyn studied the girl’s face, leaning towards Vi, “She looks sweet.”

“She was… is.” Vi shook her head, returning the photo to it’s spot on the fireplace.

“What on earth did I say?”

The two girls turned back to a disgruntled Mylo. Vi just rolled her eyes. “Not to touch anything, christ. I put it back.”

“It’s the principle.”

“Principle doesn’t exist anymore Mylo.”

The three stared at each other, before Mylo glared. “We’ll go to get the shit tomorrow. We’ll rest tonight.” And with that, he stormed out of the room.

----

Caitlyn quietly crept into the room after she saw Mylo sitting by himself. He was in the living room, staring down at the photo of him and Claggor, cradling it in his lap.

“Hey.”

His head shot up, staring at Caitlyn. Slight anger flashed across his face, replaced quickly with mere exhaustion. He nodded to her, and Caitlyn moved in, gently taking the seat beside him. She looked at the image. “You two look so young.”

“We were,” he offered quietly, “It was before all this shit.”

“You kept it.”

“Couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it.”

Caitlyn shifted, then furrowed her brows, “Can… can I ask what happened to him? Or… well when it happened.”

Mylo hesitated, but sighed. “He left a note, disappeared. Said he was tired of it all and was leaving. That was two months ago.”

“And you haven't seen him since?”

“Wish I had.”

She looked around the house, “He was with you all this time, wasn’t he?”

Mylo nodded, “It was just the two of us, we practically owe each other our lives, and for a time… I think we were happy to do that.”

“So what changed.”

“Nothing,” he offered matter of fact, “that’s the problem.”

Caitlyn nodded, “I’m sorry about it… I know hearing that doesn’t change it, probably doesn’t help either,” she laughed bitterly, “but if it’s any consolation, I understand the feeling.”

“You do?”

She sighed, “I lost my mother a year ago. One of those… things got to her. Apparently the party with her shot her before she could turn, kept it a secret from me, but I found out…” She balled her fists in her lap, “Sometimes it still doesn’t feel real.”

“And how do you cope?”

She shrugged, “Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I just bury myself in my work. Other times, I try to focus on the connections I still have… it’s hardly easy…” she quirked her head, “but sometimes it gets lighter.”

He nodded, “you know, you should ask Vi about Vander.”

“Why’s that?”

Mylo chuckled, “She never talks about him, none of us do. When we all lost him, it was like a bit of the world died. Claggor and I eventually found a way through it but…” he met Cait’s eyes, “I don’t think Vi ever did.”

“What happened?”

Mylo just shook his head, “I think it would be better hearing it from VI, besides,” He pushed himself from the couch, moving to walk out of the room, “I think she could use someone like you.”

-----

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“You really think I would joke about this?”

“Well it’s not funny even if you are-”

“Ok, ok,” Caitlyn interrupted, holding her hands out. “You’re sure that’s the only location of a working car and gas.”

Mylo nodded, “I’m sure of it, the roads here are blocked, so I kept it in one of the garages off the main road. We have the gas in this house, but you’re going to have to go through there to get to the car.”

“That’s it, we’re fucked,” Vi said, throwing her hands up and walking off.

“Hold on. Mylo, if you had to guess, how bad is it in there?”

“It could be anywhere from a few to a few hundred, there’s no way to know.”

“Of course not-”

“But, it’s a straight shot, through the field, into the backyard, and into the house, no mazes, no traps, just the infected.”

“Comforting.”

“It’s the only chance we have, Vi. We have to take it.”

Vi huffed, “Ok.” She grabbed her gauntlets, readying them around her wrists, “but let it be known, I’m going to hate this.”

----

The girls ducked into the wheat, Mylo just in front of them, crouching and holding their breath. They could hear the slight groaning of the infected, and when they squinted, could see a shimmering purple twitching its way through the field.

“It’s that fence there.”

“The one easily a hundred yards away?”

“It’s the only fence there!”

Vi rolled her eyes, creeping forward. If the party was lucky, it was one of the infected who had shit senses and thus, wouldn’t spy them or hear them if they kept out of sight and quiet enough. If that failed, they had to pray it wasn’t fast.

They kept moving forward, past the one, slowly straightening when they were out of earshot, smiling at each other. The fence was closer now, and they all beamed as if they had made it.

They celebrated too soon.

They heard growling, sounding too close for comfort, each of them turning to see an infected staring right at them, only a stone’s throw away. It remained still, swaying slightly as its purple gaze bored into them.

“Maybe it doesn’t see us,” VI whispered.

But it’s neck twitch, a cracking sound releasing into the air before it roared loud. Within the field, what seemed like a calm, empty spot of wheat blowing in the breeze now uncovered several more infected, who all peered over the brush to look their way. There was a beat, then they all charged.

“Run!”

Caitlyn took off first, already anticipating, adrenaline kicking her into high gear, the other two fell into a sprint behind her, trying to keep up.

“We should have killed that thing before it alerted the others!” VI protested.

“And what? Let them know we were here with a gunshot instead?

“WELL I DON’T KNOW!”

They scrambled towards the fence, Mylo hitting it and feeling along it’s surface. Vi just stared at him, shaking her head wildly. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for the entrance!”

“Are you kidding me right now?!”

Caitlyn readied her gun, bringing it to her eye and peering out it. She tuned the bickering out, taking a deep breath and steadying her shaking hands. She looked for the closest infected, the large mutated beast rushing towards them, growing in size as it closed the distance. Her finger hovered on the trigger, waiting till she was steadily pointed between it’s eyes.

Then she fired.

The bullet tore through its head, the thing collapsing to the ground with a loud thud. She moved to the next closest target, Aim, fire. Repeat. Aim, fire. Vi watched in slight awe, turning from where she was shouting at Mylo to watch Caitlyn make every shot effortlessly. Finally she rolled her eyes.

“Alright, fuck this.”

She grabbed Mylo, throwing him up and over the fence, letting him land on it and scrambling over the top and to the other side. Then, Vi turned to Caitlyn, wrapping her arms around her waist and hoisting her up, letting the girl climb up and over. When she got to the other side, she saw Mylo dragging a picnic table over. She ran over, shoving it as quickly as she could against the fence before hopping up on top of it, peering over the wooden border.

“Vi!” Vi, who had readied herself into a fighting stance, peered up at Cait. Cait lowered her hand. “Come on!” Cait took hold of Vi, groaning with effort as she tried to pull the girl up and over, eyes widening as the mass of infected grew closer. She shook her head, then looked over her shoulder. “MYLO A LITTLE HELP HERE!”

Mylo rushed to her side, grabbing at Vi’s arm, the two of them trying to hoist her over. The group of infected rushed towards them, Vi finally getting purchase on the fence to push herself up, allowing them to pull straight back, all three of them tumbling to the ground in a pile just as the infected crashed into the fence, scrabbling against it and pushing at it, rocking the thing back and forth. The three held their breath, watching it sway back and forth, before it steadied. They all sighed, pushing themselves to stand and looking at one another. Cait turned to Vi first.

“Are you ok? They didn’t get you or-”

“I’m fine, cupcake.” She smiled, “How the hell’d you learn to shoot like that?”

Caitlyn just smiled, “I didn’t tell you everything about me before the breakout.”

“You’re a decent shot.”

Caitlyn just smirked, puffing out her chest slightly. “I’m an excellent shot.”

“Hate to break up the flirt fest, but we should get moving.”

The group made their way inside the house, checking the perimeters to make sure nothing snuck up on them when they were preparing the car. Caitlyn sat back as they readied it, peering around in the garage to make sure there was nothing of use getting left behind.

Instead, she found a small slip of paper tucked into one of the drawers. She pulled it out, smoothing its edges, peering down at the writing.

“I’m so sorry, Mylo. I had to do it, I hope you can understand.
With love,
Claggor”

Caitlyn looked up, “Hey, Mylo…”

“What?”

“I think you might want to see this.”

Mylo gingerly took the paper from her, reading it again and again and again before muttering “That damned idiot.” He smiled at Cait, “thank you.’

“What’s it-”

“Don’t worry about it,” he offered her a kind nod, “OK?”

“Yeah. Ok.”

Vi pat the side of the truck with a grin, “she’s all good.” Then looked at Cait, “Ready to go?”

“Sure am.” But she turned to Mylo. “You should come with us. We can drop you at the next refuge if you want-”

“Or you can join our crazy suicide mission,” Vi teased, leaning her arm against the car. Mylo just shook his head.

“I'm going to stay.”

“Alone? Here?”

“I like what I have going… and besides,” he looked at the paper again, before tucking it into his pocket. “I’m going to find Claggor.”

“Suit yourself.” Vi then nodded, “let’s get this thing moving.”

They all pushed the car out to the street, hugging Mylo before hopping into the front and passenger seat. Vi hit the ignition, the car sputtering but refusing to move. Vi blinked. “Shit.”

“Shit?”

She opened the door, hopping out and going to Mylo. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s been untouched for years, probably needs a bit of help.”

“Great…”

“Come on, let’s push.”

Vi rolled her eyes, then looked at Cait who was still in the car. “Cait, hop into the passenger seat, keep trying the ignition, we’re going to push it, but it’ll need you to get the engine going!”

Caitlyn climbed over the center console, situating herself into the driver seat and trying the ignition. It refused, sputtering before shutting off again. Mylo and Vi started pushing, groaning with the weight of the car. Cait tried again, the engine causing it to jerk forward, but nothing more.

“Perfect! Just like that!”

Cait tried again, but instead of hearing the dull roar of the engine, she heard growling coming from behind her. She peered over her shoulder, eyes widening as she clamored to lean out the window. “Behind you!”

The pair pushing the car turned, spying a hoard rushing at them. Vi just cursed, resuming her pushing. “Keep trying the engine, Caitlyn.”

But Cait could multitask, right? She rifled around for her gun, grabbing it and unfolding it in a hurry. She then leaned out the window, shooting down the first row of infected before snapping her attention back to the engine, trying it and letting out a slight laugh when the car went a bit further this time. She then switched again, leaning out the window to fire off another round, making sure not to hit Vi or Mylo, trying the engine again.

But she couldn’t keep up the pace, and if the car didn’t start soon, they’d all be dead. “Push faster!”

“We’re trying.”

Caitlyn shifted her focus to the engine. Trying the ignition again and again. “Come on… come on!”

The car spluttered to life, engine no longer coughing at her, replaced by a continuous grumbling. She spun in her seat, “Hop in the back we’re leaving!”

Vi pulled herself up and over into the bed of the truck, yanking Mylo in with her before Caitlyn peeled away and down the road, letting the hoard become small dots in the rearview mirror.

------

“This is good enough.”

Everyone hopped out of the car, Vi going to Mylo, and Caitlyn moving back to the passenger seat, watching the two converse in the door mirrors.

“Sure you’re not coming with us?”

“I meant it, Vi. I’m not helping you with this suicide mission.” He smiled, “Besides, I have my own person I have to find.”

“Promise me you’ll come look for us when you find him?”

“I’ll do what I can.” Then he nodded to Vi, “You bring Powder home, you hear?”

“I plan to.”

Mylo then met Cait’s gaze in the mirror. “Hey! Take care of her, ok?”

“I don’t need her to-”

“I will!” Cait called.

Mylo and Vi looked back at each other, the pair hugging before Vi hopped back into the driver’s seat. As they drove off, they could still see Mylo waving at them.

Chapter Text

Caitlyn had curled up in the passenger seat, paging through her notebook, trying to collect what she had seen and learned, both about the girl sitting next to her and the very things they were running from. The only sound was that of the engine running and the wheels turning on messed up concrete. Eventually, Vi looked over to Caitlyn, raising a brow.

“What are you writing?”

“Notes,” she pointed her pen out the windshield, “Keep your eyes on the road, Vi.”

“Like there’s anyone else on it.”

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, pulling herself up from being a ball to straighten against the leather seat. She stared out the window. The suburbs had faded into highway, a network of road tangling over and under one another, bridges near a city. The buildings were clearly dilapidated even from here, vines and plants recovering what was once solely theirs. On each road, cars lay scattered about, most still in the place they had been when the breakout happened, some turned over for parts and gas. “Where do you think we are?”

Vi sighed, shrugging and staring at the road signs as they blurred beside them. “Probably Maryland? Not quite sure.”

“So nowhere close.”

“Not quite.”

Caitlyn sighed, leaning her head back against the seat and closing her eyes. She heard slight clattering, blinking to see Vi, one hand on the wheel, the other sifting through the center console. Caitlyn just watched her. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for music, there’s gotta be something in here.”

Caitlyn pressed forward, moving Vi’s hand out of the way to look herself. Most of it was stuff from the 80’s and 90’s, she noticed, remembering when her father had played these same cds or records himself. But one caught her eye, something her mother used to play. She pulled it out, opening the case and blowing on it. Dust puffed out, causing her to cough. Vi just looked at her with an amused smile.

“Which one’s that?”

“Florence and the Machine, my mother used to play them all the time.”

Vi wrinkled her nose, “never heard of them.”

“We’re going to change that.”

Caitlyn stared at the car, figuring out how to shove the small disc in, letting the system reboot. “Hopefully it works…”

But the thing sprang to life, and the silence was filled with mild static and the opening song. Caitlyn fidgeted with the buttons, skipping tracks until she landed on one she remembered. She hummed along to the parts she couldn’t quite remember, clunking through the melody, singing along to the chorus as if she never forgot the words.

“I could never leave the past behind, I can see no way, I can see no way,” she sung quietly. Vi looked at her, smiling gently.

“I like this.”

“My mother used to play it all the time, I used to hear this in the living room when I was a little kid.” She shook her head, “I didn’t know I still remembered the words.”

“Things like that stay with us.”

Caitlyn looked to Vi, listening to the quiet droll of the radio.

And I am done with my graceless heart.

“What kind of music did your parents play?”

So tonight, I’m gonna cut it out, and then restart

Vi sighed, gripping the wheel a bit tighter, “I don’t really remember my own parents. My mother was more into music than my dad… she was always humming… always dancing to some invisible tune.” She smiled, “Powder probably barely remembers them… hell, if she said she couldn’t pick them out in a crowd, I wouldn’t be surprised, she must have lost them when she was… three?”

“Three? Who took care of you….”

Vi opened her mouth, then shut it, shaking her head. Caitlyn remembered what Mylo had said. She looked to her lap, whispering the word to herself. “Vander.”

“Did Mylo put you up to this?”

Caitlyn looked back to her, “He was in the picture with you all, you mentioned he was your father… didn’t say anything more.”

“There’s nothing more to say.”

“Clearly there is.”

Vi sighed, “he was sort of all our dad. Mylo and Claggor had another family they sometimes stayed with up north… Powder and I were always with him. But we lost him.”

“To the breakout?”

Vi shook her head, “right before actually. Family issues… got killed-“ Vi bit her lip, “I tried to save him, all of us did but-“ she sighed, “We were just kids. And things escalated too fast. God, I wish I had handled it better.”

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Caitlyn offered, “I didn’t mean to-“

“Nah, it’s fine, cupcake. I probably should talk about it.” She rolled her shoulders, “Silco was who killed him. Sort of.”

“What do you mean, sort of?”

“It was a more complicated situation than it seemed… lots of politics and shit involved in all honesty. Not that we really knew that at the time, at least, now how deep it really went.”

“You knew Silco?”

“Like I said, he has my sister, and I’m going to kill him if I get the chance.” She shook her head, “not because that fucker did this to the world, just because I personally hate him.”

“I’ll help.” Caitlyn quirked her head, “more because he did this to the world though,” she admits. Vi nodded. Caitlyn watched her, “Why didn’t you go after him before? It’s been ten years?”

“For most of it, it was because I was a kid,” she scoffed, “not that that would have stopped me, but it made others stop me. Then it was just… I had no leads, and I had been kept in containment so long that I couldn’t really do anything.”

Caitlyn blinked a few times, “Zaun, that’s one of the government mandated refuges, isn’t it?”

Vi nodded, “nobody in, nobody out.” She smiled, “Not that that stopped a lot of people. Besides, I’d hardly say they really cared. If you got yourself killed, that was on your hands.”

“It’s so different from how we do things.”

“Believe me, I noticed,” Vi grumbled. “Sometimes, I wish I could just burn it all down.”

“That would be foolish.”

Vi nodded, “I know. That’s why I didn’t do anything.” She sighed, “but I’m not bringing Powder there when we get her back.”

“You should come with us,” Caitlyn whispered, “we’d be glad to have you.”

“I think your uptight friend would disagree.”

“Who Jayce?” She snorted, “he’s harmless, really.”

“What’s he do anyway?”

“He’s one of the councilors, and when he’s not doing that, he’s looking for a cure with his partner, or making things like those mitts of your’s.”

“Some genius, huh.”

Caitlyn nodded, “he may have changed the world if all this hadn’t happened.”

“A lot of people might have,” Vi sighed. “A lot of people.”

The music took back over, Caitlyn carefully listening to it. She hummed along, not noticing the way Vi stared at her, awe in her eyes. When Caitlyn eventually fell asleep, Vi threw her coat over her, this time, humming along to the cd as it replayed over and over again.

Chapter Text

The car spluttered, slowly rolling to a stop. “Shit, no no…” Caitlyn shook her head. “Damn.”

From the back seat, Vi stirred, shifting amongst forgotten jackets and blankets, mumbling before she rubbed at her eyes and slowly sat up, still groggy. Her hair stuck to her cheek and stuck up from the back of her head, and Caitlyn could only stare at her, ignoring the strange feeling in her stomach.

“What happened?”

She blinked, then sighed, “Car’s done for.”

“We have gas-”

“I think the engine gave out.”

Vi stared then ran her hand along her face, “of course it did.” She pulled herself to the front seat, climbing over top of the console and falling into the passenger side. “How far did we get?”

“Probably around Wisconsin? Maybe Illinois…” She sighed, “I wasn’t paying close attention to the signs.”

Vi shrugged, “Guess we’re walking then, huh?” She threw one of the bags onto her shoulder, opening the door and hopping out of the truck. Caitlyn followed, hitting the concrete of the highway and glancing around.

It was oddly cold here, overcast too, hell, it might snow, and if that happened, they had to make sure not to get caught in it. Caitlyn began studying her surroundings, looking for a route that got them closer to their end goal without sacrificing shelter or survival. She finally decided to cut off the highway, towards suburbs that would still lead them towards Silco. She tapped Vi on the shoulder, gesturing. “Come on, this way.”

The two began walking, hopping over places where the bridges had given out, climbing over cars and debris, or avoiding more eerie looking areas. Occasionally, Vi would stop them to check something out or rifle through cars that looked like they had been spared the worse of the raiding. Caitlyn would keep watch while she ducked into windows, opening glove boxes and removing whatever she thought helpful. Oftentimes, it would be nonsense, Vi displaying random magazines, odd trinkets, or tiny booklets to Cait with a wide grin. Cait would simply roll her eyes and begin walking again.

“Oh shit!”

“What? Are you ok?”

Vi wiggled out of the car’s window, just barely missing hitting her head as she proudly held up a small book. Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at it, offering a look of displeased judgement when she successfully read the title. “No, no put it back.”

“Hell no! This is gold, cupcake.”

“Absolutely not, put it back.”

“So… I won’t be doing that.”

“Then I’m tossing it into the next river.” Vi just feigned woundedness, laughing to herself when Caitlyn wrinkled her nose. Caitlyn lunged, trying to grab the booklet but being held back by strong arms. “Come on!”

“You’re not going to win this one.”

Caitlyn quickly gave up, figuring the best route of attack would be stealth, sneaking it from her bag as she slept and burying it nearby, saying a raccoon must have taken it in the middle of the night. Vi just paged through it, glancing through the contents like a girl on a mission.

“Oh, oh! Listen to this one, ‘I walked into my girlfriend’s room and tripped on her bra. It was a booby-trap.”

Caitlyn just groaned while Vi giggled to herself. “How about this one? I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went, then it dawned on me.”

Caitlyn tried (and failed) to keep a small smile from spreading on her face, shaking her head as she listened to more flipping of pages, Vi muttering to herself as she skimmed through each one. “People are making apocalypse jokes like there’s no tomorrow.”

Caitlyn stopped short, turning back to look at Vi, Vi looking up from the book to Caitlyn. She nodded, “Yeah, too soon.”

“Who even buys a book like that?”

“Cool people with humor, Caitlyn.”

“Sure. Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

“I get it, you need to hear more before you can make an opinion.”

“Hardly,” Caitlyn snorted, “In fact if you read one more-” Caitlyn stopped short, glancing around, furrowing her brows. Vi tilted her head at her.

“Cait?”

“Sh.” She held up her hand, frowning as she strained to hear what had made her stop in the first place. When nothing caught her attention, she just relaxed, shaking her head. “Guess I-”

“Cait look out!”

Something collided with her ribs, sending her crashing to the concrete. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the slight spinning that threatened to knock her out. She pushed herself to her hands and knees, panting, gaze shooting upwards to see Vi locked in combat with a group, throwing a punch and connecting just as someone came at her back.

‘Vi!”

Vi whirled, driving her fist into the masked stranger’s abdomen, Caitlyn watching as they clutched at their stomach and fell to the ground. Cait shoved herself up, two arms wrapping around her middle, a second assault coming straight for her. She jammed the butt of her gun into the rib of the person behind her, finding herself released just in time to aim and fire at the oncoming attack. The body fell to the ground with a dull thud, and Caitlyn was running towards Vi.

The group was easily 15 people, each one masked, each one with the same symbol of their shirt or jacket. If they weren’t under direct attack, she would stop to sketch the symbol, looking into it later when they were safely tucked away. But there wasn’t time for that, so Cait rushed to a nearby car, ducking behind it and readying her gun. She leaned against its hood, pointing her next shot towards a stranger raising a club to hit Vi. She pulled the trigger, watching the person’s raised weapon clatter to the ground, their body following close behind.

Vi busied herself, whirling, ducking and punching at a speed Cait almost thought impossible. Cait, for a brief moment, forgot to defend, simply staring at the girl in awe before she shook herself out of her thoughts and landed another shot.

“Get the gun!” Someone shouted, and Cait immediately found three new people on her. She fired at one, ducking a thrown punch and parrying with a kick. It was then that she realized she really needed to have a second gun on her. She rolled away, aiming and firing again at the second person, gritting her teeth through the slight pain the recoil caused. The last person charged, just missing their original target, their knife instead cutting into Caitlyn’s arm. She cried out in pain, before raising her gun and firing one last shot right into their head, watching the mask splinter and break. She winced as she saw the life leave their eyes, the person collapsing to their knees, landing on their face.

“Shit.”

She rubbed at her arm, pulling her hand away to peer at the blood coating her palm before wiping it on her pants. A small shout reminded her of her partner, and she sprinted towards the sound.

Vi successfully knocked out the person in front of her, huffing a sigh and rolling her shoulders.

“Vi, watch!”

A knife buried into Vi’s side, the girl screaming slightly before doubling over, falling to her knees. Cait raised the gun and fired just as the last attacker readied himself to drive the knife’s edge into the back of her head. Cait breathed out a sigh, running towards Vi and sliding to her side.

She threw her gun to the ground beside her, gently placing her hand on Vi’s arm, listening to the girl’s slight whines of pain. “Vi, let me see, come on.”

She slowly removed Vi’s hand, peering at the wound, the knife was still there, blood seeping from the flesh and dripping from the weapon’s handle. Caitlyn sucked on her teeth, wincing at the sight. She gently tried to move Vi’s shirt from off it, Vi moaning and causing Caitlyn to recoil her hand. Cait glanced around, “We have to get you out of here…”

“I’m fine.”

“Vi, you're losing blood and in pain, you’re not fine.” Caitlyn swung her gun over her shoulder, then moving to throw Vi’s arm around her, letting the girl lean on her as she hauled her up and began walking. “I saw a mall nearby, it’s a place we can lay low till you're back on your feet.”

“I can walk on my own,” Vi protested, pushing off of Caitlyn, her knees immediately buckling. Cait rushed to catch her, letting the girl pant into chest, trying to regain her balance. “Thanks, cupcake.”

“Don’t mention it.”

------

Caitlyn left Vi leaning against the wall in the mall as she broke the lock and shoved the metal grate up, wincing at how the metallic whine reverberated throughout the abandoned place. She then propped it, gently leading Vi under it and into the room.

She pulled off her jacket, laying it on the floor and resting Vi atop it, pushing strands of hair from her face. Vi had gotten significantly less mouthy, and had forgotten about the pun book entirely, something that worried Cait. The quieter she got, the worse her condition was, Caitlyn figured, so when she ceased talking altogether, instead occasionally moaning or whimpering in pain, Cait knew they had to move fast.

“Ok, move your hands for me, Vi.”

The girl obeyed, letting Caitlyn peer at the wound. She took a breath, and nodded, “right, ok, so I’m going to remove the knife now, yeah?”

“Yeah, sure, just… do what you have to.”

Caitlyn bit her lip, furrowing her brows as she wrapped a tender hand around its handle, steeling herself. She slowly pulled it out, straight back, trying not to jostle it at all or make the cut any bigger. Vi winced, body jerked from pain, whole face screwing tight. Cait tossed the knife away, now looking at the open wound.

The good thing was that it didn’t seem terribly deep, the bad thing was the rust that had been on the knife, and the fact that she had utterly nothing to clean it out with. She sighed, slowly pulling the girl’s shirt up and off it, frowning. “I’m going to wrap it for now, then I’m going to go looking for something to clean it with, ok?”

“There’s not going to be anything.”

“Well I’m going to try.”

“Cait-” Vi’s hand fell atop her’s, causing her to gasp lightly and look back at the injured girl. Vi just smiled gently at her. “Be careful, ok?”

Cait squeezed her hand, “I will.”

Chapter Text

Caitlyn carefully lowered the grate to the ground, glancing around the abandoned mall before pushing herself to stand. It was cold, especially without her jacket, and the gash on her arm pulsed with an insistent dull pain, still, she took a deep breath and began.

Just from glancing around, she could tell this place had been picked through, but perhaps some things had been left untouched, or perhaps even kept behind some lock that she could break. To her right was the entrance to the mall, big glass doors that had been shattered, letting in a draft of the cold air from outside, to the left, a damp food court and broken escalators. She sighed, pulling herself up the stairs, her gun ready in her hands. Surely there was some drug store in here, maybe even a pharmacy buried in the back of one of the other stores. For Vi’s sake, she held onto the hope that there was. Cait reached the second floor, immediately rushing to duck behind a small stone island, just barely escaping notice of an infected. She cursed silently, her head thunking back against the platform in frustration before she hopped up to a crouch, begging that her knees didn’t decide to give out on her.

She carefully peered over the edge, located the infected, this thin creature, no long human but what clearly resembled one at one point. Its skin had taken on a sort of dull purple hue, veins bulging from beneath the skin, body disfigured, as if it had been twisted a few times then placed back on its feet. The thing twitched and gurgled, head jerking and hands bent in on themselves. Caitlyn just wrinkled her nose, slowly crawling around the border, careful to keep the same distance between her and the creature as the two of them moved. When she was safely on the opposite side, she ducked into a nearby store, pulling herself to a stand and beginning to search through it. When she noticed all the shelves were empty, she cursed and carefully moved to the next store.

Three in and she was beginning to lose all hope.

“Come on, Come on what kind of mall doesn’t have a single drug store.”

She jogged down the main hall, across a small bridge that connected one side to the other. She peered down over the side, spying the first floor and then one below it. At the bottom, figures moved slowly across the floor, occasionally growling or hissing at each other, infected, and no small amount of them either. Caitlyn just turned away and kept moving. She turned the corner, finally spying a glimmer of promise - a first aid store.

She raced towards it, ducking under the slightly caved in gate until she was safely inside.

Most of the store had been turned over, picked clean, only debris remaining. Any hope there was for medication was completely gone, and the desire to find some sort of anti bacterial had also faded. Now she would settle for anything.

Cait scanned each shelf, opening drawers, plucking through cabinets when she spied a locked box hanging on the wall behind the register. She hopped over the counter, inspecting it. Still locked, that was promising.

Her eyes scanned the surroundings, looking for any signs of infected nearby, holding her breath to better listen for clicking, footsteps, or slight gurgling. When she heard and spied nothing, she turned back to the box, aiming her gun and firing a single bullet into the lock. She then grabbed it, working it off the hook and tossing it to the ground before flinging it open.

Inside was relatively clean bandages, wads of cash, a key, and a small bottle of painkillers. She pocketed everything but the cage before ducking back out of the store.

That was her first mistake. An infected, this hulking mass of muscle and flesh, stared right at her, or more through her. She held her breath, refusing to move till it signaled that it actually noticed her. Usually they had heightened senses, but the longer these things existed, the more the positive effects wore off, replaced by deterioration so strong, Cait wondered if the things were even still sentient.

She, slowly, oh so slowly, shuffled to the side, sliding her boots along the floor and simply trying to put more distance between her and the creature. Her eyes stayed glued on it, looking for any sign that she should run or shoot, that her attempt at escape had been foiled. Besides that, she focused on the distance, gaining one, two, four, ten feet more between her and her possible attacker.

Something crunched beneath her foot, a shard of glass shattering beneath her weight. She quickly glanced down to it, her gaze shooting back to the creature. It twitched, and met her eyes.

“Shit.”

She bolted as it started moving, rushing down the hall and hoping she could either find a place to hide or could outrun it long enough to lose it. She pumped her arms, sprinting so quickly her feet threatened to miss the floor entirely.

She darted around a corner, sliding and falling to her hands before she scrambled back up and kept going. The thing failed to gain traction against the tiles beneath it, sliding out and collapsing, tripping over its own limbs. She took the opportunity to ready her gun and shoot, connecting with its face but missing the direct hit. She swore, firing off again, this time hitting its chest, then turning to sprint again.

Outrunning this thing would be impossible, she realized, and if she was going to live another day, she would have to hide or kill it. If this was one of the smaller kinds, she might stand a chance with the second option.

She kept running.

She crossed another bridge, rushing deeper into the mall, not thinking about how she was going to find her way back. Left or right? Right, always right.

But she made the mistake, coming to a dead end, frantically scanning the plain wall as if it had some secret passage, or was some sort of mirage. “No no, nononono.” She spun, seeing the creature come slowly marching towards her, growling, an almost neon purple substance dripping from its mouth to the tiles below.

Her heartbeat sounded in her head, the image of Vi flashing through her mind. That girl would likely die too if Cait got killed here, or would spend days, weeks wondering what happened to her partner, unsure of what to do. She would spend the worst of her injury alone in an unfamiliar room, thinking Cait just up and abandoned her.

She couldn’t die here, she had to get back to Vi.

“Psst!”

Caitlyn’s eyes widened, looking around for the sound frantically. “Down, DOWN!”

Caitlyn’s head snapped down, seeing a grate, a face peering up at her from within it. She looked back to the creature, before dropping to her knees to pry the metal up and out of her way with a slight grunt before tossing it aside and dropping down into it.

The two of them braced as the creature lunged towards the hole, failing to fit anything but it’s head through. Cait quickly crawled away, pulling her gun from her shoulder and, only a foot away, pulling the trigger.

The creature shrieked before going limp, jaw slack. The glow in its eyes slowly faded and Cait huffed, swallowing her heartbeat back into her chest dropping her rifle to her side. She now looked at her savior.

It was a hooded figure, smaller than her, thinner too. She squinted in the dark, trying to see a face. When her view finally adjusted, she could just barely see a thin, almost harrowed face with glasses peering back at her. She nodded.

“Thank you, you really did save my life.”

The person sniffled, “oh, I-I I don’t know, you’re… shooting se-seemed to do that.”

Caitlyn shook her head. “It would have eaten me alive up there before I could even raise my rifle. I truly owe you.”

“Well… i-if you say so. Come with me.”

Caitlyn knew better than to follow strangers, but she did so anyway, crawling behind him until he pushed a metal covering away, leading her into what must have been the basement of the mall. She straightened this time, brushing herself off and glancing around.

Tents of whatever materials could be found had been set up, dotting the floor. Darkness was deep here, Cait having to squint to make out everything. Other hooded figures wandered about, most of the shuffling or simply sitting curled in on themselves besides makeshift shelters. Cait just frowned.

“Is this where you live?”

“Yo-you could say that…,” he muttered, “surviving is… probably the be-tter word.”

Caitlyn surveyed the scene again, a slight pang finding its way into her chest. She had, wrongly, assumed people were either in actual refuges or had died sometime in the past ten years, she hadn’t really considered the fact that people had probably failed to do both, and instead, found themselves stuck in a limbo between the two.

And stuck between survival and death they were. Each figure was thin, almost weak, as if they were barely surviving the day to day. Cait assumed food must be a rarity in a place like this, and with the cold, she wouldn’t be surprised if sickness had ravaged the community. Her shoulders slumped as she placed her gun back on her shoulder.

“Wha-t-t are you doing here? We don’t often get… visitors.”

She looked at him, studying the almost shy, no, fearful face. “My friend and I were travelling along the road, we got attacked-”

“Oh… your attackers- what did they look like.”

“Masked. All with the same symbol, some sort of bug.”

“The firelights.” He wrinkled his nose, “nasty ones they are, truly violent.”

“What can you tell me about them?”

“Vigilantes, or anarchists, nobody really knows…” he looked at her, “my advice is to stay o-out of their way.”

She sighed, “that’s the thing, my friend is badly injured, and if I don’t find some way to help her soon I fear her condition will worsen past the point of fixing.”

“So… you’re looking for… medicine?”

She nodded. The man wrung his hands, as if considering, before he gestured for her to follow. She fell into step behind him, watching as he hobbled his way towards a tent. “In there… she… helps our sick…”

Caitlyn furrowed her brows, dropping into the tent and peering at a woman. The woman just tilted her head, not meeting Caitlyn’s gaze.

“Ailment?”

“Um… stab- she’s been stabbed.”

The woman turned away, grabbing some little vial and dumping random contents into it. She put it back on the makeshift table peering at Caitlyn. When Cait tried to reach for the bottle, she pulled it back, confusion flashing on Cait’s face. The man peeked inside, tapping her on the arm.

“You have to trade.”

Cait considered for a moment, running through the contents she had in her bag. She could try the painkillers, though… Vi would most definitely need those to handle possible fever and bursts of pain…

Caitlyn removed her gun from her shoulder, folding it up and sliding it toward the woman. The woman then closed the vial, and handed it to her. Caitlyn peered at it with a soft smile. “Thank-”

A flap came down, separating the two girls. “you…”

Cait spared another glance at the vial before shoving it into her pocket and ducking out of the tent. She looked to the man, who was turned away from her. “Thank you…” she said softly, “I owe you my life again.”

“Oh, it’s… no problem.”

“Why save me?”

He shrugged, a twitch of his shoulders. “Like I said… we, we don’t get many visitors.”

She sighed, then bent down to hug him. “I wish you the best,” she whispered, before she took off back in the direction of Vi.

Chapter Text

Caitlyn shoved herself beneath the grate, slipping her body beneath it and gently shutting it behind her. She sighed, letting her forehead fall against the cold metal, enjoying the slight searing frigidity touching her skin. Then she pulled herself up, standing and looking over to Vi.

The girl was slipping in and out of consciousness, and the insistent moans or cries of pain had shifted to intermittent, the occasional squeak or whimper, a slight tossing back and forth of her head. Cait dropped to her knees beside the girl, peering at the wound, grimacing at the angry redness of it, the slight growth of puss and torn muscle.

“Ok, ok.”

She grabbed the bandages from her pocket, then set the painkillers and jar aside. She had gathered snow form outside, ripping the bandages apart and using some of their cloth to wipe down the wound as best as possible. Vi lurched forward at the contact, crying out. Cait’s hands found her shoulders, steadying her and laying her back down.

“Shh… it’s ok, it’s alright.”

Vi was awake now, staring up at Caitlyn with blurry eyes, her pupils dilating but refusing to focus. Cait’s fingers brushed her hair back, gently wiping the sweat and grime from her forehead before her attention drifted back to the wound, trying to brush away as much blood, rust, and debris from it as possible. When some of the wound cleared up, she grabbed the remaining wrappings, gently pulling Vi up, propping the girl against her shoulder so she could work the fabric around her middle, tying it tight to stop the bleeding. The remaining gauze was shoved into one of the packs, Caitlyn then picking up the vial and inspecting it.

It was a slight glimmering purple, enough to last a few doses, and hopefully, strong enough to help the girl below her. She gently rested her hand on Vi’s chin, between her forefinger and her thumb as she gently opened her mouth and tilted the solution in.

Vi coughed and gurgled, once more lurching upwards with a cry of pain.

“Easy, easy, easy…..” Cait rested her hands on Vi’s cheeks, peering into her eyes as they finally focused, coming back to genuine consciousness. Vi panted a few times, swallowing and wincing in pain, looking down to her injury, blood already seeping through the dressings. Then she looked back at Cait, who, in her work, had straddled Vi. Caitlyn just cleared her throat, pushing herself up and off Vi. “You’re still unstable, just take it easy and rest.”

“How…” Vi looked around, “How did you find all this?”

“Don’t worry about that, here.” She passed Vi a small container of water, opening the painkillers and rattling them out of the jar and into her hand. “I’m not sure how effective they’ll be, but it’s better than nothing, should at least take the edge off.”

Vi just stared at the girl, blinking. “Cait, how did you get this?”

“Found it in the mall,” she lied, “a lockbox was left untouched, this was in it.”

“Damn, that’s lucky.”

“I guess.”

Vi winced in pain again, Cait crouching beside her to gently rub her back, not protesting when the girl leaned her head against her with a small sigh. “Are you ok?” She whispered.

Vi just hummed, nestling further into Cait. “I’m…just going to stay here for a bit…”

And Caitlyn stayed there as she slept.

-----

Vi mumbled in her sleep, Caitlyn learned that quickly, though she had to wonder if it was simply because of the one and off fever or if that was just who she was. Caitlyn hadn’t really noticed it when she was driving, but her mind had been elsewhere, worried about not crashing their only car instead of trapped in an abandoned whatever this store used to be.

She had first noticed it as she worked through notes, copying down the information the stranger had offered her on the Firelights. At first she had thought Vi was talking to her, saying her name to grab her attention. When no further conversation followed, she glanced over her shoulder to see Vi curled on the floor, her lips moving and forming one word.

“Cait.”

She noticed it the next night, hearing slight whimpering that jostled Cait from her fitful sleep. She had gone to reach for her gun, slumping when she realized it was no longer her’s and finally locating the source of the sound, Vi mumbling half baked sentences, her hand outstretched towards Caitlyn. Cait stayed up the rest of the night guarding the girl, and sometimes, whispering responses to her words as if she could hear.

The third was early in the morning, the sun still not up, the wind rustling through the broken doors just past the grate. It wasn’t mumbling per say, and certainly not really talking, more of little sounds that probably resembled words in the girl’s head. Caitlyn bent down, laying beside the girl, facing her and watching as her eyes twitched or her lip quirked.

The third time was also the time where she cried. Caitlyn, at first, mistook it for sweat, worrying that another fever was coming on, but she watched more carefully, noticing a tear roll down Vi’s face as she frowned. Cait just gently ghosted her fingertip over her cheek, brushing them away before sighing, and falling asleep beside her. The last word Vi spoke before Cait drifted to sleep was the name that followed her to her dreams. “Powder”

----

“Hey.”

Caitlyn turned, noticing Vi sitting up, slumped but awake. She smiled, “feeling better?”

“Slightly.”

“I’ll take that.” Caitlyn then rolled the painkiller bottle to her with a slight smile. “Might want to take that, you’re due for a dose.”

“I’m fine.”

“Just take the damn meds, Vi.” Vi rolled her eyes, but obeyed, popping the lid open and tossing some into her mouth with a slight grimace. Then, she peered over at Cait. Cait watched her carefully, eyes drifting to the bandages and frowning. “We should change those,” she observed.

“They’re probably fine.”

“You’ve bled through again.”

Caitlyn scooted her way over, reaching into the bag and pulling out the dressings, carefully peeling the old ones from the wound. Vi sucked in a breath, abdomen twitching, and Cait winced. “Sorry.”

“You’re alright.” She chuckled, “hurts more than it feels it should.”

“You did get stabbed with a rusty knife.”

Vi just scoffed, “Can you believe that? Couldn’t even use a good one, he just had to use that one.”

Caitlyn shook her head, “you’re lucky the infection wasn’t worse than it was.”

“No, I’m lucky you took care of me…” Vi offered quietly. “You could have left me behind.”

“No… I couldn’t have.”

“Yes you could,” Vi protested, “Would have been easy, just let me bleed out in the snow.”

Caitlyn met her gaze, holding it, studying soft blue eyes. “I would never have done that, VI.” Then she took the gauze, and began wrapping Vi’s wound. Vi stayed quiet for a bit, carefully watching Cait work, sometimes wincing or twitching at the contact.

“Hey, how’d you get that stuff anyway?”

“I told you, it was in a lock box.”

“And did this lockbox take your gun?” Caitlyn stopped her motions, going still, before shaking her head and resuming, ignoring the question. Vi gently wrapped a hand around her wrist, stilling her. “Cait, what happened to the gun?”

“Nothing.”

“Then where is it?”

“It’s… I.” She sighed, “I traded it.”

“You what?!”

“Traded it, for the medicine.”

Vi just stared at her, utterly dumbfounded. “Why on earth would you do that? What are you thinking?”

“It was either you die or I give up the gun.” She shook her head, “I’ll find another one.”

“Where the hell are you going to find another gun?” Vi asked mildly exasperated, “Pretty sure they’re not just lying on the street.”

Caitlyn stared her down. “I wasn't going to let you die,” was all she said.

Vi opened her mouth, then shut it and looked away. “Thank you.”

-------

“How many days do you think it’s been?”

Caitlyn considered, “a week, I think? Hard to tell.” She swore the sun must have gone down and returned at least a million times by now, but there was little way to tell time, and with the need to take care of Vi during all hours of a day, she felt more disoriented than usual. “Yeah… a week.”

“And for how much of that was I out?”

“Probably five days. In and out of consciousness, of course.” Caitlyn then peered at her, “how much of it do you remember?”

Vi rubbed at her neck, “not much… mainly pain, fevers, weird dreams that I couldn’t tell were real or not.”

Cait nodded, “understandable, a common side effect of your condition.”

“I remember you.”

Caitlyn offered a small lopsided smile, “Well, that’s not hard considering I’m right in front of you.”

“No, I mean, you, taking care of me…” Vi shook her head, “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Not much use to me dying, are you?”

Vi laughed a bit, “no, I guess not.” She brought her knee to her chest, sighing, and Caitlyn gave her her full attention. “I saw my mother too, I think, peering over me and humming like she used to when I was a kid.” Vi smiled softly, “When I got sick she would stay by my bedside taking care of me, always working through some little melody. She would do it for Powder too, but I’m sure she doesn’t really remember.”

“She sounds wonderful.”

“She was…” Vi kept going, messing with the frayed edge of her bandage, “Vander would do the same, minus the singing… he never was good at carrying a tune. But he would tell us stories until we fell asleep,” She giggled, “They were always absurd, dramatics of his own life or tall tales that were popular with Undercity kids. I’ll give him some credit, he really could make you hang on every word… he was just like that.”

Caitlyn nodded, “my mother never was one for stories, she would just tell me about her day… I liked that though, felt like I hadn’t been confined to my bed all day…”

“Parents,” Vi offered with a soft smile, “God, if only I knew how good I had it…”

“Yeah…” Cait mumbled, “If only.”

Chapter Text

“Dammit.”

Jayce sighed, slamming his fist on the table before slumping to his seat. His head fell into his hands. All that could be heard was the dull thunking of Viktor’s cane and the metallic clicking of his supports. Viktor peered at Jayce with a small tilt of his head, before looking back to the chalkboards.

“Failed again?”

“Everytime,” Jayce huffed, “as if it’s outright spiting us.”

“I’m not sure a cure is entirely feasible at this point,” he observed, carefully eyeing the various formulas and theories coating the wall.

“Wasn’t it you who pushed us to do this?”

Viktor frowned, sitting beside Jayce, slowly lowering himself to the seat beside him, propping his crutch beside him. “That was ten years ago…. This is now.”

“So what, we give up.”

“I didn’t say that,” Viktor retorted, “Just that we may wish to put our energy elsewhere.”

Jayce crossed his arms, frowning, “More weapons, fortifications? Or those fancy communication systems Mel keeps wanting us to fix?” He shook his head, “We built each thing like they asked, I wanted to solve this by now, but instead we’re fixing walls and repairing guns….” He scowled, “face it, we got comfortable living in a refuge, we became complacent.”

Viktor tilted his head, “Like I said, we’re hardly giving up.”

“So what are we doing?”

Viktor looked at the various dishes and glasses amongst the worktable, a slight crook to his brow. “You said Caitlyn was looking for the necessary components?”

Jayce shoved himself to a stand, sighing as he walked over to the boards, brushing his fingers against their surface. “If her theory is right, and only if she survives.”

Viktor looked at him in slight confusion, “She should be fine, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Vik, she’s travelling across the country with zero plan and barely any defenses I…” he lowered his voice, “I’m not hopeful.”

“That’s not the Talis attitude you taught me.”

“What would you have me do?”

Viktor shrugged, “Believe we’ll find the solution.. I am confident we can, I just fear it depends on things outside of our control.”

“And how long will you have me wait? Five years? Another ten? Viktor, we don’t know how long this whole sanctuary will last.” His eyes bored into Viktor, “We hardly know how long you have.”

“That is the least of our concerns at this point, wouldn’t you agree?”

“You used to say the opposite.”

“We used to live in a world where society existed,” Viktor mused, “arguably, a lot has changed.”

Jayce moved back to his seat, plopping himself down and leaning towards Viktor, “You’re going to be around for the cure, that much I can promise.”

“I’m not sure that you can, Jayce. Such a thing is probably beyond your and I limits.”

Jayce turned back to his workbench with narrowed eyes, “Then I guess I better get to work.”

-----

Mel peered into the workroom, spying Jayce hard at work in the middle of the night. She hummed to herself, before moving towards the outside stairs against the building, spying Viktor on the landing. She pushed through the door, slowly moving into the space beside the scientist. “Trouble in paradise?”

Viktor just looked at her, shaking his head, “No. No… just the usual frustration.”

“Him and that cure.” Mel chuckled, “If Caitlyn and him were blood related, I would say the stubborn ambition runs in the family.” She shrugged, “I suppose like attracts like.” She glanced sidelong at him. “You know he does it for you, yes?”

Viktor’s eyes widened slightly, before he shook his head, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“He’s in that workplace right now because he wants to save you, and wants to make sure you’re around for when he finally gets it right.” She corrected herself, “For when you both finally get it right.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if it’s possible at all.”

“You were so sure in the beginning,” Mel observed, “What happened.”

He sighed, “None of the mutations are responding to anything we do, it’s not even like they’re rejecting it and it is merely a miscalculation. They aren’t noticing it in the first place.” He leaned against his cane, “I fear that we’re either too late, or attempting to do the impossible.”

Mel nodded, “Well, if there’s anyone who can do such a thing, I would say it’s the two of you.”

“I appreciate your confidence.”

“Someone has to be, yes?”

The two fell into silence, watching the refuge below them. At this time of night, it was mainly guards who found themselves up and about, but the occasional group of insomnia ridden teens or overactive kids would wander by beneath the little streetlamps. “Do you miss it,” Viktor asked.

“Miss what?”

“The way things were before.” Then he looked at her. “Your mother, perhaps.”

Mel’s face hardened, and she sighed, “My mother made her decision long before the outbreak. I can only hope she is alive and well. But I no longer wish to be a part of it.”

“You would forsake your own family?”

“More like accepting that my mother has forsaken me,” she admit sadly. “We had become something akin to estranged before distance meant loss… I have simply made my peace with that.”

“Do you think she’s still alive,” he questioned.

Mel just laughed, “My mother? Of course she is. That woman refuses to die, though I’m not sure if it’s out of spite or out of desperation anymore.”

“I see.”

“And your family?”

Viktor shook his head, “I lost them at quite the young age, the infection hardly changed my familiar situation.”

Mel folded her hands in front of her, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I have… how did you say it? Made my peace with it.”

-----

Viktor returned to the lab, peering at the silhouette bent over, leaning over the desk. He approached it, staring down at the now sleeping Jayce, quietly snoring against his jacket with a tiny smile on his face. Viktor could only nod, moving to take the seat beside him and continuing where he left off, studying the notes carefully before beginning the work he had paused on.

He tinkered beside Jayce, moving slower than usual so he could keep quiet and not disturb the sleeping Jayce. There was the tinking of metal, the clattering of nuts and bolts, the dripping of solutions and chemicals, all in an attempt to find a cure faster. They had failed so far, and had, instead, put their attention to bettering Piltover. They might have to live with it for the rest of their lives, might as well make it decent.

But they had set out to find a cure, and had promised everyone they would eventually succeed, especially Caitlyn. Viktor knew the girl was a soft spot for Jayce, and knew that he still hadn’t stopped blaming himself for what happened to Cait’s mother.

But Viktor also knew the illness would get to him eventually too, that the Shimmer had affected him since the beginning, made him more vulnerable to the growing infection within him. He hadn’t told Jayce, but he assumed that he must know by now, the weakness in his body was growing obvious, and the desperation from Jayce to find a solution came off him in waves.

At this point, Viktor was sure there wasn’t any way to manufacture a cure like they were attempting, but if they could find some sort of tolerance to the infection, to the mutation that caused it to take hold, they could go from there, working with such a makeup and rebuilding it into some sort of vaccine. It was worth a shot, might not cure those already turned, in fact, most definitely wouldn’t, but it would prevent any others from getting sick, maybe even him.

Jayce shifted next to him, mumbling something before his eyes slowly opened, studying Viktor in his sleep-ridden haze before he slowly pulled himself up with a tired sigh. “You don’t need to do that,” Jayce muttered, “I had it.”

“We are partners, no?”

Jayce opened his mouth, then closed it, looking away. “I had it.”

Viktor tilted his head at his partner, before nodding, pushing himself to a stand so he could come to stand beside Jayce. He placed a gentle arm on Jayce’s shoulder, leaning into him and resting his head against his back. Jayce hesitantly leaned into the contact, placing his hand atop Viktor’s, squeezing. “We’re going to figure it out, Vik, I know we are.”

“I’m not so sure,” he offered again, “But that’s why we keep trying, yes?”

“I-” he sighed, “I fear it’s up to Caitlyn now,” he admit, looking out the window, hoping she was still alive somewhere out there, and that Vi was with her. That they were getting closer each day to fixing this.

Jayce just turned in Viktor’s grasp, leaning his body against Viktor’s, careful not to offset the thinner man’s balance. Viktor smiled, pressing a playful kiss against his forehead, nodding along.

“It may be.”

-----

Jayce shifted in bed, the one they kept in the lab just in case they felt like staying close. It was an old thing that creaked anytime weight changed atop it, but it did the job, and was far more comfortable than some of the cots strewn about. He expected to be alone, caught up in another night of fitful testing and disappointing results. Instead, Viktor was in the chair beside his bed, his head lolled to the right, hands clasped around his cane. He looked asleep, peaceful, the usual furrowing of brows or squinting of eyes replaced by a serene neutrality. Jayce somewhat wondered when was the last time he slept, then he wondered why he was here.

He sat up, rubbing at his eyes and trying to push the screaming headache from his temples, groaning at the pain and shaking his head. He looked to Viktor again, watching the slow breathing, the rise and fall of his chest, steady and patient.

Without Caitlyn, it was him and Mel who he trusted left, the only three he really felt at ease with. Despite his high authority before breakout day and throughout the entire crisis, it never did change the fact that he felt like an actor rather than engineer turned politician. Most of the time, he just kept to himself and the lab, often going to look for a certain Kiramman to bother when he hit a roadblock. Now she was gone, and with no way of knowing how she was doing, thinking about her only set his worries racing.

So he had dwindled to Mel and Viktor.

Viktor was the one he shared everything with, everything except those that he thought would cause the man to worry. Mel was a special case, trusted with some of his most important

He reached out slowly, brushing a hand against Viktor's leg, seeing if it would wake him. He stirred, face tightening, hand around his cane flexing lightly. His eyes fluttered open and he offered a lazy smile towards Jayce, nodding. "You're awake."

"For now."

Viktor considered this, pursing his lips before he sighed, pushing himself to stand. "You wish to work again, yes?" Jayce just nodded silently. Viktor smiled knowingly, as if fully in Jayce's head and the fact of it pleased him. He pushed himself to stand, wobbling as he regained his balance. "Stay, I'll try the experiment again."

"I can do it."

"Jayce, what use is being partners if only you will do it?"

Jayce opened his mouth to protest, then shut it. Pleased he had made a point, Viktor hummed, beginning to walk closer to worktables with the remnants of earlier test runs. Jayce reached out, resting his hand around Viktor's wrist, thumb brushing against his free palm. He feigned a small twitch of his mouth, "what is the use of being partners if I don't help you?"

Chapter Text

“Cait, over there.”

Caitlyn followed where Vi was pointing with her gauntlets, squinting through the snow to spy a small cabin nearby. It would be a way out of the cold and wet, allowing them to ride out the worst of the storm. She nodded to Vi, tightening the bags on her shoulders. “Let’s go.”

The two girls trekked to it, pushing through the door to see a cabin that was actually furnished. The lights were off, but it seemed maintained. Caitlyn glanced around, studying tables, the furniture. Vi just went and leaned against the one sofa with a sigh.

“I think someone lives here.”

“The door was wide open,” Vi protested, “Who would do that?”

Caitlyn shook her head, “I don’t know, but it’s far too clean to be abandoned, everything looks well kept…”

The girl’s fingers brushed a table, her eyes studying a small paper atop it.
Dear Salo,
If you’re willing to make the trek here, we’re willing to host you. I’m sure the rest of the commune would be happy to have you, perhaps you could even become a longterm member, we’re always looking for more willing
participants.
May the Wolf push you.

Caitlyn blinked a few times, studying each word over and over, noting the small symbol. It was familiar, but not enough to properly ring a bell. Still, something didn’t fit right with her. She moved, this time focusing her attention on the floor and walls. Vi just watched her in confusion.

“What are you doing.”

“Just, give me a minute.” Caitlyn then spied it, a small splotch of blood on the ground. She spun to Vi. “We gotta go.”

“What, why?”

“I’ll explain when we’re outta here, come on.”

Vi rolled her eyes, but obeyed, falling into step behind Caitlyn as she threw open the door. She jumped back with a slight gasp as the sight of people just outside. A tall woman leaned over her, staring down at her with hard features and an almost taunting smile, behind her was a smaller group Caitlyn couldn’t quite make out through the snow.

Boots scraped backwards, Caitlyn slowly stepping away from the stranger and towards Vi, who instinctively covered her with her body, an arm out to protect her. When the woman spoke, Caitlyn was reminded of her own mother, strong, confident, powerful.

Dangerous.

“Well well well, looks like we have some unannounced guests.”

“We were just leaving,” Vi hissed, not taking her eyes off the woman. The woman just chuckled.

“In this weather? That’s a quick way to freeze to death.” Her gaze landed on Caitlyn, “Come child, I promise we don’t bite.”

“We’ll take our chances with the weather,” Vi protested with a small shrug.

“Don’t be silly,” a new voice called. A much shorter girl peeked her head past the taller woman. She was smiling, hidden in a large coat, the slightest pink to her nose and cheeks. Under her hat, the faintest wisps of slight ginger could be seen. “It’s hardly smart to go back out there, we have plenty of room to spare.” She took a few steps forward, offering a polite wave. “I’m Maddie, a pleasure to meet you, though, I wish it was with warmer weather,” she offered with a slight laugh. “That’s Ambessa. Promise you she’s not as scary as she looks.”

Caitlyn’s brows furrowed at both of them, gaze darting back and forth. She took a tentative step forward, out from Vi’s protection, earning a slight “what are you doing,” expression from Vi.

“Ambessa? Medarda?”

Maddie’s eyes widened, and she turned towards Ambessa. The woman just raised a brow, “Not everyday I meet someone who knows me by name. Tell me, child, who are you.”

Caitlyn thought about it, shooting a glance towards Vi who was shaking her head. She just took a breath, straightening her back. “Caitlyn Kiramman. If I’m not mistaken, I know your daughter.”

It was Ambessa’s turn to be surprised, “Mel?”

“Yes.”

“How on earth do you know my daughter?”

“She’s a part of the refuge that I was located at. Smart girl, one of our best.” Caitlyn smiled, “she would be delighted to know you’re alive.”

Ambessa took a few steps forward towards Caitlyn, looking down her nose at her before she grinned. “Well, Caitlyn, I think you’ll find a space for you here.” She turned to the rest of the group outside, “Come along, let’s make sure our new guests are welcome.”

Caitlyn blinked a few times, before Maddie came to her side with a large grin. She tilted her head, gesturing to follow, and follow Caitlyn did, turning briefly to see that Vi was following before looking back towards Madde.

“So where are you from?”

“Piltover.”

Maddie just gasped lightly, “that’s so far! What are you doin’ all the way out here?”

“Just traveling, trying to reconnect with family.”

“That’s quite brave, you must be a good fighter to make it this far.”

“I suppose so,” Cait said with a slight flush, “We just did what we had to.”

“Doesn’t change that you’ve made it further than most,” Maddie said with a sigh, “I wish I had the guts to go out more…”

“Maybe you could join us.”

Maddie beamed, taking a hold of Cait’s arm and nodding at her, “Oh that would be wonderful.”

Behind them, Vi rolled her eyes with a scowl, stomping after them.

------

“You wouldn’t expect such a large group buried up in the cold, but we found our way,” Ambessa said with pride, “Noxians are anything but weak. We’ve had some hardships, but we make do.”

“It’s only because we have a leader like Ambessa,” Maddie offered, “She’s the reason any of us are here.”

“It seems like you have a lovely community going on here,” Caitlyn observed, carefully watching some young kids run by with sticks in their hands, rushing to play in the snow, “how did you do all this?”

“We have our ways, child. We protect our own.”

“Ambessa reacted quickly when the breakout happened, made sure all of this group was gathered and fortified. She’s a fighter, and we owe it to her that any of us are still alive.”

The group walked into a wooden building. On the far side, a circle of chairs were pointed towards a fireplace. A young man stood up at the front, basked in an orange glow, his voice carrying through the room. The people populating the chairs watched, entranced, often nodding or offering quiet words of agreement.

To the other side was a wall of weapons, most melee. Spears, makeshift torches, clubs, crowbars, and bats all sat tacked to the wall, gleaming in the low light. Each one seemed taken care of, precious, as if they should be hanging in a museum rather than some cabin in the mountains. Still, if you looked closely enough, you could spy the wear, evidence of the action each of them saw, their use in previous battles.

“The wolf will protect you, but only if you have the courage to fight back.”

Cait turned her attention back to the man, watching him carefully. When she checked on Vi, she noticed the girl was doing the same, with a scowl instead of with curiosity.

“Mercy isn’t what lets you survive in this world. We are warriors, my friends, bloodshed is what we know, war is our language.”

Caitlyn furrowed her brows, but turned back to Ambessa, quietly asking, “can you explain this to me?”

“We are warriors, my girl, we only survived this long because we didn’t fear death… without that courage, you wouldn’t have found us today.”

Caitlyn guessed she was right, there was a certain comfort one had to have with death when surrounded by it at all times. And now that she had gone past the wall for an extended period of time, she had quickly learned that killing was a necessity to survival in this world. She owed it to both herself and Vi to make her peace with that.

If it wasn’t for a few bullets, the two of them would have been amongst the dead long ago.

Ambessa just nodded to Caitlyn with a grin, “and it seems you understand that.”

Maddie beamed at Cait, only turning away to watch a larger man come up to Ambessa. He leaned towards her, quietly whispering a few words in her ear before stepping back, the picture of stone and stoic. Ambessa just shot him a look and frowned. “It seems I must leave you in Maddie’s capable hands. I hope to see you later, Caitlyn.”

Caitlyn offered her a small bob of her head, before Ambessa ducked out and into the cold outside. Vi joined Cait at her side, peering at Maddie who had clasped her hands behind her back. “Looks like you’re stuck with me, apologies.”

“Nonsense,” Caitlyn offered.

Maddie smiled politely, “I can offer the two of you a bigger tour, show you around a bit more?”

“That would be great.”

“Actually,” Vi cut in, “I’m going to go rest, if you could just… point me in the direction of where I can do that, I’ll consider that tour enough.”

Caitlyn shot her a look, VI refusing to even meet her gaze. Maddie just nodded, “I understand, it’ll be the building just across from this one, room 13 will be open for you.”

“Thanks.”

Then Vi disappeared, leaving Caitlyn to wonder what was up with her.

-------

“And over here is our cafeteria.” Caitlyn nodded, following closely behind Maddie. The girl tilted her head, smiling up at her. “I know it’s hardly the most interesting thing nowadays.”

“No, no, it’s plenty, thank you, Maddie.”

“I know when I’m boring someone,” Maddie teased with a slight nudge, “so, tell me about yourself.”

“Like what?”

“Well, you’ve come all this way from Piltover looking for someone, let’s start there.”

Caitlyn bit her lip, considering how much information to reveal, or if it was smart to reveal anything at all. She sighed, as the pair returned outside, boots crunching in the snow.

“It’s Vi’s sister. Powder, they got separated as kids and now she’s trying to find her way back to them.”

Maddie eyed her, “how sweet, but what’s in it for you?”

“Can’t I just help out of kindness?”

Maddie shrugged, “Sure, but it’s an easy way to die in this world. You have to put yourself first, you know,” Maddie opened the door, letting Caitlyn step through into a cabin, one clearly a home. Maddie stepped through, making her way to the small kitchen on the left side. She glanced over her shoulder towards Cait. “Tea?”

“Oh, yes please.”

Maddie placed the mug down in front of her, sitting down beside her on the couch. She pulled her legs up, propping her arm on the back of the couch and leaning her head against her hand. “You were saying?”

Caitlyn considered, sighing and taking her mug in her hands, letting the warmth seep into her cold hands. “I’m helping her because I know what it’s like to lose family, and If I can change that for her, I want to.”

“Oh, a selfless person, are ya?”

“It’s not like that… I just, I want…”

Maddie placed a hand over top of Cait’s, smiling at her, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” she eased, “I was just teasing.”

“No, no, I probably should say something, huh?” Caitlyn offered with a smile, “I lost my mother a year ago… to the infection. So..” she met Maddie’s gaze, “I know what it’s like to miss your family… especially if they’re all you have left.”

“I’m so sorry…”

“It’s fine.”

Maddie leaned back, sipping her tea, “I lost someone too, so, I can understand where you’re coming from… it’s hard. If it wasn’t for Ambessa, I would have given up then.”

“I had someone like that, Jayce was his name. Pulled me through the worst of it…”

“Then we owe it to them to keep livin’” Maddie offered with a small nod, “and to the ones we lost.”

Caitlyn hummed in agreement, pulling her feet up and tucking them under her, “You know, I’ve never told that to anyone…” she mumbled.

“Guess I just have a charm about me then, hm?”

“You are a good listener,” Caitlyn admit and Maddie beamed.

“What else should I know about you, hm? How’d you survive all this way anyhow?”

“I had a gun,” Caitlyn declared, “it was a beautiful rifle my mother gave me before everything happened.”

“Must be a good shot then, huh?”

“I’m an excellent shot.”

“So humble too.”

Caitlyn blushed, and Maddie smirked at her, leaning slightly forward, legs touching hers. “You know, I’d be delighted if you stayed, Ambessa and the others too. At least until the storm passes.” She smiled sweetly, placing a light hand on Cait’s thigh. “I always have room for you.”

Caitlyn looked at the hand, then at Maddie’s eyes, kinda blue staring at her in the dim firelight of her cabin. Caitlyn offered her a small motion of gratitude, a slight flush on her cheeks. “That means a lot, thank you Maddie.” She then glanced outside, “how late is it?”

“I’d say later in the evening, you should probably check on your friend, huh?”

“I should. Thank you for everything, Maddie.”

“I’ll be here if you need me.”

-----

When Cait stepped into the shared room, she saw Vi packing, placing various items into a bag , scattered supplies across the beds. She looked up at Caitlyn, nodded. “Oh, good, you’re here, perfect timing.”

“What- Vi what are you doing?”

“Packing?”

"Why??"

“To leave, why else? Here-” she tossed Caitlyn a gun, a beautiful steel rifle, “found you a new firearm.”

Caitlyn looked at it, then gently placed it down, moving towards Vi. “Why? There’s still the storm, and besides, they’ve been so kind to us.”

“I don’t trust them.”

Caitlyn blinked, sitting gently on the edge of the bed. “Ok, why?”

“Did you forget the blood in the first room? Or how about how Maddie is acting?”

“How is Maddie acting?” Caitlyn asked, crossing her arms.

“She’s buttering you up, getting you to trust her-”

“I didn’t realize it was a crime to trust people.”

“No, I-” Vi sighed, stopping her packing to look at Caitlyn, “I don’t trust them, I’ve heard enough about Noxians, and- I’ve heard of the sort of groups that have popped up in all this chaos. That speech sounded like them, Cait. I’m not sure staying is a good idea.”

“So you’d rather us go into that storm again? With your injury?”

“I’d rather take my chances with the weather than with people who could kill us in our sleep.”

Caitlyn scoffed slightly, “Ambessa is my friend’s mother-”

“And when’s the last time they spoke to one another, hm?”

Caitlyn sealed her mouth shut, before shaking her head. “Look, I get you don’t trust people because of your sister-”

“My sister?”

“-But seeing the worst in everyone isn’t a good idea, Vi… It’s the quickest way to drive yourself insane.”

Vi just breathed a laugh, pacing around the room a few times before she stared at Caitlyn. “And being naive is the quickest way to get yourself killed.:

“I am not naive!”

“No, you’re just foolish. I mean, are you really going to fall for every flatterer that whispers nice little things in your ear?”

“I’m doing no such thing.”

Vi placed her hands on her hips, “Oh really, because it seemed like you sure as hell were falling for Maddie’s little comments.”

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, “Why, jealous?”

Vi snorted, “Hardly. I just don’t want to be responsible when you end up killed.”

“I can handle myself, Vi.”

Vi just looked at her before throwing her hands up. “Fine. But when you get hurt, don’t come looking for me.”

Vi turned around, scowling at the floor. Caitlyn rose, taking a step forward with an outstretched hand, before she shook her head and darted out the room.

-----

“Cait, what are you doing here?”

“Sorry. I just…” Caitlyn tilted her head, offering a slanted smile, “mind if I come in?”

Maddie nodded, opening the door wider and ushering the girl inside. When Cait stepped in, Maddie’s hand rested on her shoulder, peering up into her face with concern.

“Are you alright?

“I’m fine, just, needed to step out, clear my head.”

“Did you two fight?”

Caitlyn sighed, smirking at the girl. “How on earth did you know that?”

Maddie hummed, moving further into the room. She plopped herself on the couch, patting the cushion beside her with a smile. “I’ve been through my fair share of those. Been witness to even more.” Caitlyn rested herself next to Maddie, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. Maddie stilled her movements, squeezing gently. “It’s ok, I bet she’ll forget about it in the morning, that’s how it always is.”

“I can’t be sure,” Caitlyn mumbled. Maddie just sighed.

“She must have said something to really upset you, huh?”

“No it’s not that, she didn’t I just-” She shook her head, “She didn’t exactly say anything I’m just… weirdly bothered by it all.”

Maddie leaned towards Caitlyn, pushing a stray hair behind her ear. “Anything I can do?”

Caitlyn didn’t realize that she had leaned into the touch, that she craved touch more than she thought she did. It felt nice, the warmth of another body, the physical connection, the kind voice in her ear. It wasn’t exactly the one she wanted to be hearing, but she wanted to entertain it anyway.

Maddie giggled a bit, before she rested her hand on Caitlyn’s cheek. Cait’s eyes widened as Maddie gently turned her face to look her in the eyes, the pad of her thumb running lightly back and forth on her cheekbone. “It’ll be alright, Caitlyn…” Then she offered a quiet, “is there anything I can do?”

Caitlyn opened her mouth, then shut it, but she didn't look away, nor did she turn away from Maddie’s touch. She just closed her eyes, pushing her cheek more against Maddie’s palm, wanting more of it, more contact, more warmth, more falsified connection. Maddie crawled a bit forward, bringing her other hand up, resting it against the side of Cait’s face. Caitlyn wrapped her fingers around her wrist.

Then Maddie’s lips were on hers.

Caitlyn hummed, but pushed back into it, hands wrapping instinctually around her waist, pulling Maddie closer and into her lap. She whimpered against her, fingers tucking up under Maddie’s shirt, feeling for the feverish skin beneath. Maddie let out a small gasp against Cait’s mouth, Caitlyn taking advantage of it to brush her tongue against her lip before dipping into her mouth with a small moan.

When the two girls pulled away, Caitlyn stared at the now flushed and panting girl atop her. Maddie just smiled. “This cabin does have a bed, you know?”

Caitlyn just smirked, picking the girl up in her arms, letting Maddie’s legs wrap around her middle, disappearing into the bedroom.

-----

Caitlyn blinked, rubbing at her eyes and sitting up in the bed. She looked around, feeling the space beside her. When she noticed it empty, she tilted her head, yawning and stretching slightly.

She slipped from the covers, padding out of the bedroom and expecting to see Maddie at the kitchen counter or carefully stretched atop the couch, but she wasn’t there either. Caitlyn began looking around now, earnestly looking for evidence of the girl. When she found none, she ducked back into the room, looking to get her clothes on and start the day, most likely with talking to Vi.

She shut the door behind her.

Then felt two arms around her and a hand pressed to her mouth before everything went black.

Chapter Text

Caitlyn shifted, wincing at the ringing in her head and the dull thudding throughout the rest of her body. Her elbows braced against the ground as she pushed herself up, grimacing, a hand rushing to clutch at her side. When she pulled her hand away, a new red splotch was upon it. She narrowed her eyes, before straightening to sit, shaking her head.

She blinked a few times, trying to understand her surroundings. She was on the ground, a cold concrete, barred off from the rest of the room. There was a metal table on the other side of the bars, sharp blades coating the surface. It was dark, cold, shivering overtaking Caitlyn as she studied the room. And there was a slight scent in the air, just beginning to push the edge of rancid. Cait let out a shuddering breath.

“Look for exits, Look for clues,” she thought in her head, eyes darting the area to search for a way out and a way to arm herself. She’d take a pathetic knife at this point.

How she got here was beyond her too. One minute she’s getting dressed in Maddie’s bedroom, only one thought on her mind; finding Vi. The next she’s waking up from who knows how long of being out in what looked suspiciously like either a murder room or at the very least, the least welcoming building she’s seen so far.

She pushed herself to stand, holding the wound at her side, letting her other hand shake the bars. “Shit,” she breathed when they refused to budge. She hoped that they would give way, too old to hold against some amount of force, but nothing changed.

She leaned her head against the bars, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to reason her way through this. She put together a checklist of questions, why she was here, who put her here, how to get out, and if Vi was safe.

For some reason, that last one began to take priority in her mind.

There was shifting outside, the front door creaking open to reveal swirling snow and wind. Two large figures stepped through, peering at her in the dark. Ambessa and a man Cait didn't know but recognized from earlier. Caitlyn shook her head, gripping the bars.

“Ambessa, what’s going on?”

“We could ask you the same thing, child.”

Caitlyn frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. One minute I’m in Maddie’s cabin and the next I’m here,” she glared “so forgive me for being out of sorts.”

Ambessa walked forward, dragging a chair up to the bars and propping herself atop it. She leaned forward, peering at Caitlyn. “Let’s start with this. Why are you here?”

“I told you, we’re travelling, we found shelter and now we’re here.”

“And this travelling is for a girl named Powder.”

Caitlyn shook her head, “yes,” she offered, exasperated, “what on earth does that have to do with anything.”

“Plenty of people are looking for her, girl. She’s quite the popular find.”

Caitlyn took a step back, trying to reason out why. She had ties to Silco, assumedly, but that information didn’t seem entirely public. And besides that, she was simply Vi’s sister, if it had to do with bloodlines or family ties, Vi would act as the perfect replacement. So why her. Cait met Ambessa’s eyes. “Why?”

“She might be the key to fixing this all, to getting through to Silco. It’s why the Firelights are after her.”

“She’s a bargaining chip?” Caitlyn scoffed, “all this for a chance at a bargaining chip?”

“Deal making is half of war,” Ambessa reasoned, “you would be wise to learn that.”

Caitlyn was pacing in her cage now, pressing a finger to her chin, “So what do I have to do with thi-” then she stopped, and laughed, “I’m a bargaining chip for the bargaining chip, aren’t I?”

Ambessa stood, pushing herself up and walking towards the bars. Caitlyn knew she was tall, built, but she hadn’t really noticed it before. She supposed viewing someone as an enemy made the truth of their features come to light. “Not quite. Clearly though, you could be a considerable ally. You’ve made it this far, and if I’m right, it’s your brains that got you here.”

“What do you want?”

“Help us locate the girl. If you take the offer, you’ll be in a position of power here; provided for and powerful.”

“And what of Vi?”

“Convince her or kill her,” Ambessa said with a shrug, “It hardly matters to me.”

“I’m not going to kill her- I could never.”

Ambessa smirked, “I figured you would have a soft spot for the undercity girl.”

Caitlyn worried at the statement, gripping the bars and baring her teeth “where is she, what have you done to her?”

“Worry about the offer, Caitlyn.” She placed her hand over Caitlyn’s, offering a wicked smile.

Caitlyn just pulled back. “Go to hell,” she spat.

Ambessa just scoffed, turning away. “Suit yourself.” She nodded to the man, “Rictus… keep an eye on her.”

------

Vi ducked out of the room, slipping out of the window and slowly closing it behind her. She had tucked her gloves in that old abandoned building, not wanting to run around with it or reveal herself. It would slow her down, she knew that, so she decided to tuck them away and trade them for a small shotgun.

She jumped into the snow, crouching low against the ground as she sprinted through the town, avoiding all suspicion and wandering eyes.

When she had woken up, Cait hadn’t returned, something she had expected, but when hours, then a day had passed, Vi knew something was wrong, that something had happened. Vi assumed the worst of her suspicions had been realized, and she set out looking for her.

What Vi had found instead were clues, pieces of paper writing the fates of innocent passersby, traps on the outskirts of the town that could ruin limbs and leave someone trapped for days, and worst, full bodies hauled in a shack, prepared like livestock.

Vi had taken a bit to recover from that sight.

Now she knew she had to find Cait, and make sure she hadn’t suffered a similar fate. She pushed forward, tucking the gun against her chest and darting along, looking for signs of Caitlyn’s existence, hoping to find some bread crumb trail of the girl.

Instead she passed Maddie's house, spying the girl in her room, reading innocently. Vi peered through the window, squinting through the glass, slipping the gun into her jacket. She then sprinted around the outside of the house, looking for another room to jump into, one where she would miss the suspicion of the girl inside.

She found the kitchen window, quietly pushing the glass up and hoisting herself into the house. She landed with a dull thud on the carpet, turning to shut the window behind her. She yanked the gun from her jacket, studying it.

“Caitlyn is so much better with these than me…”

She tip-toed through the living room, pressing herself against the wall, going utterly silent. Then she waited, carefully listening to Maddie’s movements or sounds, trying to judge distance.

The door opened, the girl stepping out while she hummed to herself. She passed Vi, moving to her kitchen counter.

Vi snuck behind her, pressing a gun to the back of her head before sneering at her. “You’re going to tell me where Caitlyn is,” she breathed, “or this bullet is going straight into your brain.”

-----

Caitlyn paced the room, keeping one eye on Rictus in the corner, who, in turn, kept a careful eye on her. He was stronger than her, bigger too, and she assumed he was the one who attacked her, and Maddie was the one who ratted her out.

She couldn’t believe she had fallen for it all. Hell, she especially couldn’t believe that she had shared a bed with the little traitor. Now she was determined to get out, and hopefully apologize to Vi.

She had been right, after all.

Caitlyn decided to take a risk. She stepped up to the bars, smoothing a hand against them as she studied Rictus.

“What if I want to take you up on that deal?”

Rictus tilted his head, scoffing at her lightly. “Why the sudden change of heart?” He smirked, “The conditions too harsh for you, princess?”

Caitlyn bristled at the statement, but offered a small smile, “I was just thinking it over… and you might be right about it all…” She shook her head, “I acted brashly…”

Rictus now stood, hulking figure stretching out before her. She swallowed, looking for her chance. If this was going to work, she was going to have to catch him wildly off guard, and hope that a single strike was enough to take him down.
First she had to make sure he opened the bars first.

She looked up to him with a sweet smile, “the position, what would it look like, and what gun would I be wielding?”

“That’s for Ambessa to tell you.”

“Why? Do you not know?” She crossed her arms, pouting “I’m not considering any offer until I know what it is… didn’t you say something about deals being half of war.”

He clicked his tongue, staring at her, Cait’s eyes looking for the keys, surely he had them.

She spied them at his hip, keeping her gaze on his face instead of her target. He needed to take a step closer, just enough that she could grab them and slip out of the gate. She took a step forward, hoping he would mimic her movements, take her openness for his own naturally and put himself in a position of weakness. “Would I be working with Ambessa? Maddie?” She blinked, “You?”

The man took that step forward, “You should know Maddie would be a bad idea, Ambessa always despised professional entanglements.”

Clearly not since such “entanglement” landed her here. Caitlyn reached for the keys, grabbing them and muffling any jingling as she wrapped her fingers around them. Her head tilted up at him. “And what of the weapon, is it one of the ones in here?” She rocked on her heels, “I’d like to see the model, if you don’t mind.”

“I’m not giving you the gun,” he sneered.

Caitlyn shook her head, “Just show me, hold it up.”

Rictus rolled his eyes, but obliged, turning away to go and look for it within the cabin. Caitlyn quickly and quietly slipped the key into the lock, gently pushing the gate open. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for the nearest weapon that could do enough damage. She spied it, a metal pipe lying just off to the side. She scooped it up.

Then she went racing at Rictus, slamming it into the back of his head with as much force as she could muster.

He went still, and Cait wondered if it hadn’t been enough, taking a few steps back and getting into a fighting position. But the body collapsed to the floor, buckling in on itself, his head colliding with concrete. Caitlyn let out a breath of relief, tossing the pole aside and instead searching for one of the guns. She grabbed a rifle, tucking it against her side, and then she went darting out into the snow.

-----

“For the last time, where is Caitlyn?”

Maddie hissed in pain, her head drooping low. At this point, the restraints were the things holding her up. Blood trickled from her nose and mouth, bruises beginning to form on her face. Vi had tossed the gun and traded them for her preferred weapon. She rubbed at her bandaged fists, scowling at Maddie, who just laughed breathlessly.

“Even if I tell you, Ambessa’s way ahead of you,” she sighed. “No way you’ll win against her.

Vi crouched down in front of Maddie, grabbing a firstful of hair and pulling her slack head upwards. She just smirked, baring her teeth. “I’ll take my chances with your precious leader, thanks.”

Then she landed another punch into Maddie’s nose, dropping her head and circling the chair. Maddie panted, a small yelp of pain. She was shaking her head now, or, swaying it back and forth at this point, unable to muster much more movement. Vi tilted her head. “Ready to talk?”

“Face it, she’s dead by now.”

“If i’ve learned anything, it’s that until you see the dead, they’re still living to me.”

“What a foolish thing to think.”

Vi just rolled her shoulders, landing another hit, this time on the girl’s ribs. She just moaned. “Fine, fine. I’ll tell you!”

Vi shook her head, moving to a nearby bag. She yanked out a handmade map that she had scribbled together, unfurling it and shoving it near Maddie’s face. “No, you’re going to show me.”

Maddie whimpered, shaking her head, but her finger landed on a small building on the far outskirts of the settlement. VI retrieved the map, shoving it into her pocket, before moving to her gauntlets.

“Why do you care about her so much, anyway?” Maddie asked weakly, “she’s going to get you killed…”

“You only think that because you haven’t seen that girl shoot.”

Maddie giggled, this twisted thing that set Vi’s teeth on edge. “Fools, the both of ya’”

Vi just glared down at her, lifting her fist in the air. Maddie winced, confusion settling on her face when Vi just lowered her arm with a shake of her head. “See that’s the problem with you lot… you think everything is about power…” She met Maddie’s swollen gaze. “It’s about trust.”

“That’s what the weak think.”

“My father got a lot further gaining people’s trust than making them fear him.” She took a step towards Maddie, peering into her eyes, “and when he died, people actually mourned them… can’t say the same for you.”

“Then go on, finish me.”

VI shook her head, stepping away and going to grab her bags, tossing them over her shoulders. “You want me to do that… besides, I’m not like you.”

Maddie watched her carefully from her chair, blood beginning to pool in her lap. “Tell me this then, why go after her?”

Vi stopped short. She considered the reason, a multitude of half thought up but wholly felt theories coming to her mind. Instead, she spared one final glance towards the girl. “Because she would do the same for me.”

Chapter Text

Caitlyn burst into the side rooms of one of the meeting houses, hoping desperately it was indeed empty like she had assumed, and hoping nobody was on her trail. She was in one of the kitchens, and she went searching through it, rifling for a small hatchet just in case. She tucked it into her pants, before she crept towards the larger space.

“I know you’re here, my child.”

Caitlyn stilled, breath catching in her throat. Her body pressed against the wall, neck craning to catch a glimpse of her offender. She saw the slightest movement on the far side, and noticed the gleam of a weapon with it. She swallowed, trying to force breath through her body and still the racing of her heart. If she ducked outside now, Ambessa would shortly be onto her, and with the snow, it would hinder Caitlyn. Ambessa was on her own turf, and Caitlyn had no doubt that the weather would act as no obstacle for her.

This had to end here and now.

Her hand tightened around the gun and she ducked into the room, hiding behind a counter. She listened carefully for the creaking of the floorboards or the slight thumping of footsteps.

“It’s a shame, really, we would have made such allies, a fearsome pair.”

Caitlyn bit her tongue, crouching and crawling her way towards the end of the wooden counter. She raised her gun to her eye, looking for her target. “Relax and shoot,” Caitlyn reminded herself, “just like you’ve always been taught.” She sighed, pointing right at Ambessa’s head. Then she pulled the trigger.

Ambessa must have heard her, ducking just outside of the shot, the bullet instead scraping her cheek. She hissed in pain, bringing a finger up to her cheek to pat against the blood, smirking down at it.

“A good effort,” she sneered, now coming towards Caitlyn. She scrambled, darting around the counter and hiding behind the booths within the room. This must have once been a bar, she noticed. The other thing that caught her eye was the glimmer of fire, lanterns hanging from wooden poles, still lit.

Caitlyn shrugged, then aimed and fired, sparks flying into the wood, setting the far side of the building ablaze. If she was smart, she could use it to her advantage, she just had to be smart. Her feet carried her to the end of the row, trying to listen above the crackling fire for her attacker.

She reacted to the sound behind her just too slowly.

A blade cut across her abdomen, Caitlyn falling to her knees with a gasp, staring up at Ambessa. The woman readied her blade as Caitlyn scrambled for her gun, racing against the clock. She was able to get a shot off, the barrel knocked aside by Ambessa, sending the bullet into her leg.

There was a loud cry, and Caitlyn used the chance to slowly crawl away, moaning in pain at the newfound wound, trying to let the adrenaline carry her through it. She hid behind a large pole, desperate to steady her breathing, panting as she raised her gun to where Ambessa just had been, the woman now gone. She lowered it, confusion in her features before she again heard shifting behind her, this time, rolling out of the way of a blade. She lunged for it, kicking it out of the woman’s hands as Ambessa knocked Caitlyn away, sending her flying across the room, gun now separated from her.

She groaned, pushing herself onto her elbows and knees, trying to shake the dazed sensation from her head. She blinked, spinning vision clearing just enough to see Ambessa stomping towards her.

“Maddie quite liked you,” Ambessa started, “said she would let you warm her bed if you had accepted. A true shame, you refused.”

Caitlyn hissed, beginning to crawl towards her gun, dragging herself on her hands and knees across the floor, pushing through the searing sensations piercing through her.

“And your girlfriend might have joined us too… quite the attitude, that one. It might have been fun to break her.”

A hand found Caitlyn’s hair, pulling her back as she shrieked, flipping her onto her back and knocking the wind out of her. Caitlyn shoved, kneeing the woman in the face, buying her just a few more seconds to crawl towards the gun.

She hadn’t bought enough.

Ambessa was on her again, straddling the overtop of her, pressing her hands onto her throat. Caitlyn wheezed, kicking her feet out and trying to wriggle free, hands clawing at the grip Ambessa had on her.

“You have no idea what I’m capable of, Caitlyn. No idea.”

Caitlyn kept fighting, struggling, writhing, trying to use any force left to either push the woman off of her or writhe herself to safety, shaking her head as her eyes widened, the outskirts of her vision beginning to go dark. Ambessa leaned closer, a twisted smile on her face.

“You could try begging.”

Caitlyn moved to a new strategy. Her hand wove down, fighting to slip inside her pockets to pull out the knife she had tucked away. Her fingers missed it’s handle, stretching as long as they could to brush at the wood. On the second try, she jostled them higher, able to wrap her fingers around the hilt of it and yank it out.

She then drove the blade into Ambessa, gasping for air before as she kicked the woman off her. She pivoted, turning and driving the blade into her again and again, letting out strangled shouts as she lifted her arms back and let them fall.

“Caitlyn!”

Something grabbed at her, wrapping around her waist and pulling her away. She struggled against it, pushing at the arms. “Don’t touch me! Let me go!”

“Cait, Cait, it’s me, it's me!”

She kept pushing away, shaking her head, tears now falling from her eyes. Two hands rested gently on her cheeks, steadying her, brushing away tears.

Caitlyn finally met her gaze, Vi’s gently staring at her, a frown on her face as she held Cait close. “It’s ok, Cait, it’s alright.”

Caitlyn let out a choked sob, shaking her head, “she-”

“It’s ok, shhh, I’ve got you.”

Caitlyn collapsed into Vi’s arms, burying her face in the girl’s chest as Vi clutched her close, rubbing a hand up and down her back. Caitlyn kept repeating three words, “you were right” muffled into her chest. Vi gently kissed the top of the girl’s head, pressing her cheek against her hair with a sigh.

Vi peered at what was left of Ambessa’s body, scowling at it, before she turned to Caitlyn. “How bad are you hurt? Let me see…”

She studied Caitlyn’s side, grimacing at the wound before she nodded, breathing a sigh and glazing at the growing fire behind them.

“I’m going to carry you, is that alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“Cait, you’re bleeding, it’ll be faster for me to carry you.”

She was probably right. Cait just nodded, letting Vi gently scoop her up, clutching her close as she ducked out of the burning cabin and back into the snow.

-----

“They were after your sister,” Caitlyn finally said.

She had been staring into the fire for hours now, wrapped in a blanket and occasionally wincing when she moved too fast or too much. The wound was manageable, and they had some leftover supplies from Vi’s injury, she was almost grateful for it now.

Vi shifted, bending her knee to prop her arm atop it, tilting her head at the girl. “They wanted Powder?”

She just nodded, “Said something about the Firelights wanting her too, they think she’s a way to Silco.”

Vi scoffed, “I mean, she’s with him, sure, but what does that do? Not like she’s some weakness for him or anything.”

Caitlyn shook her head, “They seem to think so… they’re sure of it too, saw her as some bargaining chip.”

“And the Firelights.”

“Not sure, they didn’t say.”

Vi frowned, staring at the ground, “Why would she be a bargaining chip for them, what could she possibly guarantee?”

Caitlyn stared at her, “You seem confident she’s not his weakness, what makes you so sure?”

“He captured her, Cait, she’s a prisoner.”

“But what if she’s not? What if all these years you’ve been missing, he’s her only family now.”

Vi grimaced slightly, “Don’t say that.”

Cait sighed, shifting to pull the blanket tighter around her. “I don’t like the thought of it, either, but we can’t rule it out… if we’re going to save her, we need to be ready for that possibility.”

“You really think Silco, who killed our father and separated her from me would mean that much to her?” She chuckled darkly, “What a joke.”

“I’m just saying, if two large groups who, mind you, seem utterly goal oriented seem to have such a thought in their mind, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of plausible…”

Vi just shook her head, letting her chin rest atop her arm. She peered at Caitlyn, who still seemed harrowed. She hadn’t spoken since the disaster with the Noxians, Vi was beginning to wonder if she would be the only one talking the rest of this trip. “How are you feeling?”

“What does that have to do with-”

“It doesn't,” Vi agreed, “But I’m asking anyway.”

She blinked, then looked away, “I’m fine.”

“I thought you were going to get yourself killed.”

“How did you find me?”

“Followed the fire.”

Caitlyn narrowed her eyes, “No you didn’t, so what did you do?”

“Maddie told me.”

“You made her tell you, didn’t you?”

Vi sighed, “Does it matter?”

Caitlyn opened her mouth, then shut it. “No.” She breathed out, then shoved her face into her hands, “I’m such an idiot,” she mumbled.

Vi crawled forward, taking gentle hold of Cait’s wrists and pulling her hands away, “don’t do that, it doesn’t help.”

“And yet it’s my fault! No matter how I look at it, I did it to myself, and I almost led them right to your sister.” She shook her head, lowering her voice, “They might have gotten to her first and it would have been all my fault.”

“You wanna know something?”

Cait raised a brow, “What?”

She sat back on her thighs, laughing lightly to herself. “When I was a kid, before everything happened, I decided to rob this one place. Fancy upper class type of building, with all these wonderful items we could sell for a good buck.” She shook her head, “We got caught though, had to haul ass back to the Undercity, but they had gotten a good look at us, the police kept slinking to my dad’s bar, demanding he give us up. Never did though.” She frowned, “Things got nasty, people started calling for blood. It was bigger than just some kids and petty crimes, we knew that, and we had opened the wound back up. Vander… he got dragged away…”

She took a breath, looking at the fire, then continued as Caitlyn watched. “Things got real bad then, in the scuffle with the police, Silco walked in with one of those things, wiped the police flat and knocked Vander clean out. I had never been so scared, and I swore I was going to get him back. If it had been a few months earlier, Claggor and Mylo might have been there and might have been able to help me, but Vander sent them up to live with distant relatives, tried to keep them out of sight.

“That left me and Powder with him, and she was just some kid, I wasn’t going to bring her on some doomed rescue mission. I told her to stay behind, went to get him back myself. Almost did too.

“But she wanted to help… my sister always wanted to help, she was just like that. She wanted to stay close, wanted to prove herself, wanted to be like the rest of us. She followed behind me, made some gadget to try and help with the enemies.

“It backfired, got me stuck in some rubble, Vander saved me instead of taking out Silco, risked his life to get me out of there alive, died right in front of me… I’ll never forget what he said, ‘take care of Powder’, and yet I took it out on her, yelled and then left her in the street with our dead dad… took a walk to cool myself down.

“I always intended to go back, once my head was more level, but the breakout had happened so quickly. I went racing back for her, but got dragged away, shoved into the one QZ and left there with no way out…”

She shook her head, “I keep thinking, what if I had done something different? What if I hadn’t robbed that place, what if I had just turned myself in when I had the chance, what if I hadn’t forced Powder to stay behind, or hadn’t yelled at her… All of this is on me…”

“You were just a kid, Vi… you couldn’t have-”

“Known better?” She smiled, “Sometimes I believe that. Other times, I think that’s a lame cop out… but I have a point here, and it’s that it’s not your fault.” She grabbed Cait’s hand, squeezing it gently, “It’s not your fault what happened, it was just a million little coincidences that added up to the outcome that you got… Sure you told them, so what? If they had chosen to be decent people, none of this would have happened.”

“But I can’t control them,” Cait protested, “I can control myself.”

Vi maneuvered Cait to look at her better, peering into her eyes. Her hand reached towards Cait’s face, shaking slightly and then pulling back as she sighed. “

“You’re right… but if we all beat ourselves up over every tiny thing, we’d never make it through. Trust me… I know.”

Caitlyn sighed, and she leaned into Vi, resting her head on her shoulder, Vi stiffened, then relaxed, letting her cheek fall against the crown of Cait’s head. “Go to sleep,” she mumbled, “I’ll keep watch.”

Chapter Text

“Come on, we’re almost there.”

Caitlyn walked on, trekking after Vi. She couldn’t lie, she was excited for this whole trip to be over, she had begun to miss her refuge back in Piltover, missed Jayce and the others, missed the comfort of it all. She wanted it back.

But she also desperately wanted to see Vi happy, reunited with her sister and able to finally rest herself after all these years. Not to mention, she was so close to finding a cure, the thing she had been promising for years, the very thing that could put an end to all this suffering and fear. All she needed was to find Silco.

It was a bit more complex than that, she knew this, but pretending she was so close to a solution kept her going right now, pushing her legs towards this region of Zaun. She expected one of two scenes when she got there; something akin to what she saw in the mall or some strange, twisted villain lair.

Vi climbed onto a building, turning to offer her hand to Cait, who took it, hoisting herself up beside the pink haired girl. They both peered down, deep into a crevice of the earth. Vi’s eyes widened, and she shook her head. “No way.”

Below them was an active city, neon signs and swirling smoke; carts and nightlife bustled on the streets far below, people out walking or sprinting down the alleys. Groups laughed hysterically, drinks in hand, others sneered as passerbys, eyeing up what must be potential hits for them. Vi was just staring. Cait looked at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s all still here…” she whispered. “All of it, the Lanes are completely intact…”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s like the breakout never happened. This is what it looked like when I got dragged away… it’s practically untouched.”

“All the more reason we need to find Silco,” Cait protested, resting a hand on Vi’s arm.. “We’re so close to finishing this, to bringing that normalcy down there back to the rest of the world.”

Vi nodded, blinking rapidly as if ripping herself from a spell. “Right, come on, let’s go.”

-----

The two eventually made their way down, walking along the streets. Cait couldn’t see how this would be a suitable home for anyone, much less children like Vi and Powder once had been. People watched them as they walked along, eyes tacked onto Cait’s head in a way that put her on a swivel, always feeling like she needed to turn around and check behind her. Vi strutted through, however, a steady glare on her face, gauntlets swinging at her side. Cait just peered at her.

“Was your home always like this?”

“Not exactly…” she whispered, looking around like someone was listening. “When Vander was still alive it was safer, not perfect but… more of a community.” She sneered a bit, “Now it feels like a crime ring, I can see why people don’t even bother to come here.”

“But it’s safe? There’s no infection?”

Vi shook her head, “There are worse things than those monsters down here. Remember that and keep your head.”

Caitlyn scoffed, “No way you’re telling me to keep my head.”

Vi smirked at her, “No, you’ll be fine. I know that.”

Cait kept after Vi, “Where’s Silco?”

She shook her head, “Not sure. Even when there wasn’t any infection, he was a crime boss of the Undercity… now he’s probably its king. He won’t just be on the streets.”

Vi glanced around, before ducking into a side alley, gesturing for Cait to follow. She fell into step behind her, keeping an eye out behind her as Vi barreled forward.

“Where are you going?”

“A familiar face, might know what’s going on.” She shook her head, mumbling, “if she’s still here and still alive.”

She found a door, the building looking like some sort of house, Vi knocked on the front, waiting patiently until the door clicked, a face peering through the slit.

“What?”

“Hey Gert.”

The door now opened, a woman standing in its frame, staring dumbfounded down at Vi. She blinked a few times, then wiped at her face. “Vi? Is it seriously you?”

“It’s me.”

She ran to Vi, scooping her up in a hug and smiling against her. Two other faces peeked through the door, a few other women of the same age, and a younger girl, probably around seven or eight. Caitlyn smiled at the girl and she smiled back, ducking behind one of the woman’s legs and peering around it to watch Caitlyn.

Gert held Vi at arm’s length, staring at her, she shook her head. “I can’t believe it. We all thought you were a goner.”

“I did too,” she offered, “Was stuck at the QZ for years.”

“We heard. Some of us tried to come get you but…”

“I know, nobody in, nobody out.”

“How the hell’d you get out then? You could’ve been shot dead.”

VI waved an arm, “A story for another time. Right now we’re busy.”

Gert frowned, as if knowing where this was going, she sighed. “Come in, yeah? Rest a bit.”

Vi nodded, turning to Cait to make sure she was following as they all ducked into the little house.

It contrasted everything of the streets outside. Worn couches and chairs were scattered about a small room, a staircase to the side. Little lights dangled from the ceiling, and drawings were tacked to the one wall, all of them looking like something a child made except for one that stuck out. Vi walked to it slowly, studying it, smoothing her fingers against it.

Cait instead turned to the little girl again, nodding to the pictures. “Did you make these?”

She nodded happily, running over and pulling one from the wall then holding it out to Cait. She crouched down, gently taking the paper and scrutinizing it. “This is beautiful….”

She made a gesture, pointing to the drawing, then pointing to Cait. Cait tilted her head, “For me?”

The girl nodded again, a toothy grin on her face. Cait smiled, “Thank you, it’s beautiful,” she offered, before folding it gently and tucking it into her pocket. “I’m going to keep it here for safekeeping, yeah?”

The girl nodded again, a slight giggle as she ran over to collect a basket, pulling out art supplies and blank pieces of paper. Gert ruffled her hair, smiling down at her before plopping herself on the couch. Vi slowly turned to her, still in front of the drawing.

“This is Powder’s…”

Gert nodded, “It is. She came around sometimes a few years ago, was a different kid then…”

Vi walked towards Gert, taking a seat and leaning forward. “We’re here to get her back, Gert.”

The woman just scoffed, “You’re not going to be able to.”

“She’s my sister.”

“I know, but she’s practically Silco’s daughter at this point. Besides, everyone in the world is after her. If they’re from the Lanes, they see her as the key to controlling the Undercity, if they’re from the outside, then she’s just a tool they can use to get to the man who started this all.”

It was Cait’s turn to talk, “He started this, you’re sure.”

“Course I am… it’s that damn drug of his that caused the breakout, early stages that went wrong. He just kicked them out, set them loose on the rest of the world and fixed the formula.”

Caitlyn shook her head, “Shimmer caused all this?”

“You know about it?” Gert looked her up and down, “where are you from anyway?”

Vi stepped in, “This is Cait, she’s from Piltover.”

Gert just laughed, “you went all the way to Piltover, you must be desperate…”

“I am. I’m getting Powder back.”

Gert frowned, sighing. She gleaned over at Isha, who was clearly listening in on the conversation despite trying to pretend she wasn’t. Gert just shook her head. “She goes by Jinx now.”

Vi let out a slight pained noise, looking at the ground. “I never should have said that.”

“She’s been with Silco all these years, one of his best fighters despite her… spontaneity… she used to come around, mainly hung out with Isha, and practically adopted the kid. But Silco tightened up security, withdrew for some reason, and Jinx went with him.”

“Where is he, Gert?”

“I’m not telling you, you’ll get your dumbass killed.”

Vi leaned forward, taking a hold of Gert’s hand and squeezing it. “Please, I need to find her. I have to get her back.”

Gert hesitated, before cursing under her breath and nodding, “fine. But if you die it’s not my fault.”

“It never would be.”

“He’s in the Last Drop?”

Vi shook her head, pain in her eyes before she clenched her jaw. “Shit…”

Cait looked between the two of them. “What is… that?”

Vi sighed, leaning back. “It’s Vander’s… his pub… back when he was alive…”

Cait felt a slight anger bubble up. “He stole your father’s tavern? After everything he did.”

“Apparently.”

Gert grabbed both of their attention. “You’ll find him in the top… that’s his office, might have to go through his goonies though… Jinx-”

“Powder…”

Gert frowned, but agreed, “Powder is usually in the vents… you might be able to go through the sewer system to get to her…”

Vi considered, then nodded, “Thanks Gert,” she eased as she pushed herself up. Gert just grabbed her shoulder.

“No, rest for tonight.”

“We will-”

“Here. Vi, we’ve missed you, and you probably could use a real room… we’d be happy to have you.” Gert turned to Cait with soft smile, “Both of you.”

“We do need to come up with a plan anyway,” Cait added, then turned to face Isha, who was looking at the both of them with hope. “Besides, I think Isha wants us to stay.

-------

“What do you think?”

Vi was pacing back and forth as Cait fell into a detective frenzy on top of the bed. Her various papers were strewn about, all with gathered information or possible steps to their plan tomorrow. She stared at them, studying their contents. “If we go after Powder first, we risk putting ourselves in jeopardy, giving them more time to ambush us. If we go straight for Silco, we may be able to knock him out straightway, but we risk getting overwhelmed by his own… which means we mean have to retreat-”

“Which means we can’t get to Powder…”

Cait just nodded, biting her lip. Vi sighed, placing her hands on her hips and glaring down at the floor. “What do you think?”

“I’m asking you, VI.”

“I know, I know….” she tapped her foot, nostrils flaring as she weighed the options. “I say we go for Silco first, that way we can get a cure, hit him fast and hard… if we have to, we can go back for Powder later.”

Cait closed her notebook, moving all her stuff to make room on the bed, “are you sure you’re ok with that?”

“What choice to we have?”

Cait looked down at the bed, sighing. “I want to find the cure… it matters to me that we do…” she bit her lip, “but ot also matters to me that you find your sister.”

“Why?”

Cait met Vi’s gaze, shaking her head, “I want you to be happy?”

“Maddie told me something…” Vi began, “When I was questioning her… something about your mother…”

Cait stilled, looking away. Vi just gently sat beside Cait. “Hey,” she soothed, “It’s ok. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have-”

“I lost my mother a year ago,” Cait pushed out, speaking the words so fast they practically had no space between them. She took a breath. “To the infection. She got bit and… they shot her… brought her home in a box. I-” she sighed, “I didn’t know what to do, how to handle it. What to do. She was my mother, and she led our refuge… now I needed to fill the grief and fill her shoes and I-”

She swallowed, “I promised everyone a cure, just as my mother once had. They keep waiting for me to figure it out and I? I have to figure it out, because I need to make sure she didn’t die for nothing, I have to make sure it doesn’t happen again-”

Vi wrapped her arms around Cait, pulling her into a hug and holding her there. “She would be proud of you,” was all she said.

Cait eventually pulled back, after what may have been seconds or maybe ten minutes. She really wasn’t sure. She took a breath. “I want to go after Silco… it’s the strongest option we have and one that has the highest chance of success…

Vi nodded. “Then Silco it is.”

-----

There had been no troubles getting to the last drop, little obstacles stood in their way. Now they were high above it, staring down from their position atop a small bridge nearby. What had once been a spot in the dark was now the cause of it, neon colors flashed through the windows, people dotted the surrounding area, sometimes smoking, sometimes looking to start some sort of fight, others minding their business as much as they could in this place.

Vi glared at it, shaking her head.

“Are you ok?” Cait eased, resting a hand on Vi's arm.

She just shrugged. Ignoring the question, “Let’s just get this done, yeah? Then we can all go home.”

Cait wasn’t sure what home for Vi was anymore. She couldn’t see her going back to the QZ, nor would Cait let her. Maybe she’d stay here, especially if Silco was dethroned, she might be able to make a change in her home city. But Cait wanted her to come back to Piltover with her, she couldn’t really stomach the thought of being separated from the girl. Still she nodded, and smiled, “Right.”

They dropped down, going around the back towards a small ventilation opening. VI crouched to it, yanking the metal grate off and tossing it aside. She peered into it before turning to Cait. “This’ll be a way down into the basement, we used to use it all the time as kids.”

She let Caitlyn squeeze herself in first, dropping into a small sewage line and pressing herself against the wall. When Vi joined at her side, she nodded, following closely behind her.

“So, when we find, Silco, is it really smart to just open fire?” Cait risked asking. Vi gave her an almost offended expression, shaking her head.

“I mean, if we hesitate he kills us.”

“I’m just saying, what if he’s worth more alive than dead?”

Vi considered, “I don’t want to risk it…”

Cait just sighed and nodded, “Right, open fire then, yeah?”

“Yeah…”

The came to a small alley, a right turn that led them up and out of the sewer to a small hallway, one with stairs in front of them and a door to the side. Vi frowned, moving to the door and touching it, she slowly opened it, peering through to see if the coast was clear. When she noticed it was, she stepped inside with a sad sigh, studying the room.

Cait glanced around at it. A couch was in it, along with a desk and various paper. There was a table in the center of a bunch of chairs, with left over cards and half smoked cigarettes on the surface. Caitlyn stared. “What was this room?”

“Our room,” Vi said quietly. “Used to be where we slept.” She turned to the side, eyes going wide as she ran over to a small corner of the room. There was a small canopy set up, empty except for a single stuffed animal, a little rabbit. Vi sat down on the bed, gently picking it up and cradling it. “She got you down…”

“What’s his name?” Cait questioned, gently sitting beside Vi.

Vi chuckled, “Mr. Rabbit… I know, creative, but I was a kid, you know?” She moved his arm slightly, “Powder and I used to share him, then some dick took him and threw him up into the power lines… I never could get him down… looks like Powder managed to.”

Vi shook her head, gingerly placing him back where he was and pushing herself to stand, peering around the rest of the room. Cait went to the desk, staring at the papers, looking for clues or possible hints. All she found were useless letters, bills, and several tally charts memorializing the various wins and losses of past poker games.

“I don’t think there’s anything else in here, should we keep moving?”

“Yeah, come on.”

They ducked back out of the room, looking up the stairs when Vi turned to Cait. “Up there’s the bar, if we sneak around the perimeter, we should be alright.”

“There’s no other way?”

Vi shook her head, “not that I can think of.”

Cait sighed, looking at the stairs and beginning to make her way up them. The music hit both of them like a wave as they opened the door, both of them shaking their heads before ducking inside the dark room. They clung to the sides, keeping their heads down and hoping nobody thought too hard about the weapons they were doing a poor job of hiding. Vi waved her hand, shoving herself against a staircase and pulling Cait up it.

“So far so good,” she whispered with a slight smirk. Before studying the wood of the door. “Ready?” she whispered.

Cait nodded.

The two burst through the door, weapons drawn, but they dropped them soon enough, glancing at each other in confusion.

The large desk was cluttered, but the chair sat empty, so did the rest of the room. Vi scoffed slightly, wandering the room. “I don’t get it.”

Caitlyn didn’t either, but she had turned to scouring the room, turning over every page, searching through every drawer, poking and prodding every single item and surface. She crouched down, studying the last drawer in the desk, a large lock hanging from it. She shrugged, breaking it off and throwing it open.

Her fingers rifled through the pages, tossing aside ones that seemed unimportant. Most of them were numbers, numbers about business, dates and times, statistics, all the things that would have been interesting to Cait if she was taking down the crime boss version of him, not the mad scientist version.

Her gaze landed on one page, gently taking it out to glare down at it.
Silco,
We have confirmation of her numbers. She’s immune to it, even the first strain
We’re honestly baffled. How she developed such a thing is beyond us… we assume
Increased exposure did the trick. I would be careful with her. She’s going to be a prize
If people find out about this, she’ll become a target. Not like she isn’t already.
Keep an eye on her.

Cait blinked, reread it, blinked again.

“Whatcha find?”

Cait looked up to Vi who was peering down at her. Cait shook her head, tucking the paper into her pocket and smiling. “Just a bunch of numbers and business statistics. Nothing so far.”

Chapter Text

“Now what?”

Vi shook her head, staring at the floor, “I don’t know… find Powder? Change the plan.”

“If he’s not here, what the hell are we to do?” She sighed, “We were supposed to take him out, Vi, not walk out with nothing changed.”

“I don’t know! All I want is to put things back to the way they were, to find my sister and all of us go home.”

Cait sighed, leaning against the desk and crossing her arms, “Where do you think she would be?”

“Gert said the vents? But beyond that…” she glanced around, “it's all so different.”

Caitlyn could sense the slight fear in her words, the mourning for things to just be what they were years ago. Caitlyn knew it well, her family had lost everything when the breakout happened, all assets became null and void, normalcy was a joke.

But Vi must have felt it the worst, losing all her family, stuck in that QZ, wondering if anything would ever get better. Then to come to her home and realize it had all been shifted by the very person who killed her father and took her sister.

Cait walked over to her, pushing off the desk, leaving her gun on its surface. “We’ll find her. I promise.” She pressed a hand to Vi’s cheek, letting the girl grab it and hold it against her face, sighing.

“I just miss her. I want to know she's ok.”

“I know…” Cait pulled Vi into her, letting the girl rest her head on her shoulder. “I know.” The wood shifted, Caitlyn’s head popping up as she glanced around the room. “Did you do that?”

Vi shook her head, “No…”

Caitlyn pulled back from the girl, moving backwards to the desk to slip her rifle into her hands, brows furrowed as she listened for more sounds. “Someone must be coming…”

Vi nodded, readying her gauntlets at her sides, bringing them up in front of her face.

The door opened, a group of people stepping through. A woman led them, tall and built, a metal arm at her side. She peered at the two girls, smirking.

“Well, I heard we had some intruders, didn’t think it would be the sister.”

Vi scowled, “Sevika. I see your arm didn’t grow back.” She tilted her head, “hey, does your boss ever feel at least a little bad about that?”

Sevika glared, but resettled herself, “Ever feel bad about leaving your sister behind?”

That was what broke Vi, sending her rushing at the woman with a shout. The rest of the room exploded into chaos. Caitlyn raised her rifle, firing into the group, careful to keep Vi out of her scope. Vi ducked, throwing a punch at the woman which was caught, Vi getting tossed back with a slight grunt. She shook her head, shoving herself up as Caitlyn aimed and hit one of the oncoming attackers, the body thudding to the ground.

Sevika looked back to him with a slight growl. “Get the gun!”

Shit. Caitlyn raised it, firing more shots, hoping to at the very least scatter or hinder the oncoming group while Vi shook herself out of her daze. She backed up, bumping against the desk with a slight curse before tossing herself over it to reload. “Vi! Cover me.”

Vi nodded, rushing back into the fray, this time, taking out some of the other goons, carefully weaving around and out of Sevika’s grip. It was twenty against two, and while some of them clearly lacked in both fighting skill and experience, Sevika proved herself to be a real threat, and a handful of the other attackers clearly had zero regard for their own self preservation, making them just as explosive and dangerous as their leader.

Caitlyn popped up, leaning against the surface of the desk to fire off another round, sending two more to the ground and keeping some off of Vi’s back. But Vi was overwhelmed, getting lost in the chaos. “Vi, fall back.”

Vi did, slowly coming towards Cait, letting the group further into the room. Good, she needed them away from the door. What had started as something manageable clearly overran them, and Cait was now focused on quick escape.
Vi seemed to be thinking the same, frantically glancing around the room for some other route to take, one that posed a bit less danger. Her eyes landed in the rafters, going wide as she shook her head.

She stood.

“Vi!”

Cait grumbled, looking to keep stray shots off of Vi as she stared dumbfounded towards the ceiling. Cait risked a glance towards it, spying a slight dot of blue in the rafters. She shook her head.

“Powder!” Vi was staring up at the girl, shaking her head rapidly, blinking slight tears away. “Powder, it’s me, hey.”

Powder was leaning closer, as if studying her sister to see if it really was her. Her mouth hung open, eyes flickering in the dark. Cait just focused on the growing danger on the other side of the room.

“Vi. We need to get her and go.”

Vi shook herself out of her mind, studying the group before looking back to her sister. “We need to get out of here.”

“Get your sister.”

“Cait, we don’t have time.”

Cait shook her head, standing and climbing onto the desk, aiming her gun back into the attackers and firing wildly into them. “Get your sister, now!”

Vi was looking back and forth between Cait and Powder, indecision in her face. She then grabbed Cait’s hand, pulling her towards the door. Cait tried to shake it off. “No, come on we need to get what we came for!”

“We need to leave!”

Cait tried fighting back, but Vi proved herself stronger here. She yanked Cait out the door, rushing back the way they came, through the bar, down the steps and back into the vent, not stopping her sprint till they were back in the alleyway, both of them panting.

Caitlyn tossed her gun to the ground, whipping around to face Vi. “We almost had her!”

“No, you almost got killed, what is wrong with you?”

“Me? You just ran away, she was right there!”

Vi shook her head, beginning to pace with a slight glare. “If we had stayed any longer we both would be dead.”

“I could have gotten her.”

Vi stopped, turning to study Cait’s face, she narrowed her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. “Why does this matter so much to you?”

“She’s your sister, we could have grabbed her and be on our way home by now-”

“No that’s not it.” Vi shook her head, “What do you know that I don’t?”

Cait faltered, taking a step back, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she retorted.

“Cait, you were willing to risk yourself to grab my sister, and while neither of us have a real strong sense of preservation, that’s unlike you.” She met Cait’s eyes, almost pleading, “So what do you know.”

“Nothing, I don’t-”

“Do you seriously still not trust me or something after all-”

“She's the cure!”

Vi faltered, staring at Cait before she scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

Cait reached into her pocket, yanking out the letter and holding it out to Vi. “I didn’t believe it either, but this was in Silco’s drawers. She’s the cure to all of this,”

“So, what, how the hell would she cure all of this? What with magic.”

Caitlyn looked at the ground. “The most obvious choice is a vaccine, using the immunity in her blood to create some sort of cure… Jayce always told me about it, that if they could manufacture some sort of strain that showed a refusal of the infection, it could be the key to a new drug…”

“So what, she donates some blood and everything goes back to normal.”

Cait stayed quiet at this, continuing to stare at the ground.

“Cait. What would they need to do?”

She just sighed, “Assumedly, separate the mutation from the host… which would most likely kill the host in the process…”

Vi shook her head, a pained scoff escaping her lips. “You want me to kill my sister, just like that?”

“She could fix all of this! Vi, she could bring everything back.”

“She’s my sister!”

“I know, I know- but think of the millions we could save?”

“We?” Vi hissed, “No, no I’m not killing her so you can be some hero…”

“This isn’t about me or her it’s about the great good, Vi come on-”

“Did you plan this? From the beginning? DId you know?”

“Wha-” Caitlyn laughed bitterly, “How could I have possibly known, Vi, just, think here.”

“I am thinking!” She shouted. “You’re saying this like it’s all so easy- would you hand over your mother if she was the cure!”

“My mother is dead!”

Cait was heaving, fists clenched at her sides, “and she wouldn’t be if I had found some way to save everyone sooner. Everyone would still be here if I hadn’t failed.”

That was the last word either of them got in before things went dark.

-----

“What was she doing here?” Jinx seethed, staring down Silco. She shook her head, hissing, “no, no, why didn’t you tell me she was still alive?”

“She wasn’t supposed to be.”

Jinx’s eyes faltered, and she took a step back, chest heaving as thousands of thoughts swirled through her head. “Supposed to be-” she croaked. “What’s that mean?”

“I didn't know, Jinx.”

Silco sighed, leaning back in his chair, placing his forehead in his hand. He had looked weary more recently, run ragged by who knew what. Jinx certainly wasn’t let in on all the secrets of the Lanes, just the most important ones.

“I was told she was dead,” Silco added, “So I assumed the information was correct… turns out someone got it wrong.”

Jinx pulled herself onto the desk, folding herself atop it and placing her chin on her knees, hugging her body close in on itself. “She was with a girl…”

“They’re probably looking for you.”

“That’s what they said…” Jinx shifted, muttering into her arms. “She said she missed you.”

The chair creaked, Silco spinning to peer at her. “They are looking to use you, Jinx.”

“Whatcha mean?”

“You know what you are. You’re too important. Most people come looking for you for only one reason.”

“But what if she does really miss me?” Jinx squeaked. “What if she finally came back for me.”

“After all these years?” Sico leaned forward. “Jinx, your family is here, with me.

“We are all we have.”

Chapter Text

“Vi! Don’t leave me!”

Powder was sobbing on the ground, cold, scared, quivering beside what was once her father, staring dumbfounded at the truth of the whole situation. She hadn’t killed him, or, she hadn’t intended to. She just wanted to help. She only wanted to help.

But Vi had turned away from her, storming off into the night, refusing to even slow at the sounds of her cries or pleas. “Vi!”

----

“Everyone move!”

Silco clung tight to Powder, holding her shoulder with almost a painful grip. Sevika stood at his other side, several of what Powder had come to know as his coworkers all around him.

Police raced around the scene, rounding people up, dragging them off or shoving them into trucks. Families were trying to find each other in the chaos, injured were looking for help from skeptical and even fearful doctors or guards.

It seemed fear was on everyone's face. Tight brows, wide eyes, open mouths, a shakiness in all forms and all limbs.

Powder’s gaze slid up to Silco, who, in truth, looked utterly unamused, bored. Powder wasn’t sure the extent of what had happened, just that Silco had told her nights ago things would change very soon. She had put herself to bed in the recent days, Silco out late, busy with work he refused to let her in on. When she asked, he would simply smile politely, pat her head, and offer a “things are looking up, Jinx. It’s finally becoming our time.”

Powder had yet to get used to that name. Jinx. Vi had sneered it at her then left. She had expected to see her back, expected her sister to turn around, come running, scoop her in her arms and say she didn't mean it.

She didn’t come back. Nor did she say she didn’t mean it.

Powder tilted her head at the chaos, watching as Silco simply walked through the chaos, back towards the Lanes. While people ran away, he simply went forward, dragging Powder along with him.

“Shouldn’t we be leaving?” Powder asked quietly.

“Cowards run, Jinx. Remember that.”

Powder blinked, but nodded, simply clinging to the tailcoats of his jacket. They came upon the entrance to the Lanes, a big gate and wide open street. What once had been populated with people going about their days was empty, either from people rushing to leave, or hoping that if they stayed inside long enough, it would all go away.

Guards lined the gates, figures in gas masks and guns, blacked out eyes and expressionless faces. They stood like statues, staring down Silco like owls in the night, blank stares, if you could even call them that.

A few shifted, gripping their guns tighter, moving them in front of their bodies as if an obvious signal not to come any closer. Silco’s pace remained utterly unchanged. They raised the guns now, pointing them all at him. It was then Silco stopped.

He bent down, gently scooping up Powder, letting her wrap her arms around his neck and bury her face in his shoulder. He waited, then nodded.

“Handle it.”

Powder heard the sound of gunfire, of pained screams and the “shing” of blades. She heard Sevika calling commands, the manic laughing of certain goons that had simply wrinkled their noses at her each time she passed by, the panicked “fall back” of those masked guards.

Powder slowly opened one eye, peeking over Silco’s shoulder to the chaos he was slowly walking away from; mangled bodies, blood staining the street red, shattered glass of masks, the wicked smiles of those goons as they revelled in the bloodshed.

Powder squeezed her eyes shut, holding Silco tighter. He rested a hand on her back, and hummed the rest of the way.

----

“Sevika?”

“What, Jinx?”

Jinx swung down from the upper level, hitting the floor with a dull thunk. She smiled widely at the woman, who was engaged in fixing her prosthetic, not looking up from her work. “I can’t get my hair right,” she said innocently.

“Ask Silco.”

She pouted, “he’s busy. Says its some important meeting.”

“Then wait.”

Jinx plopped herself on the couch beside Sevika, watching the woman struggle to fix too lose screws or mangled metal. She watched carefully, eyes tracking the motions. “Please fix my hair? I’m still learning how to do it.”

“No.”

“How about this.” Jinx leaned forward, snatching the screwdriver from Sevika’s hand dangling it from her fingers. “You do my hair, and I’ll help you with your arm.”

“I’m not letting you anywhere near it,” she seethed.

“Why not?”

“Because every insane toy you come up with,” she spat, yanking the tool from Jinx’s grip “gets destroyed by the end of the day.”

Jinx frowned, slumping against the couch. “They’re in testing,” she retorted.

Sevika just scoffed, “Face it, kid, you’re not meant for this.”

------

The table was cold, and the lights in her face stung her eyes. She tried closing them, but she hated the bright red even more, it reminded her too much of fresh blood. Her wrists strained against the straps wrapped around her, and she whimpered, looking to her side.

The tables were coated in syringes and needles and little glass bottles with liquids that didn’t look drinkable. The wall was coated with boring looking charts in black and white, nothing like the colors of her room back at home. The room was dark too, despite the blinding saucer above her body. It felt too quiet, she could hear the humming of the fluorescents, and she tried to tune it out.

A door swung open, figures in masks and gloves walking through. They went to the side table, messing with all those needles. Jinx squirmed more against her restraints.

“Silco!” she shook her head, “Silco!”

“Jinx. Sh. It’s alright, child, they’re just going to run some tests.”

“I don’t like this.” She mumbled, “I don’t want this.”

“It has to be done.”

“But I'm scared!” She cried.

Silco frowned at her, one of those faces that he pulled to let her know he was disappointed with her. “Remember what I said about those who run, Jinx.”

Cowards.

The thing all the others thought she was. She bit her lip, dragging in a broken breath and quieting her cries. Silco nodded. “Good.”

Then he walked away, and she couldn’t see him past the white light in her eyes.

-----

“Jinx! Stay with the cargo!”

Jinx grumbled, leaning back against large crates, her gun dangling at her side. She had been, finally, brought on the mission after much begging, and after Silco said “just bring her, I don’t see how much harm she could do.” But the group had utterly refused to let her leave her “post” which she was almost positive was a made up position to stick her in one spot and ignore her. She felt like a child. She was a child, teen, she was reminding people now, but she considered herself just as capable as the rest.

They didn’t seem to agree.

She hummed to herself, listening to the slight little whispering in her ear. Her head shot up and she looked around. Then she scoffed. “I’m not gonna open them,” she said to no one. “I’d get in trouble.”

She listened again, then shrugged with a slight “hmph”, “I am a bit curious…”

Her eyes scanned the dock, searching for movement, and when she found none, she turned, dropping her gun to the ground beside her and hoisting herself up onto one of the crates. She pried at one of the lids, fingers curling around the wood and wincing at small splinters that threatened to draw droplets of blood. When the top refused to give, she kicked at it with a grunt, squealing in delight when it splintered and gave way to the loot inside.

She bent down, pressing her face to the split and squinting inside, seeing glowing vials of purple liquid, the same liquid she saw passed around by the goons, the same liquid that practically flowed through the Lanes.

Her arm reached in, craning to grab one of the vials, retrieving it to the daylight and studying the swirling concoction inside.

There was commotion on the other side of the deck, Jinx’s head snapping towards it as she shoved the little glass jar into her pocket, grabbed her gun, and went rushing towards the chaos.

Sevika was engaged in combat with familiar silhouettes, those same masked guards she saw years ago on what everyone called breakout day. Jinx hardly knew breakout of what, and still didn’t quite understand what all the fuss was about. Her life had hardly changed.

Jinx grinned, darting into the battle and raising her gun, listening to the hum of the charge, relishing in the slight vibration of its engine in her hands. Sevika turned to her, glowering.

“Don’t!”

But Jinx’s finger had already pressed the trigger, a spray of bullets filling the space, landing in the bodies of guards and the crates on the far wall. Sevika went ducking for cover nearby, a few goons looking for a similar escape. Some of them failed to make it, but that didn’t seem to sway Jinx in her shots, she went till her ammo went out.

She lowered her gun, blinking a few times, curiously looking at the scene before her. Purple was dripping on the floor, small trails of it running along the metal, mixing with blood. She simply tilted her head at it.

A hand grabbed her, yanking at her as she squeaked in pain. Sevika glared at her.

“You were supposed to stay by the cargo!”

“I was helping! I couldn’t help guarding boxes that don’t even move.”

“Helping? You call this,” she gestured to the damages, “helping?”

“They’re dead, right?”

Sevika pressed her palm against her brows, growling to herself. “They are now coating our factory and we just lost two weeks worth of shipment.” She shook her head, “I told Silco you were a liability.”

“I’m not,” Jinx protested.

“No,” she hissed, “you’re a Jinx.”

------

Jinx had been given free roam of the Lanes when she turned 15. Silco trusted her enough to know where she could and shouldn’t go, and everyone who ran into her learned quickly how easily she could tear a limb from you or fill you with
holes. He wasn’t worried about her defending herself anymore, so he allowed her the Lanes, let them be her playground now.

Just never past them.

Most of her time was filled with staying in the Last Drop anyway, but she had set up a small home away from home in the ventilation system in the Undercity, her workshop she called it. The rest of the time, she merely wandered, often looking for trouble or anything Silco might consider useful, often it was just bits of junk she collected to decorate her spaces, but sometimes, she found bits of information worth passing on to the boss, and she did so diligently.

She didn’t really talk to people, and people tended to avoid talking to her. She didn’t really mind it, she was perfectly good company to herself.

Then there was the girl.

Jinx had spied her in one of the squares, this young woman, a few years her senior, a few inches taller, pink hair. She looked like someone Jinx knew, knows - could know?

It struck her that she had no idea how long it had been since she had seen her sister, and she realized she wasn’t even sure she was still alive. Last she had seen, she had abandoned her next to Vander. Jinx wasn’t even sure she wanted her to be alive.

No, she did, that much she knew, but if she was still alive, it meant she still hadn’t come back, and that worried her. No, that hurt her.

And if she was still alive, she could look like that, hell, that could be her.

She had been staring at the girl, and now the girl was staring back too. JInx took a few steps forward, reaching out to grab the girl’s arm, studying her with wide eyes. “Vi?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, kid.”

No, Vi’s voice wasn’t that high pitched. Was it? Had it changed over the years? Was she finally back, pretending not to know her. Hell, could she really still hate her after all these years. Maybe she didn’t recognize Jinx, she had changed after all.

Jinx held the girl’s arm tighter, “It’s me, your sister.”

The girl’s eyes were darting from her arm to Jinx’s face, a slight panic in them. “I don’t have a sister, who-”

“No, no, Vi, come on, it’s me, you gotta remember me, please, say you-”

“That's enough,” Sevika eased, gently pulling Jinx away. “Come on kid, let’s get you home.”
…

“Silco?”

Silco looked up from his papers, scanning Jinx before shifting them aside and beckoning her forward. “What troubles you, child?”

She bit her lip, fiddling with her fingers, trying to quiet the loud whispering in her head. “Couldn’t sleep.”

He nodded, “Great minds often don’t.” He then glanced at her fingers, before pushing himself a bit from his desk, spinning his chair to the side. “Come here.”

Jinx did so, padding over to him and climbing into his lap, curling up against him. She buried her face in his shoulder, finally relaxing the tension in her body. His hand steadied her, hugging her tightly. “What happened?”

“Nothing…” she muttered.

“That isn’t what Sevika told me, Jinx.” He tapped her on the arm, signaling her to meet his gaze. “I need to be able to trust you.”

“There was a girl… with pink hair… I thought she might be my sister.”

He nodded, letting her resettle into him, running his fingers through her hair. “She’s dead, Jinx.”

“She is?”

“From what I have heard… I’m sorry.”

Jinx didn’t know what to say, nor what to think. All she did was cry quietly, burying her face into Silco’s shirt. He patted at her back, shushing her. “I’m here. It’s you and me now.”

You and me.

------

Jinx dragged herself down the alley, swinging her gun about while she sipped on whatever Chuck had made for her. “I’m not saying I’m bored, I’m just saying it’s boring,” she argued. Nobody responded.

“No, he says I’m allowed on missions again but I have to listen to Sevika.” She scoffed, “Like I should listen to her. Besides, it’s not fun. I just sit there the whole time.”

She pointed her gun at the wall, tilting her head at a sound she swore was there before shrugging and continuing her walk. “No, I’m not crazy, I know I heard something- there it is again.”

She glanced up, squinting at the beams above her, slowly raising her firearm to aim and fire at one of them. When nothing happened. She hummed, and looked back to the alley.

There was a slight shout, and a body crashed on top of her.

She cursed, rubbing at her head, “what the hell is-”

Her eyes opened to spy a young girl on top of her, also rubbing at her arms, clearly pained and shaken. Jinx tilted her head, then tapped on her shoulder. “Hey kid, still got all your insides?”

The girl nodded, studying Jinx, glancing at her hair before her curious gaze fell on the gun in Jinx’s hand. Jinx looked at it too, raising it towards the girl, barrel pointed away. “What, this old thing? Pretty cool. Huh?”

The girl nodded, and Jinx clicked a button, then passed it over to her. “Here, you can look at it if you want. Put the safety on so you won’t shoot anyone’s eye out, yeah?” She laughed to herself, “Don’t know that eyepatches are in fashion anymore…”

The girl turned the gun over in her hands, awe in her eyes. She raised it like she was ready to fire, then let out a little “pew” sound, giggling to herself. Jinx gently fixed her arm, nudging at her elbow to loosen it up.

“You shoot like that you’re gonna break your shoulder, gotta keep it loose, yeah?”

The girl, still in Jinx’s lap, nodded, bringing the gun back up and aiming again, this time, glancing at Jinx for approval on her form. Jinx instead, clicked the safety off, nodding. “Go ahead. Fire.”

She did, eyes lighting up when the shot landed on the nearby wall, a patch of black and smoke swirling off the surface. She looked at Jinx, delighted. “You’re a pretty good shot, huh?”

She took the gun back, shoving it into the holster at her hip before smiling at the girl. She pushed herself to stand, dusting herself off and looking back at her. “Maybe I’ll see you around, kid.”

----

Jinx had fallen to the floor, tucking herself against the wood of the wall beside it’s slightly open door, staring at the yellow light leaking from the crack.

“People are going to be after her, you know that, if this gets out.”

“It won’t get out. And you will make sure of that.”

There was the creak of a chair. “Boss. We can’t control it. People outside the Lanes are growing desperate, they’re going to look for you or her either way.”

“Let them look for me,” SIlco hissed, “That’s not new.”

“Soon enough someone is going to figure out it was you, trace it back,” Sevika offered.

“They’re bound to,” he agreed. “But they are not to find out about her.”

“We can’t stop them,” A goon said, “and if it’s between offering her up or you, we’re not picking-”

“You will pick me.”

“What?”

“She can hardly protect herself against them, I can, would you fools choose to doom a child over trust me?” He shook his head, “If they fix all of this, it would have been for nothing anyway. I hardly believe you were thinking at all when you made that previous choice.” She heard shifting, “so let me ask you again, between the two of us, who are you offering up?”

There was silence, “You, boss.”

“That’s right.”

“But if they find out about her-”

“They won’t.”

“She’s a liability,” Sevika grumbled, “more trouble than she’s worth.”

“She’s not a choice. Do we understand?”

“She’s going to get us killed. Or she’ll get caught and it’ll all be for nothing-”

“Which is why nobody will know about her or what she is.”

“People already know,” someone mumbled.

More silence before Silco barked out a harsh, “what?”

“There are groups looking for her,” Sevika continued, “The firelights, for one, Noxians after you, only a matter of time before they find a way to her, perhaps others.” She sighed, “I’m not risking this job for some girl.”

“Then that is your job. To risk it for her.” He hummed, “it’s all our jobs.”

-----

“Remember, you’re to-”

“Guard the cargo, for the last time, I know.” Jinx grumbled, “how many missions I gotta get right before you lay off?”

Sevika just chuckled, “With you? Doesn’t matter.”

She walked off, joining the rest of the crew, working to negotiate prices and trade routes, sending more of their empire out to the rest of the world. Jinx had learned they were perhaps the only business still actually in business, and the Lanes were the only location for actual trade and economy as far as she knew. Everywhere else it had been rendered obsolete, they traded in lives.

Jinx guessed they did too.

But out there it was more than that, unsafe for one, nothing like the Lanes, and society completely crashed for two. She knew why, at least had heard why, but she had been kept carefully within the Lanes, never allowed outside the city gates. There were infected, and it was what made her so special. She rendered their existence hopeful, gave the reality of things for years a chance to change.

Silco wasn’t going to let that happen though.

Now she just stared at the crates, humming to herself and fidgeting with her gun, fixing screws, polishing the metal siding with her sleeve.

“I’m staying by the cargo, if I don’t, she’ll eat me alive… again.” She furrowed her brows, then shook her head, “No, no. We’re listening this time. Got it? Listening.”

There was a low shout, followed by some grunting. Jinx looked towards it, feet itching to move, longing to fulfill her curiosity, but she stayed planted. Then she heard Sevika cry out in pain, and she was moving.

Slowly, she reminded herself, no running in, no aiming and opening fire. That was what kept getting her into trouble. It was time she try the opposite, see if it lent a more preferable outcome.

Her feet dragged along the floor, body crouched low as she darted around the corner, ducking low behind a stray crate to peek over it’s edge.

Sevika was down, wincing on the floor, the goons taken out. They had been sending less lately, border security needed more attention which left them scarce on the cargo patrol. “She said stay by the cargo,” Jinx muttered to herself.

But instead she was slowly walking forward, dropping her large gun and leaving it behind the boxes, pulling out her smaller pistol at her hip. Slowly and quietly, she climbed up into the rafters, passing over the attackers before silently dropping down behind them, crawling up to right behind them.

She cocked the gun, “boo!”

The goons turned just as she clocked one of them in the head, sending him spiraling unconscious to the floor. She ducked below the other, dodging a punch before shooting him in the shin, debilitating him and watching as he crumpled. The next, she darted around, zipping in the blink of an eye to behind him, swiping a leg through his own, his head crashing into the deck, lights out. There were two other guards who had now opened fire. Jinx rushed from the spray of bullets, leaping to the side before charging at their blind spots. The first she punched in the jaw, not enough to knock him out, but enough to daze him, leaving her just enough time to drive the grip right into his temple. One more.

The last she failed to dodge fully in time, getting a nice strip of blood on her thigh. She cried out, before grumbling, attacking him head on. She swept to the side of another shot, pouncing at him, the two falling to the floor. Jinx grinned down at him, raising her gun once more. “Lights out,” she teased, then hit him hard, pushing herself up and off of him when she was done.

She ran to Sevika next, kneeling beside her and checking on her. Sevika shoved her off with a grumble, mumbling that she was fine to a, now annoyed Jinx. “I just saved you, a little thanks might be nice?”

“We didn’t need your help.”

“Yes you did.”

Sevika pushed herself up, walking away from Jinx who had crossed her arms in a huff. Before she joined the now wincing and muttering goons pulling themselves back up, she tossed a glance over her shoulder. “You know, kid… that wasn't too bad.”

------

Jinx hurled the small bomb off the side, watching it explode with color in the air before she shouted again, kicking the metal beam beside her and grimacing at the slight ripple of pain that shot up her leg. She tossed another, catapulting it into the open space in the vents before she dropped down to her knees, shoving her head in her hands and muttering.

“Shut up, he’s just looking out for us-”

“But is he, he can’t keep us holed up here-”

“He’s just scared, he always has been a coward deep down, just doesn’t show it-”

“So then what gives him the right to make the decision for us, huh?”

“Jinx.” Jinx whirled to see Sevika staring down at her, a brow raised. “Talking to yourself again?”

“No,” she hissed out, shoving her head back in her hands, fingers clutching at the sides. “What do you want.”

“Silco wants-”

“If he wants it so bad why can’t he do it himself? What, does he want me to go on some fetch mission again, maybe give him that medicine again, big baby…”

Sevika sighed, then walked towards the girl, dropping down to sit beside her. “He actually wanted me to check up on you.”

“You,” jinx sneered, then softened, “Why?”

“I used to get into fights with my old man, when I was younger…”

“Why did he send you,” she reiterated, staring at the woman. Sevika just shrugged.

“Guess he thinks I’d be the one to get through to you.”

“Pft, you? Fat chance…. He hasn’t been thinking lately, huh?”

Sevika shrugged, “Maybe not his best…”

“He’s losin’ it, isn’t he?”

“A bit. Too much Shimmer, or too little sleep.”

“Too little sanity.”

Sevika eyes Jinx, “I see that runs in the family then.”

“He’s not my dad.”

Sevika studied Jinx, then nodded, “not exactly… but he did care for you all these years. He does it because he cares, you know.”

Jinx pulled her hands away from her face, raising a brow at the woman. “He does?”

“He won’t let us do shit if it affects you, put people on patrol to make sure you don’t get hurt or lost when you wander.”

“So he doesn’t trust me.”

“I think he doesn’t trust himself.” Jinx blinked, then silently nodded. Sevika continued. “When you were younger, he used to post one of us outside your room, make sure nobody tried anything, and to report to him if you needed anything in the middle of the night. You were just some random kid, I didn't know why he cared so much.” She chuckled, “Still don’t sometimes, but I’m starting to get the picture.”

“He cares… does he?”

“Just… give him a chance. He’s gotten you this far, right?”

Jinx looked down into the darkness below the fan, deep into the ventilation system. “Right.”

-----

“Thing is, he’s losing it, you know? Going nuts a bit,” she snorted, “Not that I can talk, but that’s just the thing, takes crazy to know crazy, you know?”

Isha glanced up from her contraption, shooting Jinx a glance before shrugging. Jinx kept pacing and talking. “Look, I know you might not get it, but he’s my dad… sorta, but then he goes and makes all these decisions for me or orders me around or keeps things for me. Some of it, whatever, he can claim its, protecting me, but other things… I’m not so sure.”

Jinx sat beside Isha, nudging her in the arm. “Whatcha making?”

Isha pointed to it, then to one of Jinx’s hanging contraptions, this little metal ball with a tiny face painted onto it. Jinx brushed her fingers against it with a soft smile. “You’re remaking mouser, huh? You know, I never could get it right.” She pulled it down, carefully passing it over to the girl beside her. “I made that when I was your age, was supposed to help out my sister…” she sighed, blinking a few times, “never worked…. And I never saw her again.”

Isha frowned slightly, and Jinx ruffled her hair, “Nah, none of that. But hey, if you get that working, means you did better than me, you officially take the title of inventor around here.”

Isha grinned, then gestured to a picture she had drawn, her with blue hair. “You still wanna do that?”

Isha nodded.

“Fine, I guess I did promise last time. I’m supposed tp be on a mission though…” She glanced at the girl, hands on her hips. “You know it’s gonna come out though, right?”

Isha rolled her eyes, pointing to the image again. Jinx scooped the girl up, both of them giggling as she triumphantly carried her off. “Let’s paint the town blue, huh?”

-----

“Where were you?”

“Relax, I was in the workshop-”

“You were supposed to be on the mission,” Silco hissed at her from his chair, glowering across the large desk. Jinx just shrunk down, crumpling in on herself and pouting.

“I only guard the cargo-”

“You are supposed to follow orders,” Silco retorted, “I thought my best was capable of that, but apparently I was wrong.”

“I’m sorry,” She called out, voice breaking slightly. “It won’t happen again.”

“No, it won’t.”

Jinx’s brows furrowed, and she shook her head. “What does that mean?”

“You’re done. You aren’t to go out anymore, hear me? You’re staying in.”

“You can’t do that!”

“Yes I can. Or have you forgotten whos’ in charge?”

Jinx blinked, frowning and trying to push the voices away from her mind. When Silco realized he had struck a nerve, he sighed, face falling into his hand. “I’m at an impasse, JInx. I can;t protect you if I don’t know where you are.”

“I can protect myself.”

“You don’t understand the danger you are in, girl. I have group after group breathing down my neck, looking for one or both of us. And if you disappear, sooner or later, they'll get what they’re after.”

He straightened up, pulling the girl into a hug, and smoothing her hair. “I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you, we are all we have, Jinx… you are all I have.”

She buried her face into him, sighing and nodding. It was the way he got to her, the reminder that they were the only two they could truly depend on, the reminder that she was special, important. It was the one time she thought she got to actually get let in on the most important secrets.

“I’m sorry…” she muttered. “I’ll stay.”

----

Jinx swung her feet from the beam, fiddling with her newest little creation, something that she did way too much now that she was practically locked away in The Last Drop. Her quarters downstairs were pristine; it was Silco’s office that had each fresh abomination lined up, dotting the beams alongside her. When Silco was out, her life became even more boring, having little communication and attention to withstand the long hours of the day. Even Sevika had taken to attempting to entertain the girl, but with her own missions to worry about, she wasn’t present enough to really make a dent.

So inventions were what took up her time, new little trinkets and metallic critters coming to life each day, as if she were building an army.

Silco had her often stay put in the office, swearing he would return soon, and Jinx would keep watch, practically taking it up as a job to make sure nobody sat in his chair or rifled through his drawers while he was out.

The door swung open, footsteps sounding against the wooden boards as Jinx grinned and bent down to peer at who she assumed was Silco.

Instead, her eyes landed on two girls, one with deep blue hair in a pony, a tall, almost graceful stature, the other, bright pink hair and a muscular form, large gauntlets swinging at her sides.

Jinx’s head shook violently, eyes blinking rapidly as if doing so might make the girls disappear and bring some relief. But they stayed firmly planted in the room, coming up to Silco’s desk and peering around the office, a mix of curiosity and slight anxiety in their eyes.

Jinx leaned forward, pulling her legs up towards her as she squinted down at them, watching carefully where their hands went or what they said.

“I don’t get it,” the one girl said, her voice achingly similar to one she heard in her childhood. Lower now, a bit more gruff or maybe hoarse was the word. The other girl peered around the room, beginning to rifle through its contents, picking up papers and items, studying them for a moment, then putting them down in a disappointed huff. Jinx bit her tongue, fighting against the urge to hiss that all of this didn’t belong to her, and that she had little right to touch them much less act let down when it apparently didn’t interest her.

Then she broke into the bottom drawer.

Jinx choked on a slight hiccup, watching with a glare as she went through each file meticulously, tossing them aside as the pile within got smaller.

Then she landed on one that had her eyes widening, staring down at the little slip with her mouth agape. Jinx bit her lip, wondering if now was when she was supposed to intervene. She hadn’t gotten instruction from Silco if someone actually did break into his office, and now that the hypothetical had occurred, she was dumbfounded at what exactly to do, and she couldn’t quite keep her gaze off the pink girl.

Her mind flashed to the girl in the Lanes. “Don’t do it again,” someone whispered to her, “it’s not her.”

“You don’t know that,” she hissed back.”

“Whatcha find?”

Jinx looked back to the pink girl, following her gaze to the other, who stuffed the piece of paper in her pocket and offered a quick, “Just a bunch of numbers and statistics,” with a shake of her head. “Nothing important so far.”

“Now what?”

The pink girl shook her head, staring at the floor, “I don’t know… find Powder? Change the plan.”

Jinx’s head spun, the whole room tilting on its axis and swirling in front of her. Her hands shot out to grip the beam she was perched on, trying to prevent herself from toppling off the edge of it.

“Powder,” something echoed. “Powder.”

“It’s her. It’s her. It’s her,” another chanted.

Jinx’s hands shot to her head, fingers burying in her hair as she pulled at the roots with a grimace.

“If he’s not here, what the hell are we to do?” the blue girl sighed, “We were supposed to take him out, Vi, not walk out with nothing changed.”

“I don’t know! All I want is to put things back to the way they were, to find my sister and all of us go home.”

The tall girl breathed deep, leaning against the desk and crossing her arms, “Where do you think she would be?”

“Gert said the vents? But beyond that…” she glanced around, “it's all so different.”

The girl walked over to the other, pushing off the desk, leaving her gun on its surface. “We’ll find her. I promise.” She pressed a hand to Vi’s cheek, letting the her grab it and hold it against her face, sighing.

“I just miss her. I want to know she's ok.”

“I know…” the blue girl said, pulling Vi into her, letting her rest her head on her shoulder. “I know.”

Jinx, watching the scene in some sort of anguish and confusion, leaned too far forward, scrabbling to catch herself, banging hard against the wooden beam.

The one girl’s head popped up as she glanced around the room. “Did you do that?”

Vi shook her head, “No…”

Jinx pressed the palms of her hand hard into her mouth, shaking her head and trying to silence her own whimpering and wish to scream. Stay hidden, stay up top, hope they don’t hear you.

“Don’t you want them to hear you?” A voice question, “For your sister to come and save you?”

But Jinx didn’t need saving, not that she thought. She was fine here, fine with Silco, it was all she had known for years, could she really change it now?

The not-sister pulled back from Jinx’s sister, moving backwards to the desk to slip her rifle into her hands, brows furrowed as she listened for more sounds. “Someone must be coming…”

----

Jinx had moved to her knees, peering carefully down at the chaos below her, hoping to god nobody looked. Sevika probably suspected Jinc was up there, she always was, and the woman had come to expect her almost shadow-like presence around the office.

Her sister frantically glanced around the room for what Jinx could only assume was a way out, darting around while the other girl covered her from behind, buying her a bit of time to think. Vi’s eyes landed in the rafters, meeting Jinx’s.

There was a beat where Jinx held her breath, refusing to move so she could stare just a bit longer at her long lost sister. Vi stared up too, eyes widening, mouth hanging open.\

“Vi!”

The other girl grumbled, looking to keep stray shots off of Vi as she stared dumbfounded at Jinx. The shooter’s gaze dared to fal from the attackers and risk following Vi’s, also meeting Jinx’s stare She shook her head.

“Powder!”

Jinx’s head snapped away from the girl with the gun and back to her sister, chest heaving as she hid a small sob at hearing the name. Vi was staring up at her, shaking her head rapidly, blinking away tears as she forced a smile. “Powder, it’s me, hey.”

Jinx dared to lean closer, hoping to study her sister. She had the same hot pink hair, similar undercut, same bright blue eyes. But she had grown. Her once lanky arms now showed muscle, and the limbs that once were almost too long for her body fit her perfectly now. Her face had lost some of it’s roundness, adopting their mother’s cheekbones. There was a small marking on her cheek.

Jinx’s mouth hung open, eyes flickering as she blinked back flashes of the girl she once knew and the stinging of tears.

“Vi. We need to get her and go.”

Vi shook herself out of her mind, studying the group before looking back to her sister. “We need to get out of here.”

“Get your sister.”

“Cait, we don’t have time.”

Jinx shook her head in tandem with who she assumed was Cait. She wanted, no, needed, her sister to come get her, to peel her from the spot she was sitting and drag her out and away. She couldn’t do it herself, she had come to terms with that, but maybe she kinda wanted to.

Cait stood and clambered onto the desk, aiming her gun back into the attackers and firing wildly into them. “Get your sister, now!”

Vi was looking back and forth between Cait and Jinx, indecision in her face. She offered Jinx a pained, apologetic look before she lunged to grab Cait’s hand, pulling her towards the door. Cait tried to shake it off. “No, come on we need to get what we came for!”

“We need to leave!”

Cait tried fighting back, but Vi proved herself stronger, turning away from her sister as she pulled Cait out the door, the sound of thumping on the steps signaling their escape. The rest of the goons rushed after them, hoping to probably keep up and either corner them or cut them off.

Sevika watched them go, hands flexing at her sides. She sniffed, rubbing at the blood on her face before she sighed deeply, rolling each shoulder. “How much did you see,” she muttered without looking up.

Jinx bit her lip, rubbing at damp cheeks and rocking back and forth. “Everything….”

She hiccuped, then buried her face in her knees. “Everything.”

Chapter Text

Vi groaned, trying to roll her shoulders to push away the searing pain that shot up her back and down her arms. She was sore, tired, and couldn’t see anything, except for pinpoints of light and what she assumed was some sort of burlap atop her head. She shook her wrists, met with the metallic jingling sound she expected. Ok so she was sore, tired, couldn’t see, and handcuffed.

She took a few deep breaths, half of it muffled by the fabric, working to orient herself, remember where she was and put all the pieces together. She had been in the alley, and she had seen her sister, run away… with Cait.

Cait.

She glanced around, holding her breath to listen for any sounds nearby her, when she heard breathing that wasn't her own, she risked speaking. “Cait?” She asked hoarsely, throat dry and scratchy.

“Vi?”

“Oh thank goodness you’re ok…”

Cait stayed silent, not moving from what Vi could hear, barely breathing either. Vi shifted, trying to bring feeling back into the legs under her, turning towards where she last heard Cait’s voice. “You ok? They didn’t hurt you?”

“Not yet.”

“Are you ok?” Vi repeated, slowing down her voice, the way she once talked to Powder when trying to pull the truth from her. Cait just sighed.

“We need to get back there.”

The argument, “Cait, I’m not handing over my sister-”

“I know I-”

She stopped, cutting off her own words and settling, the rocking of chains signaling her stillness. Vi just shook her head, listening to the silence between them until it was interrupted by a new pair of boots.

Vi’s head shot towards the sound, squinting to see if she could peer through the pinpricks. All she saw was a silhouette as it bent down, removing her from the pole she was wrapped around but not the restraints. “Wait, no-”

“Vi?”

Vi was pulled along, held tight as she attempted to resist, yanking and swinging like a feral dog. It was Cait’s scared voice she heard calling her name as she was dragged away.

-----

Vi squinted into the light with a slight grumble as the bag was pulled off her head, revealing a metallic colored room with beams of light leaking in from windows. She blinked a few times, noticing the figure that must have dragged her here, a large individual with bright green eyes.

Before her was a far smaller figure in a jacket and mask, perched atop a stone chair and, she assumed, staring down at her. They nodded to the other person, who excused themself, leaving Vi and the figure alone together.

“You shy, or just ugly?”

The figure tilted their head before pushing themself off the chair to stand, walking towards Vi. She braced herself, scowling up as they came closer, hand reaching behind their head to yank off the mask, letting it swing from their hand at their side. Vi’s eyes travelled from it to the newly revealed face, breathing out a gasp when she met their gaze.

Ekko raised a brow at her, frowning, “You look good for a dead girl.”

“Ekko?”

His hard exterior faltered, before it quickly replaced itself, him now bending down to look her over. “What were you doing with Jinx?”

“You mean Powder.”

“Not anymore.”

She pulled herself to a stand, “I was just with her and getting ready to go back in and get her before your little friend knocked the daylights out of me. It’s me, Vi, same girl who used to take you out back and hose you down when you got covered in mud.”

Ekko stared at the ground with a small scowl, slowly sounding out his next words. “That was a long time ago…” He looked back to her, “people change.”

“Yeah… I’m getting that.”

“Are you working for Silco?”

Vi just wrinkled her nose, biting out a “Fuck you.”

“We all thought you were dead! Now you’re with some girl wandering around Silco’s domain-”

“You followed us? Why didn’t you say something!”

“I don't know if I could trust you!”

She scoffed, “So you just come out swinging?”

He rolled his eyes, “Gee, wonder who I learned that from?”

Vi looked at him, then at the ground, “I remember teaching you all the moves… back in Vander’s old backyard,” then she let the handcuffs fall to the ground as she moved to wrap Ekko in a hug. “Miss you, little man.”

He tensed, “how long have you had those off?”

“How long have you been bitching?”

Vi felt two hands slowly rest on her back, then squeeze as he dragged her in. When he hadn’t shown in the QZ, Vi had just assumed he was dead, stuck in the chaos of the breakout or run away once he realized Vander wasn’t coming back. She wondered if he would ever show back up, glancing along the streets for any kid who looked like him. As she grew older, she kept looking, changing her search to anyone who might look like him. None of them were right, and eventually, she figured she had to face the truth.

Vi took a step back, “Why the hell are you running around with the Firelights?”

“I made them.”

“Oh good, you run the bastards who almost killed Cait and I-”

“Well why the hell are you running around with some girl?” He scoffed, “it’s not unlike you, but you’re gone for years and suddenly resurface with some safe zone girl?”

“How'd you know-”

“She isn’t covered in scars and looks like she hasn’t seen a day of combat.”

“You’re wrong.”

“You wouldn’t have almost been killed if I was.”

“Well you should tell your goons to stop running up and hitting people to kill.”

Ekko shook his head, “If they weren’t in the lanes, they’re not mine… I just started them… then they became their own thing.”

“So you didn’t order us killed?”

“Why on earth would I do that? You think more running up and shooting people’s gonna fix all this?” He sneered, “Clearly you changed too.”

Vi opened her mouth before shutting it slowly. “Guess that was never your style.” Then she raised a brow, “But locking us up? Bags? Come on Ekko, I didn't know your form had slipped that much.”

“I didn’t know if I could trust the both of you,” he repeated, this time almost offended. Vi shook her head.

“Let Cait go, she’s not a problem.”

“That why she wants Jinx so bad?”

“Pow- oh nevermind…” then Vi glanced at the ground, “I’m still figuring out what to do with all that…”

“Sounds like I did you a favor then.”

“She’s gotten me this far without once doing it for personal benefit… she believes in her cause,” Vi protested. Ekko just scoffed. “I’ll let her go, but don’t think that means I trust her.”

“Fine by me.”

-------

“Let her go, it’s me you want-”

Vi came around the corner, smirking down at Cait. “My hero,” she crooned.

Cait looked her up and down in shock, before furrowing her brows. “What? I- I thought they were hurting you!”

“Ekko here is a friend.”

“That why he tied us up?”

Vi shook her head as she walked over to Cait, kneeling down beside her to gently remove her binds. “Don’t act like you wouldn’t do the same.”

Cait’s arms fell back to her sides, and she gently rubbed at her wrists, hissing slightly at the soreness in her limbs. Vi offered her a tentative hand up, which Cait took after some hesitation, letting her be pulled to a stand. When Vi turned back to Ekko, he was looking between the two girls with a slight skepticism. Then, he just flicked a finger to the both of them. “Come on. Come meet the Firelights.”

------

“She’s an odd one.”

Vi glanced to Ekko beside her, leaning against the railing of the platform. She couldn't remember the last time she saw a group this happy, this… safe. Obviously there was Caitlyn’s camp, but before that… she wasn’t sure she ha seen anything quite like it since the breakout.

Below, kids were laughing, running around in the grass and tackling each other with squeals and shouts. Some older individuals talked with one another, leaning against the walls that enclosed the space, probably keeping it safely tucked away and hidden from the rest of the Lanes. After what they had become, Vi couldn’t blame them.

Cait was there too, below in the grass with some of the kids. They had gathered around her, listening in a circle as she showed them her newest gun and taught them the safe and proper way to fire it. She even let the kids check it out and touch it, the safety clicked on and keenly kept an eye on. Vi smiled down at her, nodding.

“A bit.”

“How’d you get holed up with her?”

Vi shrugged. “Escaped the QZ, knew I wasn’t going to go back, so I went to the one place I had heard about while trapped there. Some fabled encampment and its leader who believed in the one-man theory.”

“You went all the way up towards Piltover?”

Vi just watched the kids, “I wasn’t going to do much else, and I was going to get Powder back no matter what,” Vi nodded to Cait, “she was my best bet.”

Ekko watched Vi carefully, studying her before shaking his head, letting his body go limp against the railing, staring up into the branches of the tree. “Vi, Powder’s gone…has been since we all lost her… she died with everyone else that day.”

“You’re wrong, I can still get through to her.”

“You don’t think I’ve tried? I went after her the second I figured out where she was, she refused to come with me, said Silco was her family… I stopped trying once I found her killing some of my crew.”

“Powder wouldn’t-”

“No,” he agreed, meeting Vi’s heartbroken gaze, “but Jinx would.”

“I just need to get to her,” Vi reassured. Ekko scoffed.

“Then what? Pass her over to your partner down there and let her make some cure outta her? Pass her to the Firelights who have dedicated themselves to finding that same cure? Or maybe the many people looking to get to her in the hopes of throwing Silco off his throne.”

“You would make a cure out of her?”

Ekko worked his jaw, “We could save billions, put everyone out of their misery, return the world to normal with that cure…”

Vi took a breath, swallowing slowly. “I can’t let you do that… I- not Powder…”

“What happened to the self sacrificing girl you once were.”

Vi shook her head, “I would give myself immediately, but I wouldn’t give anyone else. Not you, not Cait… and not Powder… or Jinx, either.” She met Ekko’s glare, “And if you insist on doing so, I’m gonna have to go through you, little man.”

Ekko stayed firm for a second, face tight and harsh, until he breathed out and swore under his breath. “I couldn’t kill her even if I wanted to- and trust me, I don’t.”

“So you’re going tp help me?”

“I’ve been, you just don’t know it.”

Vi looked around at this place, “I can see you took good care of the Lanes while I was gone.”

“Someone had to. Silco took it all over, and while it wasn’t infected, he had shimmer flooding the streets. Everyone here needed a place to go that wasn’t the QZ or his version of Zaun… we tried to do what we could, but we’ll run out of space and resources soon enough…”

“You did a good job, little man.” She smiled, “the lanes changed… even Gert seemed afraid of them-”

“Gert went and hid the second everything went down… said she had her own safe place to lie low… haven’t seen her since… but yeah, it’s hardly home for a lot of us anymore.”

“What the hell even happened?”

“Silco took over the lanes, flooded the place with Shimmer and his goons, threatened to send everyone else either out into the QZ or let them face the possibility of turning into one of those things…”

“Why aren’t they in the Lanes? Everywhere else but here?”

“Silco kept it clean, had to. Wanted to keep his business running and his own territory unhindered… it was the Shimmer that got to everyone, pushed them to the city edges, and some of them even out into the chaos. We tried to take as many as we could… though I’m sure somewhere like Piltover did far better than we did.”

“I wouldn’t say that…” Vi whispered, “they had a bit more to work with for starters.” She clapped him on the back, smiling gently at him. “You did good.”

“Wish I coulda done better,” he mumbled, “Like have Powder here.”

“I’m going to get her, Ekko, I promise.”

“And what of your partner?” He questioned, shooting a wary eye down towards the girl on the ground. She was now training a little girl how to shoot and do it well. Vi softened at the sight of her, and shook her head. “I’ll talk to her.”

He just shook his head with a small smile, “She was genuinely willing to sacrifice herself for you.”

Vi studied him, trying to figure out if he was being serious. “Really?”

“Really, kept begging us to let you go and take her instead, swore she would have our heads if anything happened to you.”

Vi glanced down at the girl, who was tightly focused on entertaining the group of kids she had now at her heel. “Huh.”

Ekko just gripped her shoulder, smirking, “Worth a shot, yeah?”

Chapter Text

Vi made her way to the room the two were sharing, carefully plopping herself onto the bed, looking over at Caitlyn. The girl didn’t shift, refusing to look over at her. Vi sighed gently, laying down beside her. “Cait?”

Cait tensed, then turned, rolling onto her opposite side to peer at her. “Yeah?”

“I’m going to go after Powder again, with Ekko’s help this time, and I would like you to be there…” she bit her lip, then shook her head, “But I’m not giving Powder up.”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about it, piecing it all together. And…” she softened, moving slightly towards Vi. “I wouldn’t give Jayce up if he was in Powder’s place. I would sooner give myself up…” She shook her head, “Then I tried to think of the logistics, if a cure could even be made. I don’t doubt Jayce and Vik’s prowess, they could do it, of that I’m sure, but how would we even distribute it? And what if one of Silco’s own took control again, couldn’t they just… redo it all…”

“You know, if it was me, I would be telling you to make the cure from me. It would make everything easier.”

“No it wouldn't.”

“No?”

Caitlyn scoffed, “I don’t think I could let you do that… I don’t think I would be able to stand by and lose you.”

Vi hummed, studying Cait’s face, before she sighed, studying her hands. “You know, Powder and I used to swear we would protect each other. She used to do it simply as a mimic of me, like little kids do, you know? But I meant it, every word. We would chase monsters we made up around in the square, and Vander would just watch with a smile.

“When my parents were still around, they would shout at us, like parents should. Powder would always trip and fall and start crying, or I would tackle her too hard, and in an effort to not get in trouble with my parents, I would fall myself, or fake an injury… then I would point at us and go, ‘look… we match.”

Caitlyn’s hand reached out, brushing it along Vi’s cheek, gasping lightly when she wrapped her fingers around her wrist, sighing into her palms. Vi met Cait’s eyes, blue softening Cait’s features as she smiled. Vi returned it, then frowned slightly.

“Then the real danger came… and I couldn’t protect her- I failed.”

“No… you didn’t,” Cait said sternly, “And we’re going to get her back…”

Vi shifted, placing her arm under her head as she glanced at Cait. “Why the change?”

Cait pulled her hand back, curing in on herself, her brows furrowing. “I can’t save my mother…. That chance has long passed. But we can save your sister.”

“And what of the others?”

“I’m not sure we can save them,” she murmured, “The best we can do is take out Silco and save those close to us.”

Vi nodded, “When it’s all over, I’m going to do what I can here.”

Caitlyn tilted her head, a slight look of pain on her face. “You’re not coming back?”

“Ekko needs my help,” she retorted, “and someone’s gotta make sure the Lanes stay safe.”

“But what about us?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re just going to leave?”

Vi, confused, shook her head lightly. “I didn’t know I was expected to stay.” She blinked. “You’re going to go back to leading your safe haven anyway.”

Cait scowled at the bed, “Right.”

“Look, cupcake, it’s like oil and water, right? I belong here…. You belong there.”

Cait then pushed up and out of the room, leaving Vi to wonder what she had said.

----

Vi noticed how pretty the Firelight camp was at night. Glowing paints and gadgets filled the space, mixed with the yellow-orange glow grom rooms and string lights. Vi made her way up the treeem coming beside Ekko who stood leaning against the rails of the walkway. “Hey,” she breathed.

“Why aren’t you with your girlfriend-”

“She’s not-” Vi shook her head, “I fucked up.”

“Shocking.”

Vi bumped into him with a chuckle, “Oh cut me a break.”

“Whatcha do this time?”

“Mentioned I’m staying here after it all…”

“You are?”

Vi glanced sidelong at Ekko, twisting her features as she shrugged, “I just found you, I’m not losing you- besides, I should stay and take care of the Lanes.” She frowned, mumbling, “It’s what Vander would have wanted anyway.”

“Vander would have wanted you happy,” Ekko bit back, “And that girl seems to make you happy-”

“Nu uh.”

“Vi, I’ve seen the way you look at her, besides, after what I’m assuming was your time in the QZ, you should go back to PIltover.”

“Thought you hated them?”

He shrugged, “I don’t love em, but you deserve a place like that,” he sighed, “So does Jinx.”

Vi looked around the space, eyes flitting over groups of kids allowed one more game before bedtime or adults using the time to finally get out and enjoy themselves. Some of them giggled to themselves with mugs or small bowls in hand. “They all do…”

“Of course, I’m just not sure how long we can keep it up… Ekko rested a hand on Vi’s side, shaking his head lightly. “For once, I'm begging you to think about yourself.”

“Same goes for you,” Vi protested with a laugh, “The boy savior.”

Ekko frowned, “Haven’t been that for a long time.”

Vi took a long look around her, “I don’t know, seems to me like you’re doing just fine.”

Ekko softened, eyes flickering before he leaned into Vi. “You should go with her.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You won’t be leaving me-” Ekko offered, “Just going after something new.” He nestled into the girl. “You love her, go with her.”

“I don’t-”

“Don’t lie to me, Vi.”

“Oh yeah? Then what of you and Powder?”

“Powder’s gone-”

“Fine, then you and Jinx? Still love her?”

Ekko hesitated, pulling with a frown, he opened his mouth, closed it then just sighed. “Of course I do.”

“I always know you had a crush on her, ever since we were kids.”

“Shut up.”

“No, I’m serious, kept wondering when you were going to do something about it.”

“Well, if we save her, that’ll be enough for me.”

“When,” Vi corrected, “When.”

“Stop stalling and go get your girlfriend.”

“She’s not…”

“Vi, you have a chance, don’t be a fool and lose it, yeah?”

-----

Vi had dragged herself out of the Firelight camp with Ekko’s guidance, making it back into the streets of Zaun and tracing her way to a familiar house. She knew Gert and co would still be awake, probably practicing, she just hoped she didn’t frighten them as a strange being in the night. Her fist tapped on the door, waiting for a response from inside. The door shifted open, a familiar face peering out.

“Vi? The hell are you doing here?”

“Need a favor, mind if I come in?”

Gert pulled open the door, ushering her inside. She could see a few faces that were familiar from her last visit here, but that still lacked a name. Then she saw a little girl peer from the dining room, smiling wide and running over to her.
Vi bent down to scoop her up, “Hey, Isha, what are you still doing up?”

“She likes to watch practice,” Gert offered, smiling softly at the little girl. “Helps her with the insomnia.”

Vi nodded, letting Isha crawl from her grip up to her shoulders, plopping herself against Vi’s neck and leaning her head on Vi’s. Vi smiled, glancing up to her. Isha motioned, then tilted her head. When Vi didn’t understand, she redid the motion, showing the gun again, mimicking how Cait would shoot her own. Vi shook her head. “Not with me right now, but I’ll tell her to come visit, yeah?”

Isha pouted, but nodded, scrambling down and running over to a blonde girl who smiled sweetly down at Isha, letting her clamber up into her lap. Gert refocused on Vi, raising a brow. “So, what do you need?”

Vi gestured towards the kitchen, dragging the young woman along with her as if her business was top secret. “I need to know if you’re willing to run the Firelights.”

“Me?” Gert glanced around, “Why me?”

“You’re the best person I know for the job. You’ve worked to maintain the Lanes, people trust you, and Ekko would be willing to pass it off to you. As it is, he told me you were guiding people to safety in the Firelights.”

Gert sighed. “They’ve been a beacon of hope in the Lanes. All I did was let people know where to walk.” She studied Vi, furrowing her eyes at the girl, “Where’d this come from anyway?”

“We’re going to take out Silco, and when we do, the Firelights’ll be important. But Ekko tells me I should go with Cait-”

“You should-”

“And If I do, that means leaving the Lanes open again. I trust you, and if you say you can’t do it, I’ll stay here with Ekko, like Vander once did.”

“And if I agree?”

“Ekko and I will set you up, so will the rest of the Firelights. We’ll help you with the transition, then be on our way.”

Gert considered, glancing around the kitchen. “It’s a big ask.”

“I know.”

Gert stared at the floor, hands on her hips as she paced the room lightly, the sound of the other girls talking in the next room over flooding into the space. She then met Vi’s gaze again, “I’ll do it-”

“Than-”

“On one condition.”

Vi nodded, “sure.”

“You take Isha with you, back to Piltover.” She sighed, “The Lanes are no place for her now, and even if Silco goes, it won’t be a place for her then either,” Gert frowned, “Besides, she misses Jinx, more than any of us know- she needs her. So you take the both of them back to Piltover and take care of them, you hear?”

Vi smiled, nodding, “You sure she’ll be ok with leaving you?”

Gert shrugged, “She hasn’t stopped with you and Cait so far, and she worships the ground Jinx walks on- I think she’ll be fine.”

“And what about you.”

“I’ll miss the kid, but knowing she’s safe and happy is good enough for me, but you better take care of her.”

“We will.”

Gert smiled, “And that Caitlyn girl better take care of you, yeah?”

Vi smiled softly, the thought of the girl bringing her some form of comfort. She had, perhaps, been the one thing that actually got her here in the first place.

“Don’t worry, she already has.”

Chapter Text

Vi made her way back to the room, spying Cait sitting by the window, peering out at the tree. Vi stayed her distance, crossing her arms to study the girl. “Hey,” she breathed.

Cait turned to her, frowning slightly. “Hey-”

“Think Piltover would be a good place for Isha?”

Cait turned slowly, glancing at Vi with slight confusion. “Isha- of course it would, but where is this coming from?”

“I talked to Gert,” Vi said as she slowly sat beside Cait, not leaning into her as she wanted and instead letting her head fall against the wall behind her. “She’s going to take the place of Ekko for the Firelights, on the condition that we took Isha with us.”

“Us…” Cait muttered, “we,” She stared at Vi with wide eyes, eyes flicking to take in all of the girl’s features with her mouth slightly open. “You’re coming with me?”

“If I’m still welcome…”

Cait opened her mouth, then closed it, looking away. “What happened to Oil and Water?”

Vi smiled gently, placing her hand atop of Cait’s. “I couldn’t leave you if I tried.”

Cait slowly leaned forward, beginning to close the space between the two of them, failing to bridge the gap. VI instead took hold of Cait’s arm, pulling her in and pressing her lips to Cait’s. Cait let out a slightly surprised hum, before moaning into the kiss, melting against Vi and pressing her other hand to Vi’s chest. Vi opened her mouth, pressing her tongue into Cait’s mouth with a slight gasp, smiling when Cait’s hand tangled around the girl’s waist.

When the two pulled apart, they giggle between themselves, smiling widely at one another. Cait took a beat, before putting just enough space between them to yank her shirt off before moving back into Vi, the warmth of her skin making Vi’s head dizzy. She needed to latch to something, so she chose Cait’s neck, pressing her lips to each inch of skin, nipping and sucking at it as Cait painted above her, head leaning against Vi’s, needing more, wanting more.

Vi moved downward, pressing kisses to her collarbone and breasts, letting her tongue dart past her lips to taste the girl’s skin. Sweet, slightly salty, almost caramel like and Vi began to wonder if all of Caitlyn tasted like this. God, did she want to find out.

Cait gently put a hand at the nape of Vi’s neck, tugging her back so she could remove Vi’s layers, gently peeling clothing off and away from her. She stopped, eyes glancing down at the bandages still on Vi from her first injury, the thing that almost killed her. Her fingers brushed atop them, frowning until Vi pulled her back in for a searing kiss, both hands wrapping around Cait’s face as she moaned against Caitlyn’s mouth. Cait returned it, gasping and moaning lightly, tangling hr fingers around Vi’s biceps or in her hair, craving more, more, more.

Vi’s hands reached down, pulling Caitlyn into her lap before pulling her up with a smile, carrying her over to the bed. She let the girl fall onto it with a “oof”, her hands trailing down Cait’s front, playing with the top of Cait’s jeans, Caitlyn watching with a grin as she struggled with the buttons, tongue poking out in her focus. When she finally succeeded at conquering the jeans, her hand slipped inside and between Cait’s legs, fingers circling her clit as ait watched mouth fallen open, eyes slightly glossy and dilated. She held onto Vi, hands clutching at her back, tracing the slightly raised skin of her tattoos.

“Vi-”

“Yeah?”

“More, please…”

Vi smiled, pressing a kiss to Cait’s jaw, then trailing down her torso, landing at the bottom of her abdomen. She slipped the girl’s jeans off, tossing them aside before pressing a kiss to each thigh, relishing in the scent of her. She felt dizzy, or maybe drunk, like the wish to giggle was impossible to ignore. So far, here tasted caramel-like too, and Vi wondered if it would become her new favorite flavor.

Vi licked at Cait’s already damp underwear, earning a delicious moan from her partner and a grasp on her hair that let her know more was welcome, even demanded. With one last kiss to her pelvis, she slid the small bit of fabric down her legs, chucking them to the floor before burrowing her hand between Vu’s thighs with a slight hum.

The taste was less sugary, a bit more bitter if she was honest, but still with the slight hint of salty-syrupy. It reminded her of coffee, a rarity in the QZ, and something people were willing to trade days worth of rations for. Vi was never one of them, though the few times she had managed to get her hands on it, she had enjoyed the flavor. Now she could see it becoming an addiction, and she fully understood the desperate bargaining people went through to add some to their stock.

Vi’s tongue dipped into Cait, curling against her as her fingers buried in the skin of her girl’s thighs. Each muscle twitched and flicked as she ate her out, relishing in each small sound pulled from Cait’s lips.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” Vi murmured. Cait glanced down at her with glassy eyes, smiling lazily.

“I bet I’ve wanted it longer.”

Vi grinned, licking another stripe as Cait’s head fell back against her pillow, one hand moving to cover her mouth. Vi reached up, pulling it away and kissing her bruised knuckles before twining her fingers in Cait’s.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Vi smiled against Cait’s skin, moving as if to simply let Cait know how much she enjoyed this/ She had, perhaps obviously according to Ekko, loved the girl for some time, and had drowned in her presence and existence. She had utterly changed, yes, both of them had, but there was a shared growth there, one that Vi didn’t have with anyone else or at least, not like this.

“Violet-”

Vi looked up at the blushing Caitlyn, smiling gently as one of Cait;s fingers hooked under her chin, pulling her up for a kiss. Vi wondered if Cait tasted the same to herself as she did to Vi, and she almost considered asking about it, but refrained, instead pushing her chin towards Cait, crawling atop her and letting Cait pull her in with her long, slender fingers.

Cait kissed her, then her jaw, her nose, her brow, the small “Vi” tattoo on her cheek, as if feature was a target she needed to meet. Vi had hardly known worship all her life, especially not her as the subject, but she supposed this was it, this was what it felt like. Perhaps this was what tied them together, a mutual worship of something, of each other.

Cait sucked a mark into Vi’s jaw, teeth running along the skin, working against it as Vi moaned lightly, leaning into the contact, before disarming the girl, going for the collarbone with a smirk, keeping Cait’s gaze. She could spend hours here, that she knew, and she wondered how she resisted the urge to jump into this for so long.

She returned to her spot between Cait’s legs, pressing a kiss to her clit with a chuckle, her tongue dipping into her with a smile and a hum, sending shocks up Cait’s body as she clutched at the sheets before remembering Vi, and grabbing onto her instead. “That’s it,” Vi eased, continuing her motions, letting her nose bump against the girl’s clit, “Go on, I’ve got you,” she held Cait’s slightly blurred stare, “let go, yeah?”

And she did, head falling, eyes rolling back, hands flexing against any bit of her skin she could find on Vi, hips grinding against her mouth in tandem with her licking and sucking. And oh, god, did that feel great to Vi, one might think she was in Cait;s position, at the mercy of pleasure and worship.

Her hands drifted down, slipping into her own jeans, gently putting pressure against herself. When that wasn’t enough, she maneuvered, keeping up her motions with Cait while moving to put some sort of help beneath her, hips modulating against a pillow, small gasps escaping her lips with puffs of air hitting the sensitive Cait.

“Shit- I’m gonna, yes, Vi, yes.”

Vi kept going, bringing the tips of her fingers to Cait’s clit, making tiny circles atop the bud, leaning down to press kisses to her as she twitched against Vi, riding her high with grinds and scratches to Vi’s back. Vi diligently licked at the juices, smiling as she did so.

Cait took deep breaths, chest heaving as Vi watched her, pressing light, calming kisses all over the girl. “That’s it, Cait, I got you.”

When the girl calmed down, she sighed, hand blindly searching for Vi’s hand, wrapping each finger around the girl and smiling. When her eyes cracked open, she looked down at Cait, gesturing for her to come closer. Vi crawled up the bed, laying her head against Cait’s chest, pressing a kiss to the top of each breast before snuggling into her with a smile.

“We should have done this sooner,” Cait mumbled.

“We were a bit busy trying not to die.”

Cait chuckled, “True…” She kissed Vi’s cheek, pulling her in at the side, “Do you think it’ll be like this when it’s all over?”

Vi hummed, “I don’t see why not?” She melted against Cait’s neck, “We’ll have all the time in the world.”

Cait grinned, nodding, “And each other.”

“Always, cupcake, always.”

Chapter Text

“You sure about this?”

Vi looked from Ekko to Caitlyn, considering the question that hung in the air. From afar, she could hear a group laughing and the slight whirring of hoverboards. “Do we have another option?”

Ekko scoffed, “Nope.”

“Then we’re doing this.” She smirked to hide her worry, “What? Scared, little man?”

“Pft no,” Ekko hissed back, fidgeting with his gloves, he jutted his chin out towards Vi. “I just thought you might be having doubts.”

Caitlyn shook her head, her gun clattering at her side, “ok, ok, you’re both very big and tough, now can we go over the plan?”

Vi nodded, “Ekko and the rest of the Firelights will distract as many of the goons as they can, drawing them out of the Last Drop and making it easier for us to get to Slco. After that, we’re on our own, we’ll head to his office, hope he’s there and we can take him out. Then we locate Jinx.”

Cait grimaced slightly, an uncomfortable smile spreading across her face, “Not exactly in depth, huh?”

“We can’t plan for most of it,” Ekko sighed, “All we can do is hope things go well or think on our feet.”

Caitlyn nodded, “Right, no different than usual then.”

----

Vi watched Ekko, who carefully studied his other Firtelights running through the plan or brushing the dust off their weapons and skills. She moved to his side, bumping against him with a soft smile, “You alright?”

Ekko looked at her, then shrugged, “This is what the Firelights were always meant to do, this was our goal.”

“You’re nervous,” VI observed.

Ekko rolled his shoulders, “We’re going to lose people, it’s impossible not to. And all of them are going into this knowing it.” HE shook his head, “But we can’t plan for that, we can’t decide who lives or dies, and we’re left to fill the hole they leave behind.” He sighed, dropping his head, “These people have families, friends who care about them. They're doing this of their own volition, but I can’t help but feel like I did this.”

“You didn’t… Silco did, you gave these people a chance at a life worth living, Ekko, nothing can change that.”

“And yet some of them will lose it today.”

Vi considered, “Everyone’s scared of that,” she murmured, “Even those who say they aren’t, all you can do is stick by those people and hope it's enough.”

Ekko leaned forward, pouting to himself. “I just got you back, I can’t lose you again, I couldn’t-”

“Hey, hey,” Vi moved to wrap her arms around him, dragging him in for a hug and squeezing him tight. “You’re not going to lose me, I promise.”

“You said we can’t plan for that…” he returned slightly sniffling. VI just chuckled.

“Maybe not, but I’m too stubborn to die, yeah?”

Ekko let out a wet laugh, burying his face into Vi’s shoulder. “Right.”

When the two pulled away, Ekko looked off to the side, meeting Caitlyn’s soft gaze. He wiped at his face, sniffing before nodding to the new girl. “Looks like you’re needed.”

Caitlyn smiled, “If you wouldn’t mind me taking her from you.”

Ekko smirked, waving his hand, “I’m already sick of her, take her.” Vi playfully punched him, before walking off with Cait, following her to behind the tree, hiding in the shade with a smile. A group of teens laughed nearby, and the ambiance of people happily enjoying their conversations followed them. Cait leaned against the bark, arms crossed and gaze lowered to the ground. Vi reached for her hand, untangling her as she squeezed.

“What's wrong?”

She shook her head, “Just realizing this is it… months of this and now we’re done.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

She thought, “I’m not sure in earnest… maybe I’m so used to it at this point that I can;t see us ever going back,” then she laughed, “That sounds insane, doesn’t it?” Her eyes looked up at the tree, “But I am going to miss this place… Ekko has a good thing going.”

Vi looked around, smiling at the scene, “Never seen anything like it,” She offered, “Can’t believe this has been hiding in the Lanes all along.”

Caitlyn frowned, “You never really told me about your time in the QZ.:

Vi shook her head, “another time, I promise… for now, I’m enjoying letting it go.” She glared at the ground, trying to push flashes of her time in that place from her mind. A hand gently found her cheek, thumb brushing along her face as she smiled softly. She leaned in, pressing an adoring kiss to Vi’s lips and sighing against her when Vi’s arm wrapped around her middle. She pressed herself closer, ending the kiss to lean her forehead against Vi’s.

“I'm scared to lose you,” she admit, “Who knows what’s in there.”

“A slightly scrawny man who caused all this, a bunch of goons, and my sister,” she shrugged playfully, “No biggie.”

“You are so annoying,” Cait giggled with a roll of her eyes. Vi shook her head, leaning against the tree to get close to Cait, squeezing her side. “You’re not gonna lose me cupcake.”

“I’ll kill you if I do.”

“You won’t.”

----

“Go! We got this!”

Vi and Cait ducked inside The Last Drop, now mostly empty save for a few stray minions that stayed behind. Cait raised her gun, taking out as many as she could in the first round while Vi charged forward, trying to stun as many as she could while Cait let out the finishing shots. Bodies fell, the “tink, tink, tink” or bullets hitting the floor and the slight metallic clanking of Vi’s gauntlets filling the room. Vi wondered what Vander would think of all the blood on the floor of his beautiful tavern. Bar fights had always been common in his time, but he was keen on tampering down on such tensions or sending them out into the square if he could. Now, it coated the wood, mixing with spilled drinks and splatters of Shimmer.

Vi spit on the ground after a harsh punch, trying to clear the metallic taste from her mouth, raising her fists again and rushing at another ebay, countering his move and connecting with his jaw, sending him colliding with the floorboards. Cait’s gun rang out another round, more bodies thunking. Vi got a strong sense of deja vu, wondering if someone was going to come up and stab her in the abdomen last minute. Her abs tensed in anticipation of the false threat. She shook her head, shuddering before refocusing on the task at hand, thinking of how close she was to reuniting with her sister.

When the final body hit the floor, the two girls huffed, panting heavily in an attempt to catch their breath, hoping their lungs would hold. Cait walked to Vi, clutching her cheek and wiping a small trail of blood from her nose, worry on her face. Vi wrapped her fingers around her arm, squeezing with a reassuring smile.

“I’m fine, Cait.”

“Making sure,” she clipped back.

"Should have known you'd come."

Vi's neck snapped up to see a new figure emerge from the shadows. The woman was built like a tank, a prosthetic arm hanging from her side, concealed by her cloak. She didn't even acknowledge Cait, eyes tacked onto Vi, a knowing smile spreading across her face. Vi raised her fists with a sniff, narrowing her eyes at the strange woman.

"And you are?"

"Surely you remember..."

Vi's brows furrowed, confusion on her face as she ran through past memories, no doubt buried somewhere deep in her mind. Cait watched as Vi's mind slowly sifted, then lit up in recognition. She bared her teeth, practically hissing at the woman. "Sevika."

"So you do remember, huh?"

"Course I do, you killed my father-"

"helped," she corrected, "not like he didn't have it coming."

"Where is my sister?"

Sevika sneered, "your sister?" then she made a show of tilting her head, pretending like she suddenly recalled something, before grinning at Vi, hands twitching at her side. "Oh, you mean Jinx? She's nice and safe with Silco-"

"Give her back."

"Why should I? You left her here for years... clearly you don't care enough." Sevika rolled her shoulders, "You know, I hate to admit it, but the brat's somewhat grown on me, and we all know she's Silco's favorite."

"Where is she!"

Sevika just chuckled, "Doesn't matter, you're not going to get past me." She carefully removed her cloak, making a show of how it revealed the arm, a weapon in its own right. She tossed it to one of the chairs, then jerked her chin towards Cait, finally acknowledging her presence. "Who's your friend?"

"This is between you and me."

Sevika just scoffed, then shook out her arms, bringing them up into a fighting stance. "Fine by me, makes it much easier to kill you."

Vi rushed forward, boots stomping against the wooden floor as she went barreling towards her enemy. Her fist shot out, colliding with the side of Sevika's arm, parried and tossed aside. She fell back, recovering just quickly enough to duck below a new attack, rolling out of the way before popping back to a stand. Sevika just grinned.

"Shame we took the other one, we could have used power like you."

Vi punched, one hit against Sevika's blocking forearm, the other with her abdomen, causing the woman to groan before she grabbed at Vi's hood, tossing her to the side. The girl went rolling along the floor before her head collided with one of the nearby tables. Vi grumbled, rubbing at the injury before quickly ducking another shot, practically tripping over herself as she scrambled up and away.

Cait watched carefully, hand on her gun, waiting to step in. If Vi meant to end the woman, she wouldn't get in the way, she wouldn't take that from Vi. But... Sevika was grinning, enjoying this, and while Vi usually would have good odds, she was tired, her body ever so slightly slower, punches sagging just a bit from all the energy she had already exerted. Besides, Sevika was expecting this, the confidence in her lean body making that utterly obvious. She meant to kill Vi, and she might actually succeed if Vi didn't recover soon.

Vi sprinted at her, faking right before punching left, landing with Sevika's jaw before using the moment to knee Sevika in the groin. But it lacked the necessary power, and while clearly offered a moment of vunerablity, Vi simply wasn't quick enough to take it, shoved back by Sevika, legs barely keeping their balance. She shook her head, reorienting, too slow as Sevika landed another hit, this one right to her side. Then another, and another.

Cait raised her gun now, aiming, waiting for Sevika to get too cocky. Vi collapsed to the floor, trying to crawl away, and the woman grinned, all teeth and mirth. Slowly, slowly, she leaned down, hand grabbing at the fabric of Vi's coat-

And Cait pulled the trigger.

Sevika screamed, clutching at her one good hand with wide, fearful eyes, blood now dripping to the wood below. Vi rolled onto her back, raising her hips and kicking at Sevika's ankle, the woman crashing face first to the floor. She pushed herself up, groaning in pain as her wounded hand took on the force, swaying to a stand where Vi patiently waited.

"lights out."

Vi's fist connected with Sevika's nose, nothing but sheer rage and power in the hit, Sevika knocked flat out as she collapsed to the floor with a groan. Vi shook out her hand, rubbing at her bruised knuckles before looking back at Cait who now slowly lowered her gun.

"I- she was going to kill yo-"

"Thanks, cupcake." Vi smiled at her, trying to roll out her body, grimacing at pain before she came to Cait's side with a soft hum. Cait just nodded. The two slowly looked to the staircase leading them to what was presumably the location of Silco. Vi’s eyes flicked to Cait’s. “Ready?”

She nodded, her grip tightening on her rifle as she fell into step behind her, the two climbing the staircase in silence.

Vi kicked in the door, Cait raising her gun in an instant, but both dropped their weapons at the sight before them, holding their breath.

Jinx sat draped across Silco, curled into him like a little kid would her dad. She slowly turned to look at the girls, a sad, almost tired streak in her purple eyes. Her finger toyed with the pin of a grenade, hooking around it, then dropping it, hooking and dropping; a silent and casual threat to pull it at any second.

Vi took a tentative step forward, voice gentle. “Powder?”

“It’s Jinx now,” Silco announced.

Chapter Text

“Powder, it’s Vi, yeah? I’m here for you.”

Jinx murmured something before shifting in her seat, now looking more alive, “it’s Jinx now,” she mimicked, taking on Silco’s tone and intonation. Silco nodded encouragingly, tightening his grip on her. Vi dared to take another step forward. “Jinx, Powder, you’re still my sister,” she nodded, “and I’m here for you.”

Jinx’s eyes flickered, her hold around Silco loosening as she leaned forward towards her once familiar family. Her other hand fiddled with a small pistol, grip on it tight and tense. “Why’d you leave?” she croaked, looking at her sister in pain.

“I never wanted to, Pow- Jinx, I tried to come back for you everyday, I survived that QZ just so I could see you again.”

“You mean it?”

“Yes, JInx, yes.”

Caitlyn lifted her gun slightly, Jinx’s gaze snapping to her in anger, body hopping up and off Silco to a tense stance in the center of the room. She raised her pistol, aiming it at Caitlyn and scowling when Vi jumped in the way. She shook her head, banging her hands at her temples and squinting, face screwed in pain. “Nobody move, I need to think- just, NO.”

“Pow-”

“Shut up, shut up!”

“They’re not here for you,” a voice hummed, “Just for the cure.”

“That’s not true,” JInx retorted, voice creaking as she looked desperately at Silco, he leaned forward, folding his hands.

“You think they showed up after all these years just for you?”

“Jinx, I promise, I’m only here for you, I don’t give a shit about some cure-”

“Oh?” Silco hissed, “and what of her?”

All eyes settled on Caitlyn, who widened her gaze, mouth becoming a tight line. She took a small step forward, gaze locked on Jinx. “I wanted to find a cure so badly,” she started, “To save the people close to me, maybe even the world if we could…” she shook her head, lowering it to the floor, “but we can’t save the world, we’re just people, not heroes, and if I can’t do that, I’d rather help someone who matters to Vi.”

Jinx looked back and forth between the two girls, something like misery in her brows. She sighed, going slack and twisting her head, “No,” she muttered, “no.”

“Jinx, we just want you to come with us,” Cait eased, psalm open as if to display she meant no harm.

“But Silco-”

Vi glared at the man, “You mean the one who killed Vander? Who led to mom and dad’s death?”

“I did,” Jinx admit, voice breaking. Vi just sighed, letting her gauntlets drop to the ground.

“No you didn’t, you were just a kid.”

“But I-”

“You didn’t do it,” Vi stressed, pronouncing every syllable, “You couldn't have.”

Jinx pouted, looking back and forth between Vi and Silco. Surprisingly, Silco stayed silent, almost so confident that he didn’t need to speak. Vi continued, “Remember mom and dad?” She asked softly, then breathed a laugh, “You might not, you were still so young, but I do… a little least…. I remember mom’s smell the most…”

“Axel grease,” the two girls said in unison, staring at each other and smiling. Silco scoffed, “Who took care of you all this time?”

“She needed you after you killed their father,” Caitlyn spat, “How many people have you killed? How many have you orphaned? Like Vi and Jinx and Isha?”

“Isha?” Jinx whispered, looking up in pure hope, “she’s ok?”

Caitlyn slowly crept forward, as if approaching a wild animal. She took a piece of paper from her pocket, holding the folded up drawing out to Jinx. “Take it,” she offered gently, kindly. Jinx did so, unfolding the paper to stare down at Isha’s drawing. Tears welled up in the rims of her eyes, and she sighed,.

“She always had the best art, that kid…”

“She’s going to come with us,” Vi said, “Misses you like crazy.”

Jinx smiled, “huh.”

“Jinx, what about me,” Silco said, feigning desperation, weakness that he knew got to Jinx and reminding the other girls of his presence. Jinx looked at him, pained. She opened her mouth, then closed it, blinking rapidly.

“I… I don’t know, I can’t.”

“It’s your choice,” Cait offered, pivoting on their plan. “All yours. But if I know one thing, ir’s that your sister fought hell itself to come find you… she really cares, JInx, I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”

Jinx wilted, dropping the bomb and the drawn picture as she stared at Vi, then took a few steps towards Vi.

Silco’s eyes widened, an emotion he so rarely felt and even rarer showed, fear, filling his eyes. His chair let out a sharp whine as he straightened in one swift motion, pulling a gun from his coat and aiming it directly at Vi. The two older girls ducked, Jinx whirling, aiming her pistol and firing it widlly, eyes wide with rage. She clicked it a few more times, the gun out, letting out an empty “tk tk tk” as she pressed on the trigger and nothing happened.

Both girls slowly uncovered their heads, blinking as they looked at the now returning Jinx, who simply stood dumbfounded at Silco, now slouched in his chair, mouth open and eyes wide. She shook her head, dropping the gun to the floor and sprinting to Silco, vaulting the desk and hunching in front of him, reaching up with shaking hands, framing his face.

“No no no no no no.”

Silco gasped, reaching an unsteady hand towards her and tucking a stray hair back from her face. He smiled slowly. “I never gave you to any of them,” he whispered, coughing slightly, “my girl.”

Jinx choked a sob, her head falling forward into his lap as he went limp. Vi rushed forward, collapsing at her side and taking her into her arms, ltting the girl sob into her chest. “It’s ok, It’s alright.”

The door opened behind them, Cait whirling to meet Ekko’s gaze, who held himself in fighting position. He relaxed, glancing at Cait before spying the two sisters sobbing on the floor, Vi gently trying to move her away from the dead Silco.

“I didn’t mean to,” JInx half screamed between hiccups and sobs, “I didn’t meant to, I didn’t mean to-”

“I know, love, I know.”

Ekko rushed to them, sliding on the ground and meeting them, reaching out to envelop Jinx, holding her close. Her eyes widened, before she wrapped each arm around him, nestling further into his chest and taking a shaky breath, sighing against him. She let Vi cradle the rest of her, all of them crying quietly, clutching so tight despite nobody threatening to tear them apart anymore.

Cait just nodded, grabbing her gun and leaving the room quietly, shutting the door behind her. With rifle in hand, she stared down the staircase, keeping watch as long as the three needed,

Chapter Text

Jinx had wrapped herself in Ekko’s jacket, still shell shocked, but she was up and walking, even if it was in silence. Vi watched her every step carefully, keeping a distance and allowing Ekko to take the primary caretaker role for now. Cait rubbed her arm, “She’s going to be fine.”

“I can’t be sure-”

“Just give her some time,” Cait eased, “It’s a lot of change at once.”

Vi nodded, frowning over at her sister but continuing on, trekking back to the Firelight camp, hoping to figure out who had been lost and what any of their futures now held. Everything was up in the air, with Silco dismantled, they could only hope the rest would fizzle out, collapsing like a stack of cards. The world could hardly hope to right itself without a cure, but the Lanes could at least try to start.

They made their way to the inner walls, Ekko helping Jinx climb up the pathway t the hideaway, carefully navigating the stones and lose gravel burying groaning pipes.

The light gave way, the group finding them back in safety. Ekko whispered something to Jinx before leaving her side, moving to hug Fang and the two beginning the work of noting who was still alive and who hand’t made it. Gert and her group stood off to the side, some of them helping to aid in the medic efforts, Gert and the blonde girl keeping a close eye on the small Isha who seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the chaos.

The girl’s amber eyes widened, landing on Jinx and racing towards her, calling out happily. Jinx turned, peering at the girl before shaking her head. “Isha?” She grinned, throwing the jacket off and racing towards the rambunctious girl. “Isha!”

She scooped her up, both of them half crying, half giggling, hugging each other so tight that even the strongest force couldn’t separate them. Vi smiled at the sight, moving her attention to Gett, who approached, shaking her head with a small smirk.

“I can’t believe you managed it.”

“You should have, it’s me we’re talking about,” Vi commented, “When I say I’m going to do something, I mean it.”

Gert pulled her in for a lopsided hug, “We’ve already begun, counting our dead for now, next is taking out any remaining loyal to Silco. After that…” She sighed, “Maybe the Lanes can finally heal…”

Vi nodded, then turned back to her partner who stood awkwardly a few yards away, unsure of what to do or how to help. Vi then looked back to Gert. “I think I know someone who might have some ideas,” she mused.

----

“You sure you don’t wanna come with?” Eko asked Fang, frowning slightly. He shook his head, and Ekko nodded, smiling. “Thanks for everything, man.” He pulled him in for a hug, Vi and Cait watching carefully. Jinx held Isha, the two chatting happily in hushed tones with one another, not really paying attention to the sad goodbyes. Vi glanced at Ekko, wrapping herself around him. “You sure you wanna come with us?”

Ekko nodded, “It’s time for the Firelights to become something new,” he offered, “and time for me to focus on my family.”

Vi smiled, placing a hand on his cheek and nodding, “You’ve grown up so much, huh?”

“Oh shut up.”

Vi laughed, before looking towards Jinx. She slowly walked over, studying her. “Hey…”

Jinx met her eyes, frowning slightly, “hey.”

“Mind if we talk?”

Jinx looked at Isha, putting her down, Cait taking her instead and letting her climb up into her lap, peering at the map Cait had pulled out in an effort to chart their way back. Vi sat beside Jinx, keeping a good few feet between them. “You ok?”

She shrugged, “getting there.”

“Yeah… I know what that’s like….”

“Why’d you come after me?”

Vi sighed, “You’re my sister, I wouldn’t have left you behind-”

“But after all these years?”

“I meant what I said before, I tried to come sooner, I really did.”

Jinx slumped, nodding, “I know, I know, I just figured that after a while, you weren’t coming back,” she looked to the group readying to leave. “Not going to stay in the Lanes, are we?”

“We can if you want? See what we can make of it all?”

She laughed slightly, “look at us…. Being a we again.”

“Sometime coming, right?”

Jinx smiled, scooching closer to Vi and resting her head on the girl’s shoulder. “I missed you, sis.”

“Missed you too,” she wrapped her arm around the girl, lightening her voice slightly, “You gonna be ok?”

“You already asked.”

“Humor me.”

“I’ll be fine,” she took a shaky breath, “Silco’s still my dad, was… and I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do without him.”

“The same thing we did when we lost Vander,” Vi offered gently, taking a hold of her sister’s hand, “We live.”

---

It had been a long trek back, eased by the fact that the Firelights and Lanes had resources they could use, starting with cars and gas. The months-long trip originally now only took a few weeks, the pair group always having food and shelter too. Vi and Cait spent most of the time trading driving duty, the other sleeping in the passenger seat when they could. Jinx and Ekko took care of one another, often prioritizing the small girl over themselves. It was Cait who kept everyone fed and awake, keeping track of who acted like resources were sparse, offering their portions to someone else or refusing to sleep. Typically, it was one of the sisters in such a position; Jinx too afraid of her nightmares and Vi too afraid of someone else starving. Most of the time, Vi took extra shifts, shrugging Cait off.

“Vi, let me drive.”

“I’m fine, cupcake.”

Outside, the stars looked down on them, silhouettes of trees and fallen telephone wires passing by the window. The three in the back breathed softly, all piled on top of one another. Vi stared at the road ahead, knuckles white on the wheel. Cait gently rested a hand on her arm. “Darling, stop the car.”

Vi looked at her, sighing and pulling over. Cait hopped out first, moving to her side and opening Vi’s door. She pushed up, kissing the girl, her hands rubbing at what she could only assume were sore arms. She tucked stray hairs back, humming at Vi, “Please rest, Violet.”

Vi gave way, nodding slightly and pulling herself out of the seat, taking her new place on the passenger side. Cait restarted the car, pulling onto the road, occasionally glancing over to check on Vi, who eventually began softly snoring, slumped against the center console.

----

The car rolled to the gate, it opening before them like magic once they realize who it was. Cait pulled herself out of the vehicle, Vi jumping down as well and coming to her side. Jinx followed, olding Isha in her arms as Ekko began unloading the little materials still stuffed in the back of the car.

Marcus stared wide-eyed at the group, “We thought you were dead.”

“Of course you did, Marcus,” Cait said monotone with a roll of her eyes. She passed her gun to him, “Make sure Jayce knows I’m back, will you?”

Jinx and Ekko stared dumbfounded at the setting before them. If utopia had a look, this was it. They took small steps forward peering at the colorful saturated camp of Piltover, simi;lar tp what the Firelights had, but not always under the constant threat of collapsing.

Isha already went rushing forward, thrilled at the new world to explore. Jinx and Ekko followed close behind, a bit less enthusiasm and more trepidation in their movements. Vi watched them happily, thrilled that they might finally get to be kids this time.

Vi once again returned to Cait’s side, kissing her jaw with a small hum, glancing back up at Piltover, “Same as you left it.”

She chuckled, “It better be, but I don’t trust Marcus to uphold my standards.”

“What about Jayce and Viktor?”

She wrinkled her nose, “too busy.”

“Mel?”

“Now she’s the one I can trust.”

The two looked up to spy Jayce sprinting towards them, rushing to grab Cait and pull her into a smothering hug. She returned it, burying her face in his coat with a smile. “Oh thank god you’re safe,” he said with utter adoration. “We were starting to think something happened to you.”

“I promised I’d take care of her, didn’t I?” Vi questioned, Then, she nodded, “i’ll see you later golden boy.”

Jayce watched her go, then smiled, “She’s grown on me.”

“She better, you’re stuck with her now.”

“What do you mean?”

She chuckled, “That’s your future in-law.”

Jayce choked slightly, looking rapidly between the walking off Vi and the now grinning Cait, “no.”

“Yes.”

He shook his head, “I guess something did happen to you, then,’ he then wrapped his arms around her again, “We;re glad you’re back, sprout.”

“Glad to be back…” they smiled at each other, before Jayce’s face lit up with recognition.

“Did you find a cure?”

Cait’s gaze slid to the group. Ekko and Jinx play fought with Isha, wrestling on the ground in a fit of giggles and squeals. Vi sat nearby, grinning and shouting encouragement or teases their way, laughing along with them. Cait merely shook her head.

“No, no we didn’t.”