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The brown-red of rust intermingles with the greens and blues of the metals this far down into the underground. As Vi leads Caitlyn up the stairs leading to an alcove, she thinks about the inevitability of rust. Metals are meant to change the longer they endure; to decompose under the touch of water. At times that touch is a whisper; at other times, it’s a cataclysmic force that seeps into every crevice.
She knows what she’s about to say might not land well. But although she doesn’t know Jinx, not really, she can’t help feeling like she understands her. Understands her the way you come to learn an enemy’s fighting style – at one point it’s less decision-making and more instinct.
And so she turns to Caitlyn after sitting on a pipe, lets out a breath, and listens to her instincts.
“I think we should cut the others loose,” Vi says.
Caitlyn scoffs, eyebrows knit together as she visibly grasps for something to say. She’s always been the planner, and her plan is sound on paper. But Vi knows one thing about Jinx: what makes her different makes her strong. A conventionally sound strategy won’t work here.
“Listen, if that Heenot idiot is telling the truth, Jinx is gonna have surprises in store for us,” she continues.
“All the more reason to bring backup,” Caitlyn counters.
Caitlyn isn’t getting it. Her big and beautiful brain just isn’t getting it. Vi tries again.
“She’ll smell their nerves a mile away and find a way to use them against us.”
Caitlyn looks down at the ground, thinking. Vi knows Caitlyn. Even in the midst of everything – of the pain, of the adrenaline before what might be the last fight of their lives, of the uncertainty around how this might change them – Caitlyn is listening to her. Caitlyn will always listen to her.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” she dares.
Caitlyn sighs. “I can’t let her get away again. Are you sure you’re ready to–”
She knows what Caitlyn will say before she finishes. She thinks about the way her sister attacked the Firelights, how she didn’t hesitate to shoot at the two of them on the bridge. How she– how she almost killed Caitlyn. The look in her eyes as she sat on that chair and drew a line between them that would never be crossed again.
Vi knows her answer.
“My sister is gone,” Vi whispers. “There’s only Jinx now. It has to end.”
Vi knows something else about Caitlyn – she needs more. The words she’s wanted to say this whole time, as she looked at Caitlyn when she laid her mother to rest, as Caitlyn collapsed into her arms, as Caitlyn yelled at her after the memorial, bubble up to the surface. She doesn’t entirely know if hearing this will hurt Caitlyn more, but she follows her instincts again.
“I’m so sorry about your mother. I’m sorry I can’t bring her back, but please just…” she continues, voice low and breaking.
It’s only been a few weeks, but she knows so much about Caitlyn. She doesn’t want that to change. She needs that to not change.
“Everyone in my life has changed,” she whispers, thinking about Vander, Powder, Mylo, Claggor, Ekko. All the people she’s loved. All gone. It’s always her. Whether she’s throwing the punch or not, everyone who gets close to her dies. She can’t lose Caitlyn, too. And so she voices the one thing she wants at the end of everything: “Promise me you won’t change.”
The tears spring in her eyes, clouding her vision. They burn the way it burns to think about what’s coming. Fire is destructive, consuming everything in its path, but it cleanses. She doesn’t know what cleansing the world of Jinx will look like. She’s ready for it, but it terrifies her, and she’s not sure if she–
A touch brings her back. Caitlyn’s gloved hand on her face, her thumb caressing her tattoo. She lets out a breath to extinguish the fire, and suddenly Caitlyn’s gorgeous face is so close.
It only gets closer as her eyes meet Vi’s and she releases a sigh. Her eyes aren’t an electric blue, and yet her proximity sparks the desire to close the gap between them within Vi’s entire body. But she doesn’t want to push what she wants onto a woman who’s grieving. Grieving because she couldn’t stop the person who used to be her sister.
But Caitlyn hasn’t just always been the planner – she’s also always been the braver one. And so she inches her face closer, now a hair’s breadth away, asking for permission from a woman from whom the world has only taken.
Vi can’t look, can’t think of anything else besides Caitlyn’s lips as they finally meet hers.
And suddenly the pain of all that loss doesn’t matter all that much anymore. It still hurts, but Caitlyn’s lips are a balm, just like her presence and her voice and her touch. Their lips move against each other – gently, kindly. Vi has needed gentility and kindness for so long. She went almost a decade receiving none of it; now she’s weak after receiving it again and again ever since the day Caitlyn broke her out of prison.
She isn’t strong in the face of this constant craving. But maybe she doesn’t need to be anymore.
And so as they separate and Caitlyn whispers, “I won’t,” she lets out a breath and honors her instincts again. She drops her gauntlets, not bothering to see where they fall, and rushes to crash their mouths back together. To wrap her arms around her weakness and her savior.
And Caitlyn will always listen to her – not just her words, but also her body. She clings to Vi as their kisses transform from chaste to hungry, mouths furiously sliding against each other, tongues wrapping around each other, Caitlyn’s fingers burying themselves in the back of Vi’s head, Vi holding on so tightly that she wonders if she might just be able to crawl into Caitlyn’s skin and find the home she's been looking for.
Caitlyn pulls back ever so slightly, trying to catch her breath, but Vi lunges for her again. She’s already burning, no longer from her eyes but instead from her whole being. She doesn’t need to breathe. Everything she needs is right here.
Caitlyn listens again. She moves her lips to Vi’s neck, planting open-mouthed kisses from the back of her ear down to her collarbones, right above the bandages that cover Vi’s chest. She works her way up to Vi’s lips again, her gloved hands grabbing Vi’s face, emboldened by the certainty of what they now know was as inevitable as the rust around them.
“I– I need…” Caitlyn whispers as she pulls back, her breath frantic and heavy on Vi’s face as she swipes Vi’s bangs out of the way.
And so Vi listens, too. She nods and lowers herself to the ground to sit on one of the steps.
“Come here,” she whispers, patting her thigh.
“Are you sure–”
“Yeah, yeah,” Vi repeatedly nods. “I’ve got you.”
Caitlyn takes only a moment to make her decision before she rushes to unbutton her pants. When she drags them down her thighs, Vi speaks up again.
“Wait,” she says. “Keep them above your knees. Floor’s, uh, probably not sanitary,” she says, a chuckle bubbling up to the surface. It’s not how she pictured her first time with Caitlyn. While the excitement has her giddy, she doesn’t want Caitlyn’s knees to get hurt, either.
Then again, Caitlyn deserves better than to get fucked in an underground stairwell. Is this all she can offer her? A shot not taken, a dead mother, and sex in a filthy alcove? Caitlyn could have anyone topside. She could have–
A touch on her face again. Gloveless, this time. Caitlyn, now sitting on her thigh, leans in and presses a gentle kiss on her forehead. On her roman nose. On both of her eyelids as her eyelashes flutter. On the tattoo on her face. And finally, on her lips.
This kiss isn’t heated and rushed; it’s delicate and calming. Caitlyn’s tongue prods at Vi’s lips, and when Vi opens her mouth, it’s not like the first time. This time, it’s curious and explorative. Not quite shy, but considerate and thorough.
Caitlyn pulls back and grazes her fingers on Vi’s cheek. “I want this, alright?” she says, pressing a chaste but firm kiss on her lips. “I’ve always wanted this, Violet. You. Just you.”
Vi raises her hand to brush the long strand of hair from Caitlyn’s face. She looks at her hand as she does – her hand that’s so used to breaking and destroying. And it’ll go back to doing that soon enough, but now? Now it can be more.
She presses a firm kiss on Caitlyn’s lips and whispers against her mouth, “I’ll go slow, ‘kay?”
Caitlyn shakes her head as she returns the kiss, her breath coming in fast again. “I won’t break. Have me however you want me.”
“But this is about you, cupcake.”
“And I want you to do whatever you’d like,” Caitlyn shoots back while wrapping her arms around Vi’s shoulders and kissing the side of her head. “Just don’t let me think.”
“Okay,” Vi says. “Okay. I hear you.”
She lowers her hand slowly, giving herself the chance to touch Caitlyn’s body like she’s dreamed of. She squeezes her tits, covered by her uniform but no less incredible to finally have in the palm of her hand. Her waist, so mesmerizingly tiny that Vi’s sure both of her hands could wrap around it. Her thighs, leaner than Vi’s but unblemished and soft thanks to whatever fancy body moisturizer she uses – the one that makes her smell like lavender even with all the grime around them.
And then finally, she reaches where she wants to. She wastes no time in pulling aside Caitlyn’s underwear, then shakily dragging two fingers across the slit sitting under the patch of blue curls.
The soft moan Caitlyn lets out reverberates in her soul, stronger than the call of the undercity or the symphony of all her failures.
The reaction emboldens Vi, her fingers becoming more sure as she explores Caitlyn’s lips, dragging the wetness up to her clit. The sound of it echoes throughout the room – the only noise piercing the air this far down besides their breaths and quiet moans. It feels wrong to be loud and interrupt this bubble they’ve created for themselves some distance away from the others. From Piltover and Zaun and fighting and death and Shimmer and everything else that doesn’t matter, not right now, not with Caitlyn’s hips rocking back and forth as she seeks more friction.
Caitlyn buries her face into Vi’s neck, her breaths and moans dizzying Vi. But Vi has other plans.
“Want to see you,” she whispers, punctuating the request with a kiss on the side of Caitlyn’s head.
Caitlyn acquiesces, pulling back far enough to crash their mouths together again. Vi can’t help but marvel at how soft her lips are; how the softness she’s wanted for so long has been here this whole time, found in Caitlyn’s lips – both the ones on her mouth and the ones on her fingers. She swirls her tongue inside Caitlyn’s mouth. It’s no battle for dominance or chaotic dance or passionate subjugation; it’s a give and take, an offering, a tender co-existence.
All the things Caitlyn deserves. All the things Caitlyn almost makes her believe she deserves.
Suddenly, Caitlyn grabs the back of her head and pulls ever so slightly. The wave of dizziness hits Vi again, a groan emanating from deep inside her.
“Inside,” Caitlyn whispers against her mouth.
Vi almost considers not agreeing just to have Caitlyn pull her hair again. But she knows that’s not what Caitlyn needs. And after everything that’s happened, she simply wants to be what Caitlyn needs.
So she plunges a finger into Caitlyn, entranced by the way it slides in so easily and disappears. Caitlyn’s moan is louder this time, igniting something primal in Vi as she clenches down on her finger. Wanting sex isn’t new, but the sex she’s had in shitty prison bathrooms has never compared to this. This thing in her is new, this demand from her body and her heart and her soul to hear Caitlyn make that sound again. And so she pumps her finger in and out, making sure it grazes a certain spot that makes Caitlyn’s breath hitch.
She starts off slow, letting Caitlyn adjust, before increasing her speed. The sound of squelching as she pumps her finger in and out rings loudly in her ears. It’s addicting, more so than any kind of Shimmer.
“Think you can handle another one, cupcake?”
Caitlyn nods. “Please. I want you to fill me,” she gasps in between sharp moans.
Vi adds another finger while maintaining her relentless pace.
“You feel so fucking good, Cait,” she says, moving to kiss Caitlyn’s face. Her lips, smaller than hers but still plump and ever so distracting. Her long and sharp nose. The cheeks of her angular face.
“Love the little sounds you make. The way you take my fingers,” she groans.
Caitlyn grabs her face and rests her forehead against Vi’s as she rolls her hips.
“Your fingers…”
Vi freezes and slows down her pace. Maybe she misread. “Does it hurt?”
“No, no,” Caitlyn whispers while frantically shaking her head. “They’re just so big. You’re so good to me, Vi. Keep going.”
Vi nods. Rather than resuming her previous pace, she ramps it up even further, plunging her fingers and pulling them out again and again and again. She sinks them in as far as they’ll go, and it makes Caitlyn almost shriek. When she uses her other hand to play with Caitlyn’s clit, Caitlyn covers her mouth with her hand. That’s reasonable, Vi figures – it’d be awkward to face the others if they happen to hear what’s going on.
She knows they’re running out of time before they grow suspicious and seek them out. But she can’t help taking; she hasn’t taken enough in this lifetime, and she wants to use up all of her karma to take endlessly right now. She doesn’t know what’s waiting for them, if this is the only time they’ll get to do this.
She’s greedy for more. Topside has always made her greedy.
Caitlyn drips down her fingers and onto her palm. She clings onto Vi’s shoulders, her nails digging into her shirt as she gasps, “Is– is your hand alright, darling?”
Vi has tried not to think about it, because it’s not what Caitlyn has needed, but her hand is starting to cramp up. “It’s fine, you’re good,” she whispers as she kisses her again. “So good.”
Somehow, Caitlyn knows, though. She leans forward and starts driving her hips to take Vi’s fingers on her own. Vi lets her, entranced by the increasing frequency of Caitlyn’s moans.
“You sound so fucking pretty, cupcake,” she whispers into Caitlyn’s ear as she rubs circles on her clit. “You gonna come for me all pretty while riding my fingers?”
Caitlyn furiously nods as she rolls her hips even faster. “I’m– shit, I’m so close,” she gasps. Her nails hurt, but Vi’s thrived under pain before.
“That’s okay, Cait, you’re okay,” she says, rubbing her back. “You can let go for me, can’t you?”
Caitlyn pulls back again, facing Vi as she nods again. She moans with every gasp, her gasps coming in little bursts as she shuts her eyes, chasing what’s almost within her reach.
“That’s my good girl,” Vi whispers. “Let me see you come.”
And that’s what does it for Caitlyn. Her eyes snap open, and her final gasp thinning out into a high-pitched moan, her body shaking violently as she gushes on Vi’s fingers.
Vi remembers being little and jumping on the rooftops to stare at Piltover all the way from Zaun. To look at those shiny buildings and that incredible blue sky decorated with soft clouds and unmarred by toxic smog. As she looks at Caitlyn come, she’s thankful that, even if she dies later today, she got to see something even more beautiful from up close.
She kisses Caitlyn’s chin as the blue-haired enforcer comes down from her high. When she brushes Caitlyn’s strand out of her face again, Caitlyn leans in to kiss her. It’s a delicate few pecks, and tears well up in Vi’s eyes again – this time, they don’t burn. She understands what Caitlyn is trying to say.
After a few moments, Caitlyn opens her eyes. Slowly, she lifts herself off of Vi’s fingers, a soft groan escaping her as she does, and adjusts her underwear. When she reaches for Vi’s belt, Vi stops her.
“Do you not want to…?” Caitlyn asks.
“I’m good. Wanted to focus on you,” Vi says.
“Are you sure?”
“If we make it out of things alive, you can pay back the favor,” she chuckles.
Without thinking, Vi lifts her hand and plunges the two fingers that were just inside Caitlyn into her mouth. She swirls her tongue on them, savoring the taste. She’s never tasted her partners’ cum before, sticking only to using her fingers on other women and washing them before her time in the showers was up. Her suspicion was right: waiting for the right person had been worth it.
“Knew I picked the right nickname,” she winks.
Caitlyn giggles, a lovely blush blooming on her cheeks as she rolls her eyes. She stands up slowly, her legs still slightly shaky, and extends her hand out to Vi. They’ve lifted each other up so many times before. But this time, when Vi grabs Caitlyn’s hand and lifts herself up to stand face to face with her, she knows Caitlyn is finally seeing her for who she is. For what she feels.
Vi steps forward to embrace Caitlyn one last time before they face what they’ve trained for. She feels Caitlyn nuzzle her face, just like she did on the bridge in what feels like so long ago. Back then, Vi was so certain they’d never see each other again. Yet fate has always found reasons to bring them back together.
They’re going to make it out of this. Faith didn’t save Vi in prison, but it’s pushing her forward now. Because she has faith that this is how things are meant to be.
Like Caitlyn said a few days ago: together.