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The sun bore down on Cait as she ran after her, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Up ahead she could see Vi’s retreating form as she stormed off, no doubt making plans to reach Jinx. Her dyed hair stood out among all the people and enforcers like a beacon.
"Vi!" Caitlyn called, but her voice cracked on the name.
Vi flinched, that much was obvious but she didn’t stop.
"Please, just—stop!" Caitlyn quickened her pace, her boots scuffing against the cobblestones. When she reached her, Caitlyn reached out and grabbed Vi’s arm.
Vi froze, her whole body stiffening under Caitlyn’s touch. The flinch was faint—a twitch of her shoulder, a moment of tension—but Caitlyn felt it. Saw it. And her stomach twisted. She let go immediately, her hand falling to her side as guilt flooded her.
During the days following the explosion that defeated the beast-- Vi's father, Vi had spent a lot of time in Caitlyn's bed at the Kirraman estates, unconscious. The doctors had treated her wounds and made her feel better as Caitlyn waited for her to regain consciousness. During that time she'd been the one who washed her, took care of her with gentle touches she didn't feel she had any right to give.
The last time they'd touched... the last two times in fact... those touches had been violent. Even if one of those encounters had been circumstantial, the other was what was making her feel so horrible. She remembered all too well the way she'd struck Vi in her gut with the butt of her rifle, leaving Vi gasping for air and... crying. The memory of leaving her there, heartbroken and confused was what was causing the feeling of guilt to rise up within her... and the bile; Disgust over how she'd treated her.
Vi turned her head just enough to look over her shoulder. "What is it, Cait?" Her voice was quiet, but not cold. People milled around them hastily, the nervous energy of a city's population about to go to war.
Caitlyn took a shaky step back, her throat tight. "I-- I can’t... I can’t leave things like this."
"What? You mean my sister in prison and --"
"No!" Cait interrupted.... "Us... What I did to you." Her voice was weak and she was having difficulty keeping it together. Vi was the only person she'd broken down in front of-- let the stoic Kirraman 'mask' slip for just a moment as she cried in her arms. Now they were in public and she had to hold onto that mask tighter than ever.
Vi was quiet as Cait let go of her arm. She remained turned away from her, her posture rigid like she was expecting more violence from her and the thought of it was making Caitlyn sick to her core.
"I-- I hurt you. I hit you, Vi. After everything—everything we’ve been through—I let my anger... my grief take over. But that's no excuse-- It was the worst choice I could have made and--"
Vi sighed, crossing her arms and finally turning to face her. "You don’t have to keep beating yourself up over that. You had every reason to be mad."
Caitlyn’s heart twisted at the quiet acceptance in Vi’s tone, as though she believed she deserved it. "I shouldn’t have done it," Caitlyn insisted. Her hands curled into fists at her sides, the memory of that moment replaying in vivid detail—the rifle thudding against Vi's body, the look of stunned hurt on Vi’s face. And how she'd tried to will herself to hate Vi at that moment, trying to see her as... scum.
"I was angry because you chose *her*... After everything she’s done, after what she’s taken —"
"I know," Vi said softly, cutting Caitlyn off. Her eyes dropped to the ground. "You’re right. I did. And I don’t blame you for being pissed. Hell, you probably should’ve hit me harder."
"Don’t!" Caitlyn snapped, her voice sharper than she intended. "Don’t you dare do that. Don’t pretend like you’re not worth—" She stopped herself, her breath catching as she noticed Vi's posture finally relax, her shoulder untensing.
"I'm sorry." Caitlyn said at last, something she'd wanted to say for many weeks now but never had the courage to seek Vi out and to do so. Two words that had always been at the back of her mind through everything... the order for martial law as she hunted down Jinx... when she'd taken someone other than Vi to her bed... those two words were always there, haunting her.
Vi looked away, as if she couldn't stand looking into Cait's eyes following the apology. She rubbed the back of her neck. When she spoke it was as if she'd realized something Cait already knew. "She’s my sister, Cait. No matter what she’s done, no matter how much she’s hurt me—or you—I can’t just stop... caring. I don’t know how to."
Caitlyn took a deep breath, her emotions threatening to overwhelm her. "I know you can’t," she admitted. Jinx was and always would be the core of the problems of their relationship.
Vi exhaled slowly, looking uncomfortable as if the weight of Caitlyn’s apology was too heavy to carry. "You don’t have to keep doing this, Cait," she said, her voice soft but tinged with something Caitlyn couldn’t quite place—resignation, maybe, or exhaustion. "I’ve taken worse. Hell, I’ve deserved worse."
Caitlyn flinched at that. "No," she said sharply, shaking her head. "Don’t say that. Don’t pretend like you don’t matter—"
Vi held up a hand, stopping her. "It’s not about me mattering or not. It’s about..." She trailed off, her gaze dropping to the ground. "I just need some time to think, okay?"
Vi didn’t look back as she walked away, her hands stuffed into her jacket pockets, her shoulders hunched against the weight of everything that had been said—and everything that hadn’t. Caitlyn stood rooted in place, watching Vi retreat until she disappeared into the maze of Piltover's streets.
She exhaled shakily, running a hand through her hair as her emotions churned in a relentless tide. The apology hadn’t been enough, though she felt better having said it. How could it be enough? Words were nothing compared to the fractures she'd made between them.
Caitlyn turned and started walking, her steps aimless but heavy. Every part of her wanted to go after Vi again, to say more, to beg her to forgive her. But she wouldn’t. She couldn’t.
Vi was... reckless and the bond she shared with her sister was as fierce and destructive as fire. No prison bars, no walls of stone or steel, could keep the two apart if Vi decided to go after her. She'd never stop trying.. never give up. In a way she was jealous of that dedication even though she knew she wasn't worthy of anything similar from Vi, not after how she'd treated her.
Caitlyn knew with every fiber of her being that Vi was already thinking about it. She had in a way become predictable.
She needed to go see her.. Jinx. She'd been putting it off...
There seemed to be little left of the the criminal and terrorist Jinx that Caitlyn had come to know. After the battle against the Noxians and the beast Jinx seemed to have become a pale shadow of her former self... a miserable little thing... a lost woman. The guards watching her had even said was refusing to even eat and that she was showing signs of being in a near-fugue state. Vi said she'd changed.. but into what?
Her jaw tightened as the kernel of an idea began to form, cold and calculated in a way that felt foreign but necessary. She'd go and see Jinx and depending on how she felt after that meeting... a few guards might have to be reassigned.