Get Well Soon
Caitlyn, Jinx, and Vi
There was saying among the Piltoverians about going into Zaun. How it was said varied, but the meaning was always clear:
If you can avoid it, don't go into Zaun.
For the wardens, Piltover's police force and legalized protectors of the peace, chasing the bad guys and leads on their whereabouts and plans often took them into the chemical filled air of the lower district.
Some were from Zaun, so they had a sort of resistance to it. Some wear air filtering masks that covered their mouths and noses, so they didn't have to worry about breathing in anything dangerous or deadly. Some knew the risks and were willing to take their chances or didn't have time to find and equip these protections.
Such was the case sometimes during chases into the alleys and streets.
During one such chase, the sheriff Caitlyn and Vi, her former criminal turned partner and enforcer, were tasked with investigating one of the Chem Barons. Rumor was it that they were meeting with one of the clans to smuggle dangerous chemicals into Piltover from Zaun.
Such a thing, even if it was not for anything nefarious, was a danger to those nearby and the innocent bystanders who knew nothing about it. Even if they only wanted to try their hand at chemistry or it was for a project for a class, going through a Chem Baron was enough of a reason to at least identify which clan and baron were behind these trades.
Assuming the rumors were even true.
Unfortunately, the rumors were true and both parties wanted their meeting kept secret.
It was a lesser Piltover clan, the intelligencer of the family acting as carrier for the trade of payment and merchandise, and a new up and coming Chem Baron who, to Caitlyn's knowledge and with Vi's assistance, was working on strong smelling chemicals that mixed with others harmlessly.
Vi had said it was to inform his workers when there was a gas leak, but, to Caitlyn, an intelligencer meeting in person with a baron could not mean anything good.
A fight broke out when the hextech augmented intelligencer's eyes locked with Caitlyn's through her scope.
The gun fight was brief, with Caitlyn and Vi having to fleeing, for once, but the damage had been done immediately at the the start.
The Chem Baron had had men stationed at overlooks to ease the intelligencer's concerns, and, when he pointed the two out, they were bombarded with three rounds of gas bombs. Both had masks at the ready, but, as they were low and retreating in crouch stances, the intelligencer had managed to get a shot off on each of them.
Vi took a hit to her left shoulder, her armor preventing it from leaving a lasting part on her skin, but Caitlyn had not been as lucky. The shot aimed for her had hit her head, piercing through her mask and into her right cheek and out her left. She had to keep one hand on the mask to hold it in place as she carried her rifle with the other, but the opening had allowed gas to leak into her mouth.
Half of a block later, Caitlyn was unable to run, and Vi was forced to carry her.
Minutes later, Caitlyn lost consciousness, becoming dead weight in the enforcer's hands.
Vi was a strong woman, but she was not strong enough to carry her partner through the streets of Zaun while she was injured. Speaking of which, she had to take care to keep Caitlyn from drowning in her own blood as she bled through her cheeks; keeping her head bent forward.
She recognized the gas as one used to knock out and subdue. No doubt the baron wanted them alive for the intelligencer to decide what to do with, but she was not about let them happen.
From her time in Zaun, a life she never wished to truly forget in case something like this happened, she had a good guess which buildings were empty of people and gangs, so she chose those to make a new path for herself.
She punched through walls of dry rotten wood and plaster with ease, thanks to her hextech gauntlet and the vets on it, but she had to be more careful than she would like to avoid hurting Caitlyn.
With her out, she wouldn't know if she was hurt without stopping and checking on her, and that would give their pursers time to catch up. Thankfully, she was fast and the intelligencer did not seem to have any kind of fast traveling augments.
It wasn't a Camille, thank the goddess.
Vi punched through another wall, but instead of going through, she ran down an alley and hid in the shadows.
A few seconds later, as she tried to control her panting breath, she heard the sounds of footsteps, followed by shouts asking which way she went.
"Take the bait. Take the bait!" Vi thought to herself... and then let out a mental sigh when she heard the order to split up.
Runoff streams were something most people tended to avoid, but Vi knew them to be good for losing pursers because it was difficult to tell which way someone went when the corners twisted and turned. These were often used by several people to dump chamber pots, scraps of food, dirty water, and anything else she could only image.
There were some surprised cries and squeals, followed by shouts and demands to know where two woman went, one with a rifle and one with giant gauntlets, until things started to take another turn.
Vi sucked in a sharp breath when heard an all too familiar laughter...
The next day, Caitlyn read the morning newspaper while Vi slept in a chair with her arms folded under her head, pillowing it, at the foot of her medical bed.
One of the clans' intelligencer was fun barely alive buried under a pile of rubble near Shimmer Bay in Zaun, along with two of Chem Baron Arlong's men. The intelligencer was found in possession of vials of unknown chemicals, which the two men informed her belonged to the baron and that they had been doing business for months.
The clan's head denied any knowledge of what was going on and refused to assist his 'treachous' intelligencer with medical aid.
He died before sunrise, or so the paper said, and the body was returned to the clan for proper burial.
An investigation was underway of the Chem Baron's facility, but there the news would likely not be made public for another week or two.
As for Caitlyn, she had been poisoned by the chemicals in Zaun's Gray and was bedridden for a week. Under Vi's supervision, she was not allowed to leave, and her enforcer made sure she did not sneak out or overexert herself during the night.
For Vi, Caitlyn could see, had been trying to keep up with the goings-on in her stead. Reports were gathered and sent, questions were taken and answered, and, of course, get well soon gifts were delivered.
The sheriff glanced around her room for a moment, taking in the stacks of letters from other wardens and sheriffs who had heard about what happened and seen the damage done.
She was still feeling dizzy, even after a day's rest, and she couldn't drink anything without a straw until after the bandages in her cheeks could be removed. Both eating and drinking were much more challenging to her.
To make things worse, she was beginning to crave the taste of a good brewed cup of tea.
The sheriff took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly so as to not awaken her partner. Vi had surely stayed up most of the night looking after her, keeping her head aligned so she was not on either cheek, or at least until she could no longer remain awake and fell asleep.
There was a tap on her window, and she turned her head to see a paper raised up.
"DoN't StaRTle." -was all it said, and then it was gone.
A moment later, she saw a head with bright pink eyes, a large smile, and a head of blue hair in two braids watching her.
Caitlyn didn't smile back, but instead she reached over for a pen and wrote something before showing it to the blue-haired trouble maker.
"What do you want?"
The girl tilted her head to her left, her smile fading a little, and she held up a small note pad with a reply written on it in advance.
"You'RE WelCoMe." A moment late, she flipped it to the next page. "CaN i gET YoU or hEr anyThiNG?" It read.
Caitlyn only stared at her for several seconds... and then she wrote out an answer.
"Ionian green ginger tea, warm if you can, and she probably needs a blanket."
The girl nodded her head, waved the note pad, and then vanished from view as she dropped down.
Caitlyn returned to her reading of the paper, silently wondering to herself if she should say anything to Vi when she wakes up.
When Vi did begin to wake up about half an hour later, Caitlyn was sipping tea from a thermos of swirling pink and blue colors. She also discovered a small blanket over her shoulders and the noticed the window open.
The enforcer sat up, yawning and stretching her arms as she did, and noticed another card in Caitlyn's hand.
She asked who that one was from, since it had no name and was a dull gray color on the outside, but Caitlyn's only answer was that it was a prank.
Before Vi could ask anything more, she crushed it in her hand and tossed it toward the trash bin.
-"gEt WelL SooN. i wOn'T Be arOUnD aLl ThE TIme. -Jinx"-