"You're funny!"
The sickening crack of bone breaking against bone. Another finger broken. Oh well. She punched the tiny woman again. Another crack.
"Hahahaha, oh this is great. The Pride of Piltover, beating up lil ol me. Asking for MY help. You're SO FUNNY!"
Caitlyn Evans, the former Sheriff of Piltover, spit blood right into the face of The Loose Cannon. Jinx, or, as she'd recently come to be outed as, Lauren Goodwin. Vi... Allison's sister. "You're going to tell me where she is," Caitlyn spat at her captive.
Fumbling around in her... Allison's old rust brown bomber jacket and fished out the only two items in the pockets. An old, worn out pack of cigarettes and a scuffed up zippo. With shaking hands she opened the pack, just two left, and set the filter between her lips. Stuffing the pack back into her pocket, she lit the cigarette with shaking hands. A long drag, a cloud of smoke, her heart rate slowed just a hair.
She looked back down at her bound captive. She'd stripped the lithe woman of her clothes hours ago. Jinx... Lauren had always in the past somehow found a way to hide weapons on her person. They were both still covered in blood from the fight, hours ago. Lauren sported a black eye, fresh from the beating she'd been receiving just now, along with a smattering of broken teeth, dislocated nose, at least a couple of broken ribs, and too many various cuts and bruises to count. But aside from all else, she kept that famous "Loose Cannon Smile" as she started up at Caitlyn.
Caitlyn squatted down in front of Lauren until she was at eye level, totally ignoring the lead look the captive woman gave up her skirt. She took another long drag as she delicately moved a strand of neon blue hair out of Lauren's face, who to her credit didn't even flinch.
Blowing the smoke directly into Lauren's face, Caitlyn repeated for what was probably the hundredth time that evening. "You're going to tell me where she is."
Lauren responded in the typical way she knew how. She spit her own blood tainted spit right in Caitlyn's eye, following it immediately with a vicious head but right to the face of the Former Sheriff.
Caitlyn swore loudly and fell backwards, clutching her freshly bleeding face. She winced as broken fingers touched her now misshapen nose. She'd half been expecting something like that, which is why she took a frankly disturbing amount of pleasure in what she did next. Puffing quickly on the cigarette to make the cherry red hot, she jabbed it into the other's exposed thigh.
Her lips twisted into a cruel smoke as Lauren screamed, thrashing to get away from the sharp burning pain. Caitlyn repeated the process twice more, reveling in the pain she caused. After but a few moments, Lauren was panting heavily, and tears could be noted rolling down blood and soot stained cheeks.
"How funny am I now?" Caitlyn asked darkly. The only answer from the bound woman was a quiet sobbing.
"Good." She grabbed a fist full of neon blue hair, yanking the small woman's head back which provoked a yelp. The only thing in her captives eyes was fear now, the mask broken. Leaning in close, she gave a sharp headbutt, a response for earlier. Lauren shrieked in pain, beginning to openly cry, the ordeal of hours of beatings finally catching up with her. Caitlyn roughly shoved the woman over, toppling her chair and hitting the ground, her head bouncing harshly off of the stone slab floor.
Caitlyn walked calmly to the other side of the room, washing her face and hands in the basin there. When she finished, Lauren had stopped crying and was just staring blankly into space.
She was snapped out of her trance when she heard the click of the lighter and the exhalation of smoke. Her eyes were wide as Caitlyn Evans walked the the overturned chair, putting a boot on the side of Lauren's head. The smaller woman was shaking like a leaf, but froze as solid as the stone she laid on as she heard the familiar click of that hextech rifle.
"You will tell me where she is. Where is Vi?"
One word. One city that made Caitlyn feel sick to her stomach.
"Piltover."
"Well, that could have been worse." Caitlyn mused aloud as she cleaned the large chef's knife in her grip. The blade had many nicks and chips from where it'd struck bone or something else hard on more than one occasion. She hummed quietly to herself as she washed the blood from the blade, watching it spiral away down the basin drain. After drying the knife with a nearby towel, she slotted the blade nearly into its holder. Then she turned to observe her handywork. A whole fox was hanging butchered in the dimly lit basement. A pile of waste, intestines and meat that she'd ruined, was no bigger than a small waste bin. Not too bad for her second ever attempt, she thought to herself.
"What is it like there? In Piltover?" Caitlyn asked Jinx. Her captive was still bound to the chair, still naked. The only change since she'd last visited the criminal was she'd been hosed off and was currently dripping wet and shivering.
"Quiet. People, that is who's left, mostly keep to themselves. There's a curfew. Noxian Red Guard soldiers patrol the streets. High Commander Du Couteau actually works out of your old office in city hall..." Jinx trailed off, looking at the floor as she realized she'd answered the question that was asked and was starting to ramble. Hat Lady, Caitlyn that is, hates rambling.
She risked a glance up, and saw Caitlyn's lips pressed into a thin line, and her fingers played with the handle of the just cleaned knife. Jinx felt her heart pounding in her chest as she silently trembled. There wasn't exactly a lot of meat on her bones, and the basement wasn't exactly warm to begin with. Being soaked was definitely not helping. The former Sheriff was a silent a long time.
That sound was unmistakable as the contents of Caitlyn's stomach suddenly and violently impacting the inside of the basin, before they were washed away by the tap. She stood up straight, wiping her mouth on a nearby towel before picking up a clean one, holding it so tightly her fingertips turned white. After a long, long while she nodded.
Walking towards the tied up Jinx, she threw the towel over the captive's head before walking passed her, to the other side of the room. Jinx flinched, but somehow knew better then to shake the towel off, so she remained still. Hearing Caitlyn's boots thud against the cold stone floor, moving away from her filled her with an impending sense of dread. She knew all too well what was beside her. She still screamed bloody murder when the cold barrel of the hextech rifle pressed against her back.
"You made it out alive. You can show me a way in, right?" Came the cold question from behind her.
She nodded violently, stopping just short of shaking the towel off of her head.
"Good answer. I thought you might be more agreeable after a few days of my special… negotiating techniques. You will get me inside the city." The unmistakable sound of the bolt sliding back effortlessly cracked through the room like lightning. "You will take me to Vi." The name was punctuated by the small click of a safety being turned off. "And, just so you don't get any ideas…."
Jinx saw nothing but white, heard nothing but the concussion of the propellent being ignited a fraction of a fraction of a second before white hot agony ripped through her side, causing her to double over in pain screaming. She screamed and screamed as Caitlyn pulled the bolt back again, ejecting the spent casing, brass tinkling on the floor. She sobbed and gagged, nearly vomiting from the pain as the former shining light of justice and law of Piltover calmly walked to the door and out of the basement, leaving her captive to think on just what that'd meant.
Caitlyn knew what she was doing. Point blank. Through and through. Not in a vital enough area to kill Lauren or do any permanent damage, physically at least. But enough to slow her down if she got any ideas when they reached… that place.
Piltover.
She looked at the zippo in her hand. She didn't remember pulling it from her pocket. She didn't care. She raised it gently to her lips, kissing it lightly.
"I'm coming, Vi."
Lauren Goodwin woke with her skull feeling like it was going to turn itself inside out. She kept her eyes wrenched shut in an attempt to stem the pain, though to no immediate avail. The very next thing she noticed was the very, VERY impatient ache in her side. She darent open her eyes, but she was pretty sure she'd been stabbed with a long bit of metal, and it was still stuck inside her. She tried to move her hand to her side, only to found it still bound behind her.
Damn. She thought to herself. Wait... did Hat Lad-, Caitlyn fucking SHOOT ME?! Feeling her anger surge caused an immediate and unfortunate spike in her headache, and she struggled to calm her nerves. I would have shown her anyway... She didn't have to shoot me. I just want to go home. I wanna see Vi. She sat up slowly, letting her head hang back, trying to stretch her aching muscles. Her wrists were still raw from several futile attempts at escape a over the last... days? Weeks? She really didn't know. What did just surprise her, was the lack of shivering. In fact, she was warm. If she wasn't tied to a chair naked, or in a very very different situation, it might even be comfortable. Wait... Not naked anymore either. She couldn't tell what she was wearing, but it was soft. Fluffy. She sniffed the air. No musty, damp scent of underground. The air smelled like... like...
"Lilacs." Came the familiar, terrifying voice. Lauren froze in her seat, flinching at the unseen terror. "They were Vi's favorite. Even if she didn't ever say it."
Caitlyn Evans sat in the guest bedroom of her apartment. Soft gray carpets met lavender colored walls, all rising up to high vaulted ceilings. It was a guest bedroom, so not lavishly adorned, but it suited her tastes at least. A plush queen sized bed sat along the wall opposite the sole window. A small wooden end table carried an antique hooded lamp. The one on the other side of the bed held a vase with fresh flowers.
And in the center of the room, on a simple wooden chair sat the one woman Cait despised more than any other living being. Herself excluded.
Jinx. Lauren Goodwin. The Loose Cannon. Whatever the fuck you called her, just seeing her to this day made Cait's stomach turn. The dozen's she killed. The millions in property damage. The orphans and widows.
Cait sat on a similar chair, brought up from the basement when she'd brought the captive upstairs. She sat there for hours after she'd shot Jinx. After she'd cleaned and dressed the bullet wound she'd given her.
She'd found herself fidgeting, more than once. Not tapping a foot or biting her lip. Those were old habits that didn't warrant attention. What did was her thumb, constantly flicking the safety of her pistol off. Then back on. Then off again. Over and over, until she felt the skin on the side of the digit starting to go raw from the constant rubbing.
I could just end it now. One in the side of her head. Gun in her hand. Plant the evidence of a struggle, which isn't hard. Just walk away. Find my own fucking way back into that hell hole.
Hours. She'd considered this course over and over for the last 6 hours, flicking at her gun. Until Jinx woke up. She froze despite herself as the woman moaned sleepily, then winced at some unseen pain. Cait had a pretty good idea what this pain was. Looking at her gun briefly, she saw that the safety was off. Noticing the criminal stirring, she spoke up. Watching her former nemesis lock up merely by the sound of her voice gave her a perverse sense of pleasure.
"Oh. Calm down, Lauren." She almost spat the name. "If I wanted to hurt you, I'd just hurt you. Surely you've learned that by now." Despite the warmth of the room, and the robe she'd put the criminal in after cleaning her up, she could still see the younger woman trembling. She noted the shock on the face at the mention of her name. Her real name.
"Yes. I know who you are." Caitlyn stood, pacing about the room slowly. "Lauren Evans. Age twenty four. Born in Zaun to loving parents Jim and Ashley Evans. Five feet, four inches tall. One hundred and eight pounds." She laughed, though there was no humor in it. "That sure was a while ago, wasn't it Lauren?" She stood behind, placing her free hand on a shoulder. A barely perceptible yelp escaped the woman as she flinched away from the contact, but otherwise remained silent and motionless.
"You may have noticed that you're no longer a shivering, pathetic mess in the basement." She squeezed the shoulder hard, right where she knew there was a bruise, enjoying listening to Jinx's wimpers. "Do not mistake this for a kindness. I need you alive to show me how to get into Piltover. Having you go into shock would be counter to that plan." She let go of the shoulder and walked slowly back to her chair and sat, crossing one leg over the other and staring at the shaking woman. "Oh for fuck's sake. Open your eyes." She said, layering her voice with annoyance.
Lauren slowly opened her eyes, despite her head's screaming protest. The first things she saw were the black boots at the end of long, well toned legs. The legs lead up to a simple black skirt, over which was draped a plain white shirt. Gun.
She wrenched her eyes shut again, doing her best to twist away. "Please don't' shoot me again!" She yelled.
This time there was humor in the laughter. "As amusing and satisfying as that would be..." Her voice trailed off for what felt like an eternity. "I do still need you alive. For now. Open. Your. Fucking. Eyes." The words were fueled by malice and Lauren immediately opened them again. Though now she refused to look in Cait's direction.
"Where is it? The way you got out of the city unnoticed. I know Piltover better than anyone living. Noxus," this time Caitlyn actually spit on the floor next to her. "Has all entrances patrolled at all times. The airship landing is now a military outpost. The sewer system is under constant surveillance. Piltover is inaccessible, so I'm very curious how you got out of there."
"Because they're not interested in keeping people in." Lauren said weakly. Her mouth was dry and her throat ached, but she pressed on. "Not people like me, anyway. Those who High Commander Katarina deemed as threats were forcibly removed from the city, sent away to the Bilgewater Penal Colony. I, like always.." she trailed off as she could have sworn she heard the safety click off. "Eluded capture."
"How?!" Caitlyn yelled, standing from her chair so fast it tumbled over, crashing into the door. "How were you always so FUCKING elusive?! How did you ALWAYS get away? Piltover was my home! I know every brick, every cog, every strip of mortar of its construction!"
"You don't know Zaun. Do you?" Lauren regretted the words the moment they slipped her mouth. The room fell silent once again, save for Caitlyn's heavy breathing.
There was a loud thunk. Lauren glanced over and saw the gun sitting on the ground, then boots slowly moving towards her. Hesitantly, she peeked upwards and saw Caitlyn walking towards her, an aura of terrifying calm about her. She held a knife in her left hand.
Caitlyn moved slowly, deliberately towards the bound Lauren, who was thrashing anew on the chair. She was screaming pleas and something Caitlyn couldn't force herself to listen to as she moved forward. Every single fiber of her soul told her that what she was about to do was wrong.
That she should just pick her gun back up. But still she moved. Around. Back behind the panicking woman. She looked at the knife in her hand, then back down at Lauren.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and sliced.
For Vi, she told herself as Lauren fell to the floor. Bonds cut.
Lauren hit the ground hard, a hash pain shooting up her side from the wound there. She lay there for a moment, faces inches away from the gun that not so long ago she had feared would have been her end. She stared at it, unblinking as Caitlyn silently cut through the ropes tying her feet to the wooden chair.
She reacted without thinking. With speed that belied her exhaustion, her hands reached for and clasped the gun, flicked off the safety, and had it pointed right between the crouched Caitlyn's pretty eyes.
They both froze, taking in the sudden change in power.
Then Lauren started to laugh. A merciless, joyless laugh. One that she'd used so many times on that stupid Hat Lady and Fat Hands so many times before. She got to her knees, her whole body shaking with laughter as she kept the gun trained on Caitlyn, who had slowly stood up straight. Lauren kept laughing, remembering all the things Hat Lady had put her through as she stood on her own two feet in she didn't remember how long. The laughing suddenly stopped as Lauren said, "Sit in the fucking chair, Hat Lady. We have a lot to talk about."
Caitlyn looked at the now standing Jinx, holding her gun. Pointing it right at her. The tables had turned in a pretty extreme fashion. She looked at the gun, then at Jinx, then the chair between them. Then Caitlyn did something that surprised the both of them. She giggled.
"This chair? The one I've been beating the snot out of you on for the last week? Ha!" She barked out another laugh, followed by more giggles at the bewildered look on Jinx's face. "Oh, I don't think so. I'll sit in a chair. Or on the bed. But this chair? No. Absolutely not."
Caitlyn hopped up on the bed, taking only a moment to admire its softness before sitting up, legs crossed on the edge of the bed. "So. Lauren. What is it you'd like to talk about?"
She watched the gun wielding woman blink once. Twice. Three times. "Wha... What the fuck do you mean what would I like to talk about? How about how you've been fucking torturing me?! How about nearly starving me to death? HOW ABOUT HOW YOU FUCKING SHOT ME?!" She actually reeled back at the shrieking woman, the amusement gone from her face. Her eyes grew wide as Jinx staggered across the room on unsteady legs before the cold steel barrel was placed against her cheek.
"Do you remember? Everything you fucking did to me over those days? Because I do." Jinx threw off the robe, revealing her naked body and, to Caitlyn's discontent, a slowly reddening bandage. "I remember every punch. Every cut. Every kick and slap. I have to admit, the headbutt was a nice touch. Clearly you learned a lot from Fat Hands in that department."
Caitlyn's eyes narrowed at the insult, but Jinx pressed on. "I wonder what Pow Pow would tell me to do in this situation? He can't actually talk, you know. That was me the whole time. I know you're all stuffy and full of yourself, but you've heard of pretend, right? It's what little girls who grow up without their loving mommy and daddy do. It's what little girls who's sister, who said would always be there for them, fucking LEAVES THEM, because some pretty little rich girl in a ridiculous hat comes and bats her eyelashes at her. Fucking lesbian. Not that I have anything against lesbians, by the way. Just you." She pressed the gun to Caitlyn's temple now, their faces a fraction of an inch apart. Caitlyn had been so focused on the words spilling out of Jinx's mouth, she hadn't resisted at all being pushed town on the bed, or the nearly emaciated woman climbing on top of her.
"Just. You. Hat Lady. You took the one person in this world I fucking cared about. You took all I had. So I decided, one day, to start taking your things. I could do it by my lonesome, you see, being the sump rat that I was. Oh no. I had to lie and cheat and whore and steal my way to those guns you hated so much. It was all payback. Payback for taking my sister away from me to you little Pilties Only club and changing her into someone I didn't recognize anymore! Changing her into someone who hated me." Caitlyn felt the hot tears of the crazed woman falling on her own face, though her own expression remained in schooled neutrality. "I just wanted to give you that. And to give you this." JInx leaned down, pressing their cheeks together to whisper in Caitlyn's ear. "After I kill you, I'm gonna kill Vi too. With this gun," she tapped the gun against Caitlyn's temple. "Your gun."
Jinx sat up and held the gun in front of her, aimed right at the middle of Caitlyn's totally impassive face.
"Bye Bye, Hat Lady."
Click... Click click. Click.
Caitlyn's monotone cut through Jinx's mania like a knife. "How stupid do you think I am? Did you honestly think I'd ever risk freeing you with a loaded gun in the room?" Her hand shot up, clutching Jinx's throat as she sat up, throwing the other woman to the side. Rolling on top of her, she squeezed down on Jinx's throat with all the strength she could muster. "That's not my gun. It's Vi's." She bore down with all her weight and squeezed. She squeezed through all the pathetic gurgling sounds, through
Those were the last words Jinx heard before she lost consciousness. Her last conscious feeling, however, was the last piece of her heart shattering into a million pieces.