A/N: Hey bbs. So I'm terrible with deadlines. Have fun with this I guess. Sorry for the wait for the sheriff and the soldier. I swear it's coming. It is completely done, just needs the final go ahead. Anyways, pls forgive me and have Vi being a hextech dweeb based off of EDEN's song. Give er a listen fam. #RitoWhereIsMyProjectViVoiceLinesToPulseFireCait #WHERE

Start/End

Currently the sun was her enemy. She threw a heavily tattooed arm over her burned corneas, giving a great huff of agitation. She rolled on her side to better avoid the concussive rays, only to have her ears berated with the sounds of border morning bustle. The clip clop of mule drawn carriages, the putter of back fired hex engines, the sound of arguments; quite a way to wake up hungover.

How in the hell did the woman living here sleep so peacefully?

In regards to that thought, Vi's mood slightly shifted to something of pure arrogant pride. The woman of questionable sleeping habits lay naked beside Vi, sprawled like a street squid on a Zaunite sludge walk. Her tattoos were quite a lot more artistic then Vi's; less gang affiliated and more...cultural. The one that intrigued her the most was the Ionian inspired piece resting underneath her breasts. It was something acquainted to silk like designs found in a sand garden. Lines were formed into flowing loops that covered the entire width of her torso. It was quite a beautiful piece of art that Vi's teeth had inherently bruised the night of last.

She had definitely scored well; a product of the whole defending the defenseless foolery she'd been getting herself into as of late.

Months ago the cogs would've smirked their troublesome smirks, jostling Vi for her 'prize' of the night as she returned home from her 'walk of shame'. But that was months ago and a time that no longer existed. A time that she had changed from. She was going to be better than that. Than them.

The cogs themselves, didn't quite appreciate the change of heart from their prodigal hextech genius. Especially since the 'change of heart' resulted in a mass arrest, taking herself and three other cog mafia members into Piltovian custody. If it wasn't for the mine operator vouching for Vi she would be rotting away with her past compatriots. She was a turn coat; a traitor in their eyes. Multiple attempts were later made to show their vexed emotions. But each was (in literal terms) swatted away by her new gauntlets.

They were crude weapons but with a few more months of tinkering, hard work and a few spitting snarls of contempt, she could really harness something wickedly dangerous. Hopefully, she could put a stop to the whole shenanigans of the dults that keep trying to ruin her new found life of, well to be dramatic, good.

Which brings her to the woman beside her.

It was a funny story really. An amateur purse snatcher kind of story. One where Vi, spying the elegant creature, already planned to woo and whisk the beauty away with more charisma than a Piltovian realtor. Suddenly, a starving kid who probably snuck his way into the slums of Piltover, raced forward, easily tearing the lady's coin purse from her personage. What was Vi to do? Let this woman curse a storm up and lose what she should have been keeping better care of in these parts.

Well I mean, it was easy to do, but would that get her laid... Absolutely not.

Quick to action she apprehended him, giving him a quick lecture on better stealing habits while holding him up by the collar of his shirt. "Drop it." She commanded in a bored tone. The thief did so, his pupils large with fear. "Next time, be a bit slower. Running and snatching gets ya into a hair of trouble like this, eh? Now scram, before Piltie pigs make their way looking for yer scrawny ass." She dropped the kid, letting him skitter away to the alleys, hopefully wise to learn his lesson. She scooped up the coin purse and practically sashayed her way to the dark haired Ionian doll.

"Seems you dropped something." She drawled with a sideways grin.

As what people will say, the rest was history. An invitation to getting dinner and a few drinks, turned into a pub crawl that turned into Vi being brought to the slum complexes and thrown onto a bed with a wonderful, beautiful, foxy woman on top of her.

It was a good night.

Carefully, she sat herself up, slowly swinging her legs off the side of the bed. She dragged her fingers through her shaggy short pink hair. Fighting off the woozyness of drinking too much the night before, she gave a careful stretch,letting her shoulder and back muscles pop audibly into the one room apartment. She did a quick visual scan looking for her strewn clothing. Sneakily she pulled on the fabric of her grease stained under shirt and pulled up the ripped denim of her pants. With her cracked leather jacket thrown over her shoulder she exited the small darkly lit unit and entered into the bustling busyness of the Piltover/Zaun border.

The city states shared the basis and character of a multi leveled city. However, they were as similar as cats and dogs. Sure they breathed the same air, and had some similar political and criminal systems, but they were both very different beasts. Only the best and brightest, the ones sick of the smog and rich enough to escape the ever present possibility of being mugged, left Zaun to get a few rings above to the lower, poorer parts of Piltover. With the Piltovians wanting to monitor the intake of municipal citizens they created a border ring meant to hold Zaunite immigrants into a zone where they could better acclimate to the culture of Piltover. Above that ring was the slums and above that the poor district and above that the middle class and above that, the shopping and market districts, the schooling ring, the city hall and last but not least the lordship ring. It was no better for the criminal activity, but the air was a hell of a lot cleaner. The Piltover police precinct in the border and slum rings was constantly harassed, always stretched thin, always needing more bodies; which made it easier for the bad doers to prey on the do-gooders or the easily targetable. Sure it wasn't Cog mafia material, but it was still an issue. One that Vi cared little about unless it affected her and her daily grind to finally be accepted into the hextechnology community and show all of those college nerds what real engineering looked like.

She pushed past carts and the crowds of people milling to and fro from the border. Smog reevers pushed past going the opposite direction of Vi; their hazmat suits squeaking along as they dragged their air purification vacuums along to finish another grueling task to keep the air pollutants out of Piltovian air space.

Adjoining her own air pollutant, Vi pulled her packet of cigarettes from her front pocket. She flipped her handmade lighter through her fingers before closing her hand around the rolled paper and igniting the flame. She took a long drag, pulling the smoke into her lungs. Most needed morning coffee and a shower to wake themselves up, Vi just needed a stale cigarette and a mental slap of super loud city goers. In all honesty a morning coffee always made things easier, but not all had the time or casual pocket change to get one.

She took her route to the next ring, climbing the poorly cleaned marble steps. Her boots trampled through puddles as the usual rain began to patter along the marble and cobblestone tiles of the street ways. The hustle and bustle quieted down as mining shifts began and work days started. Piltover was still a city of progress. It took them decades to raise themselves above their city counterparts, but they still held control of the Zaunite mining districts. They ran train systems and ferries to and from the mining zones.

It didn't take Vi long to reach the east side of the city state toward the harbour dockside. She walked by a few of the docksmen as they milled their way through their duties. Some tied hitches for incoming fishing boats and ferries. Other lifted large crates off of merchant boats from Ionia, or herd off immigrants from the far off island.

She came before the shipping district warehouse, taking a deep sigh as the smell of metals being fused together with torch welders and riveted together with factory made standards, hit her nose.

"Morning trouble!" Torrin greeted, ever pleasant as always. He was a bear of a man, who had been building ships since he was able to walk. He was the CEO of this factory warehouse, but you wouldn't think it while looking at him. He was part of the rich noble families that resided in the lordship ring, but every day he traveled to the poor district ring to partake in the building of his ships in his favorite factory warehouse. He had many warehouses within the rings, but to him this one had better character, better workers, and better output production. He was clean shaven man, with a completely shaved bald head. His olive toned skin was usually well kept with expensive oils and fragrances that reminded Vi of the lumber mills she used to walk by on the western part of the city state. He always wore clothes made with expensive fabrics that was perfect for heavy working conditions. He was what the working class should look like. He wore navy blue overalls, and a dark grey knit cotton long sleeved shirt. He had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his old naval tattoo he received back in the days of his peace keeping services with the Piltovian Navy.

Torrin clapped Vi's back with his large bear like hands. "Your fifteen minutes late, rebel." He grinned, his accent totally foreign compared to the drawled sentences of his employees. His consonants were sharp and vowels not as drawn out. It was completely alien and when Vi had first met him, it completely took her aback.

"I know I know. I need coffee." She grumbled, strutting toward the canteen. She winked toward the counter worker, who gave her a dulled expression. "The darkest ya got, Marilyn."

Marilyn, the old hag, gave Vi a displeasured sigh, that easily passed Vi the scent of her rancid smoker's breath. The pinkette did her best not to gag, as the elderly woman turned to fulfill the request of the young brawler. With the same bored expression she slammed the styrofoam cup down onto the counter, letting the hot brew slosh all over her robotic hand. She coughed roughly gathering a globule of phlegm and spat at Vi's feet. "Here ya go, kid." She sneered through puckered lips.

"Yer a grace upon the eyes of young men, Marilyn." Vi winked.

"Keep it in yer pants and git outta ma site, you heathen." She snarled.

"Oh come on, ya know I just can't control myself around ya." Vi beamed.

"Feck off, Vi and git yer lazy arse to work. Stop wasting Torrin's gold."

Vi took off chuckling as she sipped the gritty coffee. She made a disgusted face as she met back up with Torrin. The middle aged gentleman, gave the pinkette a once over. "You get attacked by land leeches?" He sniggered.

Vi looked at the man perplexed before realising he was probably mentioning the massive hickeys under her jaw, along her neck and the line of her showing collarbones. "Got in a tussle with a whole pack of 'em, sir." She grinned devilishly.

"Oh what it is to be young and free. You do not needing me to tell you to keep safe, as you are a grown adult, but I can not have my prized engineer becoming bed ridden because she came down with some sort of infection. Fun is fun, but health is forever. Remember this." Torrin mentioned, watching his welders finally place the hull together. "I should add you to our health plan. Insurance is expensive, but if I hold you as a sponsored position we can easily get what you may need."

This was the thing about the relationship with Torrin and Vi. They had both never had anything like it. Vi was an orphan and was raised by gang members. She learned her rights and wrongs from the ones who casually tiptoed ethics on a daily basis. They had no recollection for what real morals were other than survival of the fittest and to never betray your fellow members. They taught her to thieve, to pillage, to harm, to relinquish as much blood as possible from a human body, to kill when necessary and that no law could ever keep you hostage unless caught. She never had a father figure who cared for her well being. She never had a person that she wanted to impress so much. She never had the proper guiding hand of how to properly acquire a bank account , how to pay bills and spend wisely, how to ensure you could get an apartment, how to legally drive a hexmobile and parallel park it.

Torrin who's loving wife lay barren, always wanted a daughter. He was a good influence on Vi. He could see the potential, the absolute inner ability that she could easily be a better version of herself. He was already proud of her progress and she had already shown proof by leaving the cog mafia. She was six months of turning a new leaf and he could definitely see the change. She had a talent for all things mechanical and hexmaturgical. It was a funny ability to be able to fix everything and anything without knowing the technical terms; he was fairly sure the girl barely even knew how to read.

Vi chuffed in disbelief. "Health insurance? The hell I need that for. I can still sew myself up and drink enough whiskey to numb the bullet holes." She grinned jokingly, elbowing her boss.

Torrin gave a great sigh as he mused her hair roughly. "Get to work, Rebel. There is an engine block waiting to get the good touch. Now go make it purr for me, before I fire you."

Vi gave a low chuckle. "Ah, c'mon chief, ya need me as much as I need you."

The whistle had called for the end of the day hours ago.

Vi leaned back in her stool, cracking her knuckles and popping the strained muscles that she had been holding in place as she had struggled with a difficult engine part. She needed to walk around or she would be locked up and kinked the next morning once she decided she had enough of working for the night. She got off her stool and began to walk the catwalks, letting her body loosen up. She needed to go back to the gym just down the street from her flat. She threw a few practice punches, letting her arms snap with each jab. Each was a powerful strike. She needed to be able to build up the muscle so that she could hold her new gauntlets for longer. It was then that the sound of loud yelling caught her ears.

"The void hell?" She asked to no one in particular. She descended the metal steps to the factory floor and rounded the corner toward the ship bays, where the yelling and crashing continued.

"WHERE IS IT?!" Someone bellowed. Something was thrown roughly into a pile of metal.

Vi froze when she came upon the scene. She backed up two steps, pressing her shoulder to cover herself against the cinder-block wall.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Torrin replied breathlessly. He sounded hurt; really hurt.

"Yes you do! The blueprints are in your name! WE KNOW YOU HAVE IT!"

The unforgettable sound of a pistol getting cocked made Vi move in urgency. Having enough of hearing her boss, her mentor, her friend wheezing for breath and him being in terrible danger, her feet moved before she could think.

What am I doing what am I doing Holy fuck holy fuck, you got this Vi, c'mon baby girl, holy fuck i don't got this fucking fuckity fuckerton what am I doing! Void hells. Torrin you owe me a raise She thought to herself in panic.

Her violet eyes focused on a workbench as the gunman heard the sounds of her booted feet slapping against the iron grates of the ship bay. She reached for a monkey wrench, swinging it in one fluid movement straight at the gunman, who ducked on instinct. As he ducked she threw herself at him, setting the gun off. The bullet grazed her left eyebrow, narrowly avoiding her cranium as she took the man down.

The two struggled against each other's strength. He was a tough opponent, with obvious muscle and fortitude but Vi got her fist free.

"Fuck… You… You… Fucking… Fuck!" She yelled as she pounded her knuckles into the man's nostrils. With the last strike, his head cracked back into the metal grating knocking him out cold. For good measure she hit him again, breaking the skin of her knuckles off of his newly cracked teeth.

"Fucking mother void above!" She called out rolling off the man, her chest heaving with adrenaline. It had been almost three months since her last fight, and it never got old. She gave a dry laugh as she nudged the toe of her boot into the man's temple. "Don't fuck with my boss, dipshit!"

In part panic and part realization she looked to Torrin, who was holding his abdomen.

"Oh man, Torrin. Void hell,please be okay." Vi begged, crawling her way over to the man. She hovered her hands over him unsure of what to do. "Tell me what to do! Should I call someone? Void hells you probably have to go to the hospital! Did you get shot? Did he stab you?"

"Vi." Torrin said sternly, cutting off her next question. He took a large pain filled breath. "In my pocket is my hex phone. Dial the emergency number, we need the police and an ambulance. I think I broke my ribs. If i move them too much it may puncture something. Make sure he does not get back up. Make sure you mention my name." Torrin instructed carefully through laboured breathing. He hissed as he tried to resettle himself.

"And what's your full name?" Vi asked in absolute seriousness.

"Torrin Deramore." He said in incredulity. "How have you not known that?"

"I'm a fucking idiot Torrin, that's why. Void above I usually avoid the pigs, not call 'em." Then it was like something clicked in her mind, the cogs began to turn as something started to make sense. "Wait, Deramore. Like Sheriff Deramore, Deramore?"

"Yes. Through Marriage, not by blood, but yes. My niece is the sheriff of Piltover." Torrin hissed through his teeth.

Vi looked at him as if he had seven heads. "Well, shit."

"Vi!" Torrin snarled roughly.

"Right sorry, sorry. Hold on, boss." She reached through his large pockets of his pants, searching for the device. "What's the emergency number?"

"8755." He bared.

Nodding she dialed in the number and waited for the line. She was quite unimpressed with the calmness and slow moving pace of the operator. It took a lot of "Hurry up," and "We don't have all fucking day lady, send in whoever can help us!" With more information that Torrin had to grind through his teeth, the woman had assured help would be on the way. Vi hung up with a snarl on her lips.

"Fucking useless- couldn't even understand the need for speed." She grumbled. "Shouldn't be long, boss." She assured. "They kinda lit a fire under their arse when they heard your name. Must help getting you through traffic. Do you ever use it for lunch lines too?" She joked.

Torrin looked at Vi with a questioning look, before breaking out into a small laugh. "You are quite the incredible young woman, Vi. You acted quickly. I actually feel bad for the brute. You put him in quite the sorry state."

"I could put him in a worse one." She growled protectively. "Say the words and I can hang him against the entrance doors. Keep it as a reminder and a warning."

"We can't do that, Vi. This isn't our duty to determine his justice. He'll get it served properly." Torrin explained.

"Where I'm from, he'd get a lot worse fate than being hung to prevent more shit like this." Her metaphorical hackles rose as she kept her violet eyes focused on the would be assailant.

"Well, it doesn't work like that here. I will follow the rule of law, and so will you." Torrin chided. He reached his free hand and placed it along her shoulder. "Thank you, Vi. You saved my life."

Vi became overly warm and uncomfortable with the gratefulness. "Nothing to mention. Just doing what I do best. Breaking faces, saving the day. Ya know the true Vi way. I used to be the saving grace, for the gang too. Used to save 'em from all of the shitty deals that went sour. I was always their back up plan. I'm a bit out of practice now, but I did pretty ok with what I got."

"You did fantastic."

The sound of sirens came closer and Vi became even more protective. Torrin observed her behaviour. It seemed as if she was ready to bolt at any moment. She kept her eyes downcast as heavy boots, thundered into the grate flooring. She refused to raise her hands as the police moved in to ensure the safety of the area. One of them roughly grabbed her and Torrin loudly protested.

"Unhand my employee this instant!" He bellowed through his pain.

Vi threw the officer off of her body, pushing herself up onto her feet and standing protectively in front of Torrin. Her eyes flickered to two other advancing officers; their weapons raised. "Hands up where we can see them! Now!" One of them ordered. She raised her fists, curling her hands to form tight knuckles. The officer who was thrown, rose from the ground and jumped back as he saw the would be assailant brutally beaten.

"Enough!" A high Piltovian accent cut the tension instantly as the officers stood at attention, their hand up in salute. "See if that man is still breathing, and detain him. Rarin Ferval has been a wanted man for a while now. He made a mistake visiting my uncle I see."

Vi kept her gaze onto her the officers, her position still stiff and ready for any threat. That is until she spotted the sheriff.

Rumours of the Sheriff's beauty and cunning abilities traveled everywhere within both city states. Vi had heard them, but at the moment her eyes fell upon Caitlyn Deramore she knew that the rumours did no such justice to the presence the young sheriff held.

However, she was shorter than expected.

"Please, step away from my uncle." It was more of a command than a request. Her icy eyes locked onto Vi's violet hues. There was absolutely no budging with ice shards like those. No room for deals with a gaze made of steel. Her long raven black hair was tied into a tight ponytail, revealing the sharp angles of her jaw line. Her chin was tipped up in absolute confidence in power, but it was in a way that was not arrogant. Her lips formed a hard line as she waited for Vi to move. She was in a light grey tunic shirt that, just like her uncle, was rolled up to her elbows. She wore a pair of black pants that hugged tightly to the figure of her hips. Her knee length leather boots, were polished to a near perfect shine.

Slowly, Vi dropped her fists and stepped to the side. Her eyes refocused on the police officers as Caitlyn pushed past her to kneel next to her uncle. They warily watched Vi as they lifted the unconscious man from the floor.

"Hello, dear." Torrin breathed. "Sorry that you got pulled away from work. It seems I was attacked for my blueprint credentials."

Caitlyn sighed heavily. "Rarin Ferval has been on the loose for quite sometime. We knew he would pop up somewhere soon. I'm just sorry it was for you. I had no idea you had what was necessary for you to be a target of his, or I would have watched you more carefully."

"If it was not for Vi, I would truly be in a bit more of a pickle then this." He wheezed. "She saved my life. Ensure she doesn't get wrongfully arrested."

"Of course uncle. Now let's get you the medical attention you need." Caitlyn rose to her full height and sauntered over to one of her standing by officers. "You can allow the medics to enter. It is clear of any danger."

The officer nodded before setting off.

The Sheriff then turned her heels to Vi. "And who are you? Why did you save my uncle?" She questioned.

Vi crossed her arms over her chest. "Wouldn't you like to know, shorty."

Caitlyn rose an eyebrow dangerously.

"Vi." Came Torrin's warning tone. "No need to act like the tough guy."

The pinkette continued to glare at the sheriff, who returned the gaze with an emotionless mask. "I don't often repeat myself, but again, who are you? Why did you save my uncle?"

Vi rolled her eyes. "Name's Vi and don't you forget it, shorty."

"Well, Vi." Subtle venom was spat with her name. "I will kindly request that you do not, in any way shape or form refer to me in any other way, then Sheriff Deramore."

Vi scoffed. "Yeah whatever. Look, I was here, working on the engines. I heard someone yelling. Your uncle is a good boss and I'm in need of a raise soon. Rather than losing my boss to a bloody gunfight, I thought it be rather wicked of me to come save the day and get me that sweet pay, darling." She drawled. "Now if ya don't mind, sweets, I gotta go home and catch some sleep so that tomorrow I can be fifteen minutes late again and piss my boss off more." She then looked to Torrin. "See ya tomorrow. Don't die on me, I'm still looking forward to that raise. I'm counting on ya. You owe me now, eh?" She pointed playfully.

Caitlyn's brow furrowed. "I need to question you."

"No you don't. Ya got yer perp, shorty. Now keep yer truffle sniffing hogs off me so I can get some decent shuteye." Vi brushed past Caitlyn. "Keep up the great work, keeping the lordship ring and shopping district crime free. Let us keep control here, it really looks good on yer resume I think." Vi sneered.

"And who is us?" Caitlyn called as the pinkette continued to walk away. The sheriff shook her head. "She seems like an awful employee and a dangerous one at that."

"Vi, is harmless." Torrin sighed, as the medics took to work on him.

The raven haired young woman quirked an eyebrow to her uncle. "Tell that to Rarin. I'm sure as soon as he wakes up he will not think that at all."

"Her heart is in the right place. She is a diamond in the rough, that one. So much potential. She just needs to work on her attitude. Not the best bringing up, if you want the answer to that. She honestly isn't that bad. I've only ever seen her be like that to people she doesn't feel safe around."

Caitlyn nodded. "The whole arrogance thing is quite the annoying facade, if you ask me."

"You are telling me. It took her a month and a half before she could trust me enough to start joking around with me. Stubborn as a mule, but the mind of a genius. Easily the best engineer I've ever met." He spoke roughly, as he was raised via stretcher.

"Well we can talk more about this later tomorrow. I want more information about why he targeted you. I don't fully trust your employee, so with your permission, I'd like to be granted to spend a day with her at work. She may have information regarding the attack." Caitlyn thought.

"Do what you must." Torrin replied. "But be warned, you thought she was infuriating now, wait until you try to bother her during her work. It just gets worse from there." He chuckled as he was whisked away.

What an intriguing character. Caitlyn thought.

a/n- hey again. So last minute thought. This may turn into a series, i dunno. I hope you enjoyed. I'll have the next chapter at some point. Let me know what you guys think. Also what about a bilgewater D&D character thing. A while back a group of mine made a bilgewater booty crew campaign and the characters I made were actually super intriguing. If you guys are interested I can post their meet up story. Cool, cool, cool. See you guys in a bit hopefully.