BANG!

Caitlyn's eyes flew open as she shot out her arm reflexively for her rifle, only to be met with Twisted Fate's grip as his arm blocked her from her rifle, his face inches from hers. The rim of his hat shielded his eyes but his voice was low, regretfully whispering to her.

"This one's not for you, little lady."

"Why…how...?" She protested.

Her mind was spinning and she couldn't link her thoughts together, trying to make sense of what was going on. Damn it, where was her sharp sense and quick mind? Twisted Fate seemed to be in control of the situation though, his manner calm and collected, as if had known this would happen.

He gave her a small dejected grin before backing away from her, his face betraying a moment of tiredness before it disappeared. Letting go of her arm, he gestured for her to turn around, the ephemeral chains shattering as all feelings from before evaporated. Caitlyn took a moment to recollect her thoughts, her judgement still crooked.

Turning towards the source of the interruption, Caitlyn found herself squinting through a fading smokescreen as a tall figure strode forward, the bar having gone silent at the sudden demolition of half the wall. Twisted Fate picked up the coaster from his glass, concealing it in his sleeve as he took a step towards the intruder, his poker face revealing nothing.

"You never make a quiet appearance, eh? It's always the same show."

As the rest of the smoke cleared out, Caitlyn could clearly see who it was, her reasoning and state of mind settling as she fought off the clouding haze in her head. A deep gruff voice cut through the bar.

"I think we have a little something long overdue to settle, Fate."

Graves hoisted up his shotgun, aiming it directly towards Twisted Fate at point blank range.

"Something I've been lookin' forward to since I got out."

"You wouldn't really want to start this in a bar now, things will get…messy." Twisted Fate grinned faintly at him, his face unreadable.

"Messy… for you." Graves cracked open the barrel and reloaded his shotgun, taking aim.

Caitlyn stood up uncertainly, reaching for her rifle, unsure as to what to.

It was well known Graves had history with Twisted Fate, they had their whole bad-blood and vendetta thing going on. He wouldn't possible start a fight in such a crowded place, would he? She'd seen the damage that enhanced hextech shotgun could do, it wouldn't take much for Graves to blow out the pub and its surrounding houses in his fit of revenge. Did he really not care about there being other people here?

The two men eyed each other off.

If they were going to fight here they'd injure innocent civilians, the street would be utterly destroyed. These people, they could get hurt, she couldn't stand by and watch them become unwittingly involved. She took a step forward, ready to intervene.

Twisted fate held out his arm, blocking her.

"You don't need to get involved in this." He whispered quietly. She eyed him sceptically but he could tell what she was concerned about.

"I promise no-one else will get hurt." He reassured her. She caught a glimpse of fierce determination in his eyes before it vanished. Her judgement wavered.

"Enough with your flirting, pretty boy." Graves growled impatiently.

Before anyone could react, he opened fire, two shots whizzing past Caitlyn and destroying the side of the bar table in an instant, glass shattering and the wooden table splintering and cracking. The bartender dove behind the remainder of the table as people shouted and backed away from Graves. Shocked, Caitlyn turned to see what had happened to Twisted Fate. From his calm demeanour, he had experienced this situation many times before as there was not a single scratch on him, not a hair out of place. He was known for his reflexively fast speed after all, and it seemed like he had dodged both bullets at point blank range, his pose no different from before.

"Well then." He turned back to face Graves, his body tensing in retaliation.

"Let's get this show on the road."

Graves' finger twitched, barely perceptibly, on the trigger.

Before she or Graves could react, Twisted Fate flung out his hand with blinding speed, the coaster shooting from his sleeve and impacting dead centre on Graves' chest with such force that he was stunned and knocked back a step, the gun frozen in his hand and his finger locked on the trigger. Looking closer, Caitlyn saw remanent wisps of yellow magic emanating from Grave's chest as his face contorted in a struggle.

She had to hand it to him, that coy scammer had been imbuing the coaster with his magic whist he was dawdling for time. Twisted Fate took a swift step forward, grabbing Graves by the collar as if he was about to punch him. Caitlyn reached out to stop him but pulsating yellow rings emanate from where they stood, growing brighter and enveloping both Graves and Twisted Fate in a pillar of constricting light. She realised what he was doing just before he disappeared as he turned to face her, casting an apologetic glance.

"Sorry, Caitlyn." An apologetic faint smiled played on his lips. "Maybe next time." He winked half-heartedly.

With a final pulsing glow, both Graves and Twisted Fate vanished up in a beam of light.

The silence in the bar slowly dissipated as people started to murmur again quietly, talking and chatting again, the bar staff frantically running around to deal with the damaged wall and broken bar table before the boss got word of it, as if mending destroyed furnishings were a common thing in this bar. As the minutes ticked by, everyone went back to their shouting and drinking, the band starting up again and jazz filled the room once more.

Caitlyn sat back down, blankly staring at her empty glass and wondering what the hell had almost happened.


Tbh it went kinda tf x caitlyn-y here. :/ Consider it filler of sorts, was kind of practicing writing a more romantic-y scene.
Sorry but mid semester break has ended and schools started plus exams coming up so will probably go on hiatus till after exams. Hence a double chapter post.

Note, i will be doing some editing of previous chapters though.

Also, it's been pointed out that my chapters seem to be a little on the short side so will work on improving that.