Hey guys, here's an update for the story. I'm sure you noticed the rating went up to M, mostly over the Dark Themes, Language, Violence and possible Triggers present on this two chapters. I wanted to explore and do something different for a change; I promise after this things will go back to a more safe ground. I'm not that happy about changing the rating so early in the story but it would have happened eventually. BE WARNED that this two chapters are not everyone's cup of tea so read at your own risk.
Again I'm sorry about the sudden rating change and I hope, despite the mature nature of the chapters, that they will be as interesting to read as they were for me to write.
One more time, for the ones in the back: WARNING FOR DARK THEMES, LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE AND POSSIBLE TRIGGERS. If that's not your cup of tea, skip them and wait for chapter 12 to be posted.
After walking Caitlyn back home and making sure she was safe and sound, Vi made her way to her own apartment. Clouds were now covering the night sky, dimming the moonlight and making the before comfortable breeze turn cooler and cooler. Caitlyn had invited her to stay over, like she had done so many times before, when their nights at the station or on patrol would turn too late. But the enforcer had politely refused it this time, because she felt the awkwardness in the sheriff's voice when she had asked.
She was now starting to regret it, as the first drops of rain hit her exposed skin.
Vi shivered slightly and fastened her pace, silently cursing the weather for trying to ruin such a perfect night. As she navigated the now empty streets, her thoughts drifted to dinner and to the way the candle light made Caitlyn's eyes sparkle even more; and to the way their fingers interlocked so perfectly as if it was meant to be all along. But especially to the warm that had spread through her entire body when the brunette had called her 'girlfriend'.
Girlfriend.
How weird yet strangely warm that word felt. She had been called so many things but never that. Vi's past relationships had been fleeting and never lasted more than a couple of days; most of them were not even more than a one night thing.
She paused for a moment in front of her apartment building, contemplating her last thought with a grim expression. What if this new found relationship wouldn't last long? What if Caitlyn's integrity were to be put in question if someone found out about them? And if they did break up, where would Vi stand? Would she be fired? Would Caitlyn throw her into a jail cell just to make the politicians feel better? What if-
She shook her head and pulled out the keys, unlocking the front door. The main hall light immediately turned on as she stepped inside and she was greeted with nothing but the sound of the rain outside and her own footsteps echoing on the marble floor. Vi decided against checking her mailbox and headed towards the stairs instead, keeping her steps as quiet as possible, trying to not disturb her neighbours. She reached her floor and unlocked the door, stepping inside. The place was a complete mess, but she didn't care; she locked the door, kicked off her boots and made her way into the bathroom for a quick shower.
It was a bit after 1 a.m when Vi finally laid her head down on her pillow and tried to sleep. She expected sleep to mercifully claim her as she closed her eyes; but the thoughts that had plagued her earlier were still there, tugging at her heartstrings. She could now fully understand why Caitlyn was so reluctant in accepting her feelings and was now wondering if it had been a mistake pushing her to do so. No, letting both of them pretend their feelings didn't exist would have been a worse mistake. But they were both so different...
If their relationship was known, Vi would not take the plunge into a spiral of politics and higher ups question her integrity or how fit she was to be in her position. She would not see the people of Piltover look at her with distrust or even disgust. She would not have her position compromised in any way or form. But Caitlyn would. Caitlyn, the embodiment of justice and pureness, the pristine light of the city-state, dating someone who would rather punch first and ask questions later, someone who constantly had to wipe her gauntlets clean of blood.
She couldn't remember one instance where she had seen Caitlyn's hands stained with blood that was not hers, when the enforcer would have a rough run down with some dangerous criminals and would come out worse for the wear. But again, she was doing the sheriff's dirty job, wasn't she? She was the muscle, Caitlyn was the brains.
She rolled on her side, the fabric of her pillow now damp from her hair. She mentally cursed herself for thinking shit like that about her job and her boss. Her girfriend. She was doing no one's dirty job but her own: the sheriff always scolded her for being too rough on the criminals, no matter how much they deserved it. She had blood on her hands because she wanted to, not because she had been ordered. But... wouldn't things be better if they were equal? If both were on the same ground, if maybe Caitlyn was a bit more physical on the job...?
She rolled to the other side with a grunt. She should just sleep and stop thinking all together.
Vi woke up with the annoying beeping of her alarm. On a normal day, she would have hit the snooze button and catch an extra hour of sleep. Or maybe two. Lets just say it was not unusual at all for the enforcer to show up late for work, just in time for the morning break. Caitlyn would scold her, while watching the pink haired woman shove doughnuts and coffee down her throat at an inhuman speed. She would nearly choke; the sheriff would shake her head and wonder what she would do with her. Vi would grin and say, in a playful way, 'you know you love me cupcake'. Afterwards, they would just go on with the usual work, which consisted mostly of Vi chasing bad guys, smashing into things that should not be smashed, break a few bones here and there while Caitlyn would hopelessly watch. Back in the office, there would be scolding, yelling, more scolding and just like that the enforcer would be off the hook.
This has been their routine since they started to work together. But after previous night's events, Vi thought things could stand to change a bit...
So instead of hitting the snooze button, she turned the alarm off, stretched her sore muscles and got up. The first thing she noticed was that her apartment was strangely clean and that there was a familiar scent of lavender in the air. The source seemed to be a neat pile of folded clothes that Vi could not remember, for the hell of her, to have taken out of the dryer. She carefully stepped into her living room and was again met with a clean and tidy environment. Raising an eyebrow to the strange occurrence, the enforcer decided to shrug it off as another one of her weird sleep walking nights.
She opened the blinds and was surprised to see no traces of the heavy rain that fell during the night. The sun was slowly rising in the blue sky, no clouds in sight.
Again, she shrugged it off and moved back to the bedroom, throwing some clean clothes on before going on with her morning rituals. She thought about making a quick breakfast but decided against it when she grew anxious about wanting to see Caitlyn before she got to the office.
'Breakfast can wait another hour'.
The streets of the City of Progress were still fairly empty, save for a few bakers that had spent the night working to make sure there would be fresh bread on their shelves in the morning. As Vi passed, with her gauntlets strapped behind her back, they eyed her carefully as always. But to their surprise, the usual glare was replaced by a smile, a small wave and a meant 'morning!'.
The change of demeanour left them completely confused, as they wondered what had possessed the pink haired woman. The only logical explanation: the sheriff had finally scolded her partner for being so rude to everyone. Ah yes, that would have made sense.
As more and more citizens became baffled by her unusual behaviour, Vi began to wonder if it had been a good idea to look so damn happy first thing in the morning. Caitlyn had advised her to behave normally around her, especially when they were together in public or in the work place... But she honestly said nothing about the enforcer's personal behaviour in public when she was on her own... Or had she?
'Bleh, fuck it. Like I give a shit.'
When she arrived to the building where the sheriff lived, she spotted Caitlyn at the entrance, struggling with two folders. Immediately she rushed her pace and made it to the sheriff, just in time to avoid a pile of papers from falling onto the floor.
"Easy there cupcake," - Vi started. - "Let me get that for you."
"Oh uh, thank you Vi." - she arranged the papers back into the folders before handing them to the enforcer. - "You are fairly early today. Couldn't sleep?"
"Oh you can say that..." - she grinned and winked. - "Just thought it would be nice to get up in time for once so we could walk together."
"That's very thoughtful of you. Although I do hope you did not have one of your 'friends' over last night. You remember what happened last time right? I do not want more drama in the office."
"One of my... 'friends'? What 'friends' are you talking about Cait? Are you already that jealous? You know damn well I only have drink buddies and that's only on bars during weekends. If that bothers you I can just-"
"I beg your pardon? Why would I be 'jealous'? Also no, I meant your female 'friends' that you have over once in a while when you are feeling... lonely."
"What the fuck are you talking about? You're the only one who usually comes by to make sure my place is clean. I have no other people coming over, for fuck sakes. You're acting weird Caitlyn."
"You are the one acting weird today." - The sheriff started to walk, Vi reluctantly following her. - "If all of the sudden you are denying things like this, you must have had too much to drink last night. Or were you perhaps high...?"
"I don't do drugs and you know that! What are all these accusations all of the sudden? And why the fuck are you giving me the cold shoulder after what happened last night?!"
"Last night...? What do you mean by 'after last night'? I was home working on paperwork."
"Okay Cait, that's really funny and I see you even stuffed some folders with papers to make it look like you had been working on these all night... And you pull out this crazy jealously thingy, which by the way, was a bit too much. But seriously, joke's over cupcake. You got me, ah ah. Can you please be serious now?"
"What do you mean..? I am not joking, Vi. And I told you multiple times to stop calling me that. I am not your bloody pet." - she paused for a second, before adding. - "And I am certainly not jealous."
"Are you fucking serious? I told you Cait, joke's over. Stop treating me like shit. If you're trying to teach me a lesson because of how I sorta hurt your feelings when you were about to confess to me, I already said I was sorry. And I redeemed myself last night, I took you to dinner and all."
The sheriff suddenly stopped and pulled Vi towards one of the alleys, pushing her hard against the brick wall, making the enforcer wince at the sudden action.
"Look, I do not know what in the bloody hell has gotten into you but you better stop it. I did not 'confess' to you and we sure as hell did not have dinner together last night. So cut it out."
"Are you fucking serious right now, Cait?! After everything that happened between us, you just wake up the next morning and decide to shrug it all off and pretend it was nothing?!" - Vi spat, completely furious. - "If you're not joking, then you're just being an heartless bitch."
"Look..." - Caitlyn started, sounding as calm as possible. - "I do not know what is wrong with you but listen carefully: nothing happened between us at all. I did not confess to you, we did not have dinner together last night. Nothing unusual happened between us that may had lead you to imagine such thing so my guess is, you either got really wasted yesterday and dreamed about it or you suffered a concussion somewhere."
The pink haired woman remained silent for a moment, as she inspected Caitlyn's features for any sort of clue that would prove all of it was nothing but a very cruel joke. But the only thing she found when blue met honey orbs was confusion. And a hint of concern.
"It's all really not a joke, is it...? You don't remember anything at all...?" - She chuckled to herself, pushing the sheriff away from her. - "I guess I deserved that, after being such an ass to you."
"Vi, what are you saying...? Are you implying that I forgot things? I am fairly sure I did not. And if those things did happen, I am sure I would of remembered it. I-"
She was harshly pinned against the wall when Vi dropped the folders and inverted their positions. Her eyes went wide when the enforcer leaned in and she could have swore she was going to steal a kiss; but she didn't. Instead, their foreheads met softly for a moment, before Vi pulled away and walked off, leaving a very confused sheriff behind.
Vi walked around the now lively streets of Piltover for hours without a destination. Head cast down and hands stuffed in her jeans pockets, the enforcer contemplated on what to do next, after the screw up with Caitlyn. She could not, for the life of her, believe that the events that she could clearly see in her mind were a product of her imagination.
It just simply did not make any sense at all.
How could she remember things so vividly while her partner had no recollection of it ever happening? Was she really at home all night, like she claimed? And what was this all about Vi having some 'friends' over?
So many questions, so little answers.
But what if... Caitlyn had indeed forgotten about it? What if everyone else had memory of it? That would mean...
'Ezreal.'
A quick scan around her surroundings told her that she was only a few streets away from the Piltover Museum, where she knew for sure she would find him. Rushing her step, she navigated her way through the old part of town, currently packed with street merchants selling all sorts of flowers, sweets and fresh fruits. A particular smell caught her attention and she stopped in her tracks, her head whipping in the direction of a doughnut store that apparently had just opened across the street. A big velvet red ribbon hang above the door, the words 'Grand Opening' written in fancy golden letters; but what caught her attention was the sign in the window, that announced 'Opening promotion! Buy a box of doughnuts, get one for free!'. Her stomach rumbled angrily, making a few citizens looking at the enforcer funny. She gave them an apologetic glance before sprinting towards the store.
Her predicament could wait a few more minutes.
At the museum reception, Vi managed to get a few weird looks from both staff and visitors since she had a couple of doughnut boxes stacked on one hand, the other furiously reaching for the sweet treats every second as she inhaled them at record speed. She barely paused to ask the receptionist where she could find the explorer and she didn't even mutter a 'thank you' as she was pointed to the staircase that lead to the upper floors, where the offices were located.
After scanning door after door of boring names (in her opinion), she finally reached her destination. A quick knock (she actually had to stop reaching into the doughnuts box for it) on the door was enough to announce her presence as she turned the knob and helped herself in.
Ezreal lifted his eyes from an old map he had been asked to analyse and raised an eyebrow at the pink haired woman, who quickly had slammed the door shut behind herself (with her foot) and was now sitting in one of his guest chairs. She gave him a sheepish look but didn't stop chewing and reaching for her sweets; instead she was effectively scattering powder sugar all over his new rug, making him twitch in annoyance.
"Vi." - he started, acknowledging her presence. - "I would love if you could put those things away while you're inside my office. I don't want an army of ants all over my new rug."
"Oh, oops. Sorry there buddy." - she shoved the remaining two doughnuts down her throat, before throwing the empty case on the bin across the room, missing spectacularly. "Hm... I'll get that later?" - she placed the remaining unopened boxes on top of his desk and gave him a sheepish look.
"I really really wonder how you haven't been kicked out of the force."
"For 'excessive force'?"
"No, for making them look bad. You're literally the embodiment of the doughnut loving cop stereotype."
"Eh, what can I say? 'When in Demacia, do as the Demacian's do'."
He shook his head at her antics before letting out a light chuckle.
"You're incorrigible, Vi. But hey, what brings you here exactly? Just visiting after hitting the store?"
"Uh, the store was actually not in the original plan. Too good to pass up." - she rubbed the back of her neck nervously before speaking again. - " I actually came here because there's something wrong with Caitlyn."
Vi was surprised when he didn't show any signs of worry or alarm; instead he raised an unamused eyebrow and leaned back on his chair. "What's the problem with her now?"
"She... She doesn't remember what happened last night. Or what happened the night before by the looks of it..."
"I'm afraid you need to be more specific, Vi. Did she suffer a concussion or something? Or is she just being herself and completely disregarding everyone else again?"
"What?! No!" - she gave him a look of complete disbelief. - "Cait is not like that, why are you saying that? And as far as I know she didn't bump her head anywhere; I walked her home myself last night."
He was silent for a few minutes, eyeing the enforcer with an unfamiliar expression. Vi, for her part, was just as confused and awkward. Was it all really just a dream? She didn't remember drinking so much that would justify passing out and having such vivid dreams. No, there was definitely something wrong. Ezreal and Caitlyn had always looked out for each other so being told that there was something wrong should have sent the explorer into a worry spiral of questions.
Yet, it didn't. In fact, he couldn't have looked less impressed or bothered by it.
"Vi." - he started, slowly. - "What do you think my relationship with Caitlyn is like?"
"You always said she's like a sister to you."
He leaned forward, still eyeing her carefully. "That was before the Zaun screw up, months ago. You don't remember what happened there?"
"I do. You went there because you received news about some weird artefact..." - She paused for a moment. - "You found it and you tried to bring it back to Piltover but some nasty zaunite scientists put a price on your head. You couldn't leave your safe house so Caitlyn went there to retrieve you herself. What about it?"
Ezreal let out a long sigh before leaning back in his chair, his gaze now lost at some spot in the ceiling. "I'm afraid that is not what happened there. You were the one who risked your own hide to retrieve me from Zaun." - His eyes focused back on her. - "When I contacted Caitlyn, she seemed unfazed by the situation and literally told me to figure it out myself. She also told you to stay put and not to get involved but you didn't listen."
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" - Vi got up from her chair and paced around the room, like a caged tiger. - "She doesn't remember I asked her out, that we ARE dating and you... You don't even remember she was the one who saved your ass. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK! Why are you guys acting like this! It's NOT funny!"
"Vi, please calm down-"
"Don't tell me to fucking calm down! You two are playing a really really cruel joke on me!"
"This is not a joke!" - Ezreal got up and slammed his fist on the desk, hard. Vi flinched and stopped her pacing, facing the explorer. - "Look, Vi, I don't know what happened last night to make you come up with this stuff but I promise you no one is playing any joke on you. And if you don't believe me about the Zaun thing..." - He pointed to a newspaper clip he had framed on the wall at his left. - "See for yourself."
The enforcer gave him a questioning look before taking a couple of steps towards the offending object, while Ezreal sat back down in his chair, observing her carefully.
In bold letters, the title presented itself as "The prodigal explorer is back in Piltover!"; the next line stating that the brave enforcer had risked her own life to retrieve him from Zaun. She frowned slightly but kept reading further, stopping here and there to make sure her eyes were not deceiving her. The entire article was telling the story she remembered, but some things were completely off and out of character, especially the part where it stated that Vi had been 'publicly humiliated by the sheriff as soon as she had stepped foot in Piltover' by 'refusing to follow orders, putting both their lives at risk'. Furthermore, it stated that she had been slapped (?) in front of everyone and that the sheriff had walked away from the scene.
She snorted at the notion but then she noticed the picture accompanying the article: she was sitting on the floor, cradling her cheek as someone who looked an awful lot like Caitlyn had their back turned, as if they were walking away from the scene. Ezreal was in the picture as well, kneeling next to her, his expression between pure shock and concern.
She stood there reading the article over and over again, trying to make sense of it. She also looked at the picture multiple times, trying to find a way of disproving the entire thing. Finding a way to prove to herself that the person walking away was not the sheriff, the person holding her cheek was not her and the other person in the picture was not Ezreal.
She found no logical explanation to why that article existed. Nor to why he had pointed her to it. Unless...
She gave a low chuckle. "I see what you're trying to do. You're trying to make me turn on Caitlyn, to make me think that somehow she turned into the bad guy during the night. It's not going to work, Ezreal. I know the real her and she would never have done something like this. She is not like me."
"I know she's not like you: you care and you protect; she only destroys." - He pulled out another newspaper from under the map he had been analysing. - "This is from this morning."
He slammed the paper down, at the edge of the desk. She walked closer and again, bold letters stared at her, this time with the headline: 'Local store owner shot dead, the vigilante strikes again.'
Before she could even ask what that had to do the anything, the explorer spoke in a low tone. "He was shot from a rooftop, almost two blocks away from where he was standing. Both of us know that there is only one sharpshooter in the city capable of such accuracy."
She was silent for a moment eyeing the offending piece of news. "Okay, let's say for a second that I believe you and all this batshit crazy stuff about Caitlyn being 'evil'..." - Vi lifted her gaze to Ezreal. - "Why would she shoot an innocent man? And what's this vigilante stuff?"
He leaned back in his chair again, eyeing her carefully. "Caitlyn's actions have been leaving quite a bad impression in Piltover, ever since she rose to power. The last sheriff passed away too early and everyone suspected foul play; yet no one could prove it so she became the new sheriff." - He paused for a moment; Vi just blinked and gave him an incredulous look. - "The crime rate decreased fast, which is nice. But... it was mainly because the criminals would not live to tell their tale if she caught them red handed."
Vi's eyes widen at the implication. "She would never have blood on her hands like that. I am usually the one who knocks a few teeth out. Or break a couple of bones. But that's it. And Caitlyn... if she does have to shoot someone down it's because they were about to kill an innocent. And she avoids at all costs to hit them in vital spots, no matter how much they deserve it. So your 'story' makes little sense."
"She shoots to kill, Vi. And this vigilante thing is her trying to muffle the revolution movement that has been growing underground ever since she forced you to work for her."
"She didn't force me to work for her. She made a proposal and I accepted it, simple as that."
"That's really not how things went down at all, Vi. You were a famous hextech inventor." - He pulled out a folder from one of his desk drawers and handed it to her. - "You had a nice degree and you were known for doing a lot of charity work around the lowest districts, where people have barely enough to go by. When word of the revolution reached the sheriff, she immediately tracked you down and forced you to work for her or she would throw you in jail. She was afraid you would side with them."
The enforcer dropped on the chair with a loud thud and opened the folder, scanning its contents one by one. There was file after file on herself, that she had never seen before: flawless medical records (her real medical records when she joined the force had passed for a record on how many dead nerves, strained muscles and what not she had), a copy of her supposed degree and multiple newspaper articles, showing herself sitting next to some kids, smiling big. There also were forms that she had filled and signed, with a calligraphy so neat it didn't look like her own.
"Where did you get this?" - She asked, without raising her gaze to meet his. - "This kind of stuff is supposed to be confidential."
"Doesn't matter how I got them, Vi. What matters right now is that you need to remember who you really were before you 'joined' the force." - He stood up and walked behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. - "I'm honestly starting to believe that you were brainwashed. But I believe that now with this info on your hands, you can go back to being yourself."
Vi left Ezreal's office without a word. Why was all this happening? Was it all really just a very cruel joke or was there more to it? Had she really been that blind all this time? No, she didn't really believe what the explorer had told her; it didn't make sense. Brainwash? She snorted. When she got it all sorted out, the first thing she would do was tell him to stop watching so much sci-fi movies.
When she stepped outside, the first thing she noticed was the now deserted street. Then the people all gathered behind a yellow tape, that she recognized as the standard police issued one to keep people away from a crime scene. Then the police cars. Her instinct immediately kicked in as she approached a rather young police officer, who was standing by the tape in front of the museum. She must have recognized Vi because her face immediately light up and she lifted the tape slightly, to let her through.
"Enforcer Vi! We are so glad you are here!" - The young blonde gave her a sincere smile as Vi ducked under the tape. - "We have been trying to reach the sheriff but... she's unreachable... as usual..." - She trailed off before correcting herself, her features showing... fear?. - "Oh, oh! I'm so sorry please ignore me I'm just stressed and all, I don't mean anything by that I swear!"
Vi gave her a questioning look. "Why wasn't Caitlyn reachable? She's always at her office doing paperwork."
The young woman gave her a questioning look of her own. "I didn't know you two were at... first name terms. And the sheriff is barely at the office this days, enforcer."
Vi felt the implication but shrugged it off quickly, focusing on the issue at hand. "So, what happened here?"
"Another local shop owner was shot, possibly again from two blocks away." - She gestured to the bloodied white cloth, covering what looked like a body. - "No known ties to criminal activity, just a family man. Vigilante strikes again it seems..."
She eyed her surroundings careful, pondering over what she had been told. Ezreal's words came to mind. "Was he possibly connected to the rebel group?"
"No known ties to the rebellion either, I'm afraid." - The blonde woman glanced at the body. - "It's sad, you know? One minute you are minding your own business and taking care of your family; the next one you're lying on a pool of your own blood. It's the third case this week already even... I feel sorry for whoever has to tell his kids their dad is not coming home."
"How many kids is he leaving behind?"
"Four. Three girls and a baby boy."
After making sure everything was under control at the scene, Vi bid her goodbyes to her fellow co-workers and made her way to the station by foot, after politely refusing the blonde woman's offer of driving her back. She needed time to think and she needed fresh air. Never, on her line of duty, had she been confronted with a case like this: if someone would murder an innocent, they would not escape the wrath of Piltover's Finest long enough to even think about doing it again. But the officer said it had been the third case that week already; why was she hearing about it only now? And more important, where the hell was Caitlyn in the middle of all this?
The police station was awfully quiet, save for the sound of a few officers typing relentlessly on their keyboards. They barely glanced up to acknowledge her presence, but the ones that did gave her an approving nod or a small smile. She nodded back, making her way through the maze of desks to reach her destination: Caitlyn's office. But as soon she put a hand up to knock on the door, the double doors to the station were hastily thrown open. Startled, she turned around just in time to see Caitlyn dragging a poor man by the collar, down the hallway that led to the interrogation rooms.
She felt the need to rub her eyes. She had NOT just seen Caitlyn drag a man like that to the interrogation room. No, it had been someone else like one of those tough guys from the SWAT team. Yes, they were usually that rough with criminals, kinda like herself.
Wait.
Thoughts from the night before came rushing in and she realized that the sheriff was partially acting like Vi would. Like she had wondered, in the comfort of her bed, how it would be if Caitlyn was a bit more like her, more physical, more... violent?
Shit.
Without warning, she crossed the room and dove down the hallway as fast as her feet could carry her. Vi threw the door open next to the interrogation room, stepped inside and immediately froze at the sight before her.