Life is a long road that occasionally will lead straight into a dead end. The real question is, how you get out of that dead end? How do you leave it behind like every other obstacle and proceed with your life? Caitlyn didn't have the answer to that. In fact, she felt she had no answers about anything. This was it. This was the end of the line for her.

But what surprised her the most was the fact that she didn't even care. She didn't feel a damn thing. No worry, no sadness, no nothing. Caitlyn was empty. She acted like she had run out of emotions, like she was empty. After the overwhelming amount of emotions she had felt the night of the betrayal, there was nothing left. An empty vessel.

It was ironic how Vi made her feel all those things and then in the end, she tossed her aside, rendering unable to feel anything at all. Vi had fucked her up beyond repair, or so it seemed.

Caitlyn had listened to the Board of Directors' ruthless confrontation silent, only blinking. They didn't give her a chance to defend herself. Although, she wouldn't have even if they had, simply because there was nothing to defend. She had been caught in her sleep, like a trainee. There was no excuse for a professional like her. And even though it was not up to the Board to decide that, her firing was inevitable by the looks of it.

That didn't surprise her at all.

And frankly, Caitlyn simply didn't care. She couldn't bring herself to care even about her own life at this point.

Normally, she would be scared. But that was not the case any longer.

After that so tragically over, she had to pay Tythonus Cayton one last visit at his office. It could have been Caitlyn's office one day, when Cayton would decide to retire and leave the younger generation take over. But even that had grumbled like a paper tower. Caitlyn had never had ambitions on becoming the Administrator of TPA. But the lingering thought of it once felt nice. Now it didn't matter.

Caitlyn walked inside the office and unexpectedly thought of the first time she had stepped in here months ago, when she had first returned to this timeline to report back to Cayton. It felt eons ago. Like a very old memory. What she could recall from that meeting was that she had been left frustrated with him. How the roles had switched so drastically.

Even know, it was really hard to read Cayton. Sometimes, Caitlyn saw herself in him. The emotionless act - even though it wasn't an act anymore -, the precision, the confidence in every move and decision. However, he was still there and she was about to leave the TPA forever. How fate works sometimes.

This time, he didn't offer her a drink. He didn't say a word as he signed some papers. He refused to look at her until it was absolutely necessary. Caitlyn preferred it like that. She did not wish any kind of sympathy from him, or anyone, for that matter. Once he finished signing the papers, he handed them to her. He had probably prepared them once the news had spread between the TPA. That's why he filled them in a matter of minutes.

"You'll submit that down at the reception. Before you do that, you'll have to visit the armory and return all your weapons and equipment," Cayton instructed. "You'll have to sign some more papers you need to submit as well."

Caitlyn nodded, giving the papers a brief look. Her gaze locked back onto Cayton when she heard him sigh.

"I cannot believe I had to do that," he admitted. "I'm sorry, Caitlyn. I wish there was something I could have done."

Caitlyn didn't respond. She kept staring blankly at him. Cayton was not discouraged by the lack of response.

"You were undoubtedly one of the best Pulsefires this agency had the luck of working with. You had a really bright future ahead. I'm saddened it has to end that way. Alas! I wish you the best of luck with whatever you're planning on doing with your life from now on. You're still rather young, there's always room for success elsewhere." He stood up and extended a hand. "Farewell, Caitlyn."

Caitlyn glared at his hand, debating if she should accept this handshake or if she should just walk away. Her mother would have scolded her if she dared behave like that to her superior. But her mother was gone long ago alongside everyone else in her life. She was alone. Regardless, Caitlyn shook his hand quickly and left. There was nothing else for her in that office.

Papers in hand, Caitlyn stepped inside the elevator and headed downstairs to pay her office one last visit. There was some packing she needed to do as well, gather all of her equipment and return it safely to the armory. Who would have known that there would be a day she would be obligated to return all of this?

When Caitlyn stepped inside her shared office, she was greeted by the chattering of her ex-colleagues. Her presence won their attention but she profoundly ignored them. Not because Caitlyn was angry at them or blamed them for what had happened but because there was nothing left to say. Despite that, Riven jumped when she noticed her. She tried to say something but Shen grabbed her arm. The white hair woman looked at the older man who shook his head. Twisted Fate refused to look at her. Even better.

Caitlyn grabbed a box and started putting there whatever equipment laid around the belonged to her. No one helped her but she was glad. She didn't want any interaction. It was better this way.

She left her rifle last. This was the first time she felt something like a tingle. The closest to an emotion. Her sniper rifle. Her loyal companion to so many missions, to so many adventures. It had never disappointed her, not even once. Caitlyn ran a hand over it. If she'd miss anything from her time in the Timeline Protection Agency, it would be her rifle. Eventually, she placed it inside the box alongside her other belongings.

Caitlyn glanced around the office for one last time. Her eyes met Shen and Riven; the latter looked extremely sad, like she was about to cry. But she would be better off without Caitlyn in her life, at least that's what the sniper thought, and she had Shen, who would always support no matter what. Then, there was Tobias. Caitlyn took a moment to examine his posture.

"Don't worry about your career, Tobias. I did not shit talk you this time to get away with it. There was nothing that could have saved my job," Caitlyn said to him in such a sharp tone that it could slice through metal.

The man raised his head, confused. His expression quickly shifted. He felt ashamed of himself that he had accused her like that. His lips trembled at his attempt to speak. But his voice died out inside his throat. Nothing came out. Meanwhile, Caitlyn checked on her firing papers one last time. There was one page missing. Which meant that she had to go back and retrieve it.

Great.

Caitlyn placed her papers inside the box so she could carry them around easier. She picked the box up and left the office behind her, never looking back. That chapter of her life was officially finished. She returned back to the elevators with the box in her arms. Now no one even bothered to be discreet as they pointed at her and talked loudly about her failure. Caitlyn blinked and the doors slid close.

The elevator stopped again at the 100th floor. Caitlyn felt slightly stupid for not noticing earlier but oh well. She wasn't in a hurry. But when she returned to the lobby, she realized that something was completely wrong.

Cayton's secretary had been shot right on her forehead and she laid useless on the floor, pieces of her laying broken around. The door to his office was half broken, like someone had kicked it hard.

Caitlyn was instantly alerted. With slow moves, she placed the box down and picked up her rifle. She walked towards the broken door carefully and pressed her back against the wall, trying to pick any sound from inside the office. Well, it wasn't that hard since there was plenty of shouting.

She recognized calm Cayton's voice through the shouting but she failed to identify who was shouting. It seemed like whoever had assaulted Cayton's secretary and his office had a lot of steam to blow.

"...You promised to get Ezreal for us! It's been months, Cayton! Fucking months! The PROJECT traces roamed around the city while making you look like the fool you are!"

"If you wanted Ezreal so bad, why didn't you do it yourselves and bothered me for so long which that case?" Cayton responded. His voice was monotonous but Caitlyn could tell he was annoyed.

"Because we needed to focus on preparing an army of clones under everyone's nose, in case you didn't notice!" The other man hissed. "All you had to do was catch him before he spread the information. But you're so useless you couldn't even do that!"

"Be careful, Mancuso," Cayton warned. "I'm the only one who can give you access to other dimensions. Without me, your plan for total domination will not go far."

Whoever that Mancuso guy was, he seemed to take Cayton's threat slightly seriously. Caitlyn had no idea what these two men were discussing about but she didn't like where it was going. She had a bad institution about it.

"It was a mistake to rely on you," Mancuso continued. "We should have sent a bunch of our clones to get him before it was too late. Too bad our scientists insisted to wait…" he commented somewhat disappointed.

"I fired my best agent. I don't know what else you want from me."

"That's because she put her nose where it didn't belong, Cayton! Did you know she spoke to Viktor?"

"Viktor?" Cayton repeated.

"Yes, fucking Viktor. It wouldn't surprise me if she already knows about the PROJECT Invasion. Firing was your only option. At least you give her a chance to walk away unharmed. The next option would be, well, killing her."

"I suppose you've got a point there," Cayton admitted. "Well, it doesn't matter if she knows about the Invasion or not. She's in no position to stop it, especially now. And even if she was, she can't know when it's going to start."

"That's what I came here for." Mancuso cleared his throat. "I suppose that you already know Rose is dead, by a PROJECT hand nonetheless. The Invasion is starting soon."

"How soon?"

"Could be a couple of days, maybe even hours. We can't postpone it any longer. We can't use all of our clones… but those we have at our disposal should be sufficient to catch the remaining PROJECTS and complete the first stage. Be on your alert and prepare the portals. This is something you definitely can't screw up, can you Cayton?"

"You don't have to worry about this. Everything will be ready when the time comes."

"Good, good… Well, if that's the case then…"

Caitlyn had heard enough. With shift moves and trying not to make a noise, she walked back to her box, grabbed it and returned to the elevator before any of these men realized she had eavesdropped their entire conversation. Her brain was working at light speed, trying to process what she had just learned.

Her boss was a lying bastard that had been cooperating with the PROJECT corporation all along, choosing to betray all of the Agency's values, values he had served for many decades. And all for one stupid plan for total domination, without care about the consequences. Caitlyn could make a huge list of how many paradoxes something like that would create. The damage would be irreparable. She had a hard time believing that Cayton was not aware of this. Or was he so foolish to believe that he could somehow fix them? But it wasn't just him. The entire Board was involved, she was sure of that. Otherwise why would they pressure her so much to catch Ezreal?

As for the boy himself, he might have been a thorn in her sides for years but it turned out he wasn't the bad guy in this story. Not that he was completely innocent. He had caused his share of timeline damage. But he had tried to do one good errand even for once. Now, his existence was tied with the success of the so called "PROJECT Invasion".

They had to be stopped, no matter what. This was one thing Caitlyn was certain about.

There was no one she could trust. Given that her own boss was involved in this, there was no tell how many more people were in this. Her life was already at risk. But she couldn't go against an entire conspiracy on her own, it was humanly impossible.

A thought crossed her mind. Although, Caitlyn realized that she had already put them through a lot and they didn't deserve this. After all, she had always been better off alone. But if the TPA realized she had found out their dirty plans and had turned against them, no one guaranteed that they wouldn't use Shen, Riven and Twisted Fate as a bait. No, Caitlyn wouldn't let them hanging like that. It was better to tell them the truth and work it out together. She had to trust them. They were the only people in that building that she could rely on.

Caitlyn returned to her office, pretending nothing odd had happened. The glares were still there but no one suspected anything. That was good. She stepped in and locked the door behind her.

"Caitlyn?" Shen asked, obviously baffled at her return. "What are you doing?"

Caitlyn placed the box on the closet table and started picking some equipment that she considered useful.

"Caitlyn," Shen repeated. Caitlyn stopped suddenly. She looked at all three of them; they seemed confused. Well, of course. This was too sudden for them.

"Listen to me," she spoke, realizing this was the first time she spoke to them in twenty six hours. It felt like enough eternity. "There's no time for explanations, we're all in danger. I promise I explain everything if you do as I tell you."

"In danger? Caitlyn, what's the matter?" Riven asked.

"What part from 'we're all in danger' did you not understand?" Caitlyn snarled, slowly losing her patience. Why couldn't they just believe her?

"Caitlyn, we understand you've been through a lot lately and because of that you haven't been yourself." Shen placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's sit down and talk about this first before we jump into action, yes?"

Caitlyn pushed his hand away, annoyed. "I think I haven't made myself clear enough," she said. "Would you actually listen to me if I told you that the timeline and our future is at stake?"

Everyone fell silent, looking at her. Their reaction was plausible since she basically had dropped a bomb.

"Are you serious?" Twisted Fate asked in disbelief.

"I wouldn't just come here and say something like that if I wasn't serious, Tobias," she deadpanned.

"How sure are you of this?" Shen inquired.

"I'm very certain but I cannot get in details right now, not in here. We can't trust anyone in this building. It is a matter of life and death," Caitlyn stated. "Don't make me beg you," she added.

"Alright, I think Caitlyn has been pretty clear," Riven stepped in. "How about we just do as she told us, hm?"

Caitlyn silently thanked her. Riven gave her a slight smile.

"Fine!" Twisted Fate sighed in frustration. "Fine, we will come with you."

"Thank you." Caitlyn nodded. "Take everything you deem necessary. We won't be able to come back here for a really long while."

It took them only a couple of minutes to prepare. Once they checked everything, making sure that they hadn't left behind anything important, they locked the office and followed Caitlyn. The sniper led them through the emergency exits of the building, avoiding on purpose the main entrance or other places due to the fact that she knew that most of the building was surveilled and she didn't want in any way to be spotted leaving all together. That would arise immediate suspicions.

The emergency exits led them to a ladder that connected all the floors from the outside. There was rarely anyone found there smoking. They were lucky enough and didn't meet anyone on their way down. From there, Caitlyn led them to the nearest train station.

Piltover's train system was truly impressive. It was a huge system of rails that connected all regions and levels of the city. The underground hadn't been completely abandoned but the train system bloomed above the ground. The rails were built in separate bridges in all different levels, supporting the fastest trains in Valoran. The train was by far the most reliable means of transportation in the city.

They took the first train that stopped at the station. The destination wasn't an issue for Caitlyn. The further they went, the safer it was. The trip was quiet. It was impossible to have a conversation in there, considering how crowded it was inside the cabin. The trip lasted for about an hour before reaching their final destination. Caitlyn and her crew found themselves in an unfamiliar station in an also unfamiliar area of the city. They left the station behind and continued on foot.

Eventually they came to a halt on a bridge, cars passing by. The noise didn't not allow any eavesdropping. Caitlyn stopped near the rail, looking down at the lower levels. More bridges came and intercrossed with one another and more cars moved like ants. She sighed.

"So, are you gonna tell us or what?" Tobias asked and Riven nudged him.

"Give her time," she hissed at him.

Caitlyn turned at them. This was it. "So, I might or might have not eavesdropped a conversation between Cayton and Zafer Mancuso, the CEO of of PROJECT Inc."

"Wait, really? What was he even doing at our headquarters?" Riven asked.

"It's really not a secret that those two have been cooperating for a long time now," Shen pointed out. "But I agree that it's weird that he came over all out of a sudden."

"Not exactly 'sudden' if you catch me," Twisted Fate commented but Caitlyn ignored him.

"He wasn't very happy about what happened yesterday," she confessed. "And mostly about the fact that Ezreal hasn't gotten apprehended yet."

"Why does he care? The boy is our jurisdiction," Shen inquired.

Caitlyn shook her head. "He actually isn't Shen. It turns out that Ezreal gained information about what the company is up to, information that they didn't want to go out. They needed him out of the way but they couldn't act without making it too obvious. The fact that his a chrono-fugitive was the perfect cover for them. After we successfully arrested him, the TPA would hand him to them."

"Caitlyn, are you saying what I'm thinking you're saying?" asked Riven, obviously terrified. "Do you think that they would have…"

"Killed him? Oh, absolutely." Caitlyn finished her sentence. "After they had tortured him to find out what he knew, certainly."

"And I assume whatever their plan was involved the PROJECT initials," said Shen.

"Yes." Caitlyn confirmed. "They have prepared an army of clones," she continued. "An army that they're planning on using to bring upon total domination but to all existing timelines so that no one would be able to stop them, ever."

"Holy shit!" Tobias exclaimed. "That's just so… I don't know how to describe it."

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow. "Twisted?" she suggested.

"I like the way you think, Caity."

"But how are the PROJECT initials involved with this since they ran away?" Riven questioned.

"I believe that they play a key role in enforcing said clones. Otherwise they wouldn't be called 'initials'." Caitlyn assumed. "In any case, we now know why Ezreal turned to them; Not just for protection but to warn them for the PROJECT corporation's plans."

"Well, makes sense," Shen commented.

"There's something else that doesn't make sense. "Let me elaborate." She added, upon realizing their confusion. "A couple of weeks ago, me and…" she hesitated for a moment. Her heart inched at the memory. "Well, me and you-know-who, paid a visit to a scientist named Viktor, who happens to be the designer of the PROJECT technology. He revealed to us that the criminal Ezreal had seeked protection from at first, Norman Rose, had funded the whole project. But as we know, he refused to protect him. He would have had Ezreal right where he wanted him and all of this mess would have never happened."

"Perhaps Norman wasn't aware of what Ezreal was up to? Hadn't he been gone for two years? Maybe they didn't know yet." Riven made an assumption.

"Sounds legit to me. But damn, what an idiot." Twisted Fate shook his head.

"I couldn't agree more with that statement." Shen commented.

"Well, it doesn't really matter right now," said Caitlyn. "What matters is that the PROJECT corporation in collaboration with the Timeline Protection Agency are planning an invasion within the next couple of hours. We need to stop them no matter what. If they succeed, there won't be any way of fixing it."

"You're right," Shen admitted. "Do you think this is why the PROJECT initials stole all of that explosives?"

Caitlyn nodded. "It is possible that they're trying to get rid off the clones. Without those, the invasion is doomed to fail."

"Do… do you think this is why Vi… lied?" Riven asked hesitantly, not sure of what Caitlyn's reaction would be. "Because all of this is so fucked up and it totally makes sense why our lives would be in danger if we knew."

The latter closed her eyes, trying to prevent the painful memory of taking over her. "It doesn't matter," she said eventually. "She had a good reason to do so but that doesn't change the fact that she worked behind my- I mean, our backs. But she did advise me not to trust anybody, which wasn't completely a lie in the end."

"Well, true…"

"So, what's the plan? Do we help the PROJECTS or do we act on our own?" Twisted Fate asked.

"I feel like there's not much we could do on our own," Shen admitted. "We should probably assist them with whatever plan they have in mind."

"As much as I agree with this idea, we won't be able to approach them easily. There's no way they're going to trust us. And there's really no time to persuade them otherwise." Caitlyn argued. "The only thing we can do is make sure they succeed."

"I have a question though," Shen said. "Why do you want to do this, Caitlyn? Vi betrayed your trust. Assisting her should be the last thing you would ever want to do right now."

"Because, regardless of her betrayal, I don't want to be caught in the wrong side of history," Caitlyn replied. "Is this a sufficient answer to you?"

He nodded. "Absolutely."

"Alright, now that's settled, we need to plan how we're going to approach this," Caitlyn continued before she was interrupted by Twisted Fate.

"Can we talk about saving the world after we grab something to eat? Because I'm starving and I don't want to be caught in the right side of history starving."

"Alright, fine. I guess dinner shouldn't be too bad…" Caitlyn mumbled, which only made him more excited.

Tobias pulled out his map. "Follow my lead then!" he exclaimed and walked ahead of them.

"I'm not sure what's more scary; the PROJECT Invasion or Tobias when he's hungry," Riven whispered in Caitlyn's ear, which only made her chuckle. She realized that this was the first time she smiled in a while. How easy it had been through! She most certainly didn't expect it.

All of them had been through a lot and even though their relationship was the best at the start of this, these three came to be very important to Caitlyn. Who would have thought! If she was grateful to Cayton for anything, it was probably making her work with them again. And even though most of the times their plans didn't work out the way they wanted them, Caitlyn was sure they were going to make it, one way or another, as long as they sticked together. She might have lost Vi but she still had all three of them and this was something she'd forever be glad for.