Caitlyn loved Vi, she truly did.
It was a passionate, energizing and incredible kind of love. Vi was a brawn to her brains but the brawler wasn't lacking any intelligence at all. In fact she showed Caitlyn a different world, a different way to think about things, a perspective that she so dearly appreciated. Vi had opened her eyes to the suffering of the Undercity and she was determined enough to fix that that even cynical Vi believed her, support that she appreciated knowing how incredibly stubborn the woman could be.
It meant Vi cared enough about her to change her own views, to reconsider long held prejudices even if she did it cautiously. A caution that was well earned and an example of her particular kind of wisdom.
It was this observation about their relationship that prompted Caitlyn to try and do the same on a lot of issues, but one in particular was the priority.
Jinx.
Because if there was one complication in the wonderful love she and Vi shared, it was a little blue haired hellion.
Some time had passed after the events in the abandoned factory, when Jinx had literally kidnapped her and asked Vi to kill her, enough for Jinx and Vi to have come to some sort of understanding, if not a full reconciliation.
Jinx learned her sister loved her beyond any doubt.
But Jinx also had to learn that Vi loved Caitlyn and boy was that a lesson all of them struggled with.
There were moments, to be true, when all of it could have come crashing down. Moments where Vi made it clear that Jinx's health and safety were her first priority, just as much as her own was. But they overcame those moments, they stepped back from the brink and were stronger for it.
Strong enough to endure and let time pass.
Time would blunt Jinx's wrath.
Time and the stubborn application of Vi who showed very well how she could literally take a rocket to the goddamn face just to get her sister to listen.
Vi had only just been released from the hospital, the damage had been severe but thankfully mostly fixable, though the brawler would be sporting a vicious burn scar down her neck and had to stay in the house for the time being.
But it was in the month of recovery that a lot of...interesting things happened.
It was during that time, when Jinx hadn't been allowed to visit, that Caitlyn took it upon herself to start opening the window at night for her.
It wasn't because she thought that Jinx wasn't going to be visiting at all and that wasn't fair, it was mostly because she wanted to shorten the distance Jinx had to travel from an entire hospital to just a single window.
Thus saving everyone along the way.
But, surprisingly quickly, it had become something of a ritual.
Every night after visiting hours she would come and open a window (the perks of being the Sheriff), then leave the room.
Every night from the moment Vi was admitted to the moment she was discharged, that window was opened.
Every morning, before the staff would come into the room, it was closed.
It was likely in those nights and days caring for Vi, looking at the bloody idiot's stupid, injured face that Jinx had made the decision to stop trying to kill her because from that point on Caitlyn no longer feared an ambush wherever she went. There was no longer a sense that she should keep looking over her shoulder or worry about her subordinates, because no attacks came from a blue-haired demolitionist.
It was also in those days and nights that Caitlyn began to understand Jinx, just a little, because the girl would leave little things behind, trinkets and toys that were so different from the usual grenades and other explosives that she used so much.
In fact, she had first thought they were explosives and nearly threw them out, but then she actually thought about it for a second and realised why in the world would Jinx bomb her sister's hospital room?
She isn't that crazy.
The toys could be simple or complex, small enough to fit in the palm of her hand or as large as a vase, all doing different things. One was an alarm, a small monkey toy that bashed gongs at certain times in the day; always a minute just before Vi was due to be fed and always a minute just before the end of visiting time. Another was a liquid light that glowed a pretty blue with bits inside that floated in an oddly relaxing manner. When Vi woke up she seemed to enjoy looking into that in the quiet moments when neither she nor Jinx were with her. There was also a cute one, a metal barrel with slots to stick swords in and if one were to stick it in the wrong place a small monkey would come out bashing a gong.
There were a lot of other things, all of them made to keep Vi occupied and stop her from getting bored.
Jinx's way of apologising.
Her signal to them both that she was willing to think about changing.
Changing what Caitlyn did not know, but if Jinx was willing, she had to be too.
Because Vi was trying so hard, she and Jinx had to as well.
Which was how Caitlyn, Sheriff of Piltover and decorated Enforcer, found herself standing outside a seemingly abandoned building on the Zaun side of the river.
It wasn't the Undercity proper, she was far too noticeable to head down there without a good reason, but then again the occupant of the seemingly abandoned building had little interest in staying down when Vi was up.
As she was summoning her thoughts, the door slowly creaked open.
Best invitation I'll ever get.
Caitlyn stepped into the dark abyss.
Something snapped underneath her feet and her whole body froze.
She would have followed her well-honed instinct to dive and get the fuck out the way, if she didn't spot Jinx to her side with a grenade in the demolitionists' hand, looking at her with blank tiredness.
"Was disarming" Jinx stated, blinking owlishly.
Caitlyn forced every part of her to calm down.
"I see" was all she could manage.
They stuck like that for a long, uncomfortable moment, Jinx squatting by her disarmed trap with a potentially live grenade in her hand while Caitlyn looked at her, wondering what she should say or do.
"You're early" Jinx said eventually.
She still didn't get up.
Caitlyn furrowed her brows "You said today, at this time"
It took a few seconds for Jinx to react, furrowing her brows in turn as she finally stood up on strangely shaky legs "Did I? What day is it?"
"Tuesday Jinx. It's Tuesday"
The girl looked at her dubiously "What? Last time I checked it was…" she looked around, then squinted at the evening sky "...Morning…"
Under the light granted by the open door Caitlyn could see Jinx was not looking too well. Already pale skin was pastier than usual, her legs were shaking even standing up, she had large bags under her constant-squinting eyes and she looked...thinner, even more than usual.
"Are you…" Caitlyn started uncertainly, Jinx turning to squint at her "...Are you okay?"
Jinx gave her a blank stare.
"...No, then" She shook her head and looked around, eyes having difficulty adjusting to the darkness "Do you have a light?"
Jinx did, in fact, have a light.
At a flick of a switch chem-lights lit up, glass tubes filled with glowing liquid in various shades of blue.
It cast the abandoned apartment block in a strange, eerie colour because there weren't enough lights around, what was there only the bare minimum to give some sort of vision.
"Any...brighter?" Costly asked cautiously.
Jinx flicked a switch up and down.
Nothing happened.
She kept on flicking the switch for a good fifteen seconds before realising. "Oh...Forgot to siphon power…"
Caitlyn took a slow breath and took a cautious step towards the girl.
Always cautious with Jinx.
"Do you…" Jinx turned her head towards and it was like...looking at Viktor, actually.
Frighteningly similar.
"...Here" The Sheriff extended her peace offering and, perhaps, house gift.
Jinx prodded the paper bag with a thin, pale finger.
Her eyes widened and the bag was swept from Caitlyn's hands so fast the woman didn't even feel it.
Jinx loves anything deep fried Vi informed her when she asked what food she should bring.
Apparently, Jinx liked to eat greasy paper as well.
Once the demolitionists' stomach had been filled, probably for the first time in a while going by how she was currently groaning and holding said stomach on the couch, Jinx was back to her semi-regular self.
At least, in some ways.
"Ughhhh…."
"I did warn you, you were eating too fast" Caitlyn couldn't help but admonish, more out of instinct after having to do the same to Vi when her lover was too zealous on her meals.
She would later clue in that Vi's (and apparently Jinxs') eating habits were born out of a lack of food, from the time when they lived in the Depths.
That dark, dreary place that Caitlyn could hardly imagine anyone inhabiting.
"Ughhh..." Jinx groaned again, rolling to her side so she could glare at her with one blue eye "Fuck you…."
Caitlyn, sat on another sofa a few feet away (because it was just common wisdom to keep a good few feet distance form Jinx if she didn't like you), snorted. "I can get some more if you want?" She eyed the barely cleaned room, the dusty sofa's they were sat on, the paint flaking off the walls and the mold growing underneath "...You look like you need it…"
Jinx scoffed "My digs' not to your high and mighty standards buttercup?"
Caitlyn brushed some dust and dirt off the sofa arm she was leaning against, making no indication that she even considered that an insult.
Jinx was capable of worse.
"How long have you lived here?" she asked even as she calculated the answer in her mind.
Jinx rolled her eyes and rolled over to her back "'bout a month now"
The Sheriff nodded "Thought as much. About thirty minutes from here to the hospital, no?"
"Pfff. Ten tops" Jinx boasted but there was little energy in it "You really need to train your enforcer goons better, this new crop can barely tie their bootlaces"
Caitlyn figured pointing out the fact that Jinx herself was a significant cause of the plummeting Enforcer retention rate would not have been a good idea. Doubtless the girl would have loved it though.
"They're getting better" she said as a way of defending her subordinates, even if she did agree with the younger woman "Or maybe you're just that good"
Jinx let out a small chuckle.
Silence lingered after, the only sound a vague sort of machine humming from somewhere upstairs.
"Thank you for inviting me" Caitlyn said, hoping her honesty and sincerity came through.
Caitlyn was under no illusion that it was a wholly willing invitation, but a bridge had been offered all the same.
"...How's she doing?" Jinx was quiet, tired.
"Vi's doing alright" she said honestly, because she was, for the most part. "Uncomfortable and having to stay at home, but she's doing alright"
Jinx let out a relieved sigh.
"Worried about you though" Caitlyn continued "She's noticed how...out of shape you look when you visit her. She would have come herself, doctors' orders or no, if she could move more than a few feet without collapsing"
"...she tried didn't she?"
Caitlyn snorted "Found her toppled out the front door when I went out"
Jinx sat up, back turned towards her as she hugged her knees.
"She doesn't hold anything against you. Even said to thank you, first time she's had a chance to take a break"
A silence settled between them, machines humming along in the background.
"Are you, Jinx?
A pale, haggard face looked over a bony shoulder "What?"
Caitlyn couldn't help but give the girl a soft look. For all that she had legitimately tried to kill her, seeing anyone in Jinx' state made her queasy.
"Are you alright?" She clarified.
A violet tinted eye glared.
It would have been warning enough, usually.
Now, Jinx just looked drained.
And Vi was emphatic about tending to her sister.
Carefully, Caitlyn stood up and walked over, barely two steps, to sit on the arm of the couch Jinx occupied.
She waited for a reaction.
Nothing but a deepening and suspicious glare.
"How long since you've had a proper meal? A proper night's rest?"
Her response was a scoff and the girl turned and scooted away.
"Vi wants you to keep visiting" Caitlyn continued "You're welcome in our home you know, she even set up a room for you when we moved in. Every night she cleans it up, makes the bed, arranges the books and waits there for you to come-"
A knife came flying at her and the Sheriff dodged.
Jinx came flying after.
Caitlyn caught the fist and turned the feint away, catching the actual attack that came from underneath. Hand on Jinx' left wrist she pulled to the side to try and unbalance the girl.
To her surprise, it worked too well.
Jinx was thrown off balance, her original aim, because she was thrown off entirely which had not been Caitlyn's intention.
Definitely weaker The Sheriff thought, having been on the receiving end of Jinx's fists and fury before.
The girl got up, though it was with an ungraceful stumble, and then charged again with a shout.
Caitlyn weathered her blows, turning away strikes and keeping distance forcing Jinx to fight with her legs or else keep closing in, both of which she did and it tired her out all the more.
It didn't mean the younger woman's blows were not hurting though, this was a girl that carried around a minigun on a daily basis, but she was just so much weaker than before.
The living room was trashed and in her retreat Caitlyn ended up in the adjoining kitchen area where Jinx had plenty of ammunition in the form of cutlery, and where her minigun had been laid on a counter.
Both spotted the deadly weapon at the same time.
Blue eyes met violet.
Caitlyn ran as if her life depended on it, and with Jinx in her current mental state it very much did, and managed to put a hand on the weapon first.
Just as Jinx came colliding into her.
Abandoning the gun, Caitlyn grabbed Jinx instead, wrapping an arm around the girl and pinning one of her arms down while the other hand grappled for the demolitionists' other arm.
Tangled on the ground Jinx wrapped her legs around Caitlyn's waist and tried to squeeze her thighs and crush the Sheriff's stomach but while she felt the pressure, Caitlyn could endure, eventually managing to grapple Jinx's free arm and lock it behind her with the other.
Violet eyes glared hate and shed tears "FUCK YOU!" the girl screamed, redoubling her efforts to crush Caitlyn's ribs "STOP TAKING VI AWAY FROM ME!"
Caitlyn focused on her breathing, trying to make sure every time she took in air it wasn't space where Jinx could further apply increasingly mounting pressure. "Im...not…"
"LIAR!"
Caitlyn grit her teeth, involuntary tears dropping from the corner of her eyes as Jinx found strength in anger and grief but she kept her hold secure, moving backward and backwards in the hopes of something dislodging the deadly, blue-haired limpet attached to her.
"Please...Jinx…" Caitlyn breathed "Vi's...waiting...for...you…"
There was a momentary slacking, Jinx' senses returning to her or something else, but it was a moment Caitlyn took advantage of to slip her free arm in the small space between her body and Jinx's legs.
The fire returned to Jinx when she saw the move but by then it was too late, Caitlyn managing to push against Jinx's thighs as the girl once more tried to squeeze her to death.
"Jinx please!" Caitlyn said, breathing far easier "I am NOT going to hurt you! Vi will NEVER forgive me if I do"
"SHUT UP! LIAR!"
"She's waiting for you at our house, YOUR house!" Caitlyn did not shout or scream, she couldnt if she wanted to even get through. She spoke as calmly and confidently as she could instead "She wants to see you Jinx and it'll only be a matter of time before she rips her wounds open hobbling her way over to here"
The reminder of Vi's injuries, or perhaps the mere mention of her sister's name, brought another wave of calm and this time Caitlyn held as still as possible, their laboured breathing the only noise.
"She...she can't...move...well, can't she?" Jinx asked, face twitching, signs of reason behind frightened and angry eyes.
Caitlyn nodded "She can't, no"
Jinx considered her words for a long, tense moment. Then her squeeze loosed significantly so that she was barely hanging on, mostly supported by Caitlyn's hold on her arms, still kept behind the girl's back.
Testing fate, Caitlyn let the hold slip.
Jinx didn't jump off her, or try to punch her, or strangle her.
She stayed still instead, eyes darting around and Caitlyn tried to follow as she now awkwardly held up the younger woman.
Somehow they had ended up in a workshop of sorts, that same dim blue light in the hallway illuminating various work benches, tables and machine tools filled with all manner of scrap, wood and bits. As her eyes adjusted though and her focus could shift away from trying not to get suffocated (only a little, she still kept a wary eye on Jinx) Caitlyn could also spot various projects either completed, half completed or in such a state that she didn't know what to make of it.
Without warning Jinx hopped off and dashed over to a table with stuff on it, the blue haired girl throwing said stuff away as she was apparently searching for something.
Caitlyn Kiramann, Sheriff of Piltover, could only watch very dumbfounded and in disbelief as the girl who just so recently tried to kill her went about ignoring her like she was an unwelcome house guest.
Better than the alternative She consoled herself with the thought as she warily kept an eye on the girl who had now gone through two tables, one box, a crate and a tool container and thrown most of their contents everywhere.
"Wait…" Jinx paused, eyes darting to and fro and body holding deathly still.
Caitlyn swallowed, preparing herself for another struggle.
"...I did siphon power!"
With a leap Jinx scattered tools and scrap away, landing on a stool put up against a wall.
She tugged on a cord.
Once.
Twice.
"COME ON!"
A third time brought blinding lights and Caitlyn yelped, covering her eyes.
Thankfully, Jinx didn't choose that moment to attack. Instead, she went straight back to diving through boxes.
Somewhere, something(s?) started chugging and humming.
"...Jinx?" Caitlyn asked cautiously.
Wrenches and scrap metal were thrown her way, over Jinx's shoulder and she sidestepped them easily.
"Aha!" the girl cheered, dragging something out of the large crate she had dived into.
It was a frame of sorts, vaguely humanoid, looking like it was designed to hold or hold onto a person's limbs. There was a small black box where the lower back would be and Caitlyn could see wires coming out of it and going into the frame itself.
It was a little intimidating in truth but she kept that thought to herself. "That looks...interesting"
"Steel frame reinforced with flexible wire-cord" Jinx said quickly, focusing entirely on the contraption as she laid it out on a table
After clearing said table and causing a loud crash.
"Has an independent power supply that runs the servos" Jinx continued as she moved an 'arm' and Cait heard whirring as she did so.
"I see" Caitlyn understood, somewhat. She was friends with a renown inventor after all.
In fact, Jinx right now resembled Jayce, perhaps even Viktor, more than a mad demolitionist.
She was struck with a thought that she had never considered Jinx to be inventive outside of making explosives or making things explode.
"The frame supports a human skeletal structure and lets them bear loads at least two times their usual strength" Jinx seemed to be the type to speak their notes aloud as she had somehow gotten ahold of a notebook and pen.
Caitlyn's eyes widened "That's...that's astounding!"
"...the power supply tends to overheat and explode however..."
"Of course it does" Caitlyn said before her brain could catch up.
Thankfully Jinx seemed to not be paying any attention to the Sheriff, instead poking and prodding the...outside skeleton (?) with her pen and noting things down.
"But the principles can be used regardless…" Jinx's speech turned into a difficult-to-discern muttering, forcing Caitlyn to slowly and carefully come closer so she could hear.
"YOU!"
The sheriff dived back, arms out in front of her and ready to defend herself.
Jinx raised a brow, holding out her deadly pen. "What are the specifics of Vi's injuries?"
"Uh…" It took a moment for Caitlyn to calm down enough to properly think "...Concussion, shrapnel wounds to the arms and lower legs...uhm…" She shook her head "It's all mostly healed, it's just Vi seems to be struggling a little with balance and getting back into her usual form, probably from the extended hospital stay. What's really the problem is that she tries to act as if she isn't in recovery and it only prolongs the process more"
Jinx cocked her head to the side and chewed on the tip of her pen "Huh…."
She half turned, looking down at the contraption she had been poking at again, then she looked at Caitlyn with a look that somehow was more worrying than her maddened gaze:
She looked interested.
Vi was worried.
It was hardly a new thing. She had a lot of worries even after reuniting with Powder, or Jinx when she was being…well, Jinx.
Her sister was always the number one concern of course, but there were others as well. Caitlyn was obvious, though the worry there was more on how to keep the thing they had going, the blistering romance that time had only hardened into something beautiful and amazing.
Aside from those two life-sized priorities, there were others as well. Zaun always dwelled in her mind, the new nation that she didn't know if she called home or not.
She lived in Piltover now but her house was on the border, literally right up against the river that separated the two cities and she crossed between them regularly. Mostly, it was because she was chasing after Jinx but sometimes it was because she was tapped as a neutral party, sent to oversee any deals between Zaunites and Piltover or to assist the people of Zaun.
That still took some time to get used to. Turned out, even if she had decided on the relative safety of Piltover versus trying her luck in Sevika's Zaun, her name still carried respect in some circles.
She was Vanders daughter, the one that came back from the dead to kill Silco and, to some idealists, retake her rightful place as the Leader of the Lanes.
Sevika and half a dozen chem barons had other ideas however, so she remained on the Piltover side.
But the chem barons were not dominating anymore, nor even Sevika, not as totally as they once did. They were influential and their gangs were strong but they were fractured, fighting amongst each other more often than against Piltover.
But it wasn't Piltover crossing over to the other side, not any more.
The ones that held the candle of hope for a peaceful Zaun were Ekko and his Firelights, bolstered by huge amounts of support from the City of Progress and their own popularity among the ordinary people. It was they that led the fight against the chem barons, against the shimmer runners and against Sevika's attempts at trying to reform Silco's empire.
It was a tough fight but that was where she came in.
Vi had, somehow, become a symbol.
Because she had been there when Jinx killed Silco, when her sister had killed the man who raised her when Vi was gone, the man who admitted he saw Jinx as his own daughter.
The man Vi herself could never forgive for separating them in the first place, but one she was starting to understand, if only for Jinx's sake.
Jinx would have had a target on her back if word came out that she had killed Silco, so Vi had taken the blame.
After she stopped her sister from using a weapon of mass destruction, by the way.
That, too, was destroyed and knowledge about it hidden away, the only plans remaining staying in Jinx's head.
In any case, Vi had become a symbol. The Avenging Angel, Killer of Tyrants.
She could convince the reluctant neighborhood to side with the Firelights, could force a hesitant lieutenant to turn coat, could inspire a workforce ready to rebel against their rapacious baron.
But Vi always had Jinx in her mind when she crossed that river.
For Jinx herself? Jinx could flee into a chaotic Zaun and not have to worry about people trying to kill her for Silco's sake. She was still a wanted woman though, both in the literal and figurative sense. Her sister certainly had her ways of making enemies, but she was also incredibly clever and many had offered vast rewards for her service.
Which all led to her being worried.
Because Powder -Jinx- was always in danger and now, since she had taken a mega-death-rocket to the face, it was Caitlyn that had to check in on her sister.
The injury was incredibly painful and she was lucky to have come out of it with all her limbs, but her hextech gauntlets were still in Jayce's lab and she was out of action for a while longer.
It had also been an accident.
Even before Powder had snuck into her room to sob and apologize, Vi knew it had been an accident.
Her sister had never hurt her. Not even when Jinx had kidnapped her.
Physically, at least.
Vi was the same. No matter what, she couldn't hurt Jinx.
She had hurt Powder once and that was an act that still haunted her.
She could never bring herself to really hurt her sister again after that.
"Vi?"
Perking up at the call, Vi put down the book she had been skimming and hobbled her way out of her sister's room, helped along by her crutch.
She still hated having to use it.
"Vi?"
"Coming!" She called as she hobbled down the stairs, each step a mild frustration because she had to concentrate on walking of all things.
Once she reached the bottom Vi let out a sigh and looked up towards the front door.
Slim, pale arms wrapped around her waist and a head lay on her chest.
Vi wrapped her arms around the smaller figure by instinct, almost trapping them in a cage of warmth.
"Powder…" Vi whispered, looking down at blue hair.
The girl smelled of gunpowder and oil and Vi couldn't find it anything but comforting, leaning in to plant a kiss on her head.
"Mhmhh" Her sister mumbled into her and Vi laughed.
Staying back, leaning against the doorframe, was Caitlyn.
She looked like a mess.
Her face was stained with grease and dirt, clothes stained with grease and dirt, hair matted with sweat and grease and dirt and her arms were covered in bruises.
As well as grease and dirt.
"What happened to you?" Vi asked, hands idly stroking the back of Powder's head.
She received a glare in response.
"Mhrmh~" Powder murmured.
Vi couldn't help but kiss her head again, a small laugh coming out of her lips as she did.
She missed how Caitlyn glowered at them both.
"Have somemrphmhm~" Powder murmured again.
Vi giggles, stroking the girls head "Say again Pow?"
With great reluctance Powder pulled her head out of its comfy resting spot to look her sister in the eyes "Got you something"
Vi raised a cruise brow "Oh?"
The girl turned towards Caitlyn and nodded.
Caitlyn heaved a great sigh and pulled in the trolley she had apparently been taking along.
"Best to show you in the gardens, where it won't make a mess…" Caitlyn grouched.
Vi gave her a curious look, then turned towards Powder.
Big, innocent blue eyes looked up at her, lips put into a pout.
Vi flicked her sister's forehead.
"You're cute Pow-Pow but you're too old to be pulling that on me"
Jinx grinned, purple-tinted eyes flashing with mischief.
Following Caitlyn to the garden, the pair found the Sheriff of Piltover about to open the box.
Jinx barely suppressed a snicker.
Vi tried to shout out a warning.
As soon as the lid was removed something inside spurted out and covered the sheriff in thick, gloopy oil.
"Ha! Ha!" Jinx didn't even try to hide her cackling.
Caitlyn Kiraman, Sheriff of Piltover and scion of House Kiraman, screamed the name of her nemesis for all to hear.
After Vi had managed to prevent an all-out shootout breaking out in her own home, she wrangled both Jinx and Caitlyn into the two showers the house had (Powder having an en-suite) and ensured that a semblance of peace returned to the residence.
A teste that Jinx regularly tested with her childish taunting, but Caitlyn had regained her composure after a long hot shower and proceeded to ignore the girl entirely, choosing instead to make dinner for them all.
This left the siblings outside while Caitlyn worked in the kitchen, watching them through the window as Vi inspected Jinx's newest 'gift'.
"Gonna be honest Jinx, looks like something id use in the bedroom"
Jinx gagged and very nearly hurled.
"Please never say those words again" the younger sibling shuddered in revolution "I'm serious. NEVER say those words again"
Vi laughed and squeezed the girl under her arm, Jinx having chosen to act as her crutch.
"Gotta get some back for Cait, I can see you two had an interesting day"
Jinx grumbled angrily, fingers digging into Vi's side.
The eldest sister took it for the warning that it was and simply kissed Jinx's forehead.
"So, you were saying it can help me walk?"
"Mhmm" Jinx guided her back to the things' front.
'Metal legging' was the best way Vi could describe it, strips of metal that covered the lower back and legs with a power back attached to the former. Currently it was positioned as if it was sitting on a chair, it's 'knees' bent.
"Try it out" Jinx encouraged, slowly guiding Vi onto the device.
"Alright" Vi said as she was steadily lowered onto the thing. It was an almost perfect fit she found, if a little uncomfortable. Her sister proceeded to lock the metal straps around her legs, each one fitting with a clang.
Through the kitchen window, Caitlyn was looking at her and shaking her head, her face giving off a look that conveyed "you are insane"
Vi held back a chuckle and gave a peace sign.
Something whirred to life and Vi felt herself moving out of her own violation.
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa!"
Motors whirred and suddenly Vi was standing up, arms wind milling, instinctively looking for a crutch.
Jinx took some pity on her and held her arm until she steadied herself, then let go, backing away slightly with a remote suddenly in her hand.
"Try walking" Jinx prompted and Vi did.
It was a slow start, the machine slower than her usual (non-injured) movement but as she kept moving it seemed to adjust and started to get faster and faster until Vi was jogging around the garden, laughter on her lips.
"Wooo!" she cheered "Look Cait, I'm running!"
Caitlyn gave her a sarcastic clap.
Vi laughed and Powder laughed along with her.
"That was great Pow!" Vi said, a little out of breath as she came to a stop "This thing is amazing!"
Powder grinned so much her cheeks hurt, then she laughed as Vi picked her up and spun her around.
"Woooo!"
"Yeah!"
The sisters cheered, not noticing Caitlyn had picked up the remote Jinx had let go of.
"Ahem" Caitlyn cleared her throat.
"Woooo!" Vi cheered.
"Higher! Faster!" Powder squealed.
Caitlyn gave them a happy ten seconds, then she tapped a button on the remote.
Vi came to a sudden stop.
As she had been twirling Powder.
The blue haired teen launched off her sister's grip and landed on the grass, skidding along and eating dirt.
Caitlyn looked down to avoid showing her grin, which was far too full of teeth.
"Ahk!" Jinx flipped up and spat grass out of her mouth, glaring a truly heated glare at the Sheriff "BITCH!" she yelled before charging in.
Caitlyn toggled the controller and Vi was moved in front of her, colliding with an angry blue-haired missile but remarkably managing to stay on her feet.
"Ahh!" Vi yelled, wrapping her arms around her thrashing and raging sister "Cait!?"
Trusting her partner, Caitlyn circled around the pair as if she were inspecting a sculpture "Keep ahold of her will you dear"
"RAAAAAAGHH!"
On account of wanting Caitlyn to live through the night, Vi followed the request.
"What your dear sister did not seem to mention was that I was the one roped into testing the prototype" Caitlyn spoke as if it was the most casual thing in the world watching Vi hold onto a raging Jinx while the brawler herself was stuck in place. "I had to perform stress tests and capability tests and environmental tests, each more trying than the last. Your sister is a genius Vi, a remarkable one, but she has been very fucking naughty today"
Vi gulped.
Caitlyn, proud, noble and well-mannered Caitlyn, hardly ever swore.
"So, I believe a little punishment is in order"
Why am I being punished too!? Vi wanted to yell, but with Jinx caught in a haze of rage she was forced to just go along with it.
With a very self-satisfied smirk, Caitlyn pressed and toggled the remote which had Vi turning and marching towards the outdoor gate out of the garden.
"There's a lovely park nearby Jinx, with a beautiful pond" Caitlyn said with an evil smile.
Oh no Vi's eyes widened.
"And your sister has been so wanting to teach you how to swim"
"RAAA!"
"Cait, this is so not a good idea!" Vi shouted.
Caitlyn tittered "I think it is and, it turns out, I have the controller!"
She punctuated her statement with a press of a button that had Vi start jogging.
This is so not going to end well.
It did not, in fact, turn out well.
On the plus side, Jinx learned how to doggy paddle.
Saving them from any actual consequences however was the fact that Jinx was exhausted and Vi was strong enough to be able to hold on until the girl's rage fizzled out, at which point the brawler emerged from the pond carrying her sister bridal style, the blue haired girl having turned from an angry tornado of fists into a tired little puppy.
A very wet and still angry puppy mind you, but a very tired one.
Caitlyn served dinner with the most viciously satisfied smile Vi had ever seen from the woman.
If she hadn't been a victim and if her sister wasn't there, Vi would have found it hot as hell.
As it was, she glowered at Caitlyn as she fed a nodding off Powder sat on her lap, the girl only moving when she needed to open her mouth and chew and when she could muster up enough energy to open her eyes and give a brief, heated, glare at Caitlyn before closing them again.
"So, this has been a refreshing evening" Caitlyn started, swirling a glass of wine as they finished off the food "Dripping with excitement and new beginnings"
Jinx grumbled an insult.
"You are so lucky I love you cupcake" Vi said with a shake of her head and a glare of her own.
Caitlyn's smile lit up the room.
Jinx fell asleep soon after and Vi had the unexpected pleasure of carrying her younger sister to her bed and tucking her in, Powder even curling a hand around Vi's finger when she stroked the girl's cheek, an act that took Vi back down the rocky road of memory lane, back when they lived under Vander's roof and she was tucking little Powder in and telling her the monsters would never get her because Vi was there.
It was a long, long while before Vi moved from her spot next to Powder's bed, reminiscing about happier times.
It was only until she felt Powder's hold around her finger loosen entirely as the girl drifted into a deep, deep sleep that Vi decided, with great reluctance, to move.
Planting a kiss and whispering goodnight, Vi slowly backed out of the room, parts of her not really believing what had just happened.
She backed up into Caitlyn's waiting arms just outside the door.
"Thanks" Vi whispered, her hand covering Caitlyn's as she watched her sister sleep a peaceful sleep.
Perhaps Jinx's first in a long, long time.
She felt warm breath on her back as Caitlyn sighed softly "She is a menace" Caitlyn said without any real heat "But she is brilliant. Your legs alone….Vi, Viktor would absolutely love a set of these"
"Mhm" Vi agreed as she rubbed her thumb across the back of Caitlyn's hand "But that'll be up to her"
"Indeed" Vi felt the embrace tighten "Well, now that she's sleeping like the dead, how about we make our way to our bed? I'm very interested in how long that power pack lasts"
Vi coughed and gently closed Powder's door.
The pair awoke that morning to find that Jinx had left the house.
Tellingly, though, she had left the remote on Caitlyn's side of the bed, after having drawn a grumpy monkey face on the back.
A story inspired by spookyscaryskeletons "through the open window" /works/35137159/chapters/87536263 , particularly the last chapter.
I wanted to write a Caitlyn & Jinx story with the theme centering around Jinx's inventing ability and her and Caitlyn's attempts to meet at some kind of common ground. Plus, I wanted to write something more light-hearted than my other works since I want these three to have a (mostly) happy and dysfunctional family.
Hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!