[A/N:]
I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter, because figuring out how I wanted to formulate this entire thing was a mystery even to myself from start to finish! Have fun reading :)
NOTE: I completely forgot to upload CH12 on FFNet as well lol. Oh well, now you get to reap the benefits and receive two (2) chapters at once!
A strange sort of arrangement was made.
Agent Markham had consented on letting Vi contribute to Caitlyn's work, but only under the condition that she would be closely monitored and that no classified material would find its way into her hands.
Caitlyn had readily agreed, of course, and assured her she'd keep an eye on Vi personally. Aside from the twitch of an eyebrow Agent Markham hadn't reacted, but Caitlyn wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
The only thing Caitlyn should have probably thought about was a proper accommodation for Vi. It hadn't been important thus far, because the physicians had insisted Vi returned to the small on-site infirmary for the night.
Once it'd been clear that she was in brilliant condition however, there was no artificial reason to keep her there anymore. Which now presented a problem. Because Markham wasn't about to let her out of the building and had sharply ordered Caitlyn to break the news to her.
It had taken a considerable amount of finesse to both quell Vi's immediate aggravation and make sure she wouldn't simply punch a hole through the wall and make a run for it. Caitlyn wouldn't put it past her.
Thankfully, the security personnel summoned to assign Vi to her new quarters had been Trundle and Volibear. They'd promptly promised Caitlyn they'd give Vi her space and anything else she might need.
It wasn't ideal, and Vi had departed from Caitlyn with a withering look, but it was everything Agent Markham would allow for the time being.
Markham's absolute insistence that Vi remain at the SAC by whatever means necessary was a bit baffling to Caitlyn, but even Caitlyn couldn't deny that Vi was a criminal and a victim of human experimentation. She would need to be monitored twenty-four-seven — for her own safety —, even when Caitlyn herself wasn't present.
At least the rooms they provided Vi weren't too bad. They were sparse, of course, and devoid of any personal effects, but they were equipped with a bed and a shower and even a small holo screen installed on the wall so Vi could watch TV.
Vi's anger had quickly dissipated, which Caitlyn was a bit wary of but had gladly accepted. She'd rather find Vi in the office each morning than having to track her down and bring her in, which seemed like a very real possibility.
Weeks passed by.
And while Markham denied Caitlyn from actively digging deeper into the Viktor case — claiming that Vi wasn't ready for that kind of work yet —, the Agency slowly became familiar ground.
Being bogged down with Warden cases wasn't Caitlyn's favourite state of being, but despite Caitlyn's repeated requests, Agent Markham remained adamant. It didn't help that Pyke and the reports of the decoder team were also still surrounded by a seemingly impenetrable wall of authentications and clearances.
Caitlyn had more than once called attention to this, arguing that this had been the original reason the Agency had installed her in the first place, yet now they wouldn't let her do her work. It was an unnecessary hold-up in Caitlyn's eyes, and Markham's expression would sour each time Caitlyn would bring the topic back up, but the Agent was unrelenting.
It was frustrating and had ended with Caitlyn eventually giving up and instead focusing on getting Vi through her formal education. She had to admit, though, that it proved both a sufficient distraction and an actual handful.
She and Vi would talk a lot (Vi could be quite chatty when she had something on her mind) and Caitlyn found she enjoyed the exchange. The gears in Vi's head were always turning it seemed, and she would keep Caitlyn's mind alert with the discussions she started — sharp, like a blade under a whetstone.
Early on, their topics would mostly revolve around the training Vi was now undergoing and questions that'd come up during the theoretical part of her education that hadn't been adequately enough answered for Vi's tastes.
But as time passed, their conversations gradually shifted to things outside of work and Caitlyn was learning new things about Vi by the week, it appeared.
They would share the space in front of the water boiler and voice their thoughts on the new line of pVI-compatible accelerator programs that'd hit the shelves just a day ago and how they could improve a tech-tool's RTC performance.
In the training simulators they'd butt heads in amicable contest, but it would quicky become apparent that Caitlyn couldn't match Vi's natural fitness and sheer inexhaustible stamina. Vi'd brag about a very brief boxing career that ended as soon as she was found out to be a Zaunite ne'er-do-well and nobody wanted a criminal as their ace in the ring.
Back in what slowly became their office instead of Caitlyn's, they'd share meals and talk about little things with no meaning. Conversation came easily regardless, and Caitlyn found comfort simply in Vi's presence despite never having been the type to make room for another in her space or her thoughts.
It became a normal thing, being around each another.
It also became a normal thing to indulge Vi.
One of those instances saw the two of them in the common room, where they were mercifully alone. Caitlyn wouldn't know what she'd done if anyone'd overheard their rather far-fetched discussion.
Vi claimed, "Space travel is only expensive because someone's hoarding all the good metals and won't share with the rest of us."
She sounded a lot like she was complaining. Caitlyn shot her an amused look, but humoured her partner.
"And how did we get from space travel to mineral deposits?" Caitlyn asked.
"Because pretty much everything about space travel is based on metal. Without titanium there'd be no ships, and without ships there'd be no space flight!"
Caitlyn nodded in agreement. That was sound logic after all, regardless of how simplistically it had been presented. They manoeuvred around the tables and approached the kitchenette at the far wall.
"If you had access to the material, you could build a whole fleet of ships. Nobody would have to wait for the government to finish construction of the damn portal hub."
"The portal hub is already in use, and it's very efficient. I think the government should focus their resources on that instead of wasting them on something that would be rendered obsolete anyways once the hub was finished."
"And how long is that gonna take? Another hundred years? Besides, the portal hub is a mess," Vi insisted, "It's only accessible for the bigwigs running the mining corporations, or the government and military themselves. And it eats up energy like a black hole."
Vi waved a hand and settled against the counter next to Caitlyn, who began fixing herself a cup of tea. She reached into the small, bright pink storage box on top, pulling out a cupcake.
"Space flight is much more efficient in the long run."
"I'm not sure if I agree with you on that one," Caitlyn stated.
"Look, you just gotta build a ship of course, and then send it flying. It's a one-time investment, 'cause the ship can sustain power by itself if you're doing it right. Then you just slap on a solar sail and it'll do the work all by itself."
"Alright, sounds good," Caitlyn shrugged, "provided the vessel is already in space. But how will you get it up there in the first place? Recyclable energies have proven inefficient in generating enough propulsion power for that purpose, and that was already an eternity ago."
"True, but you're allowed to use a power cell for that. Rechargeable, of course, so it can charge back up along the way to keep energy consumption as low as possible. There're designs like that already available for grabs on the market. It's not rocket science."
Vi shrugged with her arms crossed over her chest. Caitlyn threw a sidelong glance at her at the dumb joke, but had to give Vi credit for keeping a straight face.
"I did something similar with a bike I had, back when I was running with the boys from the tat studio," Vi continued.
"You had a bike at the time?"
Vi pushed back from the counter when Caitlyn made to walk away and followed half a step behind, "Just temporary. I had to run some errands for the studio, y'know, to pick up new ink or get some spare needles."
As they walked the corridor back towards the office, Caitlyn took a loud slurp from her tea at Vi's admission of yet another theft. It was scalding and she might or might not have burned her tongue, but it brought the point across, so she endured it.
Vi rolled her eyes, "Don't give me that look. It's a pain to get to the other side of town by foot, so I borrowed a bike and, well, tinkered a bit with it."
She explained, "I switched out the fuel tank for a power unit and fixed a bunch of converters to the kit. Since the air pollution in Zaun is, like, astronomical, I could ride wherever I wanted to without a single refill. I even brought the bike plus fixtures back after the studio was shut down and I didn't need it anymore. At no charge, too!"
Caitlyn made a sound in the back of her throat as she sat down at her desk, "You're seriously telling me you single-handedly built an engine, from scratch, that can simultaneously create enough energy to power a bike and reduce emission levels?"
Vi nodded.
Caitlyn scoffed a laugh, "Bullshit."
"It's true!"
But Caitlyn still looked highly unconvinced. Vi bristled as she sat down opposite of Caitlyn. Her jacket was slung across the backrest.
"Ok, fine. Maybe not entirely from scratch. But close enough! I mean, it's easy when you know how to do it. You just take a portable power unit and some exhaust converters with decent filters. Those things are pretty common in Zaun, basically everyone has at least a few spares lying around."
Vi popped the rest of her cupcake into her mouth, "It's kinda necessary down there; you either buy a filtration system, or a mask, or choke to death. And masks are pretty annoying after a while."
Caitlyn sipped from her tea, carefully this time, "Whereas choking to death frankly sounds suboptimal."
"Yup. Just, be smart and use what you've got," Vi explained matter-of-fact as she swallowed.
She crumpled up the wrapping of her treat and dumped it into the bin with a precise throw, grinning when she hit her mark and muttering a soft "score" underneath her breath.
Caitlyn leant back and continued to watch Vi. A strand of hair tickled her neck and momentarily distracted her from the rather riveting conversation. She brushed it away before she replied.
"And you suggest something similar for space travel?"
"Yeah. I mean, space is vast. There's so much energy up there and we're still using barely a fraction of it. Even without direct sunlight, the solar winds can distribute energy across the system. And it comes completely without a price tag; anyone can benefit from it! Should be no problem!" Vi said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
"But we still need the metal," Caitlyn rightfully pointed out.
Vi grimaced at that and alleged, "I bet the corporate suits responsible have a secret stash somewhere in the system."
Vi's wrist warmed with a notification that landed in the inbox of her tech-tool. She brought up the interface.
Caitlyn narrowed her eyes and pondered if she should give a witty retort. She eventually decided this discussion wasn't going to get any more hypothetical than it already was, so she went along with Vi's line of thought.
"We could locate it," she cooed, "and stage a heist."
Vi snorted, but the ridiculous suggestion earned Caitlyn a broad grin.
"Genius plan, Miss Detective."
Vi fumbled with her tech-tool for a moment before she sighed and stretched. Caitlyn put her teacup to the side. She recognised this as the end of their conversation.
"Alright, break's over. Get back to it, rookie," she teased.
Vi chuckled and stood from her chair, shrugging her jacket over one shoulder. She gave Caitlyn a wave with two fingers.
"You got it, boss. See you later!"
Closing the door behind herself, Vi made her way back to the combat simulator rooms.
Her practical training was coming along nicely, now, and Caitlyn was glad Ramon had taken that off her hands. He'd been elated, much to Caitlyn's relief, which necessitated her presence during sessions only now and then.
It was better this way for another reason as well, Caitlyn figured.
She took another sip from her tea and accessed a data packet that contained a case revolving around a petty feud between two body mod smugglers.
Whenever they'd been in the combat sim together, things got tense. Caitlyn hadn't been able to put her finger on what exactly felt off at first, but Vi's behaviour would change. She'd clam up like an oyster and her performance would suffer.
Vi hadn't said anything, simply gritted her teeth and tried to power through those sessions, and at first Caitlyn had thought she herself had done something to cause this. It quickly became clear where the problem laid, however.
It hadn't been Caitlyn's — or anyone else's, for that matter — intention to lay Vi bare in any way she wasn't comfortable with. But alas, a certain sense of self-consciousness couldn't be avoided in Vi's case, which was entirely understandable.
Caitlyn thought she'd thus far done a decent job at not openly ogling Vi's body — or, more aptly put, the sockets following her spine from the base of her neck to the line of her waistband that were impossible to miss.
The doctors had informed her that it'd taken Vi an unduly amount of time to let anyone near and take a look at them, let alone touch her with any sort of obviously harmless instrument.
So her discomfort at the prospect of being locked in close quarters combat with another person, least of all someone Vi had grown to respect, should have been obvious to Caitlyn. She scolded herself for not recognising it from the start.
But no matter how awkward those few hours in the simulator had been, they'd given Caitlyn a good first-hand experience of Vi's physical abilities. The physicians had praised her condition and vitality, and a healthy diet had done wonders to bring both Vi's good mood and her confidence back around.
Caitlyn was still curious about trying to push Vi to her limits, to find the point where she gave in and tapped out, but despite her own self-imposed exile from the combat sim rooms, Caitlyn contented herself with the physicians' reports and was always looking forward to receiving them.
That, and well, the brief vid sessions Ramon periodically opened to Caitlyn so she could monitor Vi's progress and watch her do push-ups also helped to cheer her up. That last bit was something Caitlyn wilfully remained in denial about, though.
But for now, work, Caitlyn sternly reminded herself and began taking notes on the smuggler case.
If they were lucky, they could get the drop on those two sooner rather than later.
By the time night fell and every source of light in Caitlyn's office was either an opened interface or glowing screen, Caitlyn felt exhaustion creeping up on her.
She leant back in her chair and rolled her head around, the joints in her neck popping in relief. Her eyes darted to the holo clock on her desk.
It was just past ten in the evening. Late enough to easily call it a day. However…
Vi hasn't signed off yet.
With a sigh, Caitlyn reached for her cup and made to take a sip, but decided against it when she noticed her tea had long since gone cold. She stood and walked over to the disposal unit by the door, emptying the cup's contents inside. The lid closed with a soft hiss and the liquid was automatically and efficiently disintegrated.
Caitlyn halted in front of the window spanning the entire western side of her office.
The cityscape was a mixture of tall, dark buildings and bright neon signs. In the far, a string of slowly moving lights marked the skycars of commuters still packing the upper highway.
She was lost in thought when the sound of heavy footsteps grew nearer.
Five knocks in a row followed shortly after and Caitlyn turned to see Vi slipping into the office. She was grinning, her white mob of hair dishevelled, and Caitlyn knew Vi must have just taken a shower.
"Hey, boss!"
Vi walked over to the desk and dropped her hands on the backrest of one of the visitor's chairs, "You still here?"
Caitlyn shrugged, but returned a smile, "I was just getting ready to leave."
Vi nodded. She walked over to the locker and deposited her things inside, taking extra care with the gauntlets. Caitlyn watched her.
Vi'd fixed the gauntlets after the bank incident, but continued to tinker with them whenever she was spared from theoretical education. Caitlyn was curious, but hadn't asked. It hadn't impeded her performance on missions, so she wouldn't nag Vi about it. Besides, she'd given her plasma blaster the same treatment.
"Training was good!" Vi began and enthusiastically punched a fist into her palm, "I finally convinced Ramon to let me use an actual punchbag for workouts. Way better to mimic an actual opponent. I haven't gotten him to let me use the gauntlets though…"
She motioned towards the gauntlets in question, downtrodden that she'd once more brought them, only to be told she wasn't allowed to use them.
Caitlyn noted how Vi unwrapped the bandages from her hands and was at least satisfied the two had had the foresight for precautionary measures. They got along well, but they both tended to be a little reckless.
Which was probably not a good sign, considering how Ramon was in charge of whatever weaponry — experimental or not — the SAC had stored in the building.
Caitlyn briefly grimaced before she decided to concentrate on the positive news instead. She went over to stand next to Vi in front of the locker and began packing up her own things. The fresh scent of Vi's body lotion easily wafted over to her.
The corners of Caitlyn's mouth quirked up, "I'm glad you're entertained. And those poor, defenceless holo dummies are undoubtedly thankful for the respite."
Snickering, Vi made space for Caitlyn and flexed her arms, "Well, as fun as it is to bash face-shaped polygons in, it's nice to be able to feel something crack beneath my fist."
Vi leant against the desk, "How was your day?"
The sudden switch in topic came a little unexpected. Caitlyn's movements faltered for a moment before she zipped up her duffle bag, closed the locker doors and waited for the bolts to latch into place.
She turned. Vi was just looking at her.
"Made any progress with the smuggler case?" she prompted when Caitlyn failed to answer within a reasonable time window.
Caitlyn blinked.
She had to admit, she hadn't expected Vi to be paying attention to the "boring stuff," as she'd so aptly put it the other day. Vi had made it clear that she wasn't interested in cutting her teeth on paperwork.
There might have been a tiny part of Caitlyn that wondered if Vi was just showing an interest because Caitlyn was invested, not because she honestly cared about the case itself.
But that thought came and went and remained uninspected any further.
"I've found a lead, but need to dig a little deeper. All evidence suggests the two are located within city parameters and it's a territorial thing between them."
Vi nodded, "Cool. Sounds like we're about to crack that cube!"
Caitlyn snorted in response and shook her head.
"Your business jargon needs some work, Vi."
Vi barked a laugh but couldn't disagree, "Hey, I'm trying, alright?"
Caitlyn fastened the buttons on her coat just as Vi pushed herself off the desk. Together, they left the office and slowly walked down the corridor. The building was almost devoid of other people at this hour; only the security personnel and janitorial staff remained to do their business.
"So, uh," Vi started, "Have you had a chance to talk to your superior about, y'know, letting me out of here for a change?"
Caitlyn's rather content disposition soured at the question, but she quickly caught herself. This was a topic Vi had asked her about multiple times now, and justifiably so. She stalled, pushing the button to call the elevator and trying to come up with a satisfactory answer.
Vi was quick to explain herself, "I need to stretch my legs a bit and it's been weeks since the docs cleared me for active duty. And you let me out on cases too, so I was wondering when I can get back to my place, and such."
Sie blinked, "I mean, I got my own four walls and I don't want 'em to get ransacked by some retard while I'm stuck here at the station."
As they entered the elevator and were brought down a few floors, Caitlyn couldn't deny the feeling of guilt gnawing at her. She'd tried to get Agent Markham to agree to let Vi return to her own place, but the Agent was apparently convinced Vi would leg it the moment they let her out of their sights.
They stopped at the first floor where Vi's room was located. Vi exited the elevator, while Caitlyn remained inside.
"I…" Caitlyn peered at Vi who was busying herself with holding the door open.
Vi was reserved about making eye contact.
"I'll talk to my superior again in the morning, is that alright?"
Vi wasn't good at hiding her emotions, so the downcast expression that flashed over her face wasn't lost on Caitlyn. She tried to play it off with a grin.
"Ok, sure. Sounds good. Thanks."
Vi let go of the elevator door and it started to close itself between them, but, spurred into action, Caitlyn reached out and kept it open.
They stared at each other.
Caitlyn swallowed, then tried a cautious smile.
"I'll see you in the morning?"
Vi took a breath and Caitlyn wanted to just hope for the best. Her eyes were searching Vi's face.
Then, Vi shoved her hands into the pockets of her pants and returned her smile.
She nodded again, "'Course."
Both the immediacy and the intensity of the relief flooding Caitlyn at the confirmation really should have given her pause, but she just exhaled quietly.
She kept looking at Vi, who remained standing there just as well, until the elevator doors eventually closed.
[A/N:]
Can you believe I've tricked myself and snuck in (is it snuck in or sneaked in? someone please enlighten me) something as old-fashioned as a pager?
It's in CH05 and it belongs to Volibear. I only realised this while writing CH12 here, where I had written something similar, before noticing it might not be up to snuff in this sci-fi universe lol.