The train slowed into the station, the massive behemoth of steel and hextech grinding to a steady halt. On board, Caitlyn was pacing across the floor of the engine. She was impatient to catch Vi up to speed and to regroup. But for the moment, she had to think of their next moves. For all they knew, Jinx and Jhin would go into hiding for weeks, even months. And she was not willing to spend that much time away from her city. Trying to actively search for them could potentially be just as fruitless, considering not even Shen had any idea of what the criminals' next move was. "We're in trouble." She muttered.

"It does seem like we'll never catch them." Shen said coolly. "But they will strike again soon. Jhin may be slow and methodical, but if your descriptions of Jinx are correct, then at the very least she will make a move."

"If nothing else than from sheer boredom." Caitlyn mused. "That may be the case, but Ionia doesn't have the fastest communication network. If she attacked a village we'd never know." She sighed irritably. "We ran into them the first time because you traced Jhin's patterns. He wouldn't follow the same pattern now."

"He would. His plans are like scripts, he rarely alters them. And besides, he likes the challenge." As he spoke the train jerked as it stopped completely.

Caitlyn pursed her lips in thought, then a small smile quirked in triumph. "Alright, where is he headed so we can catch them?"

"If we last saw them in Grove, then the next village on his list would be Sereni. However us taking them on a train ride partially back to the capital could throw a wrench in Jhin's plan. If he finds Sereni too far out of the way and he's unable to reach it on schedule, then he could strike somewhere unexpected."

"So we're back to square one?"

"Not necessarily. He would definitely try to keep to his plans. But the possibility of him breaking from it must always be on our mind. For now, we have to recoup at the capital for now. Yours and Akali's injuries need to be tended to."

"I guess we'll figure this out in the morning." Caitlyn said as she walked out of the train, with the ninja in tow. She looked back as the train was shut down, realizing that transportation of that sort wasn't used often at all in Ionia.

She was greeted at the door by a trio of men. Sporting robes fitting that of council aides that enveloped them but didn't billow outwards like the flashier clothing of the council members themselves. "Greetings, embassy from Piltover. I trust you enjoyed our hot springs." The leader said.

Caitlyn smiled easily. "Yes, it was very relaxing. How are things going with the recapture of Jhin?"

They talked among themselves for a moment. "We have no current idea of his whereabouts. For now, we can only assume he has gone into hiding. Don't trouble yourself, honored guest, Ionia can handle its own troublemakers."

Something about the way the man said 'honored guest' troubled her. "Forgive me, but I don't think you can qualify a serial killer as a 'troublemaker.'"

"A reformed serial killer." He corrected, a little too condescendingly. "He has not committed any crimes since he escaped. If he had we would have known about it."

"Then explain his escape, a reformed man would not break out of prison."

"It is hard to contain a free spirit, no matter its intentions. And it's a rehabilitation clinic."

"Rehabilitation?" She repeated incredulously. "We were told it was a prison."

"Yes, it's a word you would understand more than rehabilitation."

Caitlyn's eyes narrowed. "Enlighten me."

"Many nations would turn their noses at the chance to reform the ill, they would take the easy route and execute them, or lock them up and throw away the key. Ionia believes that anybody can grow, and anybody can change. The mentally ill are as much of a victim as those they hurt."

Caitlyn bit her tongue before she replied. There was a time for ideological debates and it wasn't here. "Can I enter? I'm supposed to meet with Councilor Karma."

"Of course. But I must ask." He leaned past her to take note of the ninja behind her. "Why is the Kinkou with you?"

"Is there a problem?" Caitlyn asked.

"No problem, only curious that you would ally yourself with a dying order." He shrugged. "Ionia is growing, and the Kinkou did nothing but stagnate us, worked to maintain the status quo. So the fates resolved to move Ionia forwards at a pace that cannot be slowed, despite their best efforts. So they fell behind."

Kennen bristled, but a signal from Shen made him hold his tongue.

"So that's what they tell you." Shen remarked. "I can tell you first-hand that 'fates' wasn't why our order nearly died out."

"Fates come in many forms." He replied.

Akali stepped forward, and Shen's hand shot out and gripped her shoulder firmly but not hard. "Don't." He said quietly.

Akali shrugged him off and walked up to the aide. "Would you like to know what fate holds in store for your near future?" Her voice was low and tinged with the threat of violence.

He looked at her with a calmness that infuriated her further. "You would not harm an unarmed man on the floors of the Ionian capital. Otherwise you would prove yourself and your entire order a hypocrite."

Akali's gaze was deadly, but she put away the knife that inexplicably appeared in her hand. She then said, "I need medical attention."

"You would ask aid from someone you threatened the life of?"

Akali smirked bitterly. "If you refuse aid from someone who needs it, then you prove yourself and anybody else that holds your ideals hypocrites."

He smiled back. "A wise answer. Your order may make it into our next age yet."

Caitlyn glanced between the two parties, lost. "I need medical attention as well, I suffered a fainting spell."

The aide turned to her and smiled. "Of course. Come in, all of you." He signaled to the other aides, and they stepped to the side.

As they walked through Caitlyn glanced at Shen and whispered, "What's going on?"

Shen looked at her and waited till they were out of earshot before replying. "The Kinkou Order is on thin ice. Ionia's council is voting on the idea of replacing us with another officially recognized peacekeeping force. Technically we aren't much of a force anymore, but a few of the councilors have delayed the voting allowing us a chance to rebuild. But that's fairly difficult when Zed and his Order of Shadows hounding us at any stretch."

Caitlyn frowned. "You don't think Zed aims to replace you with his own group, do you?"

"It's honestly possible." Shen replied. "Zed's motives are not that far off from ours, but his methods are several degrees more ruthless." He stopped at the staircase and said, "Our paths diverge from here, we need to take Akali to receive more complete medical attention. You can leave and do what you will until the morning, then we will come up with a plan." With that he turned and walked away.

"See you in the morning." Kennen said as he moved to follow.

Akali didn't say a word as she followed them.

Caitlyn walked up the steps and towards Vi's room to check on her. She knocked on the door and waited.

The door opened and Vi was at the door. She raised an eyebrow and said, "Hey. You've back early."

Caitlyn gave her a quick hug and said, "Yeah, the 'spa' was nice but we should get back to investigating."

"Uh huh." She patted Caitlyn on the back. "Ease up, I'm still a little sore."

"Sorry." She backed up and said, "I forgot to ask, how are you feeling?"

"Fine enough, my back's finally usable but I just have to deal with sharp pains every so often if I exert myself."

"So, like before?"

Vi smirked. "Kinda, except the sharp pains are only infrequent when I'm overexerting myself instead of every five minutes. So yeah, like before." She frowned as she looked at her face. "You look a little bruised up."

"Yeah, we…" She looked around as if looking for someone, then leaned in close and murmured, "We found both Jinx and Jhin, we captured them but were attacked by ninja. They escaped." She leaned back and saw Vi's fiery expression.

"I should have been there."

"I was nearly killed, you almost certainly would have been." Caitlyn shook her head.

"You underestimate me a lot."

"You overestimate yourself a lot."

Vi chuckled. "Whatever, I'm going to sleep now. Next time you head out I'm coming. No exceptions."

"I suppose you can come." Caitlyn said hesitantly. "But stay at my point."

Vi rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Have a good night." She tugged the door closed with that.

Caitlyn turned and walked a few doors down to her room, and yawned before changing into a nightgown. She drowsily wrote down a few notes on what to follow up on the next day before slipping into her bed and falling asleep.