It wasn't supposed to be like this. If Vi had robbed a place once, she had robbed it a thousand times. At this point, she could do if she was as asleep as the occupants of the house she were robbing. She grasped her perfect opportunity. The sun was setting. The house was more ornate than any of the abandoned churches in Zaun. The family gathered in their vehicle for a shooting competition or something and had left. Left Vi alone to plunder their wealth all night. Or at least most of the night. Or so Vi thought.
"Tell me why I shouldn't put this bullet through your head right now." A woman's voice? Perhaps even a girl's voice? Regardless of the gender of the speaker, certainly not an ideal situation, but nothing Vi couldn't handle. Vi only needed one reason. Concealment. By a literal smokescreen. Given by her smoke grenade. She could easily evade capture, huddle up in a safe house, eat her loss, and try her luck again elsewhere.
Or rather, she could have, if she didn't then slowly turn around and capture a glimpse of the speaker. A young woman around Vi's age. Tall. Vi, being red-blooded, couldn't help but notice she was busty. But more than that, had long, smooth, purple hair. And her face! It betrayed a sense of vulnerability she was able to hide in her voice. There were no written rules of robbery. There were many unwritten rules. "Don't fall in love with the mark" was not one of them because it was so obvious it didn't even have to be not written down!
Caitlyn had forgotten some lubricant for her rifle. Her family was off to a shooting competition. Cait should have been able to best her competitors breezily. So she made to fuss by allowing her family to go off without her. She'd get her lube and then a cab. That is, until she heard something wandering around upstairs. She loaded her rifle.
As far as Cait was concerned, her rifle existed solely for shooting competitions. Well, that and shooting the occasional dinner. The thought of using her rifle on another human being made her ill. Now was the first time she may have to do so.
She caught the intruder from behind. Shorter than her. Red hair. Wiry build. Gender ambiguous. She steadied her rifle and let out the most threatening phrase she could think of. "T-tell me why I sh-shouldn't put this bullet through your h-head r-right now!" Okay for a first time, she guessed. The intruder heard, put up their hands, and slowly turned around.
A woman. In Caitlyn's imagination, a home defense scenario always involved a male assailant. Not really what you would call "pretty." More of a handsome, rugged kind of woman. Not the one prim and proper ladies of the topside. Except when whoever this was first saw Caitlyn, for the briefest moment a look of true vulnerability betrayed her face. In that moment, she was gorgeous. But then it was gone.
Caitlyn had been through dozens of hours of home intruder defense training. She couldn't help but imagine her defense instructor Grayson giving her a list of rules. "1. Always treat each weapon as if it were loaded. 2. Do not be willing to point your weapon at something you would not be willing to destroy. And, most importantly, 3: Don't fall in love with your own burglar!." Caitlyn awoke from her daydream.
Caitlyn stared at Vi in silence, gun pointed at her, Vi's hands up. A few awkward minutes passed. They both were in uncharted waters. Vi realized she was going to have to take the lead in this dance. Ahem. "You know, this is normally the point where you would threaten to call the enforcers." "Shut up! I was... getting to it. First I need to see if you have any hidden weapons... or valuables you stole from us!"
"Well, I have to warn you... I'm really good at hiding things. You'll just have to strip-search me!" Cait flinched and blushed at the thought. "No... I will pat you down though. And first, I need to tie your hands up so you aren't a threat!" Obediently, Vi allowed Cait to tie her hands to a chandelier. Now she was perpetually in the "hands up" pose. Vi mused to herself that there were approximately 100 opportunities to escape during this time since Cait had to put the weapon down after all. Was she always this stupid during home intrusions?
At last, Vi was tied up. "We just met. Shouldn't you buy me dinner first?" Cait was now used to these quips. "Okay, I'm going to search you now." Vi immediately noticed a bulge and retrieved the smoke grenade. "What is this?" "Relax. It's just a smoke grenade. I would have used it if someone less attractive than you apprehended me." Cait groaned, then began to search Vi in earnest.
Cait thought about the various muscle-groups she was taught during physical education class in school as she searched along Vi. Deltoids, trapious, rhomboids, latissmus dorsi, pectoralis major, small but certainly-present breasts, and oh my stars, rectus abdominus. Vi's abs were so sharp Cait was worried she was going to cut herself on those jagged edges.
Finally an awkward situation began even more awkward as Cait proceeded from Vi's upper half to her lower half. Cait began to feel around Vi's butt and crotch. A change came over Vi. Whereas before she was goofy and expressive, now she was trying to keep a stoic face... and failing. She began to blush. "You can search me harder... if you want to."
Cait realized she may have gone too far. "Ew, no!" If she had a bucket of ice water handy she would have poured it on Vi. "What's your name, anyway?" "My name is Vi. And yours?" "Caitlyn." "I don't like Caitlyn. Caitlyn... Cait... Cake... I'm going to call you Cupcake." "I guess I can't stop you," Cait said, walking closer to Vi.
As soon as she got within range, Vi acquired her target and pounced. "Don't try and stop me," she said while kissing Cait. Cait was through pretending she wasn't thoroughly attracted to Vi and what just happened was anything other than spitting in the face of a lifetime of self-defense classes. Damn her family and their wealth, all that mattered now was this woman in front of her.
After a minute or so of kissing, Cait felt the warm arms of Vi wrapped around her in a hug, and realized something was wrong. "You can't tie worth a shit!" Vi was just about ready to give the fastest run of her life while Cait was prepared to run in hot pursuit when they both were startled by the sound of broken glass.
Vi whispered. "Are you parents home?" Cait replied. "No. Is that someone with you?" "No. I work alone." Slowly emerging from behind the wall came a young thug who couldn't have been older than 12 on a shimmer-rebreather. Cait quickly went for the rifle and grabbed it, only for the thug to snatch it from and point it at her. Vi sprang into action, punching the rifle up and having it shoot off right next to her head, the next instant giving the thug a good right-cross.
He was knocked off-balance, but did not fall. It was however, enough to inform him that this house was not going to be an easy mark and he quickly went back from whence he came. "That was amazing, Vi!" Cait couldn't help but be proud. Whereas she had hesitated during her home intrusion scenario, Vi sprang into action. That is, until Vi got on her knees, hyperventilating. "He-he could have hurt you..."
Cait bathed Vi. The two women were nude, but there was no titillation. Not this time. Cait dressed Vi in some silk pajamas and laid her to bed. She seemed to have calmed down. "Maybe if I hadn't robbed you he wouldn't have thought to..." "No. Don't blame yourself." "What are we going to tell your parents when they get back?" "The truth." Vi laid on top of Cait, having her hair stroked until the two fell asleep.