I normally put these messages at the end of chapters, but there's a little detail I need to cover before you read.
What era is League based in?
None. League has elements of steampunk, medieval, and renaissance time periods, and does not stick to any one. Thus, I have chosen to include much technology that might not make sense if you're working within the constraints of the ren or steampunk era.
The technology needed for our modern contrivances exists in League, but with the abundance of magic and even magic-powered machines (hextech), they aren't necessary. There are still examples though- such as, in this chapter a motorcycle will be referenced to. Modern styles of roads will be referenced to. The lore on the places I'm working with might as well not exist when it comes to physical descriptions, so I've given myself a lot of leeway.
As always, I worked very hard on this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! Leave a review telling me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong!
-Pikdude
Vi heaved on a huge chunk of masonry, Garen and Braum to either side of her, and put the last piece of the last building back into place. Vi wiped her forehead of sweat and swayed slightly where she stood. Viktor came up and fired his death laser, cementing the rock into place.
It reminded her of the aftermath when Jinx had first attacked Piltover- rubble strewn around, blackened marks where fires and rockets had hit, etcetera. That had been a dark day, and cleanup had taken at least a month.
Here at the League, it had taken about sixteen hours all said and done. They were all exhausted- just about every champion had pitched in one way or another. Vi sat down on a curb and pulled out a lighter, flicking it on and watching the flame dance. Caitlyn appeared from nowhere and sat down next to her. Vi flicked the lighter closed and put it away.
"You don't smoke," Caitlyn said as a way of inquiring why Vi would need a lighter.
"I used to, a long time ago," Vi answered, thinking back to the days before she'd met the Sheriff. They'd all smoked in her gang; it was seen as a sign of toughness. Vi had thrown the habit when she got out of that. She didn't need tobacco to look tough. She knew she was, and that was usually enough.
Except when her hands were involved. She was rarely if ever seen without her gauntlets on.
"Still do, once or twice a year when something good happens," she finished. Caitlyn nodded thoughtfully.
"I tried a pipe once. I didn't like it very much." Caitlyn handed Vi a bottle of water.
"It's an acquired taste." Vi leaned back and drank some, parched after the hard work of the day. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes.
"You should go get some sleep," Caitlyn told her partner. "You've been up a long time."
Vi snorted.
"Like you haven't? I'm not going to sleep until the bags leave your eyes." Caitlyn blinked.
"Fine." She got up and walked away. Vi chugged the rest of her water and followed, crumpling the bottle in a massive hand and tossing it aside. The Enforcer made sure the Sheriff actually went into her room before heading to her own and dropping almost immediately into sleep.
The sun was setting when Vi woke up. She groaned, knowing it would mess up her rhythm. Still, couldn't be helped. She swung out of bed and noticed her gauntlets were low on charge. She detached them and left them in their charging station, pulling on a pair of fingerless black leather gloves. She stuck her hands in her pockets and walked out of her room.
She checked in Caitlyn's room, using the spare key she carried with her. Cait was actually asleep, tucked up in her bed with case files strewn about. Vi smiled and policed them up, sorting them into nice, neat stacks on Cait's table. One of them stuck out at her- it had her name on it, Vi.
She removed it to find a very early report on her- one the Piltover police had compiled when she was still with her old gang. Fondly, she read of their past exploits that she had forgotten- petty thievery, mostly, with a few minor acts of vandalism in there.
Vi, the current youngest of the gang, apparently has no name, and instead calls herself Vi, after the roman numeral VI tattooed on her cheek. Not much is known of where she came from- only that she is an orphan. The whereabouts or identity of a sister are unknown.
Wait. A sister? Vi read it again. This was news to her. She searched the rest of the file but found nothing.
Warning bells went off in Vi's head and she remembered something Jinx often said in battles.
'If you think I'm crazy, you should see my sister.' She'd always assumed that somewhere, Jinx's sister was running around causing havoc, but... What if she was Jinx's older sister?
Vi banished the thought. They were nothing alike, and there was no evidence to it. Besides, Jinx wouldn't consider her crazy. Probably.
Vi knew the thought would stay locked away in her mind until she put it to rest. How could she confirm it? Have Jayce run blood samples?
Vi left Caitlyn's room and sent a request for a sample of Jinx's blood from Piltover. They had piles of samples sitting around from when they'd caught her, over and over and over. She'd easily broken out every time.
Jayce wasn't at his lab on League grounds. She made a sample of her own blood and left a request for Jayce to compare them. It wasn't an uncommon procedure in police work, and Jayce would think nothing of it. Hopefully.
Not knowing what to do, Vi stopped by Orianna's room and knocked on the door.
"Please enter," came the voice from within. Vi opened the door and stepped inside. Orianna was sitting at her table, a pot of coffee on it. She poured out a mug and handed it to her. Vi accepted it gratefully.
"Did I wake you?" Vi asked. Orianna cocked her head and Vi remembered who she was talking to. "Sorry, dumb question."
"Do not think about it," Orianna asked. "In fact, thank you for asking me such a... Human question. It's nice to be seen as a person."
Vi's brows furrowed.
"Some people don't?"
"Many," Orianna replied in a sorrowful tone. "Evidently, people are not used to the idea of a thinking machine."
"Wait," Vi objected. "I've never seen anyone be anything but respectful to you, excepting Jinx, of course."
"Oh, they are respectful, to be sure," Orianna said hurriedly. "But they act as if I am only a machine, built for a purpose and a function. I may not have emotions, or at least the capacity to understand them, but I can appreciate them."
Vi thought to all the time she'd spent with Orianna, how she'd observed people to act around her. How often she'd been ignored as others admired something as simple as the sunset with each other, under the assumption that Orianna wouldn't or couldn't care.
"I can see beauty in the world and in people," Orianna continued quietly. "I can see ityour toughness and the beauty of Caitlyn's drive."
Vi looked up at the mention of Caitlyn. She had always admired the same thing in her partner, even though it was that same quality that made her distant at times.
"I'm sorry, Orianna," Vi apologised. "I didn't realise. I'm sorry if I ever slighted you."
"No need. You did not realise you did. After all, I am not human."
"You're more human than many in this League," Vi said truthfully. Orianna looked very happy.
"Thank you."
"Thanks for the coffee," Vi responded lightly. "I'd better get going. Take care, Orianna."
"Do the same yourself." Vi found her way to the roof of the dormitory, watching the night sky and sipping the coffee she'd gotten from Orianna. Her mind went back to the day she'd met Caitlyn.
A much younger Vi, still only a teenager, sits on a roof, her legs dangling over the edge. Piltover stretches out below her and the moon is high in the sky. The young Vi breathes deeply and exhales, enjoying the crisp air.
She becomes aware of a figure seated beside her and jumps up, her fists coming up in a fighting stance. The figure stayed seated and sipped from a teacup.
"Please, sit," the figure asked in a soft, refined voice that carried a hint of an accent. "I brought you a cupcake."
The cupcake sat in her hand, very appealing. The young Vi's mouth watered and she warily took the cupcake from the woman, taking a careful bite and then scarfing it down.
"Are you tired of going hungry?" The woman asked. A cloud moved and the young Vi saw that the woman was only a few years older than she was and was very, very beautiful. The young Vi could only stare at the Sheriff of Piltover.
"Are you?" The woman asked again, and young Vi snapped out of it. She nodded, a little jittery.
"Do you want to do good?" Young Vi considered it for a while.
"Allow me to rephrase that. Do you want to beat people up on the side of the law?" Young Vi stared at her, barely comprehending what the sheriff was saying.
"Are you giving me a job?" Young Vi asked, speaking for the first time. The woman nodded.
"I've watched you for a long time. You like to beat people up, but only the bad people. I believe you've got a good heart behind those fists." The sheriff tapped her own heart to emphasise. "I could use someone like you by my side. What do you say?"
Young Vi stood on one foot while she thought, tapping her shin with her other foot.
"Okay," she said. The sheriff stuck out her hand.
"My name is Caitlyn."
"Vi." They shook hands, Vi careful not to crush her new partner's hand in her gauntlet.
"But you have to let me work my way," Vi added. Caitlyn smiled.
"We'll see."
"You were just as stubborn back then," Caitlyn said, sitting next to Vi in the present. Vi chuckled.
"You were just as bossy." Caitlyn accepted the fact.
"You needed discipline in your life. It's important for every young girl."
"You're not that much older than me," Vi pointed out.
"Yes, but I'm much more mature."
"Point taken." Vi easily admitted that Caitlyn was the more responsible of the two. Vi didn't like feeling responsible. She liked feeling free, in control of her own destiny.
"Remember when you walked into my Yordle trap on the kitchen stabber case?" Vi laughed.
"You baited it with a cupcake, I couldn't help it!"
"The suspect almost got away because of that."
"But I stopped him."
"Yes, after smashing through a wall that was very costly to replace." Vi shrugged.
"Gotta catch the criminals somehow, right? I figure if a wall or two gets in the way, hey, no harm no foul."
"If only the C case was that easy," Caitlyn said softly. She sat up as an idea struck her. "Maybe it is."
"What do you mean?" Vi asked, unsure where her partner was going.
"What if we bait C into a room and you just smash through a wall to get at them? You've never been around when I've chased them before. They don't know what you're capable of."
"You had me at smashing," Vi said with a grin. Caitlyn made a fist.
"C won't escape me this time." She stood up and slinked off, tapping her fingers in a staccato rhythm on her rifle. She seemed jittery.
Something was distinctly off about Cait these days. Come to think of it, it had started about when C showed up.
Vi resolved to find this C person and punch them in the face. She'd do anything if it meant bringing peace to Caitlyn.
"Caitlyn," her mother called out. "Do you have all your gear?"
A 14-year old Caitlyn sighed.
"Yes, mother," she replied. "I have my hat and gun."
Caitlyn's mother stepped into her room, looking at her daughter.
"Your father got you that rifle for hunting, you know," she said.
"That's what I'm using it for. Hunting."
"You know what I mean," Caitlyn's mother said with a sigh. "Anyways, I made you a new gadget."
She handed her daughter an armguard with a small compartment in it.
"It fires a 90-caliber net. I thought it might help you avoid lethal means." Caitlyn examined the device and attached it to her left arm.
"Thanks, mother," she said, and hurried out her window into the night. Her mother looked after her, worried about her daughter being out alone.
A few years later, Caitlyn's parents came to the station to visit their daughter. Vi had only been working there for three months and couldn't have been more than 15 years old, and young-looking at that. Caitlyn's parents stepped into her office, where Vi was sitting, doing boring paperwork at her desk in the corner.
"She's not here," Vi said, used to people looking for the sheriff. Caitlyn's mother looked at her strangely.
"And who might you be?"
"I'm Vi," she answered. She was met with a blank stare. "The Enforcer? Caitlyn's partner?"
"You're Caitlyn's new partner?" The mother asked, disbelievingly. This young girl with pink hair and big fists didn't look like much. Vi merely nodded. The father knew what was coming and left the room.
"You're who's supposed to keep my daughter safe?" The mother asked. Vi blinked in surprise.
"With all due respect, ma'am, the sheriff takes care of herself."
"But you watch her back. You'll be her support in the field?"
"Yes, ma'am." Vi hadn't called anyone in the office ma'am until she meet Caitlyn's mother, who scared her.
"Are you up to it?" The mother looked very critical. The young girl was a little intimidated.
"Caitlyn thinks I am." The mother searched her eyes, being met with a person who had been through much for how young she was. Satisfied, at least for now, Caitlyn's mother focused on her hands.
"Are these hextech?" She asked. Vi brightened.
"Yeah! The originals came off of a mining suit, but I built these myself with stuff Caitlyn got me-"
"No way," The mother challenged.
"Yes, she did. She's very talented." Caitlyn swept into the room, her father trailing behind her. "You should see her workshop."
"Show me," the mother said, and Vi led the way down.
Vi looked at her gauntlets. Caitlyn's mother was like a mom to her- had helped her design her gauntlets and was responsible for a lot of Vi's hextech knowledge. Despite that, she'd still harboured doubts about Vi's ability to be a good partner for Caitlyn until she was about 17 and had proven herself many times. Vi owed everything to Caitlyn and her family, a fact that she'd never taken for granted.
Vi looked at the sky, seeing it was midnight, and realised she wasn't going to sleep. She got up, stretched, and headed for the dojo.
Master Yi and Yasuo were in the dojo's arena, dueling with wooden practice swords.
"Greetings, one of large fists," Yi said, stopping the fight for a moment. Vi waved, her gauntlets in place on her hands. "Up late tonight, are we?"
"Aren't we all?" Vi asked wryly, and carried into the next room. She took a sandbag from a supply closet and hung it from the ceiling. She slipped off her outer wear, clad in a white tank top. She adjusted her gauntlets minutely and settled into a fighting stance.
"Your gauntlets give you power," Caitlyn instructed, walking around the young Vi. "But they take away your speed. Show me how you fight."
Vi took a breath and yelled, hitting the sandbag with all her might. It rocked back and she looked at Caitlyn, who motioned for her to continue. Vi continued, fighting the same way she would have on the street.
"Stop," Caitlyn said after a moment. Vi stood, panting with her gauntlets steaming softly. "You throw everything you've got into your strikes, don't you?"
"If I hit hard enough, I won't need to hit again," was her answer. Caitlyn nodded.
"Alright. We'll base your combat around that idea. What you need to learn is to put in enough force, but not to leave yourself open to a counter. Try to hit faster."
Vi threw her right forward, slamming it into the bag with a concussive shockwave thanks to her gauntlets. She followed it up with her left then charged, knocking the sandbag high enough for her to carry around past it. She turned and charged again, delivering the uppercut and slam that was characteristic of her ult. The sandbag flew off of its hook. Vi stood looking at it, breathing heavily.
"Your technique has improved," Caitlyn admired. "Especially in the chase. The way you use your gauntlets to lunge forward at high speed is simply stunning."
Vi hung another sandbag and squared off again. Caitlyn, having a passing understanding of most combat styles, had handled her training from the start. It had been a rigorous system of exercise and hand to hand combat training, a regiment Vi followed religiously to the day. Vi finished off that sandbag, breaking it once again, then dropped to the floor and launched into her routine.
It had been devilishly hot that summer, but Caitlyn was a hard taskmaster. She worked Vi until she almost collapsed from exhaustion, doing the exercises alongside her protege to give her no room to complain. It was a harsh but effective system- within a month, Vi was at peak physical condition.
"Criminals are tough," Caitlyn would always say. "We must be tougher."
Vi sat up, wiping the sweat from her brow and taking a swig of water from a bottle she'd brought with her as Lux walked in the door, missing her usual armor, clad instead in light, tasteful clothes.
"Hey there," she said cheerily and went about her stretches. Lux was as fit as any of them, but her strength was in flexibility. Vi, a very inflexible person, couldn't even imagine what being able to put your leg behind your head was like- but for Lux, it was easy.
"Hey," Vi returned. She stood and stretched, taking a towel off of a wall and slinging it loosely around her neck. "Is everyone burning the midnight oil?"
"Pretty much," Lux said. "A few people stuck it out for the day to get a full night, but most of us slept as soon as the work stopped."
"What are they doing with Jinx, by the way?" Vi asked.
"Jinx?" Lux repeated, then thought hard. "Uhm… something about a hole in an old quarry or something? Sorry, I don't know exactly."
"As long as she's behind bars," Vi said darkly, steel in her eye. Lux nodded in agreement.
Vi left the dojo, dressing in her normal gear, and struck out in search of Caitlyn. She wasn't in her room, so she checked the other likely place- the firing range.
She found Caitlyn in the middle of the large room, meditating calmly to enter what she called "the zero zone"- that is, zero margin for missing. Vi had seen Caitlyn hit targets up to a thousand yards away with pinpoint accuracy, one after the other.
Caitlyn erupted into motion, flowing into various firing stances and shooting, racking up headshots on the dummies she targeted, blindingly fast. She finished and stood still, nodding to herself as she looked at the targets.
"Missed one," Vi piped up.
"Did not," Caitlyn immediately retorted. "When have I ever missed a shot?"
"You missed Jinx twice the other day."
"That was the rhinoceros's fault."
"So that excuse works for you, and not for me?"
"You crashed that motorcycle and you know it," Caitlyn said. "Blaming rhinos gets you nowhere."
"Except when you do it," Vi pointed out.
"Except when I do it," Caitlyn amended.
"I miss that motorcycle," Vi said wistfully. Caitlyn packed up her rifle and ammunition and started heading out, Vi following.
"So does Heimerdinger. That cycle was his baby."
"It was my baby too," Vi muttered reproachfully.
"Then you shouldn't have crashed it."
"Touche." They walked together back to Caitlyn's room, where Caitlyn pulled out some files and Vi sprawled out on Caitlyn's bed.
"I've already made arrangements for our plan," Caitlyn began, shuffling her files. "A valuable piece of hextech- were you looking at this file?"
Vi looked up.
"I saw my name and was interested. I didn't know I had a sister."
Caitlyn snorted.
"You most likely don't. I remember that particular case officer- any random coincidence was a hunch for him. That's why we put him on desk duty. Good man- terrible detective." She went back to her plan. "Anyways, a very valuable prototype hextech device is on its way here, scheduled to arrive in- two hours. A room has been prepared for it. It was top-of-the-line security installed-"
"If we're trying to bait C out, why would we have security?" Vi asked, sitting up.
"It would look like a trap if we didn't."
"Will there be a cupcake in the room?" Vi asked.
"Of course," Caitlyn said, looking slightly insulted. "C will take it as a personal challenge from me. Anyways, C will disable the security, enter the room, and that's when you smash through the wall and engage the target. I'll have the building locked down by then."
"I heard smash," Vi said.
Caitlyn sighed.
"Just make sure you smash at the right time." Vi nodded and thought of a question.
"What are my rules of engagement?" Vi asked.
Caitlyn looked at her with a dark expression.
"Stop them. Whatever it takes." Vi nodded solemnly.
"For you," she whispered to herself as Caitlyn turned to her work.
Caitlyn slipped into the alley, trailing a man in a hat and cloak that she knew was the notorious outlaw Twisted Fate. He'd been operating in Piltover along with his partner, Graves, for too long now- she had ammunition and handcuffs. Either way, it ended today.
Fate disappeared around a corner. Caitlyn waited for a heartbeat and followed- and felt the press of a gun in her back.
"I'll be takin' this, lil' lady," a voice said, and someone plucked her rifle from her back. Fate stood in front of her, looking smug.
"Well, if it isn't the sheriff," he said, delighted. "You've been hot on my trail, but now you're caught like a snake in a trap."
He leaned against the door of a nearby building, his goons gathering around to jeer at Caitlyn.
"Now, I wonder how much Piltover will pay for you," he mused out loud. "Or will they even want ya, after this kind of failure?"
"Don't sheriffs usually have deputies?" Graves asked from behind Caitlyn. Caitlyn snarled. She'd left Vi at the office, since this case was a little dicey. She regretted that now.
"Now, in the meantime-" Twisted Fate started to speak, but was interrupted as the door behind him splintered and a massive fist grabbed him around the neck, heaving him aside. Vi charged in through the gap, pink hair flowing and gauntlets humming.
Vi lunged forward as Caitlyn did a spinning kick, knocking Graves's feet out from under him, and Vi slammed her fist into his chest, Graves hitting the pavement so hard it cracked. Vi faced the goons and settled into a fighting stance, making a come-at-me gesture.
The first goon charged and Vi hit him with an uppercut, knocking him into the air and grabbing his leg, spinning him around and sending him bowling through his comrades. She held out a hand, blocking a punch, and closed her hands around the offending fist, punching the man in the face.
The last thug stepped up, his muscles bulging. He flexed and roared in Vi's face- she slammed her fist into his crotch. Caitlyn winced at the sight.
Vi bodily lifted the thug, holding him over her head. The sun shone, outlining her form, and she threw the goon into a wall.
Vi looked at Caitlyn and grinned boldly.
"Miss me, cupcake?"
Caitlyn sighed.
"If I say yes, will you stop calling me cupcake?"
Vi's grin widened.
"Nope."
"Teenagers," Caitlyn muttered. She looked around. "Graves and Fate got away."
"But you're safe and sound," Vi countered. "That's what's important, okay?"
"Important to whom? I'm not that essential to the city," Caitlyn dismissed.
"I wasn't talking about them," Vi said softly. Caitlyn looked at her and nodded.
"Either way, we have some cleanup work to do. Cuff these ruffians. And Vi?" She added as Vi was cuffing a thug. She looked up at her partner. "Thanks."
Vi nodded and hid a smile, going about her job.
Caitlyn snapped out of her reverie, looking at her table. Everything was planned out. There was nothing left to do.
"You were a pain as a teenager," Caitlyn remarked to her partner, memories fresh in her mind. Vi looked up.
"Was I?" She knew full well that she had been.
"Breaking curfew, leaving messes around the station..." Caitlyn rattled off. Vi stretched out on Caitlyn's bed and propped up her chin on her arms.
"Wasn't that the year I saved your life like, four times?" Vi pointed out.
"Because you disobeyed my orders, yes."
"You wouldn't take me with you on the dangerous cases," Vi argued.
"Because you weren't ready," Caitlyn said with amusement.
"But I was. Remember the time you got caught by Twisted Fate and Graves and I beat both of them and half a dozen goons?" Caitlyn slowly nodded.
"I was just thinking about that. I think it was about then I started bringing you with me at all times."
"You mean when you started trusting me?" Vi poked.
"I trusted you before that," Caitlyn admitted. "I just wanted to protect you. You were still young."
"I'm the Enforcer, Caitlyn," Vi told her. "It's your job to protect the people, and mine to protect you."
Caitlyn raised an eyebrow.
"That's not your job description."
"Not officially." Vi lapsed into her own thoughts as Caitlyn turned back to her table.
"So," Vi brought up. "What's the bait to attract C?"
"Well," Caitlyn began. "You're not going to like this."
"This is stupid," Vi fumed, looking into the glass case that contained the bait. "I've been working on these forever and they finally get delivered and you use them as bait."
Caitlyn was cross legged on the floor, field stripping and cleaning her rifle on a small tarp.
"Well, we couldn't use my new rifle," Caitlyn responded, dripping fluid into the barrel. "Then C would know it's a trap."
"But C won't know this isn't a trap?" Vi asked, pointing to the case where a brand new, shiny, 34.7% more powerful pair of power fists rested.
"Remember, you've never been around for any C encounters. As far as they know, we're just co workers. C won't expect that we're as close as we are."
The phrase as close as we are echoed in Vi's head for a moment.
"Fine," she groused. "I better get my motorcycle after this."
"Sitting in Heimer's shop," Caitlyn said briskly, snapping her rifle back together and pulling back the bolt. "We're going back for a visit and you'll be able to modify it as you please."
A strange noise escaped Vi and Caitlyn looked up, alarmed. Vi looked like a kid in a candy shop, and Cait realised she had barely held in a shriek of delight.
Vi was not girly in any way. But she had moments, mostly where the prospect of violence or technology, where her inner teenage girl broke free, in spades.
"I can have paint? Decals? Lights? Weapons?" Vi asked, holding her gloves in front of her face like a little girl and speaking very quickly.
Caitlyn laughed at how ridiculous Vi looked. Vi realised herself and blushed, leaning against a wall and rubbing her neck.
"Uh... Sorry," Vi muttered, looking at her feet.
"Don't be. You looked adorable." Caitlyn laughed again, then stood and cradled her rifle. "What's that word Annie uses? Learned it from Yasuo or something?"
"Kawaii," Vi muttered. Caitlyn smiled.
"Kawaii. Yes, I like that. Kawaii Vi."
"Shut up," Vi said, her face scarlet.
"You look like that time I caught you looking at a dress in a store window," Caitlyn said with a laugh. "What were you, fifteen?"
"Sixteen," Vi answered, smiling at the memory in spite of herself.
"I still think you'd look good in a dress," Caitlyn remarked. Vi shook her head.
"Never gonna happen," Vi said determinedly. Caitlyn shrugged.
"Your loss." Cait checked her watch. "Things should be starting soon. Let's-"
"Miss Caitlyn!" A man in a Piltover uniform barged into the room. Caitlyn frowned.
"What?"
"A burglary has been reported in the Freljord!" Caitlyn waited a beat.
"And?" The man took the police hat off of his head and held it nervously.
"It was committed by C, ma'am. I have a report here from agents in the field-"
"Give me that," Caitlyn said and snatched the report. She scanned it quickly.
"Damn it," Caitlyn muttered. "Damn it, damn it, damn it to hell. His pattern means he won't strike for another month."
She sank to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest. Vi gave the officer a death glare until he left, then squatted in front of Caitlyn.
"Cait..." She began, but her partner silenced her with a gesture.
"Quiet. I'm thinking." Caitlyn closed her eyes and settled into a meditative pose. "C must have heard. I put lines out everywhere. Thus, he either doesn't want the bait... Or he's not rushing into a heist. Which means he'll be here in the city to stake everything out and plan. We have to back off, look like we're not a part of this."
She stood up, Vi following, and declared, "We're visiting Piltover."
Vi thought a bit, then lit up.
"So I get my motorcycle?"
Caitlyn signed and gave her a tiny nod. Vi shrieked and did a little dance. Caitlyn started to walk out.
"Kawaii Vi," she threw over her shoulder.
"Shut up!"
"Explain to me again why the hell we're walking to Piltover?" Ziggs complained, a bandage around his scalp.
"Because Caitlyn said so, and if we fight her on this, she'll probably shoot us," Jayce answered. Ziggs glanced ahead to where Caitlyn marched and was forced to agree.
The entire company of Piltover was walking to Piltover, a journey of a solid day's march, when the method of teleporting was readily available. It was by Caitlyn's discretion and nobody felt like questioning her, knowing the kind of mood she was prone to these days.
Vi, marching behind Caitlyn, fell back to where Jayce was.
"Did you get to run those blood samples?" She asked.
"I had more important projects to work on. Why?" Vi shrugged.
"No reason."
They only stopped twice for ten minutes each, and when they reached the gates of Piltover even Vi was staggering. Caitlyn still marched as if the miles meant nothing.
They split off, excited to be home after a long absence. Vi and Caitlyn headed for the police station, ready for sleep.
Vi hit her bed and was asleep instantly. Caitlyn yawned and noticed Vi was still wearing her gauntlets.
She quietly hit the outer release and removed them, setting them besides Vi's bed. Caitlyn spent a moment hovering over Vi's sleeping form, then tossed a blanket on top of her and trudged to her own bed, slowly falling asleep.
The next morning, Vi accompanied Caitlyn to visit her parents. Once proud pioneers of their fields, Caitlyn's parents were now retired and lived the quiet life.
"Caitlyn! And Vi!" Caitlyn's mother exclaimed at the sight of them and hugged them both. "Come in! I just laid breakfast!"
Vi was wearing her fingerless gloves instead of her gauntlets for once, feeling it was more appropriate for the occasion. Caitlyn's mom had cooked a massive breakfast.
Vi tucked in with gusto as Caitlyn merely picked at her food and politely deflected inquires.
"So, anything exciting happen lately?" Caitlyn's mom asked.
"No," Caitlyn said.
"We got Jinx on a rampage and we stopped her and I punched an elephant," Vi put forward. Caitlyn shrugged.
"Nothing important anyways." Caitlyn's mother clucked disapprovingly.
"You never tell me anything," she said. "Vi always comes back with stories."
"Vi's better at telling the stories," Caitlyn deflected.
"I don't know about that," Vi began. "You tell the one about the necromancer and the Yordle prostitute pretty well."
Caitlyn looked embarrassed.
"That," she said, "is not conversation to be had over breakfast."
Vi grinned.
"I'm finished with my food. Want me to tell it?"
"Don't you have a motorcycle to attend to?" Caitlyn asked pointedly. Vi jumped up.
"Yes! Right! Going now! Bye mom! Bye dad! Thanks for breakfast!" The door slammed behind her.
"Motorcycle?" Caitlyn's mother asked skeptically. "Didn't she crash her last one?"
"Into a rhinoceros," Caitlyn said as she took a sip of tea. Her mother shook her head.
"Hasn't changed at all," she said. Caitlyn curled up in a comfortable chair with a book and her tea.
"She has," she said thoughtfully. "She really has."
The sun was setting and Vi whooped as she accelerated down the main street of Piltover. Her bike, glimmering in the rays of the dying sun, roared. Her gauntlets were in slots where the handlebars would normally be and it's dark pink finish gleamed.
She pulled up in front of Caitlyn's parents house and let the bike idle. Caitlyn came to the door, looking out.
"I see you finished," she remarked, walking out to inspect it. "But really, you painted it pink?"
"Duh," Vi said, pointing at her hair. Caitlyn merely blinked.
"Come on, get on," Vi said excitedly. "You need to see what this baby can do."
"I don't think so," Caitlyn declined. Vi held out a hand, looking into her eyes.
"Trust me." A moment of silence, and Caitlyn took her hand. Vi gently slung her on the back of the motorcycle, nestled between Vi and the backing in a distinctly Caitlyn-sized space. Vi felt Caitlyn's arms around her and revved the cycle.
"Hold on tight," she warned, and put full throttle on. The bike shot forward and up into a wheelie, spun around, and took off as if fired from a cannon.
Vi yelled, a sound of pure bliss. Wind whipped through her hair, Caitlyn was warm against her back, and she was flying down the roads so fast the buildings were a blur.
The fact that someone watched them from a tall building didn't matter at all.
P.S- At the time of this posting, Chapter five is being written and chapter four is drafted out. I will be reaching the end of my pre-established plotline soon, upon the conclusion of which I will take a short hiatus from Catch Me to begin work on a few other projects. I still have lots to do with Cait and Vi though, so worry not!