Love and Crime 4
Stakeouts were the worst. Hours and hours of sitting in a cramped patrol car with the Ice Queen herself, staring at a building or a vehicle or a hotdog stand, not knowing weather armed thugs with automatic weapons would burst out at any moment...or literally nothing would burst out. Ever. For eight hours. Nooooooothiiiiiiing. They were SOOOOOO boring, and Caitlyn didn't help much. She usually just sat there, staring intently at the building and taking occasional notes. She wouldn't even let Vi listen to freaking music! She could barely get through the car ride from the station to her apartment without her usual Pentakill (DAM could Sona rock the keyboard.) She said it "Interfered with her concentration" or some bull shit. Vi could barely keep her eyes open.
This morning was different. She was exhausted and hung over from the night before. It had been ages since Vi had gotten wasted, and she needed it bad last night. After literal days of not punching anything, she was going crazy. Part of her wanted to hit her old bar because she missed her old drinking buddies. Part of her wanted to feel that buzz again. Most of her, however, really wanted to pick a fight. She wore the results of her romp on her left eye, which is why she wore a pair of sunglasses. Caitlyn wouldn't have approved.
It felt strange thinking that. Vi had always done what she had wanted, when she wanted it. She had never been one to think of others, but Caitlyn...well, she brought out the best in the pinkett. Vi cared more about how she dressed, hoping Caitlyn would notice. She fought with her officers less, knowing it brought more work to the sheriff. She even put in an effort to do paperwork...not well, but the effort was there at least. She truly cared what Caitlyn thought of her.
Which is why it stung so bad when she noticed. "Is that a black eye?" she commented about an hour into the stakeout. The sheriff sighed. "Who was it?" she asked wryly.
Vi grinned. "I was out last night. Some punk and his punk friends were cracking jokes at the bar, talking about taking turns with me. Needless to say, I kicked the shit out of them. So deserved it."
Vi sighed again and shook her head, and Vi's grin turned to ash in her mouth as her stomach sunk. There it was. That disappointed look she gave Vi whenever she disagreed with something Vi had done. "Aw come on!" she protested. "They were quite literally asking for it, Cupcake! If they had been doing the same to you I'm sure you would have kicked some teeth in."
"Don't call me that!" she snapped angrily, causing Vi's grin to return. She HATED it when Vi called her Cupcake, which is precisely why the pinkett kept doing it. It caused the slightest blush to tint Caitlyn's cheeks. The cutest dam blush Vi had ever seen.
Silence filled the car and Caitlyn went back to staring through her binoculars at the back door of this pastry shop that Caitlyn was SURE was secretly shipping drugs in it's cakes. Vi rubbed her swollen eye underneath her shades and sighed. "Look, as much as I would love to sit here with you for hours and be scolded about my actions" she opened the door of the squad car and stepped out "I'm hungover and tired, so I'm just going to go in and see for myself."
"Where in the blazes do you think you're going?" she said angrily "Get your ass back in this car! You're going to blow the case!"
Vi leaned through the open window. "Just watch the back door. Either you'll get your case or there isn't one."
"Don't you dare go in there swinging, Vi!" she said, staring her down angrily. Vi rolled her eyes.
"Can you just think about trusting me one God's dam time, Cupcake? For fucks sake, I've been working for you for three months and you've yet to let me off the leash even once. I'm not going to bring the building down again, just let me do my dam job!"
Caitlyn was stunned by the outburst, just long enough for Vi to walk around the corner and out of sight. "You had better not screw this up, Vi" She muttered to herself, staring at the back door. A minute passed. Two. Agonizingly, Caitlyn waited and watched. Just when she had given up, the door burst open and three thugs carrying bundles of what could only be Hextacy. Caitlyn grabbed her rifle and burst out of the car. "Freeze!" she shouted, taking aim at the thugs. "I'll be damed" she muttered as the criminals dropped their loads and threw their arms in the air. "She pulled it off."
"How did you do it" Caitlyn asked after she had dabbed her mouth with a napkin. Vi looked across the car, still holding her massive triple decker burger. A drop of barbecue sauce dripped onto the basket.
"Do what" Vi slurred through her huge mouthful of meat and bun as she chewed.
"Don't talk with your mouth full please" Caitlyn retorted, picking up a fry, or as she called it, a chip, and eating it tenderly. Vi took a gulp of her soda to wash down her food, swallowed in quickly, and then repeated the question. "Get them to leave with the goods, and without even breaking anything. What, did you just tell them to leave?"
"In a way I guess I did" vi replied, taking another gulp of soda. "I just walked in, flashed my badge, and said that I would be searching the place, and anyone I found with contraband I would beat the shit out of. Just thought it would end this whole waiting crap sooner. Caitlyn stared in astonishment. "What?" Vi asked, scratching the shaved side of her head. "Did I break a law or something?"
"No..." Caitlyn said, trailing off. "It's just...that was kind of brilliant. Really, truly brilliant. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner." She picked up a fry and popped in in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Suddenly, out of almost nowhere, she giggled. That same giggle Vi had heard a few times before, when she said something Caitlyn really thought was funny. Vi looked up. She loved that giggle more than she loved hitting punks in the face until her knuckles bled, more than she loved Pentakill, more than she loved eating. It was quickly becoming her very favorite thing; like an obscure animal, nearly extinct, but every now and then, you saw one, and you were reminded why you loved it so much in the first place.
"What?" she said, slightly confused. "What did I say?"
"Nothing, nothing" she said, still giggling. "It's just..." she looked up at Vi, smiling widely. "you should have seen the stupid look on Harlow's face when I caught him. So confused, so shocked that he had actually been scared out of his hidey hole holding all of his stash by such a simple trick" she giggled again, causing Vi to laugh as well.
"Man I wish I could have seen that" she said. "I always hated his cakes. They tasted like chalk."
Their laughter subsided, and they continued eating, Vi wolfing her food down like it was her last meal, Caitlyn gracefully and delicately eating one fry at a time, occasionally taking a small bite of her hamburger. "You're a pretty fantastic officer, Vi." she said finally. Vi looked up, a bit stunned by the sudden complement. "I'm glad you're with us, and not on your own. I think you're doing more good than you ever have." Vi leaned back in her chair, staring at the sheriff. She looked up from her meal and smiled. Those perfect, supple lips, her teal eyes like ice to Vi's own fiery eyes. Her Raven hair still perfect, dispute the action earlier that day, her typical purple dress just...perfect. Everything. Vi couldn't help herself.
"Are you seeing anyone?" she blurted out suddenly "because I think we should grab dinner sometime, or lunch, or breakfast or whatever you want." Her stomach turned over in her belly as she realized what she had just said. Oh shit. Did she just ask Caitlyn out?
"Did you just ask me out?" Caitlyn asked, blushing.
Oh shit she had. "Oh shit I did" she said, her face pale as a ghost. "Never mind, it was a stupid question. Sometimes I just speak without thinking and it really comes back to bite me in the ass and I think-"
"How about tomorrow night?" Caitlyn asked, cutting Vi off in her rant. She blinked incredulously.
"Tomorrow night is perfect" she said robotically, still unsure what had just happened. "I'll pick you up at seven."
Caitlyn blushed and looked away. "We should get going. Lots of paperwork to do after that raid. I take it you don't plan on taking me to Cheradin?"
"Uuuuuum" Vi said, stammering, trying to process the situation she had gotten herself into "I don't know, I didn't think about it. Ya, just some place casual I guess. Or something. Ya. Casual."
Caitlyn smiled again. "Sounds perfect. I look forward to it." she said as she began pulling the car out of the parking lot and towards the station.
And right then, Vi's heart was gone.