It takes a few seconds for Vi's mind to start working again. She looks around the room- assessing its state to find it undisturbed, her gauntlets still lie under the bed and it floods her chest with relief, she has half expected them to be missing. Then again, Jinx had a chance to steal them before and didn't take it, whatever the reason may be. Again she looks at the message left behind by the maniac and only now does she note the weirdly written capital letters arranging into a word. The criminal is clearly not bothered by subtlety nor sophistication, that's for sure.

MORON

She feels heat flooding her face, that tramp... it's one thing to taunt her during a fight, but to sneak her skinny ass into a hospital only to take a jab at her is just... creepy. Even more so as she seems to have gotten a hold of her full name. The Enforcer scowls, there are precious few who know it, Cait by default, Jayce by accident- but him she doesn't mind knowing, plus an Ex she doesn't keep in touch with anymore. And now she can add a crazy murderer to that list. Wonderful.

She picks her gauntlets up to inspect them for any damage only to find nothing, it's baffling. Jinx was here, right in this room just beside her and all she did was harass her through her terrible penmanship (and it is terrible), if Vi wrote her reports like this, Cupcake would be throwing a fit, it's barely legible, croocked letters written with a clearly unsteady hand, looking alike a child's writing in how the letters resemble primary school's practice script, only lacking its clarity. Vi only notices the Zaunite spelling after reading it three times. The pinkette bits her lip as she wonders what to do with her "present". Should she show it to her boss? Of course she should, only what would it really change beside showing that their nemesis had randomly decided to visit Vi for seemingly no reason at all. How would that reflect upon herself? The most wanted criminal in Piltover just dropping by and doing absolutely nothing to her? She knows Caitlyn trusts her, and would see the event as of no consequence since Jinx does not act rationally, but would the rest of the city see it the same way? She was a criminal too once and that fact shadows her to this very day, even if no one says it to her face, not any longer at least.

No, in the end it changes nothing, nobody needs to know. Now to get rid of the evidence. She wonders if the girl used her finished report on purpose or had not even cared for its content. Both are equally possible, but the effect is still the same- wasted time, she hates paperwork with passion, she knows of its necessity but that doesn't make it any less tedious. And now she has to ruin her own work. Great. Not that she wouldn't have to write a new report, this one would go straight into Jinx's case file as evidence. Cait's gonna be pissed if she doesn't have this finished though so she has to rewrite the whole thing... and get a new pen since she will need to destroy the one she got to make it look believable, she can't just say she lost it, that would just make her look stupid, she needs to snap the pen or spill the ink over the note. And in a way that looks random too, does this place have a shop for patients? Hospitals usually do, with little things like snacks and writing accessories.

First things first. She puts the tip of the pen a couple sentences above the finish and pressures it enough for it to snap, creating a giant blot over the words and at the same time covering Jinx's note. She gives the broken tool a dejected look before putting it away, it was a nice pen, she will have to buy a new one since it isn't hers. She couldn't just spill the damn thing without breaking it either, wouldn't look much of an accident. She glances down at the hospital gown she's wearing as she feels moisture on her stomach, another ink stain. Ugh. She grabs a towel from the nightstand and tries to soak the offending mess away. Only halfway successful, she throws the towel away to see that she's managed to dirty her hands too, thoroughly annoyed she gives up and just wipes them on the ruined gown. Maybe she will get to wear something normal, since one of her fellow officers, Leeroy, promised to bring some of her clothing today, she left the keys to her apartment in the car, which is now in department's garage. Regardless, she still needs to get a new pen, or pencil maybe, though the Sheriff doesn't like using pencils in work. Easier to fabricate she says, seriously.

Wait. She doesn't have her wallet on her. Oh that's just brilliant thinking from her. She sighs, can she confiscate one as an officer? Yeah that wouldn't look stupid at all, confiscate a pen... oh well, she will just have to resort to her old pastime and simply lift it, granted, she always was more of a burglar than pickpocket but stealing from shops is pathetically easy, and she means things bigger and heavier than something pen sized. Like drillers and the like. It hits her that she must leave her gauntlets or she will be stared at, and they may be taken away if she parades in them around the building. She doesn't like it but she's a logical creature and besides, it's not like anything will happen to them in a couple minutes of her absence, hopefully. No big deal, she can leave them here, she can just walk out the room without them on, just like anyone else would, no problem. Just- just go damn it!

Finally she manages to close the door behind her, an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach, she only needs to make it quick and get back before... just be quick about her business is what she needs to be.

It is a simple matter of waiting for the right moment when the vendor is distracted, to enter after someone, interest in groups is lesser than in individuals, feign interest in browsed items, and not act like she's trying to decide what to buy, confidence is not shifty and doesn't attract attention, then wait for the shopkeeper to be addressed by someone and just take the item without looking around, no one pays attention unless the thief herself attracts it. Having baggy clothes is helpful but since she is not in their possession and really, they're not necessary for a pen, she can just take the damn thing and quickly press it to the inside of her wrist with a finger then walk out while the vendor is still counting change.

Easy, Vi used to team up with other street rats to pull off bigger lifts in bigger shops when she first came to Piltover, take the item down the shelf, pass it to your partner so that whomever may be (though probably isn't) watching focuses on it and meanwhile hide another one in the jacket, put away the first one and pick something else, something looking to be in your price range, then make whomever it is that does not carry the loot actually pay for the decoy stuff, or not, kids do like to browse after all. Who knows, maybe they will bring their parents (and their wallets) with them later. All in all, boring. Just look presentable enough not to be recognized a rat.

Burglary is so much more entertaining than that.

Still, she is a proper police officer and theft is something she fights, not actively indulges herself in, emergencies only.

Did she leave the door ajar? Shit, her babies!

She throws the door open, ready to tackle the thief- and to her surprise finds Caitlyn inside. The Sheriff is sitting on her bed and seems to be in the middle of reading whatever is left of her report. There is also a bundle of clothes crowned by Vi's wallet and a bag of sanitary items to her side. Huh, she must have taken it from Leeroy. The older woman's eyes snap to her and roll at the sight of the stain marring Vi's gown. She stands up to allow Vi back on the bed. It takes a second before the pinkette realizes she is expected to speak first.

"Hey Cupcake! Thought you were still brooding over collateral?" She flashes a genuine smile, both at the fact that her friend is here and that her joke is not terribly bad.

"Hello to you too Vi, it's good to see you on your legs," her boss responds, apparently deciding to ignore Vi's halfhearted jest. "I see you took my request to heart," she waves the paper sheet a little. "hospital does you good it seems, a bit overzealous maybe but at least you had it written, it's nice to be proven you're actually capable of meeting deadline." The Enforcer's smile vanishes as her boss's smirk becomes evident. Oh she's fucked, she will need to meet deadlines before actual deadlines for a month or two before Cait gives it a rest.

"Yeah, well must be something in the air, stale antiseptics maybe."

"Maybe." She begins folding the document in her hand into something as Vi sits herself on the bed, glad that she ruined her report when she did and not ten minutes after, they both know her report to be useless now and the brunette likes to keep her hands busy, it's something Vi noticed in mere days after she joining The Force. Caitlyn dislikes staying idle, be it hands or mind she prefers to keep herself busy, on lazy days when she finishes paperwork early she will just take a clean card and make origami, more or less detailed depending on her mood. On patrols she will keep caressing her rifle in such a way that Vi actually used to fell somewhat jealous of the weapon. Which is funny considering, she was lonely perhaps, being an outcast in both the criminal underworld and in the eyes of law made it rather hard to maintain healthy social life.

It's no longer an issue though, she has friends now and is glad for it. As for the riffle, she makes it a point to occasionally mention how the Sheriff should just man up and propose already.

Caitlyn also has a habit of fixing her hat every so often without it being off in any way. Just to do something with her hands. She keeps it under control when in public, only giving way should she feel anxious (a rare occurance indeed). She also dislikes to use stained paper as material for her hobby, which makes the younger woman curious as to what is it that makes her feel the need to work with it anyway. Not that she means to question her luck, she obviously hasn't noticed Jinx's note. That the Enforcer is supposed to write another report is left unsaid but clear.

"I'm sorry but I'm actually here on business, there is a... concern about Jinx trying to locate you." Heah no kidding. "There was an incident last night where someone who I gather was her, assaulted a worker in another hospital and left her locked in a records room. Presumably after looking through them. I suspect that she may be looking for you." The younger woman fails to feign surprise and decides to just go with it.

"I'm not gonna be surprised by anything that psycho does, well, suicide maybe but other than that? Nope."

"You do realise what that means though don't you?" Vi sighs.

"...Cait-"

"Listen, we both know that she's out for you. I'm doing what I can to prevent it but if she's actively hunting you then my hands are tied. You know the procedures, no personal involvement. It's not blatantly clear yet and the Administration knows we need you to get her but they won't overlook it should it get worse. In this case, the woman was thankfully vague about her description, so officially- it's not Jinx, but we both know better. The Administration too but they're letting it slip, no one wants you out."

"That awesome, am I?" she responds with a smug expression.

"Don't let it get to your head, I don't like it. I introduced the procedure myself, there's a reason for it and I feel uneasy omitting the obvious. I'm worried about you, that the next report I get will be about you as a victim." The brunette lets out and exasperated sigh. "I feel like I should pull you out but I can't. It's frustrating."

If there ever will be better moment to tell her that Shrimp was here, Vi would be surprised, but she knows now that she can't do that. In a not so direct way she's been told that she would have already been out of the picture if the situation wasn't as bad as it is, that she's needed. And she knows that, who else can match Jinx in a fight? Caitlyn is great at investigation, traps, luring the pray in, which requires said pray to follow certain patterns, which Jinx doesn't. The Sheriff is a mastermind, not a brute like Vi, capable of barrelling straight through rubble and fire left behind by the criminal, nobody else is stupid enough, as Jayce put it.

Speaking of, Futureboy has been doing a lot to fight the maniac too, conveniently turning up in right places at the right time. He's one hell of a vigilante, that she must give to him. His loose association with the police lets him help out when legal department's hands are tied, it's ridiculous how he just happens to be assaulted by a gang every other day and never once has it been proven that he was the instigator, in which case he'd have to be arrested, for show if nothing else. To be completely honest Vi is not sure how does such a rotten system work, as to allow the peacekeepers to avoid the law they're supposed to uphold. At its core she doesn't see much difference from the street rules, the strong forces their rules upon the weak and those with right connections that are useful to the boss are left to do their thing.

This is one of these cases. By all means she shouldn't be allowed anywhere near Jinx, but that's the thing about being irreplaceable. Rigidly following rules would do more harm than good. For example, had Jayce not destroyed his stolen work the consequences could have been catastrophic, so instead of being sentenced to a Zaunite prison as the other city state rightfully demanded, he was just given a slap on the wrist in form of banning him from entering Zaun, and to add insult to injury he is now a celebrity. There's got to be some divine bullshit behind his luck because seriously. But all this points to something.

Law seems to have suspiciously little to do with justice.

"Aw come on Cupcake, we're not about to go over that one again are we?"

"No, but I can't keep ignoring procedures forever, if she comes after you here I will have no choice but to pull you out, I'm sorry." Well damn they're in luck, cause it probably isn't gonna happen AGAIN.

"Okay." Hopefully anyway.

Caitlyn seems to have expected an argument if her momentary pause in folding the paper is any indication, it looks a bit like a crane, a piebald crane.

"Thank you," she says quietly, damn it, now Vi feels bad about withholding the truth about the material from which she is creating her little art. It's still better than the alternative of being flat out refused to handle Jinx, but still, the relief she hears in her friend's voice makes her own heart heavy. She probably expected their talk to go badly, and it likely would have if the threat of the bluenette's arrival was still real. Though one can never be sure of what will that little psycho do "For the time being, be careful." With that she puts the finished crane on the nightstand and makes to leave.

"So I guess I'll see you in a week?"

"I suppose so, oh, right, I almost forgot." Caitlyn pulls out a card from her belt pouch and hands it to her subordinate. "A list of things you might want to ready yourself for when the journalists come, I've figured it would help."

"Ah fff-thank you, damn I forgot about that too, you know when they'll come?"

"In about three hours I believe, and I still expect these papers to be done by the day after tomorrow." She points at the rest of documents lying menacingly beside the paper crane.

"Yeah, yeah I got this. You just worry about the welcome back party and I'll do my job. Thanks for bringing my stuff."

The Enforcer is given one last smile before being left alone again. She stares at the paper figure left by her boss for a long time before opening the list she was given and reading through its contents.

I think it's worth mentioning that I base Piltover mostly somewhere in the first half of XX century technology-wise. With hextech n' shit but still far far away from what we currently have. So no security cameras, they came with digital age as did many other things in regards to fighting the crime.