It is late afternoon and the sun is still high up in the sky shooting sinister golden glares towards the small army of salarymen, mad inventors and unsuspecting random colorful individuals wondering the vibrant and ever busy streets of the city of Piltover.

Ah, Piltover, the city of hextech, light and breathtaking dangerous new technologies and innovations where uniquely dressed crooks and smart renowned professors seem to somehow peacefully coexist with insane pyromaniacs and sentient giant robots along with flagrant heroes and crossbow-wielding mutated rodents. A city filled with so much history and untold, astonishing discoveries, numbers and equations, where Spray-painted lines of code and magnificent poetry are often used to decorate luxurious storefronts and universities whereas weird alchemical formulas are hurriedly scratched against the surfaces of automatic energy propelled vehicles and old brick walls. Hastily drawn by the wrinkled trembling hands of drunk, overzealous and otherwise delusional old cleaning ladies and bitter lab janitors, tortured souls patiently waiting for their own chances at fame, riches and recognition.

The noise is maddening, the streetlights are always shinning and most of the cold grey walls are usually buzzing, covered with screens, cables, lamps and even the occasional steam pipe.

And that's generally all one needs to know about the chaotic and glorious city of Piltover, this radiant gem of innovation. It is a particularly abysmal city flooding with impractical knowledge and strange impulsive individuals trying to make a name for themselves as inventors. There is hope, there is bitterness and maybe sometimes too much progress, freedom and insanity for one sole sane brunette sheriff to handle.

Because no matter how capable and dedicated Caitlyn might be, there is always some new and fresh dangerous surprise hiding within the dark sunless shadows being cast by Piltover's magnificent artificial lights.

0000

Caitlyn was walking down one of Piltover's most notorious shopping districts, her top hat carefully perched on top of her head bouncing with each proud step and her trusty mechanical rifle hanging from a leather strap wrapped around the sheriff's left shoulder. Vigilant brown eyes tirelessly darting between noisy restaurants and greedy, wide smiling shopkeepers while searching for any signs of possible wrongdoers and illicit activity, but fortunately enough nothing wrong seemed to be happening so far in that particular noisy district of Piltover.

A fat yordle dressed as a lab assistant is sweating profusely, moaning and cursing under its breath while trying to carry a cardboard box full of vials, books and random metallic odds and ends, its round furry face already turning red from the exertion. A young pair of newlyweds is currently browsing through the goods of a Piltovian jewelry store located next to the crowded bakery, awed and obviously sparkling eyes happily roaming through the shiny sea of fashionable silver accessories and various hi-tech rings placed behind the jewelry store's transparent electrified display. A few of the cheapest accessories actually manage to catch Caitlyn's eye and although the sheriff isn't particularly interested in intricate golden stun-rings and homing laser beam shooting pearl necklaces, even she can't deny the craftsman's resourcefulness when she suddenly spots a pair of explosive cupcake earrings casually laying behind the shop's illuminated and energized, rapidly flickering window.

The Sheriff pauses for just a moment, carefully inspecting the intricate item. The craftsmanship is good, the circuits' patterns passable and even inconspicuous enough for them to flawlessly merge with the cute little silver cupcakes' finest miniature details.

The jewels' function is also handy, ideal for sudden mid-range confrontations and undercover infiltrations into dangerous gangs' hideouts, but Caitlyn somehow doubts that one of her deputies or even her dear partner Vi is going to actually realize the worth of this ingenious little device. Oh no, Vi might even try using the shiny pieces of jewelry as some kind of makeshift knuckleduster while beating unfortunate crooks or even come up with the horrible idea of attaching explosive devices to her favorite mechanical gauntlets. And Piltover would definitely never survive for more than a single week if such a dreadful, terrifying thought would happen to cross the mind of her dear pink-haired partner.

But then again what was Caitlyn supposed to do with such an incredible bargain? Those beautiful silver earrings were something akin to priceless unexpected treasures to her, a cupcake-shaped miracle and a sign from a higher being that yes, the existence of the infinite Mindpool conceived by both caffeine addicted scientists and drunk, almost wasted inventors alike might actually be a plausible possibility.

Buy us, the jewelry almost whispered to the mesmerized brunette. Buy us and Taric will stop mocking your fashion sense, Blitzcrank will start respecting you more and Vi will stop trying to modify your rifle without your written permission. Buy us and all your dreams shall come true, buy us and the institute might even consider kicking out Teemo!

But will her deputies and friends truly appreciate her new purchase? The Sheriff contemplated that thought as she took a tentative, measured step towards the flickering electrified display of the now closing jewelry store, brown thoughtful eyes never quite leaving the small silver trinkets.

No, Taric will probably keep mocking her fashion sense, Jayce will take one good look at her treasured new pair of earrings and just roll his eyes as if in silent exasperation while Ezreal was probably going to smile politely at her as if secretly pitting her and Orianna… Sigh, Orianna would promptly decide to confiscate the shiny pieces of jewelry or instantly attempt to disintegrate them perhaps, like the damn robot had previously done with Caitlyn's favorite pink cupcake-flavored sniper rounds. Orianna would even use the same dumb excuse too, claiming that any deaths caused by explosive or otherwise cupcake-resembling weapons and projectiles would instantly summon Morgana and Lulu and their endless army of handsomely paid lawyers, or at least something else among those lines.

Caitlyn sighs in defeat, peeved brown orbs slowly slipping towards the loud scientists, drunk merchants and occasional beeping advertising drones, fast determined steps slowly leading her away from the beautiful cupcake earrings and deeper into the bustling hextech market and the cruel cold cupcake-less world of reality.

Lights and sounds, neon glows and hextech screens filled with advertisements, Piltover is the city of Innovation yes, but also the city that lacks peace of mind and tranquility. Caitlyn grimaces, hands briefly rising in order to cover her poor ears when the mechanical sounds coming out from the occasional workshop she happens to pass by nearly threaten to burst her poor eardrums, the cacophony of recorded holographic messages and flickering advertisements slowly driving the annoyed Sheriff into sound induced insanity.

Caitlyn sighs once more and the Sheriff actually even growls in annoyance as she hurriedly moves towards a less occupied alleyway near the other side of the street, almost dragging her feet towards the poorer districts of Piltover. It is quite ironic really how most rich citizens that live near the city's center have to pay a fortune in order to install special noise-cancelling devices in their residences if they ever hope to be finally blessed with some peace and quiet while poorer and admittedly less fortunate individuals leaving in the slums almost dread the threatening silence of their homes that could possibly precede the dangerous presence of a burglar or thief and maybe in some rare cases even a mugger's.

The noise of the crowded street and the loud yells of the colorful peddlers seem to dull just a tiny bit as the Sheriff silently departs from the busy shopping district and decides to head back to the relative, but much more peaceful chaos of her own police station.

0000

Three burglaries, six hextech thefts, one ongoing investigation about a Zaunite crime boss blowing up a cruise ship of all things and at least half a dozen of cases ranging from heinous murder all the way to just vulgarity or indecent social conduct in public places are already waiting for her on top of her mahogany desk when Caitlyn finally manages to reach her office and take a seat beside the neatly placed stack of police reports and various important documents awaiting her evaluation. One quick glance at the rows upon rows of papers and folders occupying her partner's desk sadly confirming her looming suspicion that yes, Vi has obviously bailed on her yet again and so Caitlyn will have to pull another all-nighter in order to finish today's paperwork.

The brunette just grumbles as she starts skimming through the first few reports, defeated striking brown eyes grudgingly following the printed black text as Caitlyn mentally curses herself for strictly forbidding the lazy pinkette from threatening other deputies into doing her part of the paperwork. Maybe she shouldn't have been so hasty after all…

Another crime report and Caitlyn's eyebrows slowly wrinkle in thought, just who in their right state of mind would attempt breaking into an expensive hextech store just to steal all of their stock of light bulbs? A low cough and a simple yellow box abruptly being shoved on top of the peculiar report briefly derails the Sheriff's current train of thought as perplexed brown orbs slowly rise to meet her partner's mischievous sky blue ones.

"… "

"…"

" Vi… Please tell me that you didn't just stuff all of your incomplete paperwork inside this little box and decided to give it to me as a present…"

Vi pauses for a moment, her face freezing as beautiful sky blue orbs suddenly widen as a small scheming smirk abruptly forms on the pinkette's lips and Caitlyn can already guess what present Vi is going to give to her during the next upcoming Snowdown. The young brunette Sheriff finally dares to release a tired breath and almost sighs in relief when the still smugly smiling pinkette casually shakes her head and then pushes the small yellow box even closer to the visibly cautious brunette.

"You want me to.. open this box for you?'

The pink-haired woman nods and Caitlyn eyes her as she cautiously reaches for the admittedly sudden gift, her suspicious gaze never quite leaving her smiling partner. Today wasn't her birthday, was it? No, of course not and it couldn't possibly be the Employer Appreciation Day either. Was Vi just messing with her? Perhaps, but the Sheriff doubted that, the pink-haired woman would know better than to try pulling another prank on her so soon after Caitlyn threatened to confiscate the enforcer's beloved mechanical gauntlets a mere few days ago. The pinkette troublemaker wouldn't try again so soon, now would she? But then again sometimes even Caitlyn herself had trouble deciphering Vi's childish thought patterns.

Caitlyn's gaze lowers as she carefully removes the lid and mentally thanks the gods when nothing starts ringing, releases smokescreens and/or explodes, a tentative peek into the box and most of her fears are quickly dispelled when she finally lays eyes on what she assumes is supposed to be her present.

The present isn't thankfully a stack of crumpled, ink-stained documents or an incendiary device or even a camera tampered to act as a flashbang as soon as the lid of the box is removed, neither does the present consist of another indecent book or pair of revealing lingerie like the last time… The small parcel contains just two simple trinkets, a pair of crude cupcake earrings made from various odds and ends, cogs, copper wiring and a few welded miniature bolts placed on top of each jewel as if to make those metal parts look like little cherries on top of the tiny cupcakes.

Vi's gift doesn't possess the craftsmanship of the ones Caitlyn had stumbled upon while patrolling near the market district, but even she can perceive the care and hard work put behind the construction of the miniature jewels.

"One of the cupcakes can also function as a tracking device. So I-We! We as in the team! Now WE can always have your back when you are tracking some dangerous scum or psycho." Vi whispers in a low voice and Caitlyn is mildly surprised when her usually pompous and loud partner actually refuses to meet her brown gaze and Vi decides that she prefers to keep her eyes firmly locked on the now empty yellow box instead of her brunette partner, and if Caitlyn didn't know any better she might have assumed of seeing the faintest dusting of red coloring the currently fidgeting pinkette's tattooed and visibly nervous face.

"Thank you, Vi. They are beautiful."

The pinkette nods, whispers something that sounds suspiciously like: not as beautiful as my Cupcake, hastily peeks at the smiling brunette and then proceeds to march stiffly out of the office's door like an automaton before she swiftly vanishes into the next hallway.

Caitlyn smiles, her fingers still fiddling with her new pair of earrings before she fondly glances towards her partner's 'empty' desk and spots the endless stacks of folders and documents she will have to go through until the next morning and the Sheriff's warm smile instantly vanishes. Caitlyn just sighs in defeat as she grabs another report from the nearest stack and starts skimming through its contents, but absentmindedly her fiddling hand never lets go of her new pair of earrings.

The End

Notes: An old oneshot, I still cannot fathom how a story that was supposed to be a One-Punch man / Vi crossover ended up with Caitlyn wanting to shop cupcake-shaped miniature grenade earrings…