So this chapter is brought to you by my desire to get this chapter out before the release of the new Lego Star Wars, and boy is it a long one. Like 13,000 words long. Yikes. It's necessary for the story, though, so I hope you all enjoy!
For the second time in two nights Vi stood outside the Talis Factory, unannounced and uninvited. The first time she'd been there, however, when her mind had been filled with red hot rage and little else, she'd failed to actually look at the place. The pomp and circumstance that she'd come to expect of Piltover, the golds, whites and blues that adorned the buildings as far as the eye could see; there was none of that here.
It looked like an ordinary factory in an ordinary industrial zone, so much so that it wouldn't have looked out of place in the Undercity, apart from the fact that it was cleaner than most of the buildings down below. There weren't any signs that this factory was still in use, either, producing whatever goods the Talis family used to peddle, so that meant someone was paying good money to have the facility cleaned, or was cleaning it themselves.
Jayce struck Vi as the sentimental type, like recognising like, so it made sense that he wouldn't let go of this place. Vi understood, she couldn't let go of The Last Drop, either.
"You sure he'll be in there?" Vi spoke up, breaking the long silence that had fallen since they learned they just missed Jayce at the Council building. She glanced down towards Caitlyn who looked about as tired as she felt, the long walk across the city having done her no favors. "Because if he's not, I'm taking you home."
Caitlyn, face pale under the red moonlight, glowered at her. "This is where he goes when he needs to think, he's been doing it for years."
"And if he's somewhere else?" Vi drawled.
The Topsider rolled her eyes. "Then you can take me home…"
"Awesome." Vi said, putting on a bright smile as she opened the side door on the front of the building, the one they'd been standing outside of for nearly a minute. She'd entered through the back last time but Caitlyn was with her, so she should've been fine coming in through the front. She was vaguely surprised that the door had been left unlocked, after she'd effectively broken in last night, but she wasn't about to look a gift poro in the mouth. Besides, Vi doubted Piltover had to deal with too many break ins, and she should know. Last she checked, she was one of the few from the Undercity with the stones to try.
Stepping onto the main factory floor, Vi took a look around, searching for Piltover's prized "Man of Progress" even as she noted the differences from when she was last here. The furnace was off, to start, so Vi had an easier time seeing around the room, realising just how bare the place really was. In fact, without the furnace and other machines that filled the room top to bottom, she easily could've mistaken the place to be abandoned. Now, in the bright factory lights that hung overhead, Vi could see Jayce by his little workstation, leaning against the table and talking to another man. Vi didn't recognize him, but considering he was alone with Jayce in his family's factory, she had to assume they were close somehow. Even from this distance she could see how pale the man looked, and, judging by the cane on his lap, he was either sick or crippled in some way.
They were deep in hushed conversation, and it must've been important because they failed to notice their entrance, only looking over when Caitlyn called out to them. "Jayce! We need to talk to you about Silco!" She called out, and in any other situation Vi would've laughed at the way his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
"Caitlyn! What the hell happened!" He shouted, rushing over to the two of them and taking Caitlyn's other arm over his shoulder. Together, Vi and Jayce guided her to the desk on the right. The other man had spun on his stall and reached under the table, pulling out a second stall and sliding it next to the Enforcer. Caitlyn slumped down into the seat and Vi could practically see the tension draining from her body, her eyes falling shut in relief. Still, Caitlyn was aware enough to answer the question.
"Jinx kidnapped Vi and I and took us across the bridge", she said, and Jayce flinched, rocking back like he'd been slapped. The other man, who'd reached into a drawer in the desk, paused, his eyes wide in alarm. Still, a moment later he pulled out a small white box that Vi could only assume was some kind of first aid kit before setting it beside him on the tabletop. "She took Vi from the Undercity sometime after taking me from my home."
Vi's blood ran cold at Caitlyn's admission.
Powder broke into her home? How'd she even manage to do that?
The sickly man spoke up then, his voice a deep, slow drawl that Vi felt she'd heard before, or at least someone who spoke with a similar accent, though she couldn't place it. "Your mother is a councillor; your family home is one of the most protected in the entire city. How did she do it?" He asked, opening the box and laying out its contents in an ordered line, before asking in a more subdued tone: "Where are you hurt?"
Caitlyn patted her left thigh and spun so that she was facing the man head on. "On the side. Just cut open the trousers, Viktor, I'm beyond caring right now." She said, sharing a smirk with this… Viktor, as he took a pair of robust looking scissors and cut a large hole where Caitlyn had pointed to, and only then did Vi notice the large red stain running down the side of the Topsider's leg. Vi took one look at the reopened cut along her thigh and turned away, blanching. "And to answer your question… I don't know how she got in, but I will find out. My parents were home; what if she'd hurt them?" And while that was something Vi needed to think about, she couldn't take her mind off Caitlyn's wound.
She'd seen worse, much worse, but that wasn't the point. The wound wasn't long, but it was deep, and it must've torn open at some point in the night, and she had just walked on like nothing was wrong. It was no wonder she was nearly collapsing at the end, with only Vi's help allowing her to make it Topside.
And I thought Pilties were weak…
"It's not as bad as it looks", Caitlyn spoke, almost a whisper, and Vi realised she'd caught the horrified expression on her face.
"No, it's worse." Jayce voiced, saying exactly what was on Vi's mind. "You walked all the way here with your leg like that? You could have bled out!"
"Vi helped!" Caitlyn cried, voice raised.
"And thank the stars she did, otherwise you'd be dead in an alley somewhere." Jayce said before letting out a breath. Then he climbed down to one knee, meeting Caitlyn's eyes. "You should've gone to see a doctor, or at least gone to your father…"
"I'm not a child, Jayce. I can take care of myself." She shook her head, glancing over towards Vi with a look that she didn't understand, while Jayce got back to his feet. "And this couldn't wait, you need to listen!"
"Can it wait the few minutes it'll take me to stop you from bleeding out?" Viktor butted in, grabbing some disinfectant from the table. "Which is to say give me some quiet."
Vi's stomach flipped at Viktor's request, but she wasn't about to jeopardize Caitlyn's recovery, even if it meant being alone with Jayce. Still, she turned and moved to the table on the left side of the anvil that sat before the forge.
Things change so quickly… Vi thought. Yesterday in this very room, the two of them organised a hit on Silco's business, and now he was dead, killed by the daughter he loved and ruined. And she was here, now, just… waiting to see what would happen.
Placing the sack down by her feet, Vi placed her left hand on the tabletop, still wearing the Hextech Gauntlet. Hearing Jayce's footsteps falling behind her, she drew her hand out of the machine and listened idly to the whirring of gears as the weapon adjusted and shut down. Then she spun on her heels and leaned back against the table, folding her arms as she pretended not to notice Jayce's surprised look. He leaned down, palms flat against the table as he looked over his invention, standing just close enough that she could hear him whisper words meant only for her. "Did you make it?"
You won't make it alone.
His words from the night before flashed through her mind, down together in the depths of the Undercity. He was right, though. She'd gone to face Sevika and gotten herself captured by Powder, and it was only with Caitlyn's help she'd escaped.
"I made it", she whispered back, leaning to the left ever so slightly so he could hear her better, "but not alone."
She tilted her head towards Caitlyn, lost in whispered conversation with the slender man tending her wounds, and Jayce nodded with a small smile when he saw where she was looking. Then his expression tightened and he stared down at the gauntlet, eyes vacant and narrow, like he was remembering something painful. "I'm sorry. For what happened back at the factory, I mean." He shook his head before looking towards her, though he didn't meet her eyes. "I wasn't in my right mind then, because… well, you know why." His hands clenched into fists at his side and he looked away in frustration, though he kept his voice low. "I should've… I don't know what I should've done", he admitted, "but I shouldn't have threatened you."
Vi couldn't hide the shock from her face, and Jayce let out a low laugh when he saw her stunned expression, shaking his head with a small smirk.
He actually apologised? For something I drove him to do? I don't understand…
"It's okay", she let out in a hushed voice, turning away from Caitlyn and Viktor so that she was facing him. "It was your first big fight, I can tell, and some fucked up shit went down. I've been there and I've done that, trust me. You handled it much better than I did."
And wasn't that a bitter pill to swallow. When Vi fucked up, she slapped her sister and named her a Jinx, but in a similar situation Jayce had let her go, the woman who put him in that position to begin with. She'd been a child, sure, but she'd been fighting all her life. This was a man who's only injury before that point must've been from some workshop or lab - he wasn't an experienced fighter like her.
So why did it feel like she was the only one who got it wrong?
"And for what it's worth", Vi rushed out as quietly as she could, so she wouldn't get lost in her own thoughts, "I'm sorry as well. I came to you with the information about the Shimmer plant." She explained when it looked like Jayce was about to interrupt. "I got your men killed and I got that child killed, too, all because I wanted to make Silco pay. So I'm sorry too."
Jayce rubbed one hand over his face before standing up straight, turning to face her fully. "I guess it's a good thing we've got them, then." He said, and though he didn't say their names, Vi knew who he meant.
Her and Caitlyn. Him and Viktor.
"Who knows what we'd do without them", she said in agreement. They would never make it alone, but they wouldn't have to.
Vi and Jayce shared a look, then, and she knew they'd reached an understanding, even though they were so very different.
The most important man in the city and its least important woman, commiserating over their need for the people close to them. They were worlds apart in backgrounds, means and life experience, but this one facet of theirs was enough to make the rest of that meaningless, at least while they were here.
They stood in silence for a little while, Vi feeling like she could breathe, just this once, and from the look of relief Jayce wore he felt the same.
"Who's this Viktor guy?" Vi asked, breaking the honestly comfortable silence. "You and Caitlyn seem to trust him, is all."
Jayce didn't appear offended by the question which was good, glancing over at the man in question with a warm smile. "He's my best friend, and the one who helped me develop Hextech eight years ago. Without him, I wouldn't be the man I am now. He saved both my life and my future, when I had nothing left."
Vi smiled at the man, feeling just that little more willing to open up, now that they were on some common ground. "It's the same with me and Cupcake over there, but condense eight years into five days or so." She explained, not missing his snort at her nickname for the Enforcer.
His expression became just that little more serious when he next spoke, however. "You know she forged my signature to get you out of Stillwater, right?"
That… Oh, shit…
"Is she going to get in trouble for that?" Vi had to ask, because like fuck was she going to let Caitlyn lose her job for helping her.
Jayce looked her dead in the eyes and, most likely seeing the fear and determination setting in, rushed to explain, voice nearly rising above the whispered tone they'd been keeping. "Not on my watch. As far as I'm concerned, Caitlyn freed an innocent woman."
Vi had to look away, forcing down the onslaught of emotions, because she wasn't innocent. She shouldn't have been in Stillwater, yes, but that didn't make her a good person. "You don't know what I did."
Jayce shook his head and walked around to the side of the workbench, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a slim brown file. "That's exactly the problem", he said, handing it to her. "I don't know what you did."
But Vi wasn't paying attention, not when she read the words on the front of the folder.
Inmate 516: Vi.
She didn't need to read the rest of the file to see Jayce's issue, and perhaps one of the reasons he'd been willing to move past their confrontation over the gauntlets. Caitlyn had noticed it, too, when she'd first met her down in solitary confinement. It was one of the things she'd asked before showing her the picture of Powder's graffiti.
There's no record of you or your crimes. What're you here for?
"Whoever arrested you, they were either extremely corrupt or incredibly fucking stupid", Jayce snarled, low and quiet, sounding genuinely angry before pressing on, "and when I find them, I'll throw them in a cell myself."
Vi let out a bitter chuckle, cursing her luck that the one time she had a chance to get back at someone the right way, they'd already gone and bit it. "Good luck with that, since he died on the bridge a couple nights back." She said, not bothering to hide the disdain in her voice.
Jayce went pale for a moment, eyes glazing over as his shoulders hitched, and Vi could tell Powder's attack that night had affected him somehow. He was a Councillor, after all, he might've had to see the crime scene himself. "Marcus?" He whispered. Vi nodded and he let out a sharp curse, and for a second she feared that Caitlyn and Viktor heard his outburst, but a glance told them they hadn't noticed. "That fucking bastard! If he hadn't died that night I'd have roasted his ass over a fire personally!"
Vi wasn't sure how to feel about that, really. She'd gone for years with no one believing her, that she didn't deserve to be in Stillwater, and maybe some small, lonely part of her had grown to agree with them. After a while she'd just accepted it, and she could remember that moment clearly, even after all that time. They didn't exactly have calendars in that facility, they barely had running water, so when she heard a guard mention the date in passing one day she ended up spending that night crying in her bunk, because she'd missed her eighteenth birthday. She'd missed her eighteenth birthday by four months, and she hadn't even noticed. There were more moments like that, where she was reminded after long weeks or months that there was a world outside those cold walls.
A lot of her time in prison blurred into one long, never-ending night, but those moments… she'd take them to her grave, remembering them as clearly as the day they happened.
But there wasn't a way to express that here, so Vi put it as best she could, eyes glistening: "Thank you…"
Jayce looked like he wanted to reach out to her, but one honest and heartfelt conversation didn't make them friends so he chose to stay his hand. Instead, he looked down at the gauntlet and ran a hand along its plating, checking for dents or some other shit Vi was too stupid to understand. "Don't thank me. I've not actually done anything to help you just yet."
That got Vi's attention, and she glanced towards him. "Yet?"
The scientist shrugged his shoulders, as if to say he was uncertain where he was going with this. "If you need money, or a job…" He turned and faced Caitlyn and Viktor, putting his hands in his pockets. "My family was poor by Piltover's standards, especially for a noble house, and now I have more money than I really need or know what to do with. Who knew being a Councillor paid so well?" He said with a smirk, sharing a knowing look with Vi and she got the impression that, despite everything, he disliked the opulence and bureaucracy of the Council as much as her.
"You really don't like being a Councillor, do you?" She asked, though it was more of a statement than anything. He snorted as if to say obviously, before she continued. "What, they force you into the job or something?"
"That's exactly how it happened", he said, and Vi couldn't suppress the quiet giggle that bubbled out her throat. "There were concerns for the safety of Piltover after Jinx's attack on Progress Day", he explained and Vi hoped he didn't notice the way she froze. "We were worried that the Undercity might use the gemstone to build weapons against us, so I offered to shut all Hextech operations down."
"And they hated that idea so much they made you a Councillor?"
"They wanted to keep Hextech running while also keeping the city safe, and they thought the only way to do that was to put me on the Council. I'm no politician, but I know Hextech better than anyone except Viktor, so it makes sense when you put it like that." Jayce elaborated, picking up a small hammer and spinning it in his hand, the same as he'd been doing when they'd met here the night before. "Course, now they see me as their leader, which is ridiculous… Look, I'm getting off track." He said, stopping himself from digressing too much. "Just give me a shout if you need anything, and I'll see what I can do."
Vi hummed, nodding as she figured out what to say. "That's very kind… I think I'm gonna stick around with Caitlyn, though." Jayce smiled, taking no offence from her words. "At least for a while, if she'll have me. Not to leech off her or anything like that", she added just in case Jayce got the wrong idea. "But I owe her a lot and we both know this shitshow isn't over. I wanna help her however I can, especially with the clusterfuck she's gonna tell you about in a minute."
"What clusterfuck?" Jayce questioned, looking vaguely alarmed.
"Caitlyn's gonna explain it." Vi told him, because there was no way in hell she was gonna be the one to break the news to him. Besides, the Enforcer seemed to understand this whole situation better than her so she was better off just leaving it be. "So", she began, changing the subject, "you got any questions for me? In the interest of fairness, I mean."
"I have a couple, but let's start with this." He stated, allowing the change in subject, probably because he knew he only had to wait for Caitlyn's leg to get treated, and then he'd have his answers. He turned sidelong to the table and placed his right hand on the remaining Hextech Gauntlet, facing Vi as he asked his question. "Where's the other one?" His voice wasn't aggressive like back in the Shimmer plant, but she could feel the tension in his words, and she knew he'd probably been dying to ask this since they'd stepped aside to let Viktor work. He was probably waiting for the right moment, all things considered.
Vi understood his concern, though. Losing the Hextech Gemstone was what started this whole mess, so the prospect of losing both another gemstone and a whole gauntlet must've been terrifying. Sure, the machine itself was broken, but there was probably a whole heap of tinkerers down in the Undercity who could reverse engineer something like that, or who could sell it to someone that could.
Someone like Powder.
In lieu of answering, Vi crouched down and reached into the sack, carefully pushing the mementos of her old life to the side of the container before picking up the gauntlet. The gauntlet wasn't unbearably heavy so she managed to set it on the table with only some effort, but they were easily three times as heavy as Vander's old gauntlets and those things were made of fucking cast iron. When those things were on they honestly felt as light as a feather, but when Sevika had broken the right one in their fight, the weight had completely thrown her off and she'd taken a massive beating.
Honestly though, it wasn't that big a deal. She'd won that fight and now she'd given the Hextech back, so she could forget about it.
Vi did her best to study Jayce's expression then. Would he be glad she hadn't lost the gauntlets? Or would he be pissed that she'd broken them in the first place.
But, no…
If anything, he looked… surprised?
Vi stepped back and around Jayce as he pushed into her space, too lost in observing the weapon's damage to notice her moving. He ran his hands over the device, checking for any damage apart from the big hole through the wrist before peering into it, eyes widening at the clean cut that severed through arcane steel and wiring.
"What happened?" Jayce asked in a severe whisper, though he didn't appear angry. "I mean, I'm glad you didn't lose it or anything, but do you know how much punishment this thing is designed to take?"
"I'm gonna say a lot." Vi said, trying her best not to smile because he was reminding her so much of Powder when her bombs didn't work, and then she'd get all flustered and red-
Did you see me? My monkey bomb finally worked!
Vi looked down and took a deep breath as subtlety as she could, all in an effort to quell her pounding heart. "It's a bit more than a lot, Vi. The Atlas Gauntlets are strong enough to withstand extreme force and variations in temperature - things a miner might encounter down in the fissures…" Jayce continued on, too preoccupied to notice Vi's anguished expression. "Where the hell did you go after the raid?"
"Had some unfinished business with Silco's right hand, Sevika." Vi explained, keeping her eyes on the floor at her feet, though she chose to leave out just how personal that business was. That fight had been for The Last Drop, and for Sevika's betrayal. It had been to avenge Vander and Powder and herself, and to vent the rage that had been building ever since she left the Council building. But Jayce didn't need to know that, so she pushed on. "I won the first round with her the day after I got out of Stillwater, but imagine my surprise when it turns out she's got a metal arm powered by Shimmer. It was easily stronger than a human's; quicker and more mobile too. The Shimmer even boosted her in small amounts. Not enough to make her mindles like those guards we fought, mind you, but it's a serious boost for a fighter like her. With that and some razor sharp fingers, she nearly gutted me after the fight", Vi admitted, seeing Jayce flinch out of the corner of her eye. "I knew I wasn't gonna win the rematch without something to even the odds, so I went after her with these." She said, tapping the metal plating on the broken machine.
"And how'd she break this?" Jayce inquired, hand coming up to his chin in thought, likely thinking of ways to improve the design, though Vi wasn't sure why. These weren't weapons by his own admission, and looking for ways to make them better in combat instead of mining seemed counterproductive.
Probably just professional curiosity, Vi thought, writing it off in her mind. "Well, I still won that fight even though I nearly died after, so I'm guessing she decided to get some upgrades of her own. Dunno if she made it herself or what, but I threw a pool table at her and she cut through it with some sort of heated blade."
Jayce looked at her sceptically, his eyebrows raised. "You mean her arm transformed into a flaming sword? Like something out of a fairy tale?"
"Not like that." Vi denied, unsure of the words to use seeing as she wasn't some genius scientist. "A blade sort of… popped out of her palm, is the only way to describe it. And it was like fire but different, somehow. I think it was covered in burning Shimmer and she could send out waves of energy with it. Those hit harder than any of her punches, and when she managed to grab me she stabbed straight through the entire gauntlet. I'm honestly lucky she stabbed it to the side, otherwise I'd be down a hand."
The Councillor nodded, leaning back from the table. Then he reached down, pressing a button on the back of the broken Atlas Gauntlet right where the back of the wrist would be, a button Vi hadn't noticed. A small panel opened up right above where he'd pressed, revealing a glowing blue gemstone that he picked up, placing into his jacket pocket - another Hextech Gemstone. "Well, at least we haven't lost it." Jayce mumbled, most likely to himself.
Vi mulled over her next words for a while, looking over to see if Viktor had finished with Caitlyn's cut yet. He looked to be moving slowly and Vi wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but she could see their lips moving, the pair exchanging words she couldn't hear.
She figured they had a bit more time before Caitlyn gave the bad news to Jayce, so Vi spoke. "You said you had a couple questions. What's the other one?"
Jayce, who'd been shining a small flashlight into the hole in the gauntlet to inspect the damage, looked up at Vi with a curious glint in his eyes. It was like he was considering her, weighing the pros and cons of whatever he had wanted to ask. After that moment of pause he switched off the light and set it down, meeting her eyes with an uncertain sort of strength; he wanted to ask the question, but he wasn't sure if she'd answer. Or maybe he was worried he wouldn't like the answer she gave.
That was life, though; full of uncomfortable truths that you needed to know in order to sleep at night. After all, ignorance was bliss only to those who could live their lives without caring. To everyone else the burden of uncertainty hung around their necks like a noose - her neck, when she lived without knowing if her sister had been killed in that burning alley or not. Few of the prisoners she'd known in Stillwater had talked about their family outside; fewer of them had cared. They were the ones who ended up as faction or gang leaders within the prison all while she'd stewed in her grief and anger, raging against a system that didn't care about her.
That was her life for eight years, stuck in an endless loop of anger and longing for a sister who probably thought her dead, and was glad for it. Eating and training and the beatings in her cell; all of them had blurred together in an unending cycle until Caitlyn had saved her with a photo of a drawn monkey, and she couldn't begin to describe how she had come alive, because she knew.
Powder was okay. Eight years of uncertainty, of hope that rotted into bitterness and hate, and it finally felt like it was worth it. She'd only been sad that she wouldn't be able to go and find Powder herself.
Then Caitlyn had ordered her release, and suddenly she had a chance to make things right.
But Vi had never been one for mending things…
"I have a question, but it's something that you might be uncomfortable sharing with me." Jayce explained, his words drawing Vi out of her painful memories and back into the present. Vi didn't trust herself to speak, however, so she nodded instead.
"Why did Marcus arrest you?"
Vi froze as images of Vander's twisted corpse filled her mind, with the sight that had haunted her dreams for years pushing to the forefront. Silco, standing over Powder with a knife in his hands, the flames that had taken everything from her burning in the background - a funeral pyre she saw again and again.
"It's not a nice story." Vi managed, voice choking against her will, and she could nearly see the panic set in Jayce's eyes. He had that same look as earlier, when he'd clearly wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he knew Vi wouldn't have appreciated that. She could only hope he knew it wasn't personal.
He backtracked instead. "It's not the story I'm after…" Jayce said with a soft voice. "I just want to know if you hurt anyone."
Vi wasn't sure if she'd heard him right, so she turned her head and looked him dead in the eyes, but he just stared back, resolute. Was he… was he joking?
Did she hurt anyone?
Did she hurt anyone?
Hurt…
It was so funny and heartbreaking at the same time because that word, that one, single word - it defined her. It was all she was, and all she was capable of. When the time came and she lay dead and alone in the dirt, as Vi always knew she would, that word is all people would remember of her. Not the woman who loved and missed her family, or the girl who lost everything to save the man who took her in. They'd remember the street-rat with red hair and red fists, who broke people and was broken in turn, and then they'd forget she ever existed.
And if she was lucky enough to die worthy of a grave, then that word alone would be etched into the stone.
Can I close my eyes, just for a moment?
"All I do is hurt people." She said, and Vi put every ounce of feeling she had left into those words so that he'd understand. Because Jayce could go on to do amazing things with his life. So could Powder, Caitlyn, Ekko and even Viktor, who she'd met barely five minutes ago but could tell he'd already done fantastic things.
She'd done nothing, though, and she could do nothing, and that was that.
Jayce looked at her like his golden heart Caitlyn had mentioned was breaking, but Vi didn't want his pity. She didn't want anything from him. Fuck, she wasn't ever here for him. This was Caitlyn's mission, and she was only here because Vi cared too much for her.
You must've spent all those years alone in a cell , so of course you fall for the first pretty face to show you any kindness.
Powder was right. She was pathetic…
And now they were back where they started, with Vi closing in on herself and Jayce too nervous to speak.
Vi wanted to run back to the Undercity, where everything was familiar and she could pretend everything was okay, but that would mean leaving Caitlyn behind. She'd promised herself that she wouldn't abandon her again, but being here was all too much for her, and what were her promises worth anyways? Vi could leave, and then she could find Powder and they could run away and make up for all the time they'd lost! They could be sisters again!
But Powder had walked away, and in some eyes it would've been poetic justice for her. After all, Vi had walked away from Powder, and now she'd done the same to Vi.
The truth was her sister didn't want her, and she didn't know how to fix it. Running back to her wouldn't change anything, because Vi couldn't change anything. And just like she'd realized earlier, when she'd blindly led Caitlyn through the darkened streets back to Piltover, she was tired of running, no matter what her instincts told her to do.
The problem was that she wanted too much.
She wanted Powder. She wanted Caitlyn. She wanted to go to sleep in the hopes of waking up from this long nightmare. She wanted to go to her parents' bed and be held, just so they could tell her that it would be alright - that she wouldn't have to be alone anymore.
Vi just wanted it to be over…
But it wouldn't ever be over, not until she fixed things or died trying, so Vi needed to get it together.
If she was going to help Caitlyn or Powder, she needed to see this through.
"I robbed someone", Vi said, causing Jayce to look at her in muted surprise. She'd fallen silent for a minute so he must've thought she was ignoring the question. "Broke into some dude's apartment a week or so before I got arrested. It seemed like a big thing 'cause the Enforcer's wouldn't leave the Undercity alone until they found me and the people I ran with. My si-" Vi caught herself before she could give too much away. "A friend of mine found something in there, some weird blue crystal, and it exploded when she dropped it."
Jayce looked at her with genuine horror in his eyes, but Vi wasn't sure why. She was from the Undercity; people stole to survive, it was just how things went. Vi thought he understood, so why was he looking at her like that?
"The explosion nearly got me but I made it out alright." Vi explained, before something that she hadn't thought about in a while popped into her mind. "The owner did come back, though, but we blocked the door so he couldn't get in. We tried to run, but I guess my friend got spooked and dropped the crystal thingie. I… I don't know if the guy got hurt in the blast, but considering the guards were asking about a robbery and not a murder, I think he made it out alright. Honestly, the robbery isn't the problem, it's just everything that came after." Vi admitted, surprising herself with how honest she was being. "It wasn't the cause, it just set things in motion that had been building for years." And it had taken her a very long time to realise that, even when her thoughts were her only company and she spent days straight mulling over those last few nights.
With Silco waiting in the shadows and Marcus in his pocket, the whole situation had been a powder keg which Vi had set alight that day. That week spent running away from an increasing number of Enforcers, searching for Vander after he was taken - that was just the fuse burning out.
If she'd made a different choice back then, if she'd chosen a different mark or left Powder behind on that job, things would've turned out the same. It might've taken longer, it might not have even involved her, but Silco would've overthrown Vander eventually; that much was obvious.
But that didn't mean Vi wasn't to blame. She had laid the groundwork for Silco to take over the lanes as quickly as he did. She had broken Powder so he could dig his twisted claws into her mind. And, worst of all, she had gotten Vander and her brothers killed, who might've lived to fight against him if she'd just listened.
You say run, they run. You say swim, they dive in. You say light a fire, they show up with oil. But whatever happens, it's on you.
She had put the few before the many, and it cost her everyone.
The robbery may have been her idea, her failure, but that was her real crime. What did some blown up Piltie apartment matter compared to that?
Vi had lived with that truth for years, though. It had been a tear jerking realization back in her cold cell, but now it just made her feel cold. She could share those details with Jayce and not feel a fucking thing, but the rest of the story belonged to her, Powder and no one else.
Now she had to see what he thought of the whole thing.
Vi watched as the scientist turned to her in what looked like realisation, and he let out a bitter chuckle before descending into laughter. Vi saw Viktor and Caitlyn turn to them out of the corner of her eye, but Jayce paid them no mind. He just laughed like he hadn't found something so funny in years, with his head tilted back and his hand over his stomach, his broad shoulders hitching.
"What did you say to him?" Caitlyn asked, more curious than anything, but Vi just shrugged. She'd been deadly serious with him, so what had set him off?
"Would you like to share what's so funny?" Viktor inquired as he finished up the stitches on Caitlyn's leg, removing the thread and needle after a moment before sliding his stool back. The Enforcer took the opportunity to try and stand, but Vi shot her a stern look that promised retribution if she even thought about trying. She'd just carried her all the way Topside, she wasn't about to let her fuck up her leg even more. Caitlyn wasn't the best at taking orders, but even she knew Vi's wrath wasn't worth the risk.
"Sorry, sorry", Jayce wheezed, honest-to-god tears of joy in his eyes. He took a moment to breathe, getting the last remnants of laughter out of his system before he looked at Viktor. "Remember how we met?" He asked with a bright and almost disbelieving smile, like he couldn't believe what he'd heard.
Viktor's brow furrowed curiously as he considered Jayce's question but he answered quickly. "It was after your apartment was robbed and blown up. I was sent to make sure any dangerous materials were safely removed. What's amusing about that?" Viktor questioned, looking between Jayce and Vi but she'd already worked it out.
What're the fucking odds?
It was like the universe was having a joke at her expense, throwing her mistakes back in her face so blatantly, and Vi should've felt angry about it.
But all she could do was laugh.
All of this began when she robbed that apartment, but now she knew that it wasn't just any apartment. It was Jayce's, and that was the funniest thing she'd heard in eight years.
Vi doubled over, roaring with amusement and inexplicable joy as she squatted down, falling on her ass with her back against the leg of the desk. She must've looked insane, sat on the floor and cackling like a fucking witch, but as Jayce fell about laughing with her, she found that she didn't care.
She could feel the blood rushing to her face in a way she'd almost forgotten, and Vi held her arm across her face entirely on instinct. With her vision blocked she could only hear Caitlyn cry out in confusion, but boy did she wish she could see the look on her face.
"What the hell are you two laughing about?" The Enforcer demanded, and she sounded so affronted that Vi just couldn't take her seriously. "This isn't funny, Jayce. We both nearly died, or have you forgotten that little tidbit?"
"W-wait, wait, hold on", Vi tittered, her chest heaving with every breath as she lowered her arm. "You were there?"
Caitlyn nodded angrily, her cheeks the prettiest shade of red, and Vi lost it again while Jayce hadn't bothered to stop. Before Caitlyn's frustration could boil over, however, Viktor decided to be the voice of reason. "Could you two just explain, please?"
Jayce visibly forced himself to calm down and Vi did the same, though it was a close thing for both of them. The head of Piltover's Council looked to her then, a nonverbal request for permission, and she nodded, letting him explain. "Vi was the one who robbed me", he explained as bluntly as he probably could've done in that situation.
Viktor looked at her in surprise while Caitlyn flinched like she'd been struck. "That is… quite the coincidence. Are you sure you're not mistaken?" He asked.
It was quite the coincidence, Vi agreed with him, but sometimes things just worked out that way. "That'd be a trick", she snorted. "An apartment with science equipment and what I'm guessing were early versions of your Hextech crystals, and it wasn't Pretty Boy's?"
He conceded that point, saying: "Well, it seems then that our paths crossed long before tonight."
"It's pretty funny, right?" She called, but Viktor seemed to be too lost in thought to respond. Caitlyn heard her, however, and steely blues eyes locked onto where she was still sitting on the floor.
"It is not funny, Vi." She scolded, genuine anger in her words, and Vi's good mood vanished. Without really meaning to she drew her knees up to her chest, her heart feeling a little heavier, and Caitlyn's expression softened. "Jayce lost everything because of that", she said in a much calmer tone. "His home, his place at the Academy, even my family's sponsor. He was a victim of a crime and yet he was the one put on trial."
Vi turned to Jayce, eyes wide in shock but he just nodded solemnly, looking just as downtrodden as she felt. They could laugh about it, it seemed, but the wounds were still there. "That's really fucked up, man. I'm sorry."
Jayce just waved it off, forcing a smile onto his face that was probably more for Vi than anything. "Water under the bridge, Vi. It happened so long ago that I honestly don't really care anymore." He said, and Vi felt a little bit better for it. "Besides, I was only arrested because of the illegal materials in my apartment, but it led me to meeting Viktor", he continued, pointing to the man. "Without him, it would've taken me longer to figure out how to make Hextech work, and even then it would've been me working alone in order to keep up with the Council's demands. I wouldn't be halfway to where I am now without him."
"You're talking about silver linings?" Vi surmised for him.
"I mean, yeah? I don't know how you feel about all of this, but I'd rather not lose sleep for something that feels like a lifetime ago." He stepped towards Vi and held his hand out to her, and she looked at him with a raised brow. Jayce shot her the smile that had probably won all of Piltover's heart and spoke: "We've both suffered because of what happened that day, so why don't we just let bygones be bygones? I know Cupcake would feel a lot better about it if we did."
"Fuck off, Jayce." Caitlyn cursed at him, deadpan, but Vi wasn't paying attention to her then. The honest easiness in which Jayce offered his hand and forgiveness was astounding. He would be well within his rights to hold a grudge against her, to demand her arrest or something similar, so why wasn't he?
No. She already knew the answer, and it was the same as with Caitlyn, who was so willing to look past her flaws.
They were good people.
Vi grasped his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet, unsurprised at how easy it was for him. The dude had swung that big hammer around like nothing, and while the Hextech might've messed with the weight a bit, that still required serious muscle.
"I can let it go", she said as she dusted off her trousers before shoving her hands in her jacket pockets. "Besides, Marcus only put me in Stillwater so he could cover his ass. The crime didn't matter at all to him."
"Then the matter's settled." Jayce finished, but something seemed to click in his eyes and he hurried out one last question. "What happened to the stuff you stole?"
"At the bottom of the river."
Jayce snorted before he carried on. "What about the crystals?"
"Those…" Vi tried, wondering if she should lie to him or try to deflect somehow, but he'd been alright with her not giving the whole story so far. She just didn't want anyone to know what happened that night. She didn't have it in her to talk about it. "Those were destroyed. I know that for a fact."
The Topsider sensed her hesitation and let the matter drop, having gotten his answer even if it was a little light on detail. "That's good enough for me."
"Well I'm glad we can put this all behind us", Caitlyn said in a neutral tone, and for the life of her Vi could not work out if she was being sarcastic or not. "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to ruin your good mood."
Jayce and Viktor looked at her questioningly while Vi looked away, already knowing where this was going. "Silco's dead. Jinx took him along with us and then killed him." Caitlyn put bluntly, dropping the bomb that had been waiting ever since they stepped inside Jayce's factory. The two scientists had gone still and were staring blankly at the Enforcer after her revelation. "He said that 'the Topsider's' offered him a deal, which included a seat on the Council." She looked to the Councillor with eyes that saw right through him. "And, judging by the looks on your face, it was you who offered the deal."
Jayce turned away, eyes clenched in obvious frustration, but not before nodding, confirming what Caitlyn had already worked out. Viktor took the news better, speaking after a moment. "He's effectively the leader of the Lanes, or at least he was." He said, sounding as tired as he looked. "That deal would have allowed us to make peace between Topside and the Undercity, and would've stabilised tensions enough that we might be able to fix some of the issues there."
"And with him dead, there's gonna be a war! Fuck!" Jayce shouted, his arms moving back and forth with his fists clenching. Vi recognised those movements, she did them herself when she got worked up and there was nothing to punch. He was angry at the situation he'd been forced in and he had no way to vent. "This was our one chance to try and make things right, and it's already gone to shit!"
"What 'war'?" Caitlyn asked, keeping her voice calm.
Vi chose that moment to step in, answering Caitlyn's question for her. "All the Chembarons that worked for Silco are gonna realize the position's opened up, and they're gonna tear each other apart for the biggest pieces of the Lanes."
Jayce, head low and his left hand held to his brow, pointed to her as if to say she's got the right idea.
"It's not just that", Viktor spoke up, "the Council is getting desperate to put an end to the attacks on the city. Progress Day and then the massacre on the bridge? They are worried that the Undercity is going to weaponize Hextech against them."
"They wouldn't do that!" Vi exclaimed, feeling her temper flare, looking towards him, because she didn't really mean "them". She really meant Powder, and her little sister wouldn't do that.
"Do you truly believe that?" Viktor challenged, and there was a strength in his words that Vi didn't dare call into question, no matter how he may have appeared. "We are both from the Undercity", he revealed, and Vi blinked in surprise. "You and I both know how angry the people down there are becoming, how frustrated they have always been, especially with the recent blockade. I'm sure you know what happened the last time the Lanes rose up."
Vi looked away with a snarl, because she didn't just know what happened - she'd lived it.
"No matter who fires the first shot", he pressed on, "people will die, and our home will be thrown into a civil war. And with Noxus now looking to Piltover, who knows what they might try should such a conflict break out."
That was a terrifying thought to behold. Vi knew little about Noxus other than their warmongering ideologies which held strength and power above all else, and even the possibility that they might come knocking on their door sent a chill down Vi's spine.
A civil war and an all out invasion, that was Piltover's future if Viktor was to be believed, and Vi was really, truly scared that he might be right.
Vi wasn't afraid of dying, her reality had been a constant struggle for survival since she could remember, but the prospect of watching her world be torn apart and consumed was something that genuinely disturbed her. All her people's history, their culture, their hopes and dreams - reduced to a footnote in history by themselves and a nation whose only contribution to the world was conquest and death.
Everything she'd fought for, everything her family had fought and died to achieve, it would all be for nothing.
I'd never be able to save Powder…
"There has to be something we can do!" She cried, looking at Caitlyn, Jayce, Viktor - anyone!
"What would you have me do?" Jayce turned to her and asked, voice rising to match hers. "March down to the Undercity and make a deal with the first Chembaron who takes Silco's place, bringing them onto the Council? We both know they won't last very long, and what then? Move on to the next, and the one after that, all the while the people of the Undercity suffer? And we're to just sit back and let the Undercity destroy itself, because we can't be bothered to try and help them?" The Councillor stared her down, and for a moment it felt like they were back in Silco's factory, about to come to blows. The difference this time, though, was they both wanted the same thing: an end to the violence.
"I don't know, okay!" Vi let out, turning and slamming a fist down on the bench. Seeing Jayce flinch at the edge of her vision, however, caused her to try and rein herself in. Getting angry wouldn't solve this. Vi racked her brain for a solution but planning had never been her strongest skill. "Anything I can come up with only helps the people of the Undercity."
"And if we're gonna try and fix things, we need to aim both at the top and bottom of the system." Jayce finished for her. "The people and the leaders - that's the only way we can even begin to help the Undercity. But with the leadership constantly changing and the people unwilling to accept our help, what can we do?"
What could they do?
The answer was as obvious as it was heartbreaking.
They could do nothing.
Even if they had the cooperation of the Undercity's current leader, the people down in the Lanes, her people, would never accept such blatant charity and aid. She would know because she never would, back when she was still running jobs with Mylo and Claggor. Hell, working with the Undercity is what made Sevika stab Vander in the back, and caused a large number of his followers to join up with Silco.
It just felt like there wasn't anyone good in the Undercity they could turn to, someone who could get enough people behind them to make a difference.
Except…
That wasn't strictly true, was it?
"Ekko!" Vi shouted, a large grin breaking out on her face as an idea so crazy that it might just work popped into her mind.
Jayce and Viktor looked at her like she had a screw loose, but Caitlyn, beautiful, intelligent Caitlyn, caught on immediately, except the look in her eyes seemed sad. "That could work, but… I'm sorry, Vi; Ekko is most likely dead."
Vi wasn't having any of that, though. "Hey Jayce", she called, keeping her eyes locked on Caitlyn, praying that she was right. "You saw the reports from the attack on the bridge, right? There anything about a boy from the Undercity there? Short, dark skin, white hair? Carried a hoverboard and a pocket watch?"
Jayce looked between the two of them like he couldn't work out what the hell was going on, but he answered her question quickly. "I saw the bridge myself the morning after it happened, and there wasn't anyone there like that. Just dead Enforcers, Marcus among them."
Vi didn't miss the way Caitlyn looked at her feet, then, but she had to press on. "Ekko's alive, Cait. Jinx survived the explosion and she was right on top of it, so why couldn't he?" She asked, being careful to call Powder by the name Jayce and Viktor would know her as. She didn't want them becoming suspicious.
"Just wait a second", Jayce cut in, "who the hell is Ekko?"
"Ekko's an old friend of Vi's", Caitlyn answered for him. "He's the leader of a group called the Firelights, and they're basically the only one's willing to stand up to Silco and his people." She laid out, and Vi could swear she saw the hope enter Jayce's eyes again, however faint. "It's not just that, however. He built what is practically a village around a tree in the Undercity, and while I don't know the exact number, it is no small group."
"I'm sorry, a tree? In the Undercity? Don't be ridiculous." Viktor denied, but he didn't sound half as certain as he had earlier.
"It's true." Vi confirmed, understanding his disbelief. She'd have felt that way if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, because a tree down in the Lanes was practically unheard of. She'd only seen them when she came to the surface, until she'd been taken to the Firelight's home. "It's honestly incredible what they've achieved down there."
Viktor just stared at her for a moment, before shaking his head and looking away. "That sounds… amazing." He sounded almost reverent then, and if he'd grown up anything like she did, he wouldn't have seen any trees until he moved Topside, so it was no wonder Ekko's base sounded so alien to him.
"So you're proposing we meet with this Ekko and give him the same deal as Silco?" Jayce asked.
"That wouldn't work." The Enforcer said, holding her chin to her hand. "Their group is too small, and it wouldn't be able to expand much beyond their base. Besides, they relied on hit and run tactics against Silco. They don't have the manpower or resources to take land on that scale."
"But if you guys helped them fill the void that Silco left, they could get a foothold in the Undercity." Vi countered, getting more animated as the conversation continued and the possibilities flooded her mind, and she felt like she had back in the Council chambers. This time, however, she was winning the room. They could hear her!
This could work… This could genuinely work!
"Give them weapons, medicine, food, things like that, then more and more people would go to them instead of being forced to shack up with the Chembarons." Vi carried on, feeling her companions watching her with rapt eyes. They were listening, they were seeing what she could. All she had to do now was get them fully onboard. "That way you're actually helping the Undercity, instead of leaving them to fend for themselves. And you wouldn't be making back alley deals with some crime-lord, either, but someone like us who actually wants to help people."
"That could be it…" Vi looked to her left to see Jayce turn towards Viktor. "Viktor, that might actually work!"
"It might, but we need to give it some more thought." Viktor cautioned, the life in his eyes tempered by the experiences of someone who grew up fighting for their right to live, just like Vi had. A risk had to be calculated, because one wrong move could cost everything. "Tell us about Ekko."
Caitlyn and Vi looked at each other, deciding who would explain, but the Topsider nodded first and Vi began to speak. "He's smart. Smart like you two are." Jayce and Viktor looked surprised, because that was certainly high praise. They were the ones that had figured out how to combine magic and technology. Coming close to that would be pretty damn impressive, and Vi would attest that Ekko met the mark. "He's been building incredible shit since he was seven years old, and he's the one who designs all the equipment the Firelights use. I can't give you specifics other than their hoverboards, but it was enough to be a pain in the ass to Silco for fuck knows how long!"
"He also single-handedly beat Jinx with nothing but a pipe." Caitlyn added on to Vi's assessment. "Seriously. Marcus shot him right before Jinx launched her bombs and started shooting at Vi and I, and if not for Ekko's intervention she might've torn us apart with her minigun. We didn't stick around to see the rest of the fight, but he must've beaten her somehow. Why else would she use a grenade so close to herself?"
"Why was Ekko with you, though?" Jayce inquired.
"He was helping us get back Topside, and he wanted to be the one to return the gem to you. He was probably gonna rip you guys a new one, and you'd have no choice but to listen." Vi smiled, honestly regretting that she didn't get to see that happen. It would've been amazing.
"Guy sounds pretty good", the Councillor admitted. "Can you reach him?"
Vi nodded, because she'd probably have to be the one to convince him to join their little group, if that's what they even were. Vi could see it, but she wasn't sure where she fit in, if she was being honest. She was a brawler; she had no place among people like them. Still, she'd help however she could.
"So we form a partnership with these Firelights and give Ekko a seat on the Council?" Jayce asked, finalising their plan and looking around the room for approval. "I'm pretty sure I can make that fly with the other Councillors. I'm betting they'll be pleased that they won't have to get in bed with Silco, after all."
"There is one problem with this plan", Viktor started, unflinching even as all eyes in the room turned to him. "No matter how many shipments of supplies we send down, these Firelights simply do not have the numbers to give them a chance in a gang war on this scale, at least from Miss Kiramman's description."
"What should we do, then?" Vi challenged.
"My first suggestion would be working out a deal so that the Enforcers and the Firelights could work together. Let me speak", he said just as Vi was about to interrupt, because how the hell could she remain silent when that was his suggestion? The Enforcers were a part of the problem that the Undercity faced, they were certainly not the solution. "Believe me when I say our opinions on the Enforcers are most likely the same, as I imagine we both grew up under their watchful and discriminatory eyes."
"Then why bring it up?"
"Because, like it or not, that is the only way we can boost the Firelight's numbers so they won't be slaughtered the day the Chembarons realise what they're trying." Viktor ended, stopping Vi's arguments with ease. "But we can't do that because Marcus, our Sheriff, was in Silco's pocket and is also dead. Considering the amount of Enforcers who have died in the past week, as well, our list of candidates that we can trust to be both competent and not corrupt is running short."
"So we need a Sheriff we can trust?" Jayce spoke up.
"Along with a whole load of new Enforcers, ones who we can be sure are not on the Chembaron's payroll. But even if we could manage that, there is something we are missing that we simply cannot get."
"What's that?" Caitlyn urged him to continue. She was probably the most concerned with the potential changes to the Enforcers since, you know, she was one.
"Someone who knows the Undercity", Viktor laid out the problem in simple terms. "We'd need an Enforcer capable of navigating the Lanes and working with the Firelights, all while acting as a guide and leader for Enforcers when they're in the Undercity. Not a second Sheriff, but some sort of Deputy, if you will. Besides, I doubt that this Ekko will be willing to work with some witless Piltie, like most of our Enforcers are."
Vi conceded that point, as did Caitlyn and Jayce, but her experience with Enforcers was limited to running from them and being beaten by them. She couldn't help here, even if she agreed with Viktor's overall point. She'd seen firsthand this week just how dangerous the Chembarons could be. She didn't want to imagine what would've happened to Ekko and his Firelights if they'd tried raiding Silco's Shimmer factory. Without an equalizer like Hextech and the sheer number of armed Enforcers, they probably wouldn't have stood a chance. Shimmer was just that dangerous.
Jayce's head perked up, glancing between Vi and Caitlyn with calculating eyes before turning to Viktor. "I need to run something by you." He stated, walking towards the far wall in an obvious bid for some privacy. Viktor caught the cue and stood, reaching for his cane before hobbling over to his partner. Vi watched him carefully in case he fell, but the scientist made it just fine. Instead, she turned her attention to the Enforcer.
"What do you suppose they're saying?" She pondered, moving towards the Topsider. "Can't be any more crazy than what's already been suggested." She said with a light laugh, trying to ease the tension somewhat. They'd been here less than fifteen minutes, after all, and the conversation had shifted so many times Vi was feeling pretty caught off guard. She didn't know what she'd expected when she took Caitlyn here, but it hadn't been this.
"I'm not sure", Caitlyn began, "but this needs to be sorted here and now. The lives of everyone in this city are at stake, and if we don't get this right then it will mean war, one way or another."
That was a sobering thought.
Here Vi was, the ex-con from the Undercity, and she was helping decide the future of Topside and the Undercity. It would've been amusing if it wasn't so horrifying. She was in no way qualified for something like this, but who was? The Council were businesspeople, concerned with keeping a stable environment as to maximise their profits, and the Chembarons were cut from the same twisted cloth.
Vi just hoped she didn't fuck this up, not like she did everything else. If not for her, then for Powder and Caitlyn, and for the city that her family had given their lives for.
Jayce and Viktor returned nearly three minutes later, with the latter returning to his stool and the former leaning back against the anvil before the forge. They both seemed contemplative, like they weren't sure even after the time they'd taken to discuss it.
Or maybe they were unsure if she and Caitlyn would like what they had to say.
"We've come up with a solution." Jayce started, before being cut off by Viktor.
"Jayce has come up with a solution. I believe it will work, but it is not… orthodox." The tired looking man specified, making sure to meet both of their eyes as he spoke. None of this was orthodox as far as Vi could tell, however, so what was making Viktor like this?
The Councillor turned to Caitlyn with a bright and forced smile. "So, to start, I'm naming you the new Sheriff of Piltover, effective immediately."
Vi's jaw fell open, with Caitlyn nearly falling out of her seat in shock. "I, uhh… w-what? What?" She stuttered, looking dazed.
Viktor managed a small laugh even as Jayce pushed forwards. "We need a competent Enforcer who we trust. They need to be someone who'll never fall into corruption, and is willing to do what is right even if the law is designed to make that impossible." He held out a hand, pointing towards her. "It's you. It has to be you. No one else has the skills and the moral compass for the job."
Poor Caitlyn still looked taken aback, so Vi laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, trying to coax her back to reality. The instant she made contact she jerked, like she'd been rudely awoken from sleep, but she visibly relaxed when she saw Vi. Then she turned her attention to her old friend, and the closest thing she had to a brother. "I really don't know what to say…"
"I was hoping you'd say yes." He joked, smiling until Caitlyn glared at him with sharp eyes.
"I want to say yes." The Enforcer, maybe even the new Sheriff, clarified. "I probably need to say yes, as well. But what about my responsibilities? What about my parents? My mother's been fighting tooth and nail to get me off the force, and she's also technically my boss?"
Jayce just shrugged, looking as boyish as a six-two and well-built man could. "Your responsibilities as an Enforcer would carry over and technically I'm your boss, remember? Look, your mother may not like it, but we both know this is necessary. We can't afford to worry about stuff like that right now."
Caitlyn stared long and hard at the man before letting out a long and drawn out "Fuck…" She shook her head, looking as tired as Vi had ever seen her in that moment. "I have to do this, don't I? Just… make it official before my mother gets involved, please?"
He nodded, acquiescing to her request before looking to Vi, and she flinched under his gaze.
Why was he involving her? She had nothing to do with the Enforcers or Piltover beyond living under it her whole life. She knew how to fight, and she knew the Undercity. That was it.
What could Jayce want with her?
Wait… Vi thought, realising his intentions with mounting horror. He better fucking not…
He totally was, though.
"I know you have your reservations about the Enfor-" He tried, but she wasn't going to let him finish that fucking question. No way.
"Fuck off." Vi swore at him, not even caring about how Caitlyn turned to her, startled. "Fuck right off with that offer. I don't give a flying fuck how well you spin it, I'm not being your Deputy or whatever you want to call it."
"Hold on, Vi-"
"No!" Vi shouted, her heart beginning to pound in her ears. "You don't have a fucking clue!" She pointed to each and every one of them, and she wished desperately that she had something to punch. "You don't know what they did to me! What they did to my family! My mom and dad, dead!" Vi screamed, her voice cracking on the last word. "Gunned down because they wanted a better life! Do you understand what that's like?"
"Darling-" Caitlyn tried, but Vi took a sharp step away from her, cutting her only real friend off.
"Don't even… You don't get to look at me like that", she let out, her voice a caustic sob. "Not with your fancy house and full stomach, not with your family that loves you!" Vi felt the mounting rage be undercut by a growing panic that welled deep in her stomach. "I lost eight years of my life because your boss was a dirty fucking coward! All that time spent being beaten in a cell, with no hope of justice? And the one thing I have left is gone and I might never get it back, because Silco turned my sister into a fucking murderer!"
"Your sister and Silco?" Jayce interrupted before his face filled with horror. "Your sister is Jinx?"
"It must hurt being that clever!" Vi confirmed his suspicions, pouring as much acid in her words as she could muster, because she was sick and tired of hiding the truth. "Your Enforcers took my life away, and now I might never be able to help my sister, so what the fuck did you expect me to say? Why should I become an Enforcer, huh?"
Silence.
Utter, glorious silence.
Vi was just about to turn and leave, because how dare they ask her to do this, when Viktor spoke up, his voice nary a whisper.
"Because this isn't about you."
Vi turned to him, feeling that comforting and dangerous fury seeping deep into her bones. "What did you say?"
Viktor, who sat crippled on a stool, did not back down in the face of her, and at any other time Vi would've respected him for it. Right now, though, she was waiting for him to give another argument that she could tear down. "This isn't about you, who has been let down by our system. This isn't about me dying of a disease caused by exposure to toxic fumes in the Undercity as a child. This isn't about Jayce or Caitlyn or anyone else we know. This is about normal people just trying to live their lives. Honest, good people in the Undercity and Topside. And believe me, there are many people like that."
Viktor looked at her, almost daring her to disagree, but she found that she couldn't and so he continued. "They are the ones who will suffer if we do not do everything we can to make this city right. Hear me, Vi: this is not about you. It is about making sure that there are no more like you. The cycle must end with us." He stared at her, a silent plea for her to understand, and Vi really tried to find a way to argue against him. She couldn't, though, because what the fuck was she supposed to say to that?
Vi felt the anger drain away from her as his words sunk in, her fists opening up at her sides.
This was bigger than her, Viktor was right about that. She wanted to do good, both to save her sister and to save the people of her home, but was this truly the way to go about it?
She felt something tugging at her right hand, and she turned to see Caitlyn standing by her side, having taken her hand. She looked somewhat unsteady on her feet, but there was power in her eyes that said she was here.
"Do you think it'll work?" Vi asked, because she didn't trust herself to make this decision alone. She was too angry, too bitter to think straight, because they were right - this wasn't about her.
Caitlyn squeezed her hand, smiling at her just like she'd done when she'd started panicking in the alley on the way here. "It's the only shot we have."
Vi took a deep breath to center herself, looking for any reason to turn this down, but knowing the things she did, the things she'd seen…
Well, everyone needed to be able to sleep at night.
"I have conditions", Vi stated cautiously, looking at Jayce for any hint of deception, but she found nothing but honesty in his face.
"Name them."
"I won't take orders from anyone but Caitlyn", she began, waiting for Jayce's confirmation. He nodded and she continued the list she was making on the fly. "And while I don't expect to have any sway while Topside, when we're in the Undercity, what I say goes. That work for you?"
"Of course. Caitlyn?" Jayce confirmed with the new Sheriff, to which she nodded. Vi accepted, carrying on.
"If I'm gonna be down there fighting guys with Shimmer like we did yesterday, I'm gonna want those gloves back." She demanded, nodding towards the Atlas Gauntlets that rested on the workbench. "And Caitlyn's gonna need a new rifle as well. Hextech, preferably. She sold hers to save my life a few days back." Vi explained, receiving a thankful nod from her friend.
"Done and done. You'll have them as soon as possible."
"And I want Stillwater to get checked, top to bottom. The shit that goes on in there isn't right, Jayce. I want to fix it, and I want to do it properly."
Jayce didn't even look surprised at that one. If anything, he looked satisfied. He must've been planning to do that already, after hearing her story in full. "We'll see it done. Anything else?"
Vi considered it for a moment, because there was one last thing she wanted, but she wasn't sure if it wasn't better being kept a secret. She'd laid all her other cards on the table, though, so where was the harm? She held the power right then. "I'll be the one to deal with my sister. She's unwell, and I won't let her get treated by the law the same way I was, so just let me be the one to deal with her?"
The Councillor looked conflicted for a long moment. "I can't just let her escape justice, Vi…"
"That's good, because I'm not asking you to. She's a victim of Silco as much as anyone, and while she's hurt a lot of people, she doesn't deserve to be thrown in Stillwater for the rest of her life. I just want her to have a fair shot." Vi pleaded, hoping Jayce would allow this for her. Without it, this whole thing would be pointless.
"I… I don't know if I can give you a proper answer just yet…" Jayce said slowly. "But whatever happens with Jinx, I'll let you be the one to call the shots. You have to be realistic, though. She's incredibly dangerous, Vi."
Vi nodded and went silent, feeling suddenly light headed and she had to fight to remain standing. Still, she'd done it. She could help Powder! So why did she still feel so frustrated?
"Why don't you two meet us here before noon tomorrow?" Jayce offered, cutting through Vi's train of thought. "We can go over the plan in better detail, then you guys can go and look for Ekko. But he has to come here willingly, remember that. We need him to want to work with us."
"Sounds like a plan", Caitlyn said through gritted teeth, and it was with a start that Vi realised that she'd been squeezing her hand tight. She loosened her grip, refusing to look the other woman in the eyes. "Can you have a car bring us back to my house then, please? I won't be able to make it on foot." She reasoned, and Jayce hurried to turn away and do just that, heading out through the front door and into the night. Vi didn't know too much about cars so she wasn't sure if he'd be able to find one that ran this late, but if it meant she could get Caitlyn back safely then she was willing to wait.
Besides, she was half ready to collapse herself.
"We'll make this work." Caitlyn whispered to her. "And I swear that I'll fix the Enforcers, Violet. What happened to you will never happen again."
Vi wasn't sure she believed that. Caitlyn was only one woman, in the end, no matter how amazing she was.
"Let's just get you home…"
She accepted the answer for what it was before turning away, but Caitlyn wasn't about to let her get the last word. "You're staying in our guest bedroom tonight. Don't bother arguing."
Vi didn't have it in her to fight it. Instead, she gently lowered Piltover's newest Sheriff onto her stool, but even then she refused to let go of her hand.
Still, Vi couldn't help but feel like she'd betrayed who she was, or at least who she used to be. Her being an Enforcer both to aid Caitlyn and to act as the expert on the Lanes made sense, it just didn't feel entirely right.
That didn't change the truth, however. It was still the only way any of this worked, because she was the only one with the skills and experience to do what they needed, and she was the only one Caitlyn would trust in the role.
Vi, the Deputy Enforcer…
It was necessary, for all that it was a joke. What would her family think of her now, agreeing to run around their streets as one of the people who had terrorised them their entire lives. Would they understand what was at stake, or would they condemn her for not finding another way?
She didn't know if this was the right choice. She didn't know if this was the only choice, but it was all she had.
Vi waited by Caitlyn's side, sadness and self-loathing swirling like a vortex in her mind, but she stayed silent and she stayed strong. It was all she could do.
And there we have it. Caitlyn is the Sheriff with Vi as her Deputy and partner. I always wondered how they were gonna spin that in Arcane's canon, but this is how I'm gonna do it it. Vi isn't pleased about becoming an Enforcer, and rightly so, but she's the type to understand that, sometimes, you've gotta do things you don't like to make things right. But Vi's guilt and emotional repression are gonna make this whole process difficult, which I've been trying to show these past two chapters, because while Jinx is the one with the mental illness, Vi has still gone through more in her life than anyone her age rightly should.
Luckily she has Caitlyn with her, and I'm betting you all can guess who we'll be picking up with next time because of it ;)
Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and see you next time!