Her only thought for the last hour had been Vi is going to be mad.
The task had been simple - a search warrant had been handed down for one of the remaining chem-barons. Caitlyn knew that her presence was completely unnecessary, but she had been champing at the bit, tired of being stuck in the Council chambers, and took the opportunity to get back out onto the streets. It was hardly the fault of the Enforcers that one rogue gun ended up being pointed at them, and that she hadn't spotted it until she had already been hit.
She was well aware that she was extremely lucky. The bullet hadn't hit any arteries or bone in her arm, hadn't gone all the way through to create a larger exit hole. There were so many other places that she could have gotten hit, so many minor changes that would have turned it into a mortal injury, but she was fine.
She sat patiently in the ER room while the physician extracted the bullet from her arm and stitched up the entry wound, watching the IV drip steadily next to her. There was just enough medication running through her to make her a little light-headed, enough to keep her from pulling away from the doctor in reaction to the pain.
She had sent for Vi shortly after she had arrived at the hospital, and she felt nervous butterflies in her stomach as she waited. She wasn't sure what reaction would be worse - anger, or despair. She had no idea how much detail Vi had been given, and that would determine which emotion she would see.
The doctor had just finished stitching the hole up when the door flung open, and she only had the chance to take one final breath before Vi was standing in the doorway, a panicked expression on her face as she took in the scene. "Caitlyn, what the hell happened?"
"Professional hazard," she responded calmly, glancing at the physician, who had frozen at the sudden intrusion.
"You call getting shot a professional hazard?" She slammed the door shut impulsively and started pacing the length of the room, hands on her hips. To the untrained eye, she was about to start a fight, but Caitlyn knew better.
She sighed, turning to look at the doctor. He still needed to put gauze on Caitlyn's wound, but he seemed to have forgotten about it as he nervously watched the pacing woman. "Can you give us a minute? I'll be alright." His eyes darted to Caitlyn for a moment before nodding, snapping out of his trance. As soon as the door closed again, she turned her gaze to her partner. "Vi, I know you're upset, but I need you to take a deep breath."
Vi laughed once, a hand sliding into her own hair to keep it out of her face. "A deep breath? What the hell is that going to do, let me yell at you longer?"
"I'm going to be alright. It's nothing serious."
Her hand had turned into a fist around her locks, gasping wordlessly for a minute. "You got shot, Cait. It is serious!"
"Vi, I'm an officer, we get shot at all the time!" It was a stupid thing to say, and she needed to rein in her frustration before she said something even stupider.
"Oh, is that supposed to make me feel better?" Vi snarled back, hand finally dropping back to her side. Both hands were curled into fists now, almost shaking.
Caitlyn shook her head, sighing. "No, but it proves that this incident was outside the norm."
Vi paced for a moment more before stopping in front of her, towering over her for once. "Tell me what happened," she said firmly, grimace still firmly on her face.
"I will, if you sit down and let me speak." They stared at one another for a minute before Vi finally succumbed, throwing herself into the chair the doctor had vacated. She was still scowling, arms crossed firmly across her chest. "We were down in Zaun. We had a warrant to search one of the factories down there."
Vi started getting to her feet before remembering her agreement, slumping back down. Her arms stayed uncrossed so she could more easily lean forward towards her. "Are you fucking serious? Why didn't you tell me, I could have come with you!"
"Because you didn't want to be an Enforcer anymore, remember?" Caitlyn tried to keep the accusatory tone out of her voice, but she still heard it, and judging by Vi's flinch, she had too. "I can't just bring a civilian along. I can't bend the rules wherever I see fit."
"Funny how that never stopped you before." Caitlyn flinched, and Vi's glare softened ever so slightly as she visibly forced herself to take a deep breath.
"You're right. I have a poor track record." One could fill a novel, maybe two, with all the choices she wholly regretted. She had abused her name and her title all over Piltover and Zaun, chasing what she thought was right. She had to be better, follow the rules to a T instead of warping justice to fit her own needs.
Vi hesitated for a moment before reaching over to grab her hand. "Don't do that," she said softly.
"Do what?"
There was a twitch of Vi's cheek, just shy of a smile. "Start thinking. That's when you come up with your dumbest ideas."
"I do not," she muttered, resisting her urge to shrug in case it messed with her shoulder. "Anyways, there was someone with a gun, and I was too slow to get into cover or fire back." That was the part that had bothered her the most - if she had had both eyes, maybe she would have stood a chance, but the shooter had popped up in her blind spot.
"Why were you out there in the first place? You really shouldn't be." Vi's gaze had moved to the eyepatch, because of course Vi would have had the same thought.
"For stupid, selfish reasons, mostly," she admitted, watching Vi's cheek twitch again. "I never wanted to be a councilor."
"Can you just…stop being a councilor?"
"You know it's not that easy." She thought about it almost every day, though. "I could step down, and there are dozens of families in Piltover who would try to take my place." With her gone, she was afraid what would happen to Zaun, who she had been fighting for since the battle had ended.
"You don't trust them." Caitlyn shook her head in agreement, and Vi sighed, thumb moving back and forth aimlessly against her hand. She was quiet for a little bit, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Do you want me to come back? As an Enforcer, I mean."
"If you want to be an Enforcer, then I want you to come back for the right reasons, and do it the right way. No selective missions, no punching through people, none of that." She could see how Vi's nose wrinkled in disgust, just as expected. "It wouldn't be like the elite squad, and you barely wanted to join that. I won't ask you to do it."
"And I wouldn't be reporting to you either, would I?"
She fought back a smile at the disappointed tone in Vi's voice - any sort of humor would not be appropriate. "Ignoring how unprofessional that would be, no. At some point, there will be a proper sheriff selected." She had been the most critical of the councilors in that regard, determined to avoid hiring another Marcus.
Vi was quiet for a moment, staring at their joined hands. "I don't think I could do it without you."
Caitlyn shook their hands, trying to get Vi to look back up at her. "You don't have to do it at all." Vi was being oddly cagey, circling the thought more than she would have anticipated.
"I'm not exactly filling my days with meaningful activities right now," she muttered, a grimace on her face.
"What, you want a job?" Vi finally looked up at her, bobbing her head in a rather uncommitted fashion. "Is there anything in particular you'd be interested in?"
Vi shrugged, her expression darkening. "I don't know, but I don't think I have the best resume to work with either way. I'd be a pity hire."
"You'd be no such thing." It came out far more forcefully than she had expected it to, and after Vi's initial recoil, she started laughing earnestly, hand twitching in Caitlyn's. "Sorry, that was a bit much."
"It's kinda hot, you getting all worked up over me," Vi teased, pulling on Caitlyn's hand just hard enough to make her arm move uncomfortably. Grey eyes went wide as she saw the discomfort cross Caitlyn's face, head whirling towards the door. "Oh, shit, the doctor's still out there."
Caitlyn had completely forgotten about him as well, chuckling quietly. "We should probably let him finish up," she responded. "I'd really like to get home some time today."
Vi got to her feet, leaning over and kissing the top of Caitlyn's head quickly. "Fine, I guess I'll let you come back home," she joked, pulling away to retrieve the doctor.