Prison Break

Part 19

Caitlyn was awake far too early in the morning, and it hit her far too quickly what she had to do before going to work.  She sighed, still lying down, and ran a hand down the now long-empty side of the bed before sitting up.  After hurrying to get dressed, she looked at the passage tickets on her bedside table, then above them at her mother's picture.  She smiled a little.  There hadn't been that feeling of conflict for a while now, and still wasn't, just...  an idea.  She was planning to tell it to Vi while they were there for breakfast.  Taking a breath, Caitlyn put a kiss on her mother's cheek with her finger, then grabbed her hat, and headed out the door.
It wasn't often that found the streets of Piltover so quiet.  The city felt almost like a ghost town, aside from a bypasser here and there.  As she walked, Caitlyn thought of the story she'd been telling people to explain Vi's behavior as of late, why she of all people had been so effected by Jinx' death.  It was fairly simple, and...  had a hint of truth in a way.  Jinx for all her antics reminded Vi a bit of her little sister back in Zaun, who she'd long believed had been killed alongside their parents.  Not long after their final chase after Jinx, though, Vi had been back home to visit a friend when, in a dark alley behind one large factory, she'd found her sister.  She'd been starving, frail, sick...  and paralyzed.  Vi's best guess was that she'd been taken and pressed into service as another disposable factory worker for a chem barren.  Then, presumably because of some horrible accident, she'd evidently lost the use of most of her body.  No longer useful as a worker, the thought was that they'd seen fit to use her for who knew what kind of awful experiments...  and then dumped her in the alley to die once she was too weak for anything else.  Caitlyn swallowed hard at the image, fictional as it may have been.  With her reputation and crimes, no one in Piltover would ever mourn Jinx, but...  the story had at least produced some sympathy in people's hearts for Powder...  perhaps as she deserved.
Caitlyn thought about the other part of the story, the part she hadn't told anyone yet, the part about Vi now taking her sister to Demacia, as faraway from her trauma and torment as as she could afford to get them, so they could have a fresh start.  Perhaps, though...  The apartment she and Vi had been living in was too high and too tight for a wheelchair, but she could easily find a more roomy one, one on the ground floor of its building.  Vi was already off the force, but Caitlyn could easily get her a new job, maybe a less demanding one with shorter hours.  They'd want to be together as often as possible.  Surely, there was a place in an academy for a talented, young machinist like Powder.  And maybe, just maybe...
The thoughts stuck in Caitlyn's head as she picked her way through Zaun to the refuge.  Just as she got there, she saw Ekko helping Vi lift Powder's wheelchair out.  Once it was done, the two talked for a few moments, then hugged.  Then, Ekko bent down to Powder's level, and the look about them as they talked seemed much more...  intimate?  She kept a hand on his cheek, they appeared to be whispering some things to each other.  Were they...  Caitlyn wasn't quite sure, until their conversation apparently ended, and Ekko cupped her cheek softly before giving her a long, lingering kiss.
Once he'd gone back inside, Vi began pushing the chair in Caitlyn's direction.  "Early enough for ya, Cupcake?" she asked as they reached her.
"If it were up to me, I'd still be sleeping," said Caitlyn.
Vi smiled a little, then quickly turned her head to the side and looked around.  "Come on.  We can talk more on the bridge."
"Alright."  Vi gave a brief nod, and the three of them silently made their way back up towards Piltover.
As they were crossing the bridge, Caitlyn looked down at the wheelchair.  It was certainly colorful, and had small star shapes everywhere.  A light blue blanket was wrapped around Powder's legs, to hold all the straps according to what she'd heard from Vi.  Powder herself sat looking down, not into the small bag she held in her lap, just...  down.  Caitlyn cleared her throat.  "Your wheelchair's quite beautiful, Powder.  I think it came out rather well."
"Thanks," said Powder without looking up.
Caitlyn let out a short breath, then smiled just a bit.  "So...  You and Ekko?"
Powder put a hand to the side of her neck and looked up.  "Oh...  You, uh...  Y-you saw that, huh?"  A hint of red started to appear in her cheeks.
Vi laughed.  "And hello, Tomato Powder," she said, then promptly got the wind knocked out of her as the wheelchair suddenly stopped and she took the handlebars in her stomach.
Powder grinned looking behind her.  "Oops!  Sorry, I thought we were stopping."  She gave a giggle, then pulled the breaks back away from the wheels.
Caitlyn suppressed a laugh.  "She's trouble," she said to Vi as they started walking again.
"You're just realizing that now, Cupcake?  Not the..."  Vi bent her head down to her sister.  "How many times did we end up chasing you around Piltover again?"
Powder looked at her sister and patted her cheek.  "Ah, Vi...  How cute of you to think I can count that high."  She turned to Caitlyn.  "Isn't she precious?"
Caitlyn held her stomach and covered her mouth, barely able to hold back her chuckles.  "You understand why I fell for her now."  She cleared her throat.  "Anyway, I think you two are rather adorable."  Powder gave a small, shy smile, then quickly replaced the hand over her neck...  oddly.
After the short workout that was getting the wheelchair up the stairs to Caitlyn's apartment, she quickly made the three of them of them breakfast, and they sat at the table to eat.  As they were, though, a bit of dark blue on Powder's neck caught her eye.  Turning her head to see it better, her mouth fell open and she very nearly dropped her fork!  A huge bruise stretched across the entirety of her neck!  "Oh, my...  Powder, what...  Wha... "
Powder took a quick look at her, then gave a start and covered the bruise with her hand.  "N-nothing!  I just...  I-I..."  Her body began to shake violently.
Vi put a hand on her sister's, then turned her eyes to Caitlyn.  Caitlyn swallowed hard.  "I'm so sorry, I..  I wasn't trying..."
"It's fine, Cait, you just don't know.  I'll explain later, okay?"  Caitlyn gave a nod, and Vi's focus shifted to calming and comforting her sister.
After they'd eaten, Vi helped Powder onto the couch with her paper and crayons, so she could draw, then took Caitlyn into the bedroom, and told her what had happened.  Hearing the story, Caitlyn felt herself go cold to her core!  She touched the fingers on one hand up to her throat.  Strangulation, someone trying to squeeze the life out of her in her bed.  There was an uncomfortable intimacy to it.  She let out a slow breath.  "I-I'd forgotten about..."
"Yeah.  Me, too," said Vi, staring out the window.  "I was starting to think we could...  maybe just stay there, but..."  Caitlyn nodded.  Vi sighed.  "She needs to be somewhere where no one's heard of Jinx."
Caitlyn felt herself deflating a little, though some part of her knew that was coming.  There would be no use telling her idea now.  "Perhaps...  someday."
Vi shrugged.  "Maybe."  She cleared her throat, then reached into her jacket.  "Hey, how long do we have 'til we have to go?"
"Still a couple of hours yet."
"Great.  Stay with Powder a bit, okay?"  Vi pulled a rolled-up piece of paper from her jacket pocket and headed towards the door.
"Of course," said Caitlyn, though Vi didn't seem to stop for an answer.  She sucked in her breath as she heard the apartment door open and close, then slowly left the room.
Powder lay humming softly on the couch as she drew.  Caitlyn walked up behind it.  "Did you get enough to eat, Powder?" she asked.
"Yeah."  Powder didn't look up.
Caitlyn rested her arms over the back of the couch.  "Would you...like anything else?"
"I'  good."  Still not looking up.
Caitlyn sighed.  "Right.  I'll just be getting my rifle ready for work then."  She turned to go back into her room.
"Hey, actually, um..."  Powder hesitated.
Caitlyn turned her head back towards the couch.  "Yes?"
Powder wetted her lips a bit.   "Could you...  maybe help me sit up?"
Caitlyn smiled gently.  "Of course."  She turned the rest of her body and moved to the arm of the couch, then pulled her up and back to sitting against the arm.  Then, she put a throw pillow behind her.  "There you are."
"Thanks."
"Of course."  She started to turn to the bedroom again.
"You wanna...  see what I'm working on, maybe?"
"Sure."  Caitlyn rested her arms on the couch back and rocked down at the paper.
Rather than a portrait or a scene, though, it seemed to be a plan, a blueprint of some sort.  For the most part, it was her wheelchair, but near the wheels, there was...  some kind of bright green...  thing, maybe chemtech.  Powder reached into her bag, which Vi had put next to her on the cushion, and pulled out...  something, a sort of green, glowing cell.  Powder smiled.  "Ekko gave me these.  There's three more in there."
"What are they?"
"The Firelights use them to power their hover boards.  He got the idea that I could maybe..."  She turned her head to the chair and gave a little laugh.
"Poor Vi's going to have a harder time keeping up with you than I thought.  My goodness!"
Powder gave another laugh, then looked down into her hand, and stroked the cell with her thumb.  Caitlyn found herself sitting down a bit on the arm of the couch.  Powder seemed to be lost in her own thoughts for just a moment, then brought her head back up a little.  "I'll never walk again, but...  he just might've...  given me what I need to fly."
Caitlyn smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.  "Well, with your mind and skills, I don't doubt it for a second.  Perhaps someday, I'll be able to see it for myself."
Powder giggled as she put the cell back in the bag.  "Maybe.  Ya never know, Cupcake."
Caitlyn smirked and gave her a playful, little shove.  "YOU don't get to call me that."  She just laughed.
By the time Vi returned, Powder had finished the drawing and was taking a nap, laid out across the couch again.  Caitlyn was now sitting on one of the cushions looking down at her, having still not gotten her gun ready, and startled a bit as she heard the door being opened.  She turned her head to see her with a small picture frame in her hands, and a satisfied smile on her face.  "Aw..." she cooed seeing her sister.
Caitlyn gave a small grin, then looked down and softly stroked Powder's hair.  "Alright...  I'll admit it, she's...  rather adorable when she's asleep."
Vi gave a small smirk as she closed the door behind her.  "Told ya."  She walked up to the couch and gently woke her sister.
Powder yawned as she opened her eyes.  "Heh, Vi!  You're back!"
"Yup."  Vi sat down behind Caitlyn, and turned the frame for her to see what was in it.
Powder's eyes widened as she took hold of the frame, a beaming smile crossing her lips.  One of the drawings sat in the middle of it, a kind-looking man with a trimmed beard.  "He looks good in there," said Powder.
"I thought you'd like it."  Vi patted Powder's knee.  "We'll hang it up somewhere in our new house, okay?  You can pick where."  Powder only nodded, then began tracing the lines of the drawing with one finger, eyes growing calmer, seemingly, than Caitlyn had ever seen them.
A while later, and far too soon for Caitlyn's liking, they arrived at the Hexgates, and made their way to the right air ship.  Vi helped Powder out of her chair and set her sitting against a wall.  While she helped two attendants fold up the wheelchair, Caitlyn sat down beside the younger sister.  Just before they'd left the apartment, she'd tried to give her back the pistol, the one of her weapons that could be the least linked to Jinx, as a means to protect herself if ever necessary.  She hadn't wanted it, and had quite fervently rejected it, somewhat understandably after everything.  She wasn't ready to have it again yet, and Caitlyn had given it to Vi to hold onto until she was.  Now, Caitlyn took in a deep breath as she rested a hand on the girl's knee.  Powder, though, was the first to speak.  "I-I know, you know?" she said, her v slightly shaking.
"What?"  Caitlyn fixed her gaze firmly on her.
Powder gave a small nod.  "Vi doesn't know I know, but...  A couple nights ago, I heard her telling Ekko that...  if I get sick again, he should bring Sen right away, so they can see me again before..."
"You won't," Caitlyn interrupted quickly.
"How do you know?  I still cough up blood sometimes.  What if..."  Caitlyn's hand moved to her shoulder.  "I-I don't want to...  I can't hurt Vi like that, I..."
"You won't."  Caitlyn said it softer this time.  Her hand moved to hold Powder's.  She gave her a small smile.  "Vi told me...  she thinks you might be stronger than her."
"Yeah...  Right..."
"No, really.  She said so.  And...  I have to agree with her.  After all, what else would you think of the one who took on a terror like the great Jinx and won?  Hm?"  Powder looked down into her lap and sighed, but it, Caitlyn thought she could see just a hint of confidence building in her eyes.
The next moment, though, she suddenly felt the hat being lifted off her head!  "Wha...  Hey!"  Her eyes shot to the side just in time to see Powder happily placing it on her own head.
Powder giggled.  "I've always wanted to try this thing on."  She turned to look at Caitlyn.  "How do I look?"  Caitlyn simply shook her head.
"Okay, Powder, I'm ready for y..."  VI's words were cut off by the sight that met her eyes.  She laughed.  "Oh!  Begging your pardon, Sheriff Powder, ma'am!"
"Sheriff indeed," said Caitlyn taking her hat back.  "No wonder she's been so much trouble.  She gets it from her big sister."
Vi folded her arms and turned her nose up.  "Well!  I never!" she said, imitating Caitlyn's accent.  Powder was all giggles.
Caitlyn smiled, then sighed deeply as she stood up.  "Vi, I...  I-I don't know what to..."
She was cut off by Vi's arms wrapping around her!  "I really owe you one, Cupcake.  Thanks...  For everything."
Caitlyn wanted to argue that Vi absolutely didn't owe her anything, but...  she held back, and instead, just returned the hug.  "Take good care of that one," she said of Powder.  "She needs it."
"Hey!" Powder shouted from behind.
Vi let out a chuckle as she released the hug.  "I will."  They gave each other a smile, then Vi touched a hand to Caitlyn's cheek.  Seconds passed with neither saying anything, they just...  looked at each other.  Those warm, gray eyes always seemed to melt right through Caitlyn.  Sometimes, she felt she could just lay on their bed and look into them for hours.  Vi opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.  She held Caitlyn's gaze for a few moments more, than sighed putting her head down, and we over to Powder.
Caitlyn touched her fingertips to the spot on her cheek where Vi's hand had been.  For just a moment, she'd felt Vi was going to...  No, she didn't deserve it.  She knew that.  Not after what she'd done.  "Alright, 'that one,'" she heard Vi say behind her.  "Up we go."  A slight grunt followed and a second later, Powder was being carried past her.  Her eyes met Caitlyn's as she passed, almost innocent, ironically, and...  full of gratitude.
Caitlyn swallowed hard, then jokingly placed her hat on the girl's head, so that the brim fell over her eyes.  "Don't lose it now."
"You're serious?"
"I am."
Powder laughed as she pulled h off her eyes.  "Thanks!"
Caitlyn only smiled as she watched the two disappear onto the air ship, then slowly exhaled as the door was closed.  "You're welcome, Powder," she said quietly.
A few minutes later, the ship's twin Hextech engines roared to life, and the ship slowly pulled up into the air.  It rose above the hanger, slowly coming into alignment with the giant beam.  A moment later, there was a low hum, then it rose in volume, and with a burst of blue light, the vessel was gone.
Caitlyn stood silently, looking up at the clear sky above, even as the heavy hanger doors closed it off.  "Sheriff?  Can I help you?" said a voice beside her.
She snapped to attention, and looked to the side to see an attendant standing there.  She cleared her throat.  "Oh!  N-no.  Thank you."
"Of course, Sheriff."  He gave a nod, then walked off.  Caitlyn closed her eyes for a second, then headed away from the Hexcates.  She still had to get her rifle ready for the day.  She had her unsu work to get back to, now that this strange, bazaar job was over.  Jinx was dead, and Powder was safe.