The Aftermath : A Caitvi Story

Chapter III: Consequence

Jinx's breathing is steady as Vi wipes a wet rag over her little sister's bloodied face, dripping water onto the luxurious comforter below. Vi heard the front door close a while ago but didn't care to check who left and who stayed. Maddie Nolan. That adorable little... Vi should have known. She tries to find it in herself to hate the ginger, but somehow she can't. After all, it makes sense. Who was she kidding? Had she truly thought a Piltover princess would care about her? A gutter rat of the undercity? Her father was lost again, and somehow she still had enough of an intact heart to break even further. Vi's forehead is beginning to hurt from the force of her scowl.

She closes her eyes and remembers the two enforcers, embracing each other. A happy reunion between lovers. Maddie's hands caressing Caitlyn's face as if it were second nature. So comfortable. And her bed? Did Maddie know she wasn't the first girl Caitlyn had invited there? Sure, all they'd done was sleep... which Vi was sure wasn't the case between Caitlyn and Maddie... Vi could see Maddie touching Caitlyn everywhere she'd dreamed of. Kissing those soft lips. Feeling them open. Wrapping her hands around that slim waist as she grinds into her. Feeling her skin, without the enforcer's uniform as a barrier. Vi couldn't hate Maddie. She was too jealous. No, Vi hated herself for being naive and hopeful and everything her painful life had taught her not to be.

"Vi?" Caitlyn's soft voice shocks her out of her spiraling thoughts. Caitlyn stands in the spare room door frame with a medicine bag in hand. "Picked up a few things from my dad. May I have a look?"

"Don't you have a special someone who needs your attention? Maddie, was it?" Vi can hear the venom dripping from her tone.

Caitlyn walks in, past where Vi is kneeling on the floor, and places the bag on the bed by Jinx's boots.

"Why do you always have to make everything so goddamn difficult?" Vi stands on shaking feet, meeting the commander's gaze with defiance. "Oh, I'm sorry, didn't realize you were so secretive with your lovers."

Caitlyn rolls her eyes and fiddles with different medicine tools, seemingly checking Jinx's state, though Vi isn't following, then returns to her stance of perfect posture. "She'll be fine," Caitlyn says with a clipped tone. Vi tries to restrain her sigh of relief. "She hit her head hard, but she should wake up by morning."

Vi reaches down, adjusting a stray blue strand on Jinx's face. Asleep, with no guards up, she looks like Powder. A sharp pain in her heart makes her wonder if she isn't playing make-believe that her sister is still in there. The past few days, it felt almost like before. Before Jinx, Silco. Before they lost Vander... the first time. Before Stillwater. Before all the pain. There Vi was... hoping again.

"Your turn." Caitlyn's slender hand motions to the bloodied wraps around Vi's torso.

"Why are you doing this?" Caitlyn seems surprised by the genuine question.

"I will never forgive her," Caitlyn answers bluntly, "But today... seeing you all together. You looked like a family. Vi, I can't take that from you."

"Didn't stop you before!" Caitlyn closes the medicine bag with more force than necessary.

"You said she was lost!"

"I– I thought she was, OK!?" Vi runs a shaking hand through her dyed hair. Oil slick.

"Come on!" Caitlyn yells angrily, before marching out of the spare room. Vi follows, grumbling to herself, until they find themselves in what Vi assumes is the master bedroom. Caitlyn plops the medicine bag on the bed.

"What are we doing here?"

"After my mom... well, my dad didn't exactly want to stay here, and since I was the new head of House Kiramman, it was proper that this became my room."

Vi's eyes drift to the undone sheets.

"How proper..." she grumbles to herself, hating the hurt edge to her tone.

Caitlyn spins around, "What do you want from me, Vi?!"

"What do I want?! I want to know how it was so goddamn easy for you, Cait. To walk away. To forget everything we went through!"

"Is that what you think that was?" Caitlyn takes an angry step forward. "Moving on?!" Caitlyn smacks the adjoining bathroom door open and spits out, "You need to shower before I close the wound up, we both do. Otherwise, we'll just get more dirt in there. You can use this one, I'll be in my room." She spins on her heels and marches out, leaving Vi breathing heavily with a growing pit in her stomach, entirely unrelated to the gash across her abdomen.