Smoke And Mirrors

Painkiller

How long it had been? A couple of hours? A few days? Or maybe a week? Caitlyn could't tell anymore.

Being stuck in a dark room does not allow you to keep track of time, Caitlyn came to realize. Especially when there's nothing of you to do. She had all the luxuries C could offer but she was far from happy. She missed the presence of other humans, she missed her freedom.

And above all, she missed Vi.

She had come in terms with it. Vi was dead and none power in Runeterra could bring her back. But the pain wouldn't sink in. She constantly felt her chest being pressed down by a heavy, invisible object and it almost rended her unable to breathe from time to time, when she couldn't take it anymore. She hadn't realized how easy it had been to loose her enforcer. How foolish she had been.

Her painkillers were her memories. Memories of Vi. She would close her eyes and see her face again, grinning at her. She tried to focus on those happy memories to help her forget, even for a few brief seconds. It was a small relief. If only she had treasured those moments... And then, the pain was always back full force. Because she was full aware of the fact that Vi's sacrifices had gone in vein. Caitlyn was captured and there was absolutely no way she could escape. With herself captured and Vi dead, no one would be able to stop the Black Rose from taking over the city. She laid her last hopes on Viktor. Perhaps him with Heimerdinger would be able to do something, right?

Oh, who she was trying to fool again?

The Black Rose would take action any minute now and poison the entire city. No one could escape or stop them.

Emilia LeBlanc. She was the brain behind everything. Caitlyn clenched her fists. How come she didn't realize it earlier?

«The Black Rose shall bloom once more»

It was one of her catchphrases, one that Caitlyn heard more often than not at the Rift. Speaking of which, what the hell was the Institute even doing about the whole situation? They hadn't tried to help, aside taking care of the victims.

It seemed the Black Rose had their influence in the Institute too.

The game was over.

As she was thinking those, the door of her cell opened and C emerged in. Caitlyn hadn't seen him in a while now and she was glad. She didn't feel like having any sort of conversations with that son of a bitch, LeBlanc's pawn.

"What a surprise" she commented at his presence "I'm not quite used to visitors. Come in, come in. Don't be shy" she said, sarcasm dripping down her voice.

C remained expressionless "Hello to you too, Caitlyn. I would like to introduce you to Dr Marco, the doctor who took care of your injuries while you were still passed out"

Behind his back appeared a short man with very little while hair and a pair of glasses pressed against his nose. He was wearing a suit quite similar to C's and carried a black, leather briefcase.

"That was kind of you" Caitlyn spoke "But I don't think I need his services"

"You might not. But we do"

The doctor pulled out of his briefcase a syringe filled with a transparent liquid, an anesthetic Caitlyn recognized.

"I advise you to stay still" C spoke while the doctor approached her bed "Dr Marco doesn't not tolerate well with untamed patients"

Caitlyn glared at C but didn't protest. What other choice did she have? The doctor grabbed her arm, cleaned a little spot with alcohol and input the anesthetic in her system.

"What's the meaning of all this?" she inquiried while the doctor cleaned the spot he had injected her with a small piece of cotton.

"We're moving you out to a different location" C explained simply "And to do that, we need you to take a small nap. I apologize in advance for the inconvenience"