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When Jinx - Powder, she’s Powder here - told him that they’d have to go get Vi, Ekko isn’t surprised that they headed topside, to the Kiramman estate.
He’s expecting it, really. He remembers the longing looks Vi and Caitlyn exchanged when they were at the Firelights’ den, and he remembers when they hugged goodbye at the bridge, holding each other far too long for it to be nothing more than friendship. He remembers how Vi had purred, something she only did around family, and how Caitlyn whimpered when she reluctantly let Vi go.
So, in a world where everything went right instead of wrong, it only makes sense that Vi and Caitlyn are together.
Powder leads the way, walking into the Kiramman estate like she owns the place. She greets the guards, the doorman, the butler, calling them all by name, like they’re old friends, and they greet her back, warmly and fondly.
They see Cassandra first, who lights up and immediately comes over to give Powder a hug. “My girl, welcome home,” the woman says with a softness that doesn’t match the stern, stoic image of Councilor Cassandra Kiramman.
Powder giggles like a giddy pup and throws her arms around Cassandra’s neck, and says something that surprises Ekko.
“Hi, Mom.”
Mom. Home.
Powder lives here. With Vi. With the Kirammans.
No wonder she’s dressed like a topsider. Because she is one.
Cassandra looks at him and smiles. “Hello, Ekko,” she says, “Always good to see you.”
“Oh. Uh,” he stammers, wondering what the Ekko from this world would say. “Same here, Councilor–” he stops when he sees the weird look Powder gives him. “Mrs. Kiramman,” he corrects himself.
“Pow, you’re here!” comes a voice from upstairs that’s unmistakably Vi. “Hold on, we’re heading down.”
Ekko sees Vi first, dressed in a white tank top and black pants that were simple but tailor-made with a topsider flair, like Powder’s clothes. Vi’s hair is longer, but the shaved side is still there. She’s more muscular than the Vi in his world. Healthier, like Powder in this one.
Still with the tattoos, though, also like Powder.
He sees Caitlyn next. Her hair is in a messy ponytail, and she’s also wearing something simple but classy: black pants and a purple sleeveless top with thin shoulder straps. It shows off the tattoo Caitlyn has, a string of violets that trail up her left arm and then wind down along her left side.
He sees the mate mark on Caitlyn and Vi’s necks. Again, not a surprise, given how stupidly in love they were in his world, and how quickly it happened.
But what is a surprise - a big, big surprise - is what - no, who - Caitlyn is holding.
A baby girl, an omega pup, who couldn’t be older than seven months.
Pink hair, brighter even than Vi’s when she was younger.
Blue eyes, just like Caitlyn’s.
A daughter. Vi and Caitlyn have a daughter.
“There’s my favorite niece!” Powder is just about squealing in pure joy, and Ekko doesn’t think he’d ever see her this happy. She hurries over to Caitlyn, already holding out her hands expectantly. “Give her here, Sis. I’ve missed her so much.”
Sis. Powder just called Caitlyn Sis. One more thing he thought he’d never see.
“You saw her this morning, Pow,” Caitlyn teases, but she does gently hand over the pup with a smile.
Powder cradles the pup like she’s the most precious thing in the world and coos, “My little Callie. Did you miss me, Munchkin? Did you miss your Aunt Pow-Pow? Because she missed you. She missed her favorite niece, yes, she did! Yes, she did!”
The pup squeaks and babbles happily in response, her tiny hands trying to grab the fingers Powder is wriggling in front of her face.
Vi laughs, and Ekko realizes it’s the first time he’s heard Vi laugh since before it all went to shit in his world.
“Callie’s your only niece, Pow,” Vi points out, getting in on the playful teasing, but Powder just rolls her eyes at her and Caitlyn.
“Well, maybe you two should make more pups and I can prove to Callie she’s my favorite,” Powder says with a huff, and then breaks into a giggling fit. “Shit, who am I kidding? They’d all be my favorites if they come out looking this fucking cute. Look at her! Look at this adorable face! So fucking precious!”
“Language, Powder,” Cassandra gently chides, but she’s smiling as she approaches them. She looks at Caitlyn and Vi, and her smile turns into a smirk. “But I do think more granddaughters would be lovely.”
Instead of being embarrassed, Caitlyn ogles Vi like an alpha-starved omega. “Hm, yes,” she says breathlessly. Her hands, now free, paw at Vi’s abs and threaten to slide lower, and she purrs at Vi in a way that’s sultry and beckoning and should really only be between mates in private. “My next heat can’t come soon enough, don’t you agree, darling?”
Vi doesn’t respond with words but instead with a deep, hungry rumble of a purr that’s so strong and loud it could be mistaken for a growl.
“Hey,” Powder barks, squeezing herself between them. “Quit it, you two.”
“Well, who started it?” Caitlyn grumbles, clearly unhappy that she’s no longer touching Vi’s abs and letting it be known.
Powder snorts. “Me, and, trust me, I regret it. Now, come on, let’s go. We’re already late and you know how Unc Sil gets.” She smiles down at the pup she’s holding.
Callie, Ekko reminds himself. Callie, Vi and Caitlyn’s daughter.
“You want to see your Grandpa Vander and Granduncle Silco, don’t you, Munchkin?” Powder coos at Callie, making her giggle. “Yeah, you do, don’t you? And your Uncle Claggor? And Uncle Mylo, too, I guess. Oh, and there’s your Uncle Ekko, but he’s being weird today.”
When Powder says that, everyone looks at Ekko.
“That why he’s just standing there?” Vi says, walking over and touching his shoulder. “Working too hard on that tinkering contest you got coming up?” she asks, talking to him this time. “Should take a break, Little Man. Last I saw, you were sketching some weird, squiggly blob on your notebook.”
Ekko nods, not wanting to make them any more suspicious. “I’ll do that, Vi. Thanks.”
“We’d best get going,” Caitlyn says, giving Cassandra a hug. “We’ll see you and Dad later at dinner, Mum.”
Cassandra smiles and gives Caitlyn a kiss on the forehead, managing to do it since Caitlyn is leaning down for the hug. “I’m looking forward to it, my girl,” she tells Caitlyn. “Let’s hope your father can make it.”
Vi walks up to them, now wearing a red jacket with the Kiramman crest on the back. The other jacket she’s holding, a blue cropped jacket that also has the Kiramman crest, is for Caitlyn, and she helps her mate put it on.
“Vi,” Cassandra says, giving Vi a hug and kiss on the forehead, just as she did with Caitlyn. “Powder,” she goes on, doing the same to Powder before taking Callie. “And my beautiful little Callista,” she coos, and the pup lets out an adorable bubbly laugh.
Looking at them, seeing Powder and Caitlyn getting along, being sisters, seeing Cassandra alive and so openly affectionate with her family, and seeing Vi and Powder happy, actually happy, Ekko can’t help but wonder:
Would it be so bad, staying in this world?
Powder announces their return to The Last Drop by declaring, “Callie’s here!”
Behind the bar, Vander and Silco looked at each other, then at Callie, and then at each other again. And then they both run, racing towards Powder and Callie. Silco manages to take the lead when he trips Vander, who catches himself but costs him the win.
“Silco, you bastard!”
Silco smirks. “Language, Vander,” he teases his brother, who scowls at him. He cackles, and then catches himself. He clears his throat and smooths out his threat.
“Playing dirty, Unc Sil,” Powder says, shaking her head, but Ekko can see that she’s amused, and so can Silco, who dismisses the accusation with a wave of his hand.
“Nonsense, Powder. I knew your father’s reflexes would keep him safe, and I was merely evening the odds. He’s the more athletic one between us, after all. Now, may I please hold my grandniece?” he asks hopefully, ignoring Vander’s annoyed grunt.
“Cheating means your forfeit,” Vander says with a huff. “Besides, she’s my grandpup.”
At that, Silco gasped. “Don’t pull that with me, Brother,” he hisses. “I raised Vi as much as you did, I’ll have you know!”
From the bar, Mylo groans loudly. “Oh, here we go.”
“I taught her how to punch!”
“I taught her how to make a room full of chembarons cower without throwing a single punch!”
“That was a long time ago! The barons have been gone for years.”
“And? It’s a skill I taught her, all the same, and one she still uses, like her fists. Remember that one opponent of hers, his name escapes me, the one with the jaw? He forfeited when she glared at him. One glare. That’s all it took.”
“And you don’t think her breaking his jaw three times in three different fights had anything to do with it?”
Powder growls at the bickering. “Just for that, neither of you gets to hold Callie first,” she tells Vander and Silco. She walks past them, past an expectant Mylo, who pouts, and then hands Callie to Claggor, who does a little dance before taking her.
“Funny,” Vi says to Caitlyn, “she’s our pup and we get no say.”
Ekko watches Silco and Vander continue to bicker in a way only siblings do, while Powder and Mylo do the same, and he chuckles.
“You know what they say, Vi. Takes a whole pack to raise a pup.”
Caitlyn smiles at Vi. “It does, indeed, and now,” she pauses, her hand slipping under Vi’s shirt to touch her abs, “we have some time to ourselves, darling. Shall we enjoy it?”
Vi smiles back, a soft smile that Ekko only saw for Powder before. She pulls Caitlyn close, nuzzling her neck where the mate mark is. Caitlyn purrs and slides her hand to Vi’s back, still under her shirt.
Ekko’s rolling his eyes before he realizes he’s doing it. “Do you two ever stop?” he asks, and it’s Powder who answers.
“Nope! Welcome to my world!”
When things calm down somewhat - Silco and Vander finally getting a chance to hold Callie - Ekko finds himself having a drink with Caitlyn. By some miracle, she and Vi have separated, with Vi being dragged off by Sevika to talk about training for her next match.
Vi in this world is still a fighter, but now by choice - and for sport - instead of necessity. She’s the youngest, undefeated champion, and Vander has happily filled The Last Drop’s walls with newspaper pages of her wins, with Powder’s paintings right beside them. The Kirammans are equally proud, having framed portraits of Vi on display in the mansion, also along with Powder’s prized paintings.
“Are you still feeling out of sorts, Ekko?” Caitlyn asks, the genuine concern on her face and in her voice reminding Ekko of the sweet, caring omega who once spoke passionately about peace.
He wonders if this Caitlyn is still in the Caitlyn of his world, buried deep under all that grief and rage. Ekko hopes, if he does go back, he’d see that Vi had pulled her out of it.
“A little,” he answers Caitlyn’s question, and he takes a drink. He wishes alphas and omegas could get drunk so he’d have a believable excuse for having no clue about anything. “I had this weird dream,” he says, and he glances at Powder and her long braids. He imagines her eyes turning pink like Jinx’s before looking away. “It felt so real. I guess I’m still just… trying to wake up.”
“Hm.” Caitlyn takes a sip of water. “Will you tell me about it?”
Ekko shakes his head. “I don’t even know where to start, and it’s… awful. Just awful. I don’t want to ruin your day.” He looks around and sees Callie. The pup is making grabby hands at Vi’s direction.
Vander chuckles. “Looks like she wants her dad. Vi, come get your pup.”
Silco pouts, but he does relinquish Callie to Vi, who grins and gets a wide, adorable smile in return.
“Miss me, Munchkin?” Vi asks, holding Callie against her shoulder. Ekko can’t hear it from where he’s sitting, but when he hears Vi purr, he knows that Callie is also purring. “I missed you, too,” Vi tells Callie, nuzzling her and kissing her head.
Ekko smiles at the sight. He always knew that Vi would be a great father, and he’s glad she gets to be, in one world. He turns back to Caitlyn. She’s staring at Vi, hopelessly lovestruck.
He wonders how they met in this world, and if it’s one of the reasons things have turned out the way they did.
“You want to go over there?” he asks Caitlyn. “It’s fine. Really.”
Caitlyn looks awfully tempted, but she shakes her head. “No, no. We’re talking.” She gives Vi and Callie - her mate and their pup - one last longing look before turning her attention back to him. “So, this dream? How awful could it be?”
“Your mom is dead, for one thing.”
“Oh.”
“And Powder killed her, along with two other councilors, for another.”
“Oh.”
“Mylo, Claggor, and Vander died. Silco killed them. We thought he got Vi, too, but it turned out that Marcus locked her up in Stillwater. She was sixteen. She was there for seven years, and they beat the shit out of her every day.”
Caitlyn can’t even manage an oh this time. She looks at him, almost glaring at him, as if she’s waiting, any second now, for him to say he’s been telling one bad joke after another. When he stays quiet and holds her gaze, she frowns.
“You weren’t kidding,” she says, and steals a glance at Vi, who’s now gently rocking Callie while talking to Sevika. “That’s a terrible dream, a nightmare, and cruelly vivid, from the sound of it. No wonder you’re so shaken.” She looks around the bar, at every one he’s mentioned, looking at Powder and then Vi last. “I can’t imagine such a world,” she tells him. “I wouldn’t want to live in it.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, more than Caitlyn will ever know, and he’d never say. He hopes the bluntness discourages her from asking for details. It’s just a bad dream, after all, as far as she’s concerned.
“How bad was I, after I lost my mother?”
Damn. He should have known. Caitlyn always was full of surprises.
“Bad,” he says, getting the feeling that he can’t worm his way out of this one. “Really bad.”
“And Vi?”
“At your side. In an enforcer uniform.”
That makes Caitlyn’s eyes go wide. “I would never,” she says, and it sounds more like she’s arguing with herself. “Not to my darling, my mate. No. And Powder, why in the world would she–”
“It’s okay,” he interrupts, reaching over to pat her hand. “It’s just a dream, remember?”
Caitlyn doesn’t look convinced, not at first, but she looks at Vi and Powder again, sees them both fawning over Callie, and that seems to do the trick. She calms down and nods. “Right. Just a dream,” she repeats after him, and then she scowls a little. “I don’t like me in your dream.”
Ekko tries to smile. “Maybe she’s not all bad,” he says, talking more to himself.
“I beg to differ,” Caitlyn says, scoffing. Then, after a pause, she asks, “Was Jayce in your dream? Probably not,” she decides before he could answer. “You only met him once, when you were a pup.”
Is that what happened? Did Jayce die in the explosion?
He remembers passing by the apartment building. Half of it is gone, not just the penthouse.
“Jayce was there,” he tells Caitlyn, who leans forward, eager to listen. He has to choose his next words carefully. None of them should lead to hextech. “He and his partner worked to make life easier for people, to help them.”
Caitlyn smiles sadly. “I suppose that’s the one good thing in your dream,” she says, and her impeccable posture falters a little. “I miss him, my big brother. All he ever wanted was to help people.” She frowns. “But he had ambition as well, and it got the better of him, in the end.” She pauses again, this time to sigh. “I wish he listened to Mum when she told him to stop his research on those damned crystals. Maybe he’d still be here.”
So that’s it. It wasn’t the heist that caused the explosion. It was Jayce.
“Cait?”
Vi is there, holding Callie. Her eyes are soft when she looks at Caitlyn, but when she looks at him, there’s a burning question:
What did you do to upset my mate?
“Vi, darling, is something wrong?” Caitlyn asks, already standing. She closes the distance between her and Vi, Callie safely tucked between them. Callie squirms and reaches for her mother, and Caitlyn seems to understand immediately. “Ah. She’s hungry. I’ll take her upstairs.”
“I’ll follow in a minute,” Vi tells Caitlyn, cupping her face and smiling, “bring you that juice Pow made that tastes like your favorite tea, and have Unc Sil make you those spicy chips you like.”
Caitlyn purrs and nuzzles Vi’s hand. “So good to me. You spoil me.”
“And I’m just getting started.”
They share a kiss, one that lasts so long that Ekko is tempted to check the time.
When Caitlyn is finally leaving, Vi holds onto her hand until she’s out of reach, and when that happens, she follows with her eyes, staring at her mate and pup longingly and lovingly. Caitlyn goes up the stairs, to the second floor where there are bedrooms, including the one Vi and Caitlyn will be staying in.
When Caitlyn closes the door, Vi’s eyes snap back to Ekko.
Being an alpha himself, Ekko instinctively knows that alphas, protective by nature, are even more so when they’re mated and have a pup as young as Callie. To Vi, an alpha already more protective than the average alpha and with a temper to boot, upsetting Caitlyn is unacceptable.
It’s also then he notices that the tattoo on Vi’s face isn’t her name, but a modified version of the Kiramman crest, with one of the Ks being styled to a C instead.
Caitlyn Kiramman. Callista Kiramman.
A reminder that he’s looking at an alpha who lives and breathes for her mate and their pup.
“What did you say to Cait, Ekko?” Vi just about snarls, and try as Ekko might, couldn’t stop himself from flinching. “What were you talking about?”
“We were talking about Jayce,” he says, and Vi stops growling, but she’s still glaring at him.
“Who brought it up?”
“She did.”
That seems to have done it. Vi looks towards the stairs leading to the second floor, and then sighs. “A week from now is his death anniversary,” she says, frowning. “Stubborn bastard should have listened to Mom.”
It takes Ekko a second to realize Vi meant Cassandra, when he remembers that’s what Powder calls her.
“I didn’t really know him,” he says, hoping it’s not too weird a thing to say.
Vi gives him a look, but nods. “Neither did I. Powder’s the one who spent a lot of time with him, even more than Cait did. He even showed her those fucking crystals. She’s a genius, sure, but she was just a pup! What if she dropped one?”
Boom, is what.
And it still happened, only it was because of something Jayce did.
Ekko wonders what went wrong. Was Viktor there, too? Or was Viktor not there, and that was the problem?
Vi is looking at Powder, smiling when she sees her proudly showing a sketch to Mylo and Claggor.
“Hey, Ekko,” Vi says, “thanks again for not pushing her to do that contest with you. I know you can probably talk her into it if you really tried, but after what happened to Jayce…” She pauses and looks at Powder again. “She still gets nightmares about it, every now and then. It’s better to keep her away from it.”
Or what, he wonders. If he doesn’t?
Would he jinx it?
“I won’t get her involved,” he promises Vi.
“Thanks, Little Man,” she says, ruffling his hair. She pats him on the shoulder and goes to Powder, asking about that drink for Caitlyn.
Powder perks up and rushes to the bar. Vi then talks to Silco about the snack for Caitlyn, and he perks up like Powder did before heading straight for the kitchen.
Ekko sits a while longer, watching the happy family that never got a chance in his world. When he gets up and join them, he decides that tomorrow, he has to find Heimerdinger.
Bonus Scene
Vi feels Caitlyn laugh more than she hears it. She’s kissing her mate’s shoulder, working her way up to her neck.
“Vi.” Caitlyn’s voice sounds beautiful and full of nothing but love. “What are you doing, darling?”
“Spoiling you,” she answers, and she slips the strap off Caitlyn’s shoulder, tempted to rip it. She settles for kissing the strip of newly exposed flesh.
“Dinner soon,” her mate reminds her, but the hint of arousal in her scent says anything but stop. “Mum and Dad will certainly arrive before that.” Caitlyn raises a hand, fingers tangling in her hair and tugging her closer, asking for more. “Best get to it, hm, darling?”
The way Caitlyn says it, teasing and seductive, has Vi carrying her to the bed. Caitlyn giggles at her eagerness and she smirks, silencing her mate with a kiss. She kisses Caitlyn’s neck next, stopping to gently bite down on her mate mark. Caitlyn shivers and purrs, her scent becoming stronger and sweeter, and Vi happily seeks more of it.
She kisses her way down, getting rid of her clothes on the way, until Caitlyn’s thighs are on her shoulders and her hands are on her hair. Until Caitlyn is bucking and breathlessly saying her name over and over, voice hitching when her fangs gently graze at the right place and with perfect pressure. Until Caitlyn’s scent is even sweeter, and she tastes even better.
Vi can’t get enough. She never will, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
It’s only when Caitlyn tugs at her hair and attempts to pull her away does she stop, and she does stop, resting her head on Caitlyn’s hip while she watches her mate slowly float back down and catch her breath.
She smiles when Caitlyn starts petting her, the fingers in her hair now combing through it gently. She follows the trail of her mate’s tattoos, first with her hands, and then with her lips. As she does, Caitlyn pulls off her jacket with a demanding growl, and then almost rips her tank top open.
Vi gasps when her mate starts pawing at her body, hands sliding up her back, the touch reminding her of her own arousal, her own need. Caitlyn makes it worse by pulling her in for a kiss, but not before slowly licking her face clean, moaning in delight at her own taste.
“Fuck,” is all Vi manages to say because Caitlyn’s quick hand has slipped down, palm pressing against the bulge in her pants.
“Yes,” her mate agrees. Demands. “Fuck.”
Vi thinks there’s a reason they can’t, but she doesn’t know what it is, not when Caitlyn’s legs wrap around her waist and she can feel the heat of her even through her pants. Not when her mate stares at her with those blue eyes, nearly all black with desire. With need.
“Fuck,” Vi says again, almost snarls it this time, and it’s like she feels Caitlyn get hotter against her. She undoes her pants and pushes them down just enough to free herself.
Caitlyn, even more impatient, pulls her in with a growl of, “Come here,” and welcomes her by moaning her name.
All Vi feels after that is Caitlyn, how warm and eager her mate is, meeting her hips each time with an arch of her back. How Caitlyn is kissing her lips, her throat, and her neck, and how Caitlyn is touching her arms, her back, and her hips. She kisses back, touches back, as they move together, and all Vi can say in between is Cait, Cait, Cait.
Caitlyn, who looks so beautiful under her, face flushed and hair a mess.
Caitlyn, breathing, moaning, growling in her ear.
“Alpha. My alpha. Mine. All mine.
So big. Strong. Handsome.
Feel so good. Made for me. Only for me.
You gave me a beautiful pup, a perfect, precious pup. You’ll give me another, won’t you, darling? And another. And another.”
Caitlyn clutching her shoulders, nails running down her back and then clawing at her hips, gasping, “Yes, yes, yes,” before biting her mate mark and wonderfully falling apart around her, all over her.
With a growl and a snap of her hips, Vi happily follows Caitlyn, seeking out her mate mark and biting down as she shudders and surrenders to everything that is Caitlyn, her perfect omega, her mate.
Caitlyn is the one who breaks the quiet between after, filled previously with just their breathing and purring. Not with words, but with a soft laugh. Vi smiles and rests her forehead on Caitlyn’s, and she laughs with her mate.
“I suppose a shower is in order,” Caitlyn says, wiping the blood from her lips with her thumb and then licking it clean.
Vi groans, but she can’t take her eyes off her mate. “Cait,” she pleads, for what, she’s not sure, especially with the way Caitlyn is looking at her while licking her own bloody lips.
“You love it.”
“I fucking love it. But we don’t have the time.”
“Shame, that.”
Vi laughs and nuzzles Caitlyn, enjoying her mate’s scent a moment before she starts to move carefully.
Except she can’t.
Because they’re tied.
She stares at Caitlyn, wide-eyed, and her mate just stares back at her.
Shit.
She hears footsteps, someone running up the stairs.
“Sis, Sis!”
It’s Powder.
Shit, shit, shit!
Vi yanks the covers free and tries to pull it over her and Caitlyn, but she only manages to cover them from the chest up before the door opens.
“Guess who’s here all the way from Dema–”
Powder sees them and freezes. She blinks.
They blink back.
“Are you fucking kidding me?! Animals! You two are animals!”
Powder and her guest leave, blue braids and blonde hair trailing after them, and the door slams shut. But even with it closed, Powder’s next angry yell came through loud and clear.
“Why does this keep happening to me?!”