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It’s night by the time Vi finally makes her way back down to ground level.
She walks through the council building, eyes on the ground, numb to the pain around her.
She had tried to force herself to help in the immediate aftermath, once she had finally convinced the tears to stop, but she had been utterly incapable of finding the energy.
As much as she wants to make sure Caitlyn is okay, she’s terrified of the answer.
The universe has made it clear that she’s not allowed to keep the people she loves.
Someone grabs her uninjured shoulder, and she spins on instinct, her fist thudding harmlessly against a golden forcefield right in front of Mel’s face.
“Sorry,” Vi rasps, her voice sounding raw and overused.
“I’m sorry for startling you,” Mel says quietly. She takes a small step back, her hand falling to her side. “I said your name, but you must not have heard me.”
“Where’s…” She trails off, unable to even finish the question.
There’s a look in Mel’s eyes, a deep pain that’s very familiar, but there are too many options for the cause to either raise or lower Vi’s hope.
Mel pauses for just a moment, but it’s long enough to make Vi’s stomach drop. “Caitlyn is alive. She’s in the hospital, and she’ll need time to recover, but she’s alive.”
Vi lets out half a breath. “How bad?”
“She could be far worse. I’ll take you to her.”
As they start to walk, Vi asks, “Is Ambessa gone?”
Mel pauses again. “She’s dead.”
“Good,” Vi says. She winces at the same time Mel does. “I’m sorry. It just came out.”
“I understand.” Mel sighs. “I have… complicated feelings about the situation. I wish she had listened to me. I wish she had left. But I also know she never would have done so.” There’s a few seconds of silence, conflicting emotions passing over her face, then she smiles thinly. “You of all people can understand the complexity of loving family who you don’t often see eye-to-eye with. Did Jinx leave?”
Vi’s jaw tightens. “Yeah,” she says shortly. “She’s gone.”
Mel glances at her. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs.
Vi looks back down at the ground. “So am I.”
“The doctors wanted to put her into a private room and treat her first, but she refused during one of the moments she was conscious.” Mel leads Vi into the large room full of wounded people, an overwhelming mix of Piltover, Zaun, and Noxus. “Most of her injuries look worse than they actually are, so they allowed it.”
“Most?”
“Most.”
They step around a small group of battered civilians, and Vi stops in her tracks.
“Fuck.”
Caitlyn is still in her uniform, with only her jacket, boots, and armor removed. Her turtleneck is lifted just enough to see a thick bandage around her torso, and her hair is loose around a thinner bandage over the left side of her face. Her visible eye is closed, and her breathing is low but steady.
Vi moves closer as if she’s walking through concrete, each step heavy and strained. She stops in front of Caitlyn’s bed, hesitant as she rests a light touch against Caitlyn’s ankle.
“I have to start organizing a cleanup. Are you going to stay here?”
Vi nods silently.
“All right.”
Mel walks away, and Vi stays in place for a moment before sitting on the floor next to the bed, resting her head back and closing her eyes. Her hand swings out and makes contact with the wall, and she lets out a sharp sound of immediate regret as the vibration goes through her arm.
“You should have that tended to.”
Vi opens one eye and glares at the doctor standing above her. “It’s fine.”
“I doubt that.” The doctor pulls a chair over and positions it next to Caitlyn’s bed. “Sit here, and let me take a look at it.”
Grumbling under her breath, Vi moves to the chair, slouching down and staring at Caitlyn as the doctor stands next to her.
“I don’t think it’s broken,” she says, voice low and steady as if worried Vi might spook. “But your shoulder is dislocated. It will hurt, but-”
“Just put it back in place, doc. It’s not my first time.”
The doctor picks up Vi’s arm and rests the palm of her hand against the front of Vi’s shoulder. “Is Commander Kiramman your friend?”
“That’s a word for it.”
There’s a sharp jolt as the doctor snaps Vi’s shoulder back into place. Vi gives a small jerk of pain, but she makes no sound.
“Thanks,” she mumbles.
“I’ll get a sling for it.”
“I don’t need…” Vi sighs as the doctor stares at her in a way that makes her feel like a little kid again. “Whatever.” Before the doctor can walk away, she asks, “What are her injuries?”
“That’s not something I should tell just anyone.”
Vi looks up at her, gaze hard and piercing. “Just the basics. I’m too tired to translate med speak.”
The doctor sighs. “She was stabbed in the right torso. It didn’t puncture anything vital, but the pressure did bruise a kidney. She has a fairly serious concussion, a few cracked ribs, and a dislocated knee. She’ll lose that eye. But she’ll live.”
Vi gives a very small nod and turns her attention back to Caitlyn without any further response.
Caitlyn wakes with a snap of pain and fear.
She tries to sit up, but a hand settles softly against her sternum and pushes her back down.
“Easy, easy,” Vi’s voice says quietly. “Just relax, Cupcake. You’ll tear your stitches.”
Caitlyn blinks, the vision in her uninjured eye coming into focus. “Vi?” She turns her head, neck stiff, and takes her in. Vi looks tired and battered, scrapes and cuts and dirt across her face, and she’s the most beautiful woman Caitlyn has ever seen. “Hi,” she whispers.
“Hi.” Vi reaches down with the arm that isn’t in a sling, her touch gentle as she takes Caitlyn’s hand. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ve certainly felt better. Are you alright?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Why, exactly, do you think it doesn’t matter? Would I have asked if it didn’t?”
Vi’s expression is unreadable. “You might. You have a concussion.”
Caitlyn gives a dry laugh. “I think I have several concussions.” She closes her eye briefly as throbbing pain washes through her body. “What happened to your arm?”
“Fell onto it. Apparently it was dislocated, not broken. I could’ve told the doctor that myself. It’s happened a few times.” Vi pauses, her fingers slowly interlocking with Caitlyn’s and her thumb brushing against her skin.
The touch is soothing, settling, and as Caitlyn focuses on the contact she feels herself start to drift back to sleep.
“Jinx and Vander are dead.”
The words, spoken so softly she almost doesn’t hear them, jolt Caitlyn back to consciousness. “Oh, Vi,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” Vi isn’t looking at her, staring off into the distance, her eyes dark.
“I doubt it’s your fault, either.”
“You don’t know what happened.”
“I don’t need to know.” Caitlyn carefully lifts her hand and presses her lips against the back of Vi’s palm. “You always blame yourself, and you never deserve it.” She hesitates. “If anything, I’m to blame. It should have been me, not them.”
“Don’t say that.” Vi’s gaze snaps back to her, fire in her eyes. “Don’t fucking say that.”
“Vi-”
“Cait.” Vi leans down and lowers her voice. “If I don’t get to feel guilty, you don’t get to, either.”
“That hardly seems fair.”
Vi laughs and shakes her head, then she lowers her voice further. “I’m glad you’re alive, okay? I’m not sure what I would’ve done otherwise.”
“I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had lost you, either.” Caitlyn squeezes Vi’s hand. “I know you aren’t okay, and I know you won’t talk about it now. I do hope that you’ll talk to me about it once you’re ready.”
“I hope so, too.”
There’s a moment of relative silence, the hectic background noise of the infirmary sounding almost muffled as Vi and Caitlyn just look at each other.
“You were all I could think about,” Caitlyn whispers. “Every hit I took, every time my life flashed before my eyes, it was just you.”
“What can I say? I’m very memorable.”
Caitlyn smiles. “You certainly are.” She reaches up, flinching as the pain in her ribs tugs, and she pulls Vi closer by the back of her neck to kiss her.
Vi stays close when they separate, and she skims a finger lightly across the bandage on the left side of Caitlyn’s face. Her expression is gentle, loving, so it catches Caitlyn off-guard when Vi says, “I have to admit, you’ll look very hot with an eye patch.”
It startles a laugh out of her, and a knot she hadn’t realized was in her chest loosens when Vi grins. “I should hope so.”
Vi brushes a strand of hair off of Caitlyn’s forehead. “You should go back to sleep, Cait. You need rest.”
“You need to rest, too.”
“I will later.”
Caitlyn inches over on the bed. “Lie down with me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.” Caitlyn smiles when Vi hesitates again. “Don’t force me to get out of this bed just to get you into it.”
Vi’s grin returns. “I’d have to be an idiot to refuse a pretty woman asking me to get into her bed.”
“Don’t start when we’re in a room full of people and neither of us is in any condition to do anything other than sleep.”
“If I obey those rules, I won’t be allowed to start for a while.” Vi lays down next to her, careful to settle her injured arm in a comfortable position as she presses as close to Caitlyn as she can without hurting either of them. “But I can live…”
She trails off, and Caitlyn looks at her.
Vi is already out cold, her breathing deep and steady.
Caitlyn smiles and takes Vi’s hand in hers. She watches her silently, love devouring the pain throughout her body, until the warmth gently lulls her into sleep.