Chapter Text
The loud clang of metal on metal sent Vi reeling backward, ears ringing from the close impact. She shook her head, trying to clear the fog that had settled over her senses. As her vision steadied, she looked down to find an unexpected sight - a young child clinging desperately to Jinx's waist.
"Get off me!" Jinx struggled, trying to push the girl away, but her attempts proved futile. Vi's eyes locked with her sister's, catching a glimpse of both frustration and deep sadness in that familiar face. Something twisted in Vi's chest as she watched the scene unfold - this desperate embrace mirroring their own past, now played out by different actors.
"Get away from her!" Caitlyn's sharp command cut through the air, her rifle trained steadily on Jinx. The young girl only clutched tighter, squirming to maintain her grip despite Jinx's continued attempts to dislodge her.
"Cait," Vi called out, her voice tight with tension.
"Move!" Caitlyn jerked her rifle toward Vi, demanding she step aside.
"Scram, kid!" Jinx's voice held an edge of panic as she tried and failed to pry the child - Isha - away from her. The girl fought with all her strength, determined to shield Jinx with her small body.
"Cait, she's a child," Vi pleaded, meeting Caitlyn's steely gaze.
Unmoved by the child's presence or Vi's desperate tone, Caitlyn's grip on her rifle remained steady. "Move. She's not getting away again."
Vi stepped directly into the line of fire, placing herself between the rifle and her sister.
"Cait-"
The warning shot came without hesitation, the bullet ricocheting off Vi's gauntlet. The impact sent her stumbling backward, shock written across her face. For a moment, time seemed to freeze as Caitlyn lined up another shot.
"Move!" "Cait!" Their shouts collided in the air, Vi's pleas falling on deaf ears as Caitlyn focused on her target.
BANG!
Vi lunged forward to knock the gun aside, but fell short by mere inches. Blue hextech powder swirled from the smoking barrel.
A soft gasp escaped Vi's lips. She took one faltering step toward Caitlyn before her knees gave out. Her gauntlets slid from her hands, clattering against the floor with a hollow sound. Her bandaged hands flew to her abdomen, where red was already beginning to seep between her fingers. Pain contorted her features as she squeezed her eyes shut.
Caitlyn's breath caught in her throat as she watched Vi stumble toward her, hands beginning to shake at the sight.
Her rifle hit the ground. "Vi!" She dropped to her knees, hands trembling as they reached for the fighter. Her fingers pressed against the wound, covering Vi's own.
Vi winced at the added pressure. Through the haze of pain, she heard what sounded like her sister calling out. She turned slowly, seeing Jinx had finally managed to free herself from Isha. The young girl stood frozen beside her, eyes wide with horror.
"Vi," Jinx stumbled forward. Even Sevika, who had been lurking near the stone wall, stepped away from her post, shock evident on her usually impassive face.
Caitlyn remained focused solely on Vi, applying pressure to the wound as apologies tumbled from her lips, falling as quickly as the blood that seeped between her fingers. The world began to blur around the edges of Vi's vision, sounds becoming muffled as if she were underwater. An overwhelming urge to sleep pulled at her consciousness, and she pitched forward, strength deserting her completely.
Multiple hands caught her - some gentle, others shaking - as she was carefully lowered to the ground. Through half-closed eyes, she stared at the ceiling while colours danced in her vision and darkness crept in from the edges. She could feel the grit of dirt beneath her fingers where they lay splayed on the ground.
"Cait," she managed, barely a whisper. A soft hand caressed her face, fingers wet with what she dimly realised must be her own blood. A shiver ran through her body as her eyes began to close against her will.
Hands shook her roughly as voices called out, growing more distant by the second. Just as consciousness began to slip away, a searing pain erupted in her stomach. Her eyes flew open, back arching off the ground as two sets of hands pressed against her body - Caitlyn and Jinx, working together to keep her alive. Vi cried out in agony, thrashing weakly to escape the pain.
"Stop!" "Don't move!" Their voices overlapped, united in their desperate attempt to save her life.
"We need to get her somewhere safe," Caitlyn's voice shook, her enforcer training barely holding together as she faced what she'd done. Her hands, pressed against Vi's wound, trembled. "She needs a medic. Now."
Jinx remained silent, her pale fingers covered in her sister's blood as she helped apply pressure. Her eyes darted between Vi's face and Caitlyn, watching the enforcer like a cornered animal. The only sound betraying her emotion was her ragged breathing.
"There's a clinic," Sevika's voice cut through the tension, her mechanical arm whirring in the darkness. "Ten minutes. Underground. No questions asked." She paused, watching Jinx's reaction carefully. "Unless you've got a better option?"
Jinx's jaw clenched, but she gave a shaky nod. Her eyes never left Caitlyn's hands on her sister, tracking every movement like she expected the enforcer to pull out another weapon.
Vi's breathing grew more laboured, her skin taking on an alarming pallor in the dim light. "Pow-pow," she mumbled, the childhood nickname falling from bloodless lips. Her hand twitched weakly, searching. Jinx stared at it for a long moment before finally, hesitantly, letting her fingers brush against Vi's.
A harsh realisation struck them all - if Vi hadn't gotten in the way, it would be Jinx bleeding out, or possibly Isha, who still stood frozen in the shadows, her small form pressed against the wall as she watched blood pool beneath Vi's body.
Sevika moved forward, her mechanical arm extending with a soft hiss. "Time's running out." Without waiting for permission, she slid her arms under Vi's body. The injured woman groaned, the sound wet and wrong, her head falling limply against Sevika's shoulder.
Caitlyn kept pressure on the wound as they moved, her hands slick with blood and shaking. The silence between them all hung heavy and dangerous. How quickly everything had changed, forcing them to work together to keep Vi alive.
They followed Sevika through a maze of decaying tunnels, the only sounds their footsteps and Vi's increasingly shallow breathing. Jinx moved like a ghost beside them, every muscle coiled tight, ready to run or fight. Every few steps her eyes would snap to a dark corner or an echoing sound, her hand straying to a weapon hidden at her side.
The tunnels seemed endless, the air growing thicker and more oppressive with each turn. The darkness felt alive, pressing in around them, broken only by the occasional flicker of dying lights overhead that cast everything in sickly shades of green and yellow.
Vi's eyes opened, unfocused and glassy. "Don't... please..." The words were barely a breath, but in the heavy silence, they echoed. Jinx flinched at the sound, her face twisting with something raw and painful before shuttering closed again.
They emerged into an alley where the air hung thick with chemical fumes. A cracked healing crystal flickered weakly above a steel door - the universal symbol of undercity medicine, though this one looked more like a warning than a welcome.
Inside, the clinic was sterile but shadowed, medical equipment gleaming dully under harsh lights. The medic, a woman with hard eyes and scars on her hands, took one look at the group and started clearing a table.
"What happened?" she demanded, already pulling out equipment that looked more suited to torture than healing.
"Hextech rifle," Caitlyn's admission fell like a stone in the quiet room.
The medic's eyes narrowed as she cut away Vi's shirt. "You two stay," she pointed to Caitlyn and Jinx. "The rest out." Her tone left no room for argument.
Sevika guided a resistant Isha out, the door closing behind them with a heavy clang.
"Hold her down," the medic ordered, uncorking a bottle of shimmer-based healing potion that glowed an unnatural purple. "And whatever happens, don't let go."
They took their positions on either side of Vi. Caitlyn's hands were steady now, finding their place on Vi's shoulders. Across the table, Jinx's fingers dug into her sister's skin, her face a mask of contained fury and fear. No words passed between them - there was nothing left to say.
Vi's eyes opened one final time, clouded with pain but somehow seeing them both. A weak smile crossed her lips before the medic opened her mouth to pour the unnatural liquid inside. The moment she swallowed, heat surged through her body and the wound erupted in searing pain. Her eyes rolled back, darting wildly beneath half-closed lids as a strangled groan escaped her throat.
The medic raised a tool that gleamed wickedly in the harsh light. "Now," she said, "let's see if your fighter is as strong as she looks."
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