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She doesn’t remember the walk back to Piltover.
She doesn’t remember when the sun started to rise.
She hardly remembers anything after that fucking rocket and Jinx-
No.
Don’t think about that now.
Caitlyn’s mother is alive. In hospital and unconscious and badly wounded, but alive. Her father went to stay with her after retreating Caitlyn’s wound and checking over her and Vi.
Frankly she had no idea where Vi was.
Physically she’s here, sitting at the end of caitlyn’s bed and staring out the window, but her eyes are distant. Unfocused. Caitlyn can understand why.
She cleans herself up, braces against her bathroom door and changes out of her stiff enforcer uniform. She leaves minutes later and vi is still just there. Her shoulders are slumped forward, fists gripped tightly to the sheets she sits on. Her breathing is just a little too fast and a little too shallow.
Caitlyn steps in front of Vi and it’s like she’s staring straight through her.
“Vi?”
Noresponse.
Caitlyn slowly brings her hand up to Vi’s cheek, but stops when Vi flinches, turns her head, and breathes heavier.
“Violet?”
That gets a response, Vi turns her head in Cait’s direction, and Caitlyn almost sobs in relief.
“There you are.” Caitlyn gently grabs her hand, still wrapped in bloodied bandages, and waits.
Vi struggles for a few minutes. Tries to speak, squeezes her hand, shuts her eyes, shakes her head.
And she is there, kneeling in front of her patiently, until Vi says something.
“Where are we?” She sounds so small, so unlike the brash brawler she’s come to care for so, so much in these past few days.
“We’re in my bedroom, we’re in Piltover.” vi looks confused and even a bit scared. “I know, I barely remember getting here, either.” Vi just nods slowly and looks down at her boots, Caitlyn moves off her knees and sits beside Vi on the bed, still holding her beaten hand.
Vi clenched her jaw, opened her mouth, and spoke again.
“I'm sorry.”
Now that’s not what Caitlyn expected.
“For what?” she can’t quite keep the incredulousness out of her voice.
“What do you mean ‘for what’?!” Vi speaks loudly and shaky, pulling her hand away from Caitlyn. “My sister blew up the fucking council! She almost killed your mom and she almost killed you! And it’s all my fault because I couldn’t stop her and I left and-!” She breaks off with a sob, curling into herself and weeping while she holds in every little noise and Caitlyn can feel her heart break at the sight.
Vi shakes and she shakes and in turn Caitlyn holds her and holds her, doing everything she can just to keep Vi grounded and let her know she’s safe and not alone. “I've got you violet,” her voice shakes, “I've got you.” Vi turns into her embrace in a way that can only be described as desperate and breaks.
Every bit of anguish and pain and guilt surges out of Vi in wails and it takes everything caitlyn has to hold her together.
She ignores her own tears and squeezes Vi’s shoulders, holds her head to her chest, ear against her heart, rocks them back and forth, pets her hair, anything that might take away from the sheer agony she’s in.
Her wails turn to sobs, and eventually sobs to exhausted whimpers and sniffles. Caitlyn lies them both back against the pillows, still holding Vi against her chest.
“‘m sorry,”
Caitlyn places a kiss on Vi’s forehead “You don’t have to be, it’s alright.”
Vi swallows. “What’m I supposed to do?”
Caitlyn wishes she had an answer, wishes she could say something that could just take all the hurt and suffering from Vi’s life away, but she doesn’t, and she can’t.
“I don't know, but when we figure that out, you won’t have to do it alone.” Caitlyn holds her hand and begins to remove the old wrappings as Vi’s gray eyes begin to fall shut.
“I'll be right by your side, I swear it.”