"Always with you, sis."
The words rang in Vi's ears while she screamed, the blue and pink powder from the explosion dissipating in the air, leaving nothing behind. She scanned desperately, searching for anything--the telltale gray lump of Warwick or Jinx's blue hair--but there was absolutely nothing. Her dad and sister were gone. Dead.
Vi's back slammed against the cold, hard ledge. The back of her head hit the metal too hard, but she didn't even register it. Hot tears flowed, jerked down her face by the movement of the ledge. It was hanging precariously by a handful of loose screws, bound to give out at any moment and send the entire thing falling.
Good, Vi managed to think. She wanted to fall with it. To see her sister and apologize for failing her. To hug Jinx, Vander, her parents, Mylo, Claggor, even little Isha. All the people Vi couldn't save. Why hadn't she joined them already? Why was she always the one that lived? The one that had to learn to carry on with a dozen little fucking holes in her heart from everyone she'd lost? It was exhausting. She was done. She was done.
She was still screaming. It was impossible to stop. Her throat burned, her voice breaking over and over. Maybe minutes had gone by, maybe hours. Time no longer existed.
After an eternity, Vi felt a hand brush her shoulder, the touch so soft it was a whisper. She forced her eyes open to find the blurry figure of Ekko crouching above her. He'd dropped down far enough to be able to touch her, but he wasn't on the same loose ledge as Vi. She hadn't heard him approach. His eyes were filled with pain, but behind it sat an air of determination. The sight of him, so warm and familiar, made Vi's next scream die in her torn throat. Instead, she just sobbed.
"I tried." She had to force the words out through her tears. "She let go. She let go, Ekko, I'm so sorry. I tried--"
"Hey," he interrupted, gripping her shoulder. His touch was firmer now. "I know you did, Vi. But you need to get up. This whole thing is going to come down soon, and I don't want you to be on it. We've lost enough today."
She closed her eyes and shook her head. Even if she wanted to move, she couldn't. All the fight had left her body.
"You need to, Violet. People still need you. I need you. Caitlyn needs you."
Vi found herself fluttering her eyes open as the ledge dropped itself a little further, creaked a little louder. Her voice was hoarse when she asked, "Is Cait okay?"
"She's hurt."
Something electric coursed through Vi's veins as she peeled herself up into a sitting position. Her grief pooled with worry for one of the only people she had left. "How bad?"
"Pretty bad. She--"
Vi didn't wait to hear the rest. She gripped Ekko's outstretched arm and let him pull her up. As her feet landed next to his, the ledge she'd been lying on gave one final creak before coming loose, crashing all the way down. The sound made her wince. She had a terrible headache.
"Glad you weren't on that?" Ekko murmured, not meeting her eyes like he was afraid of the answer. She responded by pulling him into a fierce hug, tucking her face into his. Ekko was warm and alive. She still had people who were alive.
"Thanks, little man," she whispered into his hair. "I owe you one." Then thoughts of Cait filled her head, and she pulled back. The suddenness of the movement and urgency in her face was enough to tell Ekko what was on her mind, and he gave a single nod before taking off. Vi followed at full speed, her head throbbing and body aching, but none of it mattered. Cait was hurt. Vi couldn't stand to lose her too.
She barely remembered the way down. She only knew that she was back on solid ground, concrete thundering under her boots instead of metal, and they were still running. Vi's only distraction was the complete desolation surrounding them. The amount of spattered blood, fallen weapons, and bodies strewn was incredible. She instinctively scanned the empty faces without really caring who they belonged to.
Finally, they made it. A big, open courtyard with gallons of blood staining the ground. Ekko pointed to a pair of boots lying a little ways away. The top half of the body was blocked by a crouching Mel, but Vi recognized Cait's unform instantly. Her hole-filled heart tore open.
"Cait!" she yelled, sprinting over. Mel was using a swath of cloth to apply pressure to a jagged hole in her side that continued to pour blood. Both of Cait's eyes were closed, but the left was stuck shut with blood, both dried and flowing. Her hair had come partially undone, dirt and bruises appearing on every inch of exposed skin.
"What the hell happened?" Vi hissed, adding her hands atop Mel's. She pressed down hard enough that Mel winced.
"My mother," she said darkly, nodding to Ambessa's nearby body. Vi didn't even spare it a glance.
"We need something for her eye," Vi panted, eyes glued to Cait's face. "Ekko, get something for her eye!"
"I already did." He ran up to meet them and pressed a clean square of gauze over Caitlyn's left eye. At the added touch, Caitlyn's remaining eye fluttered open weakly. She moaned in pain.
"Caitlyn," Vi breathed, moving one of her bloody hands to cup Cait's face. "I'm here. I'm right here. You need to hold on, okay? You're gonna be fine." Tears pricked at the back of her eyes again, but she refused to let them fall. Cait needed her. Her remaining eye closed again.
Caitlyn's blood refused to stop flowing, and Vi growled in a mixture of frustration and worry. "This isn't working. Where's the medic? She needs a doctor."
Mel nodded towards one of the nearby buildings. "The infirmary is in there. I'll take you."
Without another word, Vi lifted Cait in her arms and got to her feet. Her body had gone completely limp, head lolling against Vi's chest. Mel took off running, Vi a few steps behind her. The trip felt far too long, every second slow and painful, but they eventually burst through the doors. Mel led Vi down a series of hallways, and once they arrived at the infirmary they were swarmed with medical personnel. Caitlyn was taken from Vi's arms and put on a gurney, where they rushed her into a separate room. Vi tried to follow, but a nurse shot Mel a look and Mel grabbed Vi's arm.
"You can't go back with her," she said. "They need to work on Caitlyn privately."
"Is she going to be okay?" Her voice broke a bit, edged with desperation.
"Caitlyn is a fighter. If anyone is going to pull through, she will." The quiet confidence in Mel's voice managed to calm Vi a little, but not much. She practically fell into the nearest chair, rubbing her face with her hands without thinking about the blood on them. But with her eyes closed, all she could see was Jinx, so she tore her hands away.
"What happened? I need to know."
Mel took the seat next to Vi and told her everything she knew, from Cait and Ambessa's fight to Maddie's betrayal. If that Noxian scum hadn't already been dead, Vi would have found her and killed her right then. She clenched her fists. "So now what? What am I supposed to do?"
"Rest," Mel suggested. "Eat." But when Vi shook her head to both of those, she sighed and added, "Wait."
"Then I'll wait."
Vi sat there for hours, doing nothing but staring at the wall. Mel left to give her privacy and do whatever it was she had to do. The next thing she knew, a nurse was shaking her awake. Vi started and the nurse jumped. Vi shook herself and demanded, "Is she okay?"
The nurse righted herself. "She is. She pulled through surgery. The stab wound was stitched shut and she needed a blood transfusion. But we couldn't save her eye."
A pang shot through Vi. Cait, the most talented sharpshooter Vi had ever known, had lost an eye. "Where's Cait?"
"We moved her to a recovery room. She should be waking up soon."
"Can I see her?"
"Of course. Follow me."
Vi practically burst through the door, startling the poor man sitting next to Cait's bed. She recognized him as Tobias, Cait's father, and she stiffened. Tobias' eyes were hardened, but then he gazed at the blood staining Vi's hands and chest, the tear stains streaking her face. He softened and gestured to the chair on the other side of Caitlyn's bed. Vi gave him a single nod and took it, dragging it forward as close to Cait's bed as possible. Once the nurse left, Tobias spoke.
"Why don't you clean up?"
"I can't leave her."
"You won't. I'll keep an eye on her."
She relented, going to the attached private bathroom to wash off all the blood. Her eyes were ringed with dark circles, like she'd aged a decade in the past day. She probably had.
When Vi returned to her seat, she held Cait's hand, running her thumb along the back. Tobias didn't speak to her again, and though the silence was uncomfortable, it wasn't hostile. Finally, Cait's remaining eye began to blink open. The left was covered in a swath of bandages that wrapped around her head. Cait's eye roamed lazily over her hand, encased in Vi's, and up to her face.
"Violet?" she whispered, voice thick and hoarse.
Tobias got to his feet and murmured, "I'll give you two some privacy," before shutting the door.
Vi lifted her free hand to cup Cait's face and shifted so she was sitting on the bed. "I'm here, cupcake."
"What happened? Did we win?" Her voice was a little stronger this time, but her words were slurred. The IV drip in her other arm was probably giving her pain medication.
The word win was the last one on Vi's mind, her heart aching once again at the thought of Jinx. She wanted to bury her face in Caitlyn's neck and sob, tell her everything that had happened, but she didn't. Cait needed her more. So she forced a smile and said, "Yeah. We won."
"Hooray," Cait murmured, eye fluttering closed. Yeah, she was definitely on something. A ghost of a smile tugged at Vi's lips, just for a moment. Then Cait's eye opened and she said, as if she'd just remembered, "You saved me."
"No, Mel did. I just got you here." She tucked a strand of dark blue hair behind Cait's ear and leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. She'd have to thank Mel properly when she got the chance.
Cait tugged her hand free from Vi's and touched the bandages on her face. "My eye. Is it okay?"
She hesitated. She couldn't lie. "They couldn’t save it."
"Couldn’t save it?" Cait's voice rose with panic. "What do you mean they couldn’t save it? How am I going to shoot?"
Vi held Cait's face in both her hands and shifted her head so their gazes met. "You're the best damn sharpshooter I've ever come across, cupcake. One eye or two."
"But I've never tried shooting with one eye before!"
"Then you'll learn," Vi soothed, running her thumb across Caitlyn's cheek. "You had to close that eye to take a shot anyway, right?"
"Right."
"Then you won't have any problems."
"Are you sure?"
"Very."
Caitlyn's words were becoming even more slurred, her eye taking increasingly long blinks. Vi looked down at her fondly. "You need to sleep, Cait."
"No, I don't want to," she whined.
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Cait smiled. "Good. I don't want you to leave. Ever."
Vi shifted again to lie down beside Cait, careful of the wires and monitors she was attached to. Her left arm held Cait, whose head rested in the crook of her elbow. The moment she was settled, Cait buried her face in Vi's neck, breathing deeply. "I love you, Violet," she whispered in her sweet, sleep-heavy voice.
Vi felt her chest tighten and she said, "I love you too, Caitlyn."
But Cait had already fallen asleep.