Two Sides of the Same Coin (Caitlyn & Jinx)
Prompt from jammatown919:
"Mayhaps Caitlyn getting hurt on the job and Jinx not wanting to admit she's worried about her? (Can be as angsty as you so desire)"
The bullet hit her mark perfectly. Caitlyn didn’t shoot to kill. Not anymore. But she had to find a way to neutralize her target, the woman still wildly loyal to Silco, even long after his death. She hit the woman’s shoulder, feeling the familiar recoil of her rifle, the motion grounding her. What she didn’t know was that someone was behind her. A fist collided with her side, knocking the air out of her. Where was her team when she needed them? They were supposed to be watching her back.
She glanced around, her eyes darting quickly as she felt her breath leave her body. The junior officers were chatting off to the side, convinced that they wouldn’t need to worry much. At Caitlyn’s grunt, they looked up, eyes widening as their sheriff was knocked to the ground. They rush over, but not before a knife enters Caitlyn’s side, right by where she’d been stabbed before by Ambessa Medarda.
“Fuck,” one of the junior officers yelled, calling attention to the rest of the team.
“You were supposed to have her back,” a senior officer barked, rushing to the scene and entering the fray.
Caitlyn stood, despite the blade in her side. She staggered to the man, swallowing down her pain. She’d felt much worse than this before. She’d had a Noxian blade in her side before. This was nothing. She used her elbow to knock his side, using his shock to grab his shoulder and flip him over, pinning him to the ground. She ignored the sharp pain that the exertion caused. “Cuff him,” she ordered, starting to feel dizzy, the dagger still in her side.
Her subordinates did as she ordered, cuffing the man. She looked over at the woman whose shoulder she’d shot, who was also cuffed and being led off. She groaned in pain, finally allowing herself to rest. She fell to her knees, clutching her side with a groan.
“Someone call the paramedics for Sheriff Kiramman!” a voice called, sounding frantic.
_
_
“Jinx,” Vi said softly.
Jinx, who had been tinkering away in her workshop, now moved into Caitlyn’s large estate. She wasn’t quite paying attention. She’d managed to build a drone-like contraption that could retrieve things for her around the house, powered by a hex crystal she’d gotten for her most recent birthday. It felt a little odd to be using it for such mundane things, but somehow, it also felt a little safer. It’s like she knew that she could afford to be mundane now rather than fighting to survive with violence.
“Jinx!” Vi called, louder this time.
Jinx looked up with a frown, broken from her flow state. “That’s me,” she muttered, giving a sidelong glance to her workbench. She looked at Vi, who was standing at the doorway of the room, leaning on the frame.
“Set the table,” Vi ordered. “I’ve just finished dinner, and Cait will be home soon.”
Living with her sister and her sister’s Piltie girlfriend was something Jinx never expected. It wasn’t on her bingo card at all, but nonetheless, she had a comfortable room and workspace, and she had access to the academy’s resources. It was a bit of an inventor’s dream, even if she did have to deal with the sheriff. “Doesn’t that Piltie have servants for that?” Jinx groaned, stretching in her chair.
“It’s an act of love,” Vi said with a frown. “Making dinner for Cait when I could have someone else do it is supposed to show that I care about her.”
“Food is food,” Jinx grumbled.
“Think of it this way,” Vi said, stepping into the room. “Imagine if I sent someone else to spend time with you in place of me.”
“That would be stupid.”
“Exactly. I’m showing Cait that I love her by doing this for her.”
“Oh.”
“So will you please help set the table?” Vi asked again.
“Fine. But not for Hat Lady,” Jinx grumbled, getting up from her chair and stalking from the room. She opened the silverware drawer a little harder than she meant to, the shimmer-induced strength still something to get used to. She set out the silverware, thinking about what Vi had said. She did things for Caitlyn because she loves her?
Jinx thought back to the time that Caitlyn had spent a week transforming a guest bedroom into a workshop for her. She hadn’t used servants either, instead spending long nights after work to make it feel like home like the fan she’d used to use in the undercity.
She then thought about how Caitlyn had spent night after night with her back when she’d first moved into the Kiramman estate, constantly overwhelmed by the voices in her head and flashbacks from the war, even though Caitlyn probably had her own shit to deal with.
Had she done all of that for Jinx because she…
No. It couldn’t be. She was just a selfish Piltie, born with a silver spoon in her mouth that had somehow managed to charm Vi. There’s no way that Caitlyn cared at all about Jinx. After all, she killed Councilor Kiramman. Caitlyn’s mother.
Caitlyn had every right to hate her. So why did she bend over backwards to make sure Jinx felt at home?
She was setting down a plate when the landline rang. She hated that sound. It reminded her of her time working with Silco in the undercity, as his landline always rang. She hated that sound. It usually meant bad news.
“Hello?” Vi said into the receiver. Jinx waited, holding her breath. She wasn’t able to hear what the other person was saying, but the furrowed brow on Vi’s face was making her head reel. It only got worse when Vi’s face turned from slight worry to full-blown panic. “What? Are you fucking joking?” A pause. “Okay, thank you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She hung up the phone, breathing heavily, the dinner she’d made forgotten on the table. “Put on your coat.”
Vi’s voice was much more stern than Jinx was used to hearing. Her tone was low and serious, and she could somehow feel the low grumble in her sternum. The seriousness made Jinx know not to argue. She padded silently over to the coat rack and pulled on her coat.
Vi did the same, solemnly pulling her coat on, running her fingers worriedly through her hair.
“What happened?” Jinx asked quietly, sneaking a glance at her older sister.
“It’s Cait,” Vi answered grimly. “She’s been hurt.”
“Oh,” Jinx said, feeling a lump in her throat. She took a minute to breathe before asking. “How bad?”
“She’s in the hospital. Still has her good eye,” Vi replied with a humorless chuckle. “She warned me these things could happen. It’s part of the job.” Despite trying to seem put together, Jinx could tell that Vi was worried sick.
They walked in silence to the large Piltover Hospital, its gold accents shining in the evening sun. It would be pretty if they hadn’t been there to check if Caitlyn was okay. They didn’t know any more details other than that Caitlyn had been hurt and is under care. She could be in a coma, for all they knew.
Luckily, she wasn’t. Jinx noticed that Vi was walking a little quicker than usual, and Jinx found she didn’t mind this time. She kept up the pace, walking alongside her sister. Reaching the front desk, they were told Caitlyn was receiving care in Room 117. Thankful that they wouldn’t have to wait on an elevator or climb a bunch of stairs, they got to the room. Vi took a shaky breath in before opening the door, her knuckles white as she gripped the doorknob.
“Cait,” Vi said softly, stopping at the side of the bed. Caitlyn laid there with a non-rebreather mask covering her nose and mouth. There were patched up scratches on her face, and her eye patch had been taken off. “What happened?”
Caitlyn smiled weakly at Vi, only shown by her eyes turning into little crescent moons over her NRM. She reached down with a shaky hand with an IV stuck into the back and pulled her hospital gown up a bit. Vi’s eyes trailed down her girlfriend’s body until they landed on her waist, a bloody patch on the side.
“Oh my gods,” Vi gasped, taking Caitlyn’s hand.
Jinx stood there somewhat awkwardly. It would feel strange to run up to Caitlyn the way Vi had, but it would also be strange for her to not acknowledge her at all.
“I’m so sorry, cupcake,” Vi whispered, tears in her eyes.
Jinx stepped forward, getting a better look. The dark dried blood had soaked the patch on Caitlyn’s side, and her eye socket was sunken in. She looked so… human. Jinx had always just seen her as a Piltie sister-stealer for so long, then later, she’d gained a begrudging acceptance as a roommate of sorts. But now, Caitlyn looked so vulnerable—so human.
They were two sides of the same coin, really. Caitlyn wanted to belong somewhere, just like her. They both had brilliant minds. Why had she been too stubborn to see it before?
“Does it still hurt?” she asked quietly, her voice uncharacteristic with worry.
Caitlyn’s eyes widened just slightly. She shook her head. Then, she did something Jinx never expected. She reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently. A nurse entered, slipping on a pair of fresh gloves. “We can take off your NRM now,” she said, unhooking the long tube and lifting the mask off of Caitlyn’s face. “Can you try to talk?”
Caitlyn looked at Vi, a small smile on her face. “Hey, handsome,” she rasped, looking right at her girlfriend.
“Great, your throat might feel a bit dry. I’ll get you some water,” the nurse replied with a smile. She then disappeared from the room again.
“You gotta be more careful out there, cupcake,” Vi croaked, a tear slipping down her face.
“Yeah, don’t do that again,” Jinx added, looking down at her hand in Caitlyn’s. “You’re freaking me out.”
“I’m okay,” Caitlyn said, her voice barely over a whisper. “It’s part of the job.”
“That’s what Vi said earlier,” Jinx said with a frown. “But if you get hurt, you’d really worry and upset… Vi. Yeah, Vi would be really upset.”
Caitlyn coughed a little, and Jinx immediately rushed to her side. Despite her ailment, she cocked an eyebrow up. “Are you sure you wouldn’t care, Jinx?” Caitlyn asked coyly.
“Of course I wouldn’t care,” Jinx snapped back, though her voice lacked its usual bite. She couldn’t hide the slight reddening of her cheeks, either. “I just… don’t want Vi to pine after a dead girl.”
“I’m gonna go check on that water,” Vi said, squeezing Caitlyn’s hand one last time before heading out of the room.
“So what happened, Hat Lady?” Jinx grumbled, shuffling a little closer again.
Caitlyn let out a soft hum. “Unfortunately, there are still people in the undercity who…” She paused. Bringing up the name wouldn’t exactly help the situation, and it might upset Jinx. “There are still people in the undercity who want me dead.”
“Oh.”
“But it’s alright. I got here in time, and I’m in stable condition. I should be good to come home tonight now that they’ve stitched me up,” Caitlyn said, her accent carrying a soft and comforting tone. “I’ll be alright.”
“Okay,” Jinx whispered, shyly squeezing Caitlyn’s hand. “I… I guess I was a little worried.”
Jinx screwed her eyes shut and braced herself for teasing, but it never came. She opened her eyes, and Caitlyn was looking at her with the softest gaze she’d ever seen. “You were?” Caitlyn asked, her voice soft.
“Well, yeah, I didn’t know if you died or something. You already have such a dangerous job, and now I don’t even know if I wanna think about what could have happened to you. I can’t stand to see someone I love in situations that could literally kill them. Don’t be dumb,” Jinx said, crossing her arms with a huff.
Caitlyn’s eyes shone under the bright lights in the hospital room. “You… love me?”
Jinx paused, realizing what she’d said. She’d normally deny it. She’d normally call someone a big fat dumb idiot for that. But looking down at Caitlyn all battered up in the hospital bed with the most hopeful eyes she’d ever seen… Well, not even Jinx could harden her heart enough. “Yeah, stupid Hat Lady,” Jinx mumbled. “I do.”
“I love you too.”