Great Balls of Fire
Jayce was right about one thing: all of Vi’s leave requests had been accepted.
Every single one.
Unable to bottle her excitement, she’d phoned Ekko straight away, and had to hold her mobile at arms’ length as he whooped with joy into the microphone ecstatically. Vi had managed to get in a few words about meeting up altogether with her brothers and sister before hanging up and calling the other person she wanted to see the most.
Vander picked up the phone with a gruff, “Hello?”, and Vi jabbered down the phone at him, her joy spilling out sentences in a garbled manner.
Half of her expected a smart-ass response, or for Vander to give another grunt and hang the line up there and then.
Instead, his response warmed Vi’s heart and melted the cold exterior she’d spent so long building up during her time of service.
“I told you you’d come home, kiddo. I’ll see you soon.”
And as she zipped down the highway, body pressed flush with her sleek black sports motorbike, wind whipping at her hands and jacket, her family was all she could think about.
Vander’s apartment was significantly more clean and tidy than the last time she’d paid a visit. The rubbish cluttering his kitchen was now gone, replaced with various chopping boards and mixing bowls he’d brought out for the delicious supper he was preparing for his kids. The other main thing Vi noticed was that there wasn’t a single drop of alcohol in sight.
Vi had parked up outside his apartment block and knocked on the door steadily. Her father’s bulky frame appeared in the doorway, eyes softening and creasing as he pulled his daughter into a crushing hug.
“Violet,” he breathed, his tone hesitant as if he were asking a question, wondering if she was really there.
“Hi, Dad,” Vi managed to squeeze out from under his large arms.
Vander pulled away, eyes twinkling, as he gestured into his apartment. “Powder and the boys are in the living room. Make yourself comfortable.”
“Thanks.” She shot him a warm smile before tugging off her motorbike boots and walking down the corridor.
Powder spotted Vi first. Without hesitating, she jumped up from the couch mid-conversation with Mylo and bounced over to her sister, jumping onto her and clinging on for dear life. “Vi!” she exhaled, voice shaky. “Ekko told me what happened on your mission, I’m-“
“Hey.” Vi cut her off, putting the excited young girl down and running a hand over her electric blue hair. “I’m okay, we’re okay, that’s all that matters.”
“Save some Noxians for the rest of us, Top Gun,” a deep voice joked.
Vi beamed over to Claggor, who was sat back against the arm of the sofa, casually sipping a can of beer. She walked around the back of the couch and gave him a big hug from behind, looming over him. “Hey, Big Guy.”
Claggor squeezed Vi’s arms back and they stood there for a moment, basking in each other’s company, before Vi took a seat down next to Mylo.
Her other brother flashed her a warm smile. “It’s good to see you, Vi.”
“And you, Mylo.”
The doorbell rung again, and Vi’s eyes followed Vander as he went to get it, swinging the door open wide for the next video.
“Um, good afternoon, sir,” she heard Ekko’s timid voice say. “I brought whiskey?”
“Don’t give me that ‘sir’ nonsense, kiddo,” Vander grunted heartily, pulling Ekko into a brief hug before glancing at the bottle of brown liquid in his hands. “Not a bad choice, Ekko. I don’t drink anymore but I’m sure the boys will appreciate it; thank you.”
Ekko joined them in the living room, and Powder squealed with delight at the sight of her boyfriend, jumping into his arms just as she’d done with Vi and nearly causing him to drop the precious bottle. The pilot hugged his girlfriend back tightly, burying his face into the crook of her neck, picking her up and swinging her side to side.
“Alright, enough of that. Gross.” Mylo stuck out his tongue in disgust.
Ekko slid into a seat next to Powder. He didn’t let go of her hand once. He nodded and smiled at Vi, who returned it curtly. “Couldn’t leave me alone, huh, Little Man?”
Her wingman just scoffed. “Please, you’d be lost without me.”
“Amen to that,” Claggor mumbled with a cheeky grin.
“Grub’s up, kids!” Vander boomed into the living room. The smell of freshly cooked food wafted into the air around them, making Vi’s stomach grumble.
She didn’t even realise how hungry she was until she saw the spread that Vander had lovingly prepared for them.
It was a traditional Sunday roast, complete with all the trimmings; juicy fileted chicken breast, crispy roast potatoes, gallons of gravy to accompany it. There were piles of roasted vegetables stacked high on their plates, spilling over the edges.
Each sibling and Ekko took their seats at the table, Vi sitting at one end while Vander sat at the other. The family wasted no time scooping the grub onto their plates greedily as they handed dishes over to each other.
Vi took her first bite and smiled warmly at the other people gathered at the table. It wasn’t just the food warming her up, it was the presence of her brothers, her sister, her Dad, her best friend, altogether again sharing a meal.
For something so simple, it meant the world to her.
The air was filled with the noises of chewing and cutting, cutlery scraping along the plates, sloshing of gravy over the meats and veg. It was a comfortable silence, each person relishing in the company of each other.
Claggor looked up at Mylo, his mouth still full of food as he spoke. “How’s school?”
“Good,” Mylo chirped happily. He stabbed his fork through a potato.
Claggor nodded and begun cutting up his chicken breast. “So, when are you joining up?”
“Claggor, don’t talk with food in your mouth,” Vander commanded from the head of the table.
“Sorry.” He swallowed his mouthful before continuing. “I know they’ve got a recruitment office at PMA now.”
Vander shot him a dirty look, but pre-occupied himself with eating the square of carrot sticking out of his fork.
Mylo set his knife and fork down. “Maybe I don’t want to join up, Claggor,” he said slowly.
The other brother frowned. “Why not?”
“Because I might get shot and die? What do you mean, why not?”
“Well, Vi got shot the other day, and she’s fine.”
Shit.
The sound of scraping cutlery and chatter screeched to a halt. Every pair of eyes settled on Vi, who shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
“You got shot?” Vander spoke softly, his words tinted with defeat.
Vi breathed slowly through her nose. “Yeah, Dad, it’s- I’m fine. It was just a graze.”
“You didn’t tell him, Vi?” Claggor scoffed. “That’s low, especially-“
“No more war talk at the table.” Vander’s voice cut clear and tough across to them, his fists balled around his knife and fork, knuckles turning white.
Everyone at the table suddenly became obsessed with shovelling their food back down their throats, eyes darting to avoid Vander’s steady glare.
Everyone but Claggor, who refused to get the message.
“A couple weeks ago I watched an engineer put a grenade in his mouth and sprint down the runway. His head exploded like he was in a cartoon.” He described the grisly scene as casually as someone talking about the weather.
Vander slapped a palm on the table and shot up from his chair, staring intensely into space. “I need some fresh air,” he grumbled before disembarking from the meal.
Vi waited until her father was out of earshot, following him with her eyes as he went outside the front of the apartment, before rounding on her brother. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Claggor?” she snapped, leaving the table to go chase after her father.
Vander sat outside the apartment on a beaten-up beach chair, blankly gazing out across the parking lot. Vi sat down in the chair opposite him and took a deep breath, exhaling quietly as she tried to find the words to say.
“Why didn’t you tell me you got shot?” her father asked quietly. Pain laced his tone.
“I didn’t want to worry you,” Vi confessed. “I’m sorry, I know I should’ve.”
“I worry everyday you’re out there, kiddo.” Vander’s cold eyes continued to stare out at the rows of cars. “I wish you’d have gone anywhere but the academy.”
“I know, Dad. I know.” Vi sniffed as a lump caught in her throat. “Me too.”
A single firefly fluttered into frame between the two, landing on the glass panel of Vander’s apartment and twitching erratically. Its hue dissipated into the translucent surface beneath it.
“You’re just kids,” Vander managed to say. His heavy hands fell onto his knees. “It’s not your fight.”
“You were a kid too, Vander,” Vi reminded him gently.
“That was different. Back then it was different.” He stood up from his chair, eyes landing on the apartment door. “Come on, food’s getting cold.”
“Yeah.” Vi joined him, clearing her throat, reluctantly entering back into Vander’s residence.
The rest of the siblings had left the table, clearing their own plates, whilst Vi’s and Vander’s sat untouched. They sat back down and ate the rest of their meals in silence, interrupted periodically by the sound of dishes scrubbing and Powder and Mylo bickering quietly in the kitchen as they cleared up.
Vi finished up her last bite and took the dirty dish to the sink before joining Claggor and Ekko in the living room. The boys had cracked into Ekko’s whiskey already, swirling the burning liquid in small rocks glasses, sipping in between their conversation.
“Hey,” Vi mumbled in meeting. She sat down next to Ekko and picked up a glass for herself, pouring out a hearty serving.
“Hey. Claggor’s just been talking about what it’s like, you know, out there.”
Vi’s eyes met her brother’s. His orbs glazed over, devoid of emotion, as if he were nothing but an empty shell. The lights were on but whoever was home had left a long time ago.
“It’s not good,” Claggor continued to explain, staring intensely down at his drink. “We’re losing too many soldiers. The commanders know that, but- but they won’t pull us out.” He paused for a brief moment to take another chug of brown liquid and reached to top himself up. “We send more troops in, they get blown to bits or shot to shreds, and we just request more squads. The cycle continues. Plus, with all these suicides, it’s-”
“You know about the suicides?” Vi cut him off.
Her brother nodded gravely. “Yeah. Word travels real fuckin’ fast. You think you know someone, then-“ Claggor took a deep shuddery breath. “Then they lock themselves with a Humvee with a tube in their mouth and the engine running.”
“Fuck,” Ekko whispered, to which Claggor chuckled humourlessly.
“That’s what Cait’s investigating. The suicides,” Vi explained, shooting a look at Ekko. “She’s been working with our air squadron.”
“Yeah, she came to talk to some of our guys, too. It was nice to talk about it with someone you actually know, not some random bod.”
“Sure.” Vi took a slurp of her whiskey and set the glass down. “You coming to the Last Drop tomorrow? She’s invited, like, everyone. You and Pow should come along to, Ekko,” she added, nudging her wingman.
Both Claggor and Ekko smiled thinly up at her from their drinks. “Sure. We’ll be there.”
“Cool.” Vi sunk back into the sofa, resting her head against the beaten leather, the conversations happening around her fading in the distance as she savoured the burning feeling in the back of her throat and in her heart.
***
Caitlyn had only been home for a couple of days and was already beginning to wish she’d just stayed on her base.
She’d barely seen her mother at all. They’d shared one meal together, when Cait had first arrived home, and the conversation had been a repeat of what it had always been whenever the young lady came back from university or travelling.
“Have you thought about what you’d like to do after your service, darling?”
“Are you seeing anyone at the moment?”
“Oh, you must try yoga dear, it’ll do you wonders at that dreadful job of yours.”
Caitlyn’s protests of wanting to become a detective fell on deaf ears time and time again- even when that was her actual job title now. Instead, her mother changed the subject, or kicked up a fuss about Caitlyn not wanting to become a doctor or lawyer or engineer.
Tobias Kiramman remained mostly silent whilst the tabletop debates took place. His eyes darted nervously between his wife and his daughter as if he were spectating a tennis match. He’d never admit it to his wife, but he had offered nothing to support to Caitlyn when she’d picked up the case and officially slotted into her role as a detective, arranging weekly phone calls to check in on her when Cassandra was out at meetings and other miscellaneous Council meetings.
The silence had given the detective extra time to review the files sent over by Heimerdinger, however. She’d swung by his office the night before travelling home to pick up the stack of papers and had methodically worked through them over the course of a couple days.
Her findings were harrowing, and asked more questions than she’d got answers. Dummy businesses, accusations of money laundering, increased uptake of arrests for drug-related offences, overdose hospitalisations, all seemingly unrelated.
Until Caitlyn fell down the rabbit hole further.
Every single record, every bit of intelligence she’d analysed, all threaded back to one name.
Dane Deckard.
Deckard was a ghost in the system. No fixed address, no passport, no relatives or family. The only proof Cait had of his existence was his signature on nearly every single file, which she’d circled violently in fluorescent yellow highlighter, and a single grainy picture of him pulled from a CCTV camera.
So, who on earth was Dane Deckard?
Presumably he was Zaunite-born, as all of his dodgy transactions and shady business deals had taken place in the country. Then again, that could mean anything.
Apart from that, there was… nothing.
Caitlyn sat at her desk, staring at the surveillance image of Deckard, her fingertips going slippery and moist with perspiration. Deckard stared back, blank expression across his face, with the slightest smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Smirking. Taunting.
I’m right here, and there’s nothing you can fucking do about it.
“Caitlyn?” Tobias’s voice pierced through silent frustration, Caitlyn snapping out of her train of thought and meeting her father’s eyes.
“Yes, father?” She shuffled the image into the stack of files on her desk.
“Would you still like a lift to the bar tonight?” he asked sincerely. “You mentioned that Mel had organised something for when you came back altogether.”
Shit. Caitlyn had completely forgotten she’d agree to go to that.
Instead, she flashed Tobias an innocent smile. “Sure. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“Okay, sweetie. I’ll warm up the car.”
The detective heard the door shut and she brushed the fake smile off of her lips, vision burrowing into the paperwork on her desk, as if expecting something to suddenly spring out at her.
It didn’t, no matter how much she looked.
With a frustrated groan, she grabbed her coat and went downstairs to meet her father.
***
“How has work been?” Caitlyn had asked curiously from the passenger seat of her father’s car. A low and soft tune played from the radio as Tobias drove carefully.
“Busy,” the man replied with a bleak smile. “Lots more requests for home visits. A lot of push from patients to get an actual diagnosis too, not just simple check-ups anymore.”
Tobias had once been the leading surgeon at Piltover General Hospital; a highly respectable and sought-after role. Soon after the declaration of war, however, he’d resigned and taken a much more relaxed role as a local doctor.
“People wanting things on their record?” Cait asked incredulously.
Tobias shook his head. “I’m not allowed to speculate, dear,” he said, but Caitlyn already knew the answer to her own question.
The Last Drops’s flickering neon sign bled into vision, a contrast of bright pops of colour against an otherwise dismal backdrop. Crowds of students and adults alike could be seen from both the outside and inside, congregating together, laughter cutting through the blaring music coming from within.
Tobias pulled up outside the bar and put his SUV in park. He turned to his daughter from the driver’s seat. “Will you need a lift home?”
“No thank you, father,” Caitlyn replied, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “I’ll probably get a cab. Thank you for the lift.”
“Have a nice night, sweetie,” Tobias called after her as she slid out of the passenger side door. Cait watched the vehicle peel off into the darkness before turning and heading into the bar.
The warmth and atmosphere of the Last Drop hit Cait like a steamtrain as she entered. Patrons patrolled the dance floor, swinging each other around in each other’s arms, knocking back drinks like no tomorrow and giggling heartily with each other. Upbeat music seeped through the speakers and into the walls, the bass reverberating in Cait’s chest and gut. A long queue for service had already formed at the main bar with three frantic workers darting around to serve customers.
It was only a Wednesday, and the place was absolutely heaving. It reminded Caitlyn of how busy the place could get on a Saturday night, when the clubs in Piltover were all still open, when-
“-So then Ekko picks up the Jesus nut, hands it to the squad leader, and tells him ‘There’s your budget!’”
A boisterous voice cut through the rest of the noise. Spikes of hot and cold adrenaline snaked through Cait’s system.
Her friends were sat in the corner of the bar in a booth, to the left of the door, one of the only ones still available. Ekko, Vi, Claggor, Mel, Jayce, Mylo, Viktor, and a girl that Caitlyn didn’t recognise, all scrunched up on the two red leather sofas.
“God, Vi, is being a pilot your only personality trait now?” a high-pitched voice shrieked, the source being a bouncy younger girl with puffs of blue hair.
“What’s a Jesus nut?” Caitlyn asked as she slid into the booth, surprising the rest of her crew.
Jayce and Mel pounced on her in an instant, pulling her into a tight three-way hug, burying their faces into the nook of Cait’s neck. “Sprout!” Jayce squealed excitedly as he pulled away.
Caitlyn waved with an awkward smile at the table and the rest of her friends beamed back. Ekko gave a subtle nod as Vi just… stared.
“Ordered you a drink, darling,” Mel purred, sliding a wine glass filled with rose-tinted liquid over to her. “The bar’s just getting busier and busier, so savour it while you can.”
“Thank you, Mel,” Cait replied, taking a sip of the rose liquid. She locked eyes with Vi again, who peered at her over the top of her aviator glasses, emotions unreadable. A small toothpick stuck out of the corner of her mouth which she swirled from side to side occasionally. She was also wearing a tight squadron T-shirt, embroidered with a side view of a helicopter and the Air Corps logo, a choice of clothing Cait couldn’t help but steal glances at.
“The Jesus nut attaches the rotor to the main mast on all our choppers,” Vi explained. Her toothpick switched sides with a flick of her tongue.
“And why’s it called a Jesus nut?” Cait asked, ignoring the gesture.
“Because if it breaks or falls off, all you can do is pray to Jesus,” Ekko added with a grin.
The faces around the table chuckled and Caitlyn relaxed slightly, dropping her tense shoulders down.
“Oh. Um, Caitlyn, this is Powder, my girlfriend,” Ekko said suddenly, gesturing to the blue-haired girl he had his arm draped over. Powder gave a small wave.
“She’s also my sister,” Vi added bluntly.
“Nice to meet you, Powder,” the detective chirped, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“Likewise.”
“What’s it like being home, Sprout?” This came from Jayce, who was nursing his go-to drink of choice on a night out, a simple whiskey and Coke.
“Good.” Cait took a sip of her drink. “Mother’s busy, but that’s expected, I guess.”
Jayce hummed but didn’t add anything else to the conversation. That was a topic they’d all non-verbally agreed to not touch.
For now, it was just about them living in the moment. Forgetting what they’d have to go back for, who they’d have to leave behind again, what was going on outside the safe four walls of their favourite bar.
There was lots of pain in the world, but not in this room.
Ekko’s eyes suddenly lit up as if someone had flicked a switch. Caitlyn followed his eyeline, and saw what he’d got himself so excited about.
A flashing blue sign had lit up across the bar by the DJ booth, displaying one single word: “KARAOKE”.
“Vi?” Ekko shot his wingwoman a big grin.
“No,” Vi muttered almost instantly.
“Oh, come on!” Ekko whined. “Don’t be a sourpuss.”
Vi hesitated for a moment. Took a sip of her beer, then an even bigger chug. “Fine,” she finally grumbled, downing the bottle in one go before sliding out of her seat. “You’re getting the next round, though.”
“Deal.” Ekko beamed ear-to-ear as the pair disappeared into the crowd, heading straight for the DJ booth.
“What are they doing?” Caitlyn asked curiously. Her eyes never diverted away from Violet, staring at her perfectly capped shoulders, the way her biceps glistened with perspiration in the sweaty room.
“Just listen,” Claggor responded. A cheeky smirk crept on his face.
Caitlyn watched Ekko and the DJ converse, their words inaudible from the distance. She watched the DJ cock an eyebrow, seemingly hesitant, before shrugging and lining up their choice of song.
Ekko and Vi took to the stage. They each held a microphone in their hand. Vi quickly slipped the arm of her aviator glasses down the hem of her shirt before standing back-to-back with Ekko, both pilots pressing the mic to their lips as a piano riff burst through the speakers.
“You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain!”
Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun.
“Too much love drives a man insane!”
Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun.
“You broke my will, but what a thrill!”
“Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire!”
Caitlyn couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of the two belting out the ballad, faces twisted in concentration. The rest of the table cackled and howled at them, watching in awe, as they cycled through the choruses. Some of the other bar-goers joined in too, raising their glasses to the sky as they sang along.
On the 5th verse, Ekko took over playing the air-piano, and Vi’s eyes locked directly onto Caitlyn’s as she sung, unflinching.
Ocean met storm.
“Well kiss me, baby, ooh, feels good!”
“Hold me baby!”
“I’ll still love you like a lover should!”
“You’re fine, so kind, got to tell this world that you’re mine, mine, mine, mine!”
Hot coals fell into the deep pit of Cait’s stomach.
The song eventually conceded, and Vi returned to the table while Ekko lined up to get another round in, grinning at her friends. Beads of sweat coated her forehead.
“Whoop-whoop!” Jayce cheered, slapping Vi on the back as she slid back into her corner seat. The pilot beamed, panting lightly, running a rugged hand through her hair.
“I think I want to disown both of you,” Powder muttered under her breath, but loud enough for the people around her to hear. The table erupted into laughter.
“Have you been saving that one, Vi?” Viktor leered with a smirk.
“You know me, Viktor.” Vi shot a glance at Caitlyn as she continued. “I aim to please.”
Caitlyn was hyper-aware of the blush creeping up her neck and tinging her cheeks. Thank God the lighting in here was awful.
As Ekko returned with a tray full of beverages for the table, a second song began to play, this one much slower and mellow than the previous. The lyrics were in a language that Vi didn’t understand.
Jayce looked over at Viktor before standing up and extending a silent hand, which Viktor took with a fond smile. The two young men disappeared onto the dancefloor.
“Really? Oh, come on, guys-“ Ekko protested, but was cut off by Powder yanking his wrist towards the crowd of people. Vi watched as they too were swallowed into the mass of bodies.
Caitlyn hummed. “You staying here, Mel?”
“I’m right where I want to be, darling,” Mel cooed, looking at Jayce and Viktor affectionately before darting her eyes between Vi and Cait. Claggor and Mylo remained silent, feeling the tension in the air, sipping shyly at their drinks.
“Violet?” Cait trailed off hopefully, looking over at the pilot.
Vi’s gaze hardened momentarily, but then softened, and for a second Cait could see the old Vi behind those cloudy irises. “Sure. I’ll dance.”
The two joined the other forms on the dancefloor. Vi placed her hands hesitantly on Cait’s hips, and the other girl snaked her arms around Vi’s neck, interlocking her fingers, just barely brushing her hair.
Caitlyn and Vi searched in each other’s eyes as they swayed side-to-side awkwardly. Both waited for the other to say something, anything.
Caitlyn bit the bullet and decided to crack the silence. “Do you know what they’re saying? In the song?”
“No.” Vi frowned. “What is it?”
“It’s two lovers,” Cait explained. She cocked her head to get a better listen of the music. “The man is telling the woman that she’s the best and worst thing to happen to him.”
“Hmph,” Vi grunted. “Fitting.”
Caitlyn ignored the quip. “And she’s telling him in response that she loves and hates him.”
“Right.” Vi swallowed a lump in her throat as she felt Cait’s fingers dance along her shoulders playfully, drawing abstract shapes into the tightly-stretched fabric of her shirt.
Distracting herself, Vi took the opportunity to glance around the rest of the floor, and spotted Ekko and Powder dancing animatedly.
She should’ve been mad. She should’ve given him the angry big sister talking to, broken them apart from each other and cussed him out.
But she didn’t.
She knew Ekko was a good man. Honest, kind, true to his word. She knew how happy he made Powder, and vice versa. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was dating her sister, Vi would probably call him a brother.
She looked back at Caitlyn, who continued to run her hand across Vi’s shoulders and upper back.
In that moment Vi doesn’t know what overcame her. She reached for Cait’s fingers along her skin, raising her hand above her head and twirling the other girl, listening to Cait giggle playfully as she did so. Vi also cracked a huge grin, now taking both of Cait’s hands and dancing more lively.
God, she’d missed Cait’s laugh.
And a deep dark part of her was wishing she could listen to it for the rest of her life.