Whenever you’re ready
“If you’re early you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. If you’re late, just grab a trash can because you’ll be running until you’re praying in to it for your body to stop throwing up.”
Sevika’s demeanor was that of a woman raised in the midst of a turf war for power. She’d grown up during some of the worst oppression of Zaun by the city leaders of Piltover. While athletics had provided her a means to escape the harsh realities of being considered a second class citizen, the reality was every second not on the ball field was a fight for her very life.
Surviving the streets of Zaun as a kid had helped in developing her rough and gruff exterior. However, that’s all it really was, an exterior facade. Deep down, she loved each of her players as though they were her own kids. She valued that she was fortunate enough to mentor them into becoming great humans. All she wanted was for them to have a better life than many of the Zaunites she’d watched as she grew up.
“Now, we’ve got a lot of familiar faces and some newbies so before we get started let’s introduce ourselves. Name, position, year, and a fun fact.”
“Is Lanes’ fun fact going to be she’s Kiramman’s eye candy now?” A voice from the back of the room teasingly bellowed. Many of the players broke out into a laugh, including Cait.
“Shut the fuck up, Amik.” Red was starting to color Vi’s ear signaling she was getting angry.
“Lighten up, Vi. We actually approve.” Amik’s response is heartfelt and Caitlyn can tell. Vi’s face is now blushing instead of her ears and Caitlyn can’t hide her smile.
Sevika rolls her eyes and mumbles something about probably needing more liquor to survive the season. The meeting takes an hour and a half. Introductions go well and Caitlyn can’t believe how the team truly cares about one another. It’s the opposite of Ionia where everything seemed to be hyper focused on getting down to business. She’d never understood how you could spend so many hours a week with someone and never truly know them. Piltover’s players seemed like more than teammates, they were a family.
Vi told Caitlyn the entire team, including both Coach Sevika and Assistant Coach Steb, showed up for Lex’s funeral. They stayed with her until she was ready to leave the cemetery. All of them. Sevika had to carry Vi to the car because her legs had given out. She may be a hardass, but Caitlyn knew deep down Coach S loved her kids fiercely.
The Commodores had 6 weeks to prepare for the Ionia Harvest Fest Tournament. Though the games were more scrimmages to see how your team could adapt to working together, there was still some sense of pride if you managed to win most of your fall games. It generally presented a good sign for the things to come when the games actually matter starting in February.
Practices and game prep was brutal. 5 am gym times for pitchers and catchers. Practices 4-7 with another hour after for bull pen pitching. Weekends usually meant inter-squad scrimmages, swimming pool workouts, agility, and long batting practice sessions. It was exhausting, yet exhilarating.
Vi loved the regimen. She liked knowing where she had to be and when. Not only did it keep her mental state in check, but also her physical state. She’d found since starting her relationship with Cait, the sleepless night came less frequently. The utter exhaustion she felt from being run ragged afforded her the sleep she’d so desperately needed for a long time. It also helped that Caitlyn seemed to help keep the demons at bay.
She and Cait would steal whatever moments they could together. They enjoyed having their gym time together, usually finding themselves partnered up for workouts. Sundays were often less hectic than Saturdays so they always took some time to do something fun. They’d eat meals together at the cafeteria, even when school started and they had less time because of class. Through the craziness of it all, they were making it work.
Of course the rumors persisted. Neither of them had necessarily shot down the idea they were together during the interview. That fact had not been lost by many analysts or fans. The narrative was only exacerbated when a teammate had been doing an interview and referred to them as “the power couple of the RAC”.
The Ionia schedule was released two weeks prior to the tournament. For the most part, it held no surprises. Piltover would open with Ionia Friday afternoon, a carefully planned event to pit Caitlyn against her old team. They’d immediately play Zaun right after.
It was their Saturday game or what was generally referred to as “the prime game” that shocked everyone. Initially, fans had assumed the Piltover/Ionia game would have been the prime game. However, because of the high tensions and stories being pushed by the media, Ambessa had gotten her way. The last game of the day on Saturday was Piltover vs Noxus.
Two weeks flew by before anyone could comprehend they were boarding a flight for Ionia. Nerves were high, but positive. This was what they had long asked for, to be a pre-season favorite to dominate and win the RCA crown. Downing Ionia was the first step in showing they deserved the buzz.
Both teams took the field to warm up. Caitlyn took a few extra moments sitting in the locker collecting her thoughts. It was odd being in the visitors locker room prior to a game in which Ionia was one of the teams. It was also weird wearing royal blue and not purple.
“You good?” Vi. Always present no matter what. She stood in her white jersey and tight pants with royal blue pinstripes. The pants left little to the imagination as far as how thick Vi’s muscular thighs and glutes were.
“Yea. It’s just odd, but I’ll be okay. Seeing you in those pants helps.” She displays a devilish grin that makes Vi’s face start to turn pink.
“Always such a flirt, Cupcake.”
“Kiramman! Lanes! Fuck around later! Get your shit together and get ready to play a game! You know, like I brought you here to do.” Sevika, always the poet.
Much to Caitlyn’s surprise, when she takes the field in the bottom of the first, she’s greeted with loud cheers. It feels like home again. She waves to the crowd before putting on her protective face-mask. The five warm up pitches coming naturally and the next thing she knows Vi is throwing the ball to the shortstop awaiting its arrival at second base. The full infield meets at the mound to do their pre-inning ritual with Vi lingering to say “you got this”.
Sevika only pitches Caitlyn the first three innings. In that time she’d blown through the lineup as though they were a line of soldiers being barraged with cannons. Of the 9 batters, she struck out 5 and caused the other 4 to hit in to groundouts. All the nerves of pitching against her old coach and team vanished because she convinced herself it was just she and Vi playing catch.
At the end of the game, she hugged a couple of the Ionia girls as well as Coach Grayson before heading back to her new team’s dugout. She knew she wouldn’t see the field against Zaun and she was perfectly fine with it. The game she wanted, the game that mattered the most to her on the weekend was the Noxus game.
——————
Vi had agreed to meet her in the lobby of the hotel so they could take a walk around town. They’d finished up team activities, including a team dinner, and had been granted respite until their 11 o’clock curfew. The women had about 3 hours they could kill until they had to be in their respective rooms.
Though they were adults and could have roomed together, they both felt it would be a bad look for the team with the players and the media (should they find out). Plus they’d not spent the night together since that first night they’d met and really even then, they were in separate rooms.
Vi was still feeling good from the games earlier in the day. She’d caught all of the first game and had been the designated hitter in the second. She’d wracked up a total of 3 hits on the day with one being a double. It was the most at ease she’d felt on the field in a long time.
She rode the elevator alone, grinning at the thought of Caitlyn being in her team issued shorts and tight women’s cut t-shirt. Lost in those thoughts, it took her a second to realize the doors had opened.
When she rounded the corner, she fully expected to see her girlfriend waiting anxiously for her. What she hadn’t expected to see was Maddie Nolen kissing said girlfriend.
She saw Caitlyn push her off and say something along the lines of “Are you bloody kidding me” before locking eyes with Vi. Her stomach bottomed out as she did an immediate about face and returned to the elevator.
The raps on her door came just as quickly as she’d expected. They were loud and furious with the culprit calling for her from the other side of the closed door.
“Please open up and let me explain”
Against her better judgement, Vi opened the door to find a distraught Caitlyn waiting for her. “What?”
“Please let me come in so we can talk. That wasn’t what it looked like.”
Vi looked up and down the hall. No one was around. “Fuck. Fine but make it quick.”
The woman entered the room as the door to the outside world closed behind them. “Please, you have to believe I did not want that at all.”
“You sure about that? Seems awfully weird you two just happened to be making out in the lobby at the same time I was supposed to meet you.”
“Exactly. She knew what she was doing. She knew if I was alone someone would see us. Vi, it had just started when you walked up and I quickly stopped it. I promise you I would never in a million years do that to you. I know what that feels like and it sucks. It’s like having your heart ripped from your chest and thrown onto a fire.”
Vi’s anger and tension slowly subside as Caitlyn continues. “Having someone who means that much to you throw you away like a used toy destroys you. I felt like I was unlovable. I’ve told you this before. I would never do that to you. I don’t want you to feel like I’ve felt.”
Vi stands, quietly staring at Caitlyn. She’s calculating her next move. She can see Caitlyn’s face twitch nervously as her hands rest awkwardly at her side. “Please. Say something.”
Instead of speaking Vi crashes forward into Cait. It’s just as passionate, if not more so than it had been that day in the practice facility. The shock takes Caitlyn’s breath away but she doesn’t care. The feeling is totally worth it.
Vi pulls back and meets Cait’s stare. “Let me show you how loved you actually are.”
Caitlyn swallows hard. “Vi, this is a big step. Are you sure you’re ready.”
The woman reaches up with her hand and gently caresses Caitlyn’s cheek. “I’ve been ready. I just needed you to show me you were.” Caitlyn crashes forward again before she can change her mind.
——————
The stands are filled. Any fans without a seat is standing anywhere there is room. Everyone wants to watch Noxus vs Piltover. Sevika informed Caitlyn she was pitching the whole game, even if the score started getting out of hand benefitting Piltover. Something told Caitlyn besting Noxus is just as personal to her coach as it is to her.
Vi seems more focused than normal during warm ups. The normal banter is gone. This is the commander leading her troops in to battle that Caitlyn had wanted to see. For someone who hadn’t taken much of the supposed storyline of the new flame vs the ex to heart, Vi sure seems to wear her vendetta on her sleeve.
Piltover is named the home team meaning they would be batting in the bottom half of the inning. The first player at the plate to start the game for Noxus… none other than Maddie Nolen. After throwing down to second and the pre-inning infield ritual, Vi holds her glove up for Caitlyn to tap it with hers.
“Just another day at the office.”
Sevkia sets herself on her bucket atop the steps of the dugout and calls her first pitch before Nolen even gets to the batters box. Far outside fastball.
As the red haired Noxian approaches the box, Vi stands and makes eye contact with her. The woman smirks and huffs as she notices the anger in the catcher’s eyes. “So, you’re the new flame. Tell me, you think you can handle knowing you’ll never be more than a nuisance to her mother?”
Vi scoffs and gets into her crouch. She signals to Cait with her glove she’s ready to receive the pitch. The ball lands exactly where it’s supposed to.
“Strike!”
Maddie hums and Vi smugly puffs her chest out. Sevika calls in the next pitch. Drop ball. Another wind and pitch. Maddie doesn’t offer up a swing. “Ball! Count is 1 and 1.”
“She has a tell when she plans on throwing the drop. She holds the ball longer in her glove so she can ensure she has the grip right.”
Vi rolls her eyes because this bitch seriously thinks Vi hasn’t caught up to that. They’d been working on it. A lot. The time had gotten shorter, but it was still not short enough. They’d need to really hammer in on it in the off season.
Another signal. Fastball in. Jamming her up. Vi secretly hopes Caitlyn beams her.
The pitch roars in and Maddie swings. Popped up in foul territory. Vi shoots up and runs to catch it, diving right in front of the Noxian bench. The ball lands in her glove as her body impacts with the ground.
“Out!”
The Noxian and Zaunite cross paths as they return to their respective stations. Vi quips, “Guess you don’t know all her tells.”
The Commodores put 4 runs on the board in the first two innings. When the game gets to the top of 3, Noxus had their 8th, 9th, and 1st batters in the order up. That meant another meeting with Maddie.
Caitlyn strikes out the first two batters easily. When Maddie walks to the box, Vi calls time out and jogs to the mound.
“I’m in the zone why are you calling time?”
“Put her on.”
“Are you bloody insane?”
“Trust me, put her on. Then leave one over the heart of the plate for Guillis.”
“Again, are you insane? She’ll crush that to Demacia.”
“No, she’ll hit a gapper to left center. Put Nolen on and leave one over the plate for Guillis.”
Caitlyn stares at Vi for a few seconds, but finally concedes. “Okay, but if this goes wrong this is on you.”
The catcher returns to her position behind the plate just in time for the first signal. Three pitches in and Caitlyn is down in the count 3-0.
“What’s it like knowing that she’ll always compare you to me in bed.”
The pitch hits Vi’s glove and the ump tells Maddie to take her base. When Nolen tosses her bat toward her dugout, she makes sure to flash Vi her evil grin. It takes everything in Vi not to punch her. “Stick to the plan” she reminds herself out loud.
Sevika calls in a pitch, but both Cait and Vi know that wasn’t what was coming. Caitlyn throws the first pitch to the new batter and sure enough, she barrels it up and gaps it to deep left center. As Nolen books it between second and third, the center fielder throws in to the cut off.
Vi sets up on the front of the plate so she is out of the baseline, waiting for the throw. It was a toss up as to whether or not the ball would get to her before Nolen did, but the outcome would be the same either way. As soon as the ball enters her glove, Vi turns to tag Nolen out and a brutal collision occurs. Nolen had lowered her shoulder in an attempt to knock the ball loose. Both players go flying in the air and viciously smack into the ground. Caitlyn can do nothing but watch in horror.
Vi showed the ump she still had hold of the ball which resulted in him calling Maddie out. However, Vi could feel that something was wrong with her right arm. When she goes to roll over on her left side, the arm stayed in place. It was dislocated.
She removed her helmet so the she could see better. Raising her fingers to her lip, blood appeared to be on them when she pulled away. Her mask must have smashed into her face when she landed face down.
Nolen rolled on her right side and held her stomach. The wind had been knocked out of her. They both slowly sit up and attempt to regain their bearings. As Nolen leans over to pick up her helmet that flew off in the collision, Vi finishes off the war of words. “You may have fucked her first, but it’s my name now she’s moaning at night.” Without hesitation, Nolen cold-clocks Vi with a fist to the face.
——————
They sit silently awaiting for Sevika to enter the small office in the locker room. Neither has spoken of the incident on the field. Caitlyn is visibly angry while Vi looks like a peacock. Her arm is in a sling having been popped back into place by a trainer. She also holds an ice pack to her eye.
“That was reckless.”
“That was fun.”
“You got hurt.”
“It’s minor.”
“It doesn’t matter! You are not some rooster that needs to display your dominance. You are a well-trained athlete that’s important to this team. That could have been so much worse.”
As Sevika enters, she slams the door shut. Plopping herself in the chair, her head doesn’t even turn toward Caitlyn. She points a finger at Vi, “You, I expect this shit from.” She shifts her gaze and finger to point at Caitlyn “You, not so much.”
Her hands run through hair in an attempt to alleviate some of her anger. “You’re done for the rest of fall, Lanes. And for what? Some petty vendetta against your girlfriend’s ex?”
“In my defense, I didn’t calculate how my body would land on my shoulder. But, a positive is I held on to the ball and we won 9-0”
Sevika and Caitlyn both stare in disbelief. “You have got to be fucking kidding.”
“Look, this was all on me. Punish me. Cait was innocent.”
“No, I agreed and set up the play.”
“I don’t care who thought of it, started it, or finished it…you ever ignore me again and it’ll be a long time before you see the field. Got it?”
They answer in unison. “Yes, Coach.”
Sevika turns to Vi. “Now, the fuck did you say to warrant a knuckle sandwich to the eye socket.”
The catcher becomes visibly nervous which is not lost on Caitlyn. She notices Vi is rubbing one hand on her thigh and fidgeting with the strap on one of her shin guards, which she’s still not taken off, with the other.
“Well, we’re waiting.” Sevika snarls.
Vi rolls her eyes and huffs making sure to sound annoyed. “So, Nolen saunters in to the box the last time and makes a crack about how Caitlyn will always compare me to her,” she pauses and looks away from both of them. “In bed.”
Sevika grabs the bridge of her nose and pinches it between her index finger and thumb. Caitlyn’s face blushes and fills with embarrassment.
“Okay, but that’s what she said. How did you end up the one getting punched?”
“I may have responded with something inappropriate.”
“How inappropriate?” Caitlyn breaks her silence. Her soul is preparing to leave her body depending on how Vi responds.
“I doubt I want to hear this, but I need to know for my report.”
“I may have said, uh, that she may have fucked her first but it was my name she moaned at night now.”
“Vi!” Caitlyn sounds horrified.
“I hate my job some days.”
The awkward silence overtakes them. Sevika simply stands and walks out of the room, once again leaving Caitlyn and Vi to themselves. Caitlyn rests her face in her palms and groans.
“Look I’m sorry. I lost my head.”
Sighing, Caitlyn stands and looks down at Vi. “Come spring, you have to stay calm. She can’t take you out of the game like that. Clear?”
“Clear.”
Before leaving the room, the pitcher placed her hand on Vi’s injured shoulder and squeezes it. The catcher hisses in pain as the taller woman leans into Vi’s ear. “Just for the record, unlike you, she could never get me to call out her name.” One more squeeze followed by another hiss and Caitlyn is out the door.