Chapter 1
She wasn’t coping well. The war had taken its toll on her, and losing her sister was her breaking point. It was months before Vi did anything other than drink, fight, or cry. She came back to Caitlyn's home bruised up from the pit more times than she could count.
Vi wondered if this was how she would spend the rest of her life. Fighting ghosts. It wouldn't be the first time she devolved into her basic instincts to dissociate from reality, but it had been the worst.
One particularly bad night in the pit is what changed her routine. Vi had just finished beating the brakes off some punk when she saw it. Her favorite shade of blue hair under the dim bar lightning. A woman drowning in an oversized cloak with blue hair peeking out from under the hood.
Sure, a lot of people had colored their hair blue since Jinx became a symbol for Zaun's revolution, but this was different. Vi knew this was her. She could just tell this was the real deal. So she followed her.
The cloaked woman moved through the sea of people effortlessly. Vi nearly lost sight of her several times trying to keep up. Vi thought the woman got away after getting stuck behind a couple making out on the dance floor, but she caught a glimpse of her exiting back door.
Vi rushed forward, bursting through the back door that led into the alleyway to continue her pursuit. She followed the cloaked figure through the streets of Zaun until they came to a junkyard. This was Powders favorite spot.
She would spend hours looking for different parts she could use to build her next invention. Powder was here so much she and little man set up a spot in the middle of the junkyard to hang out. They had a few chairs and a couple of broken tables they would use to tinker with whatever project they were working on.
The cloaked woman turned to Vi before she dashed into the junk yard. Vi hurried to follow her. When Vi finally caught up to her, the woman was sitting in Powder's seat.
"What did you bring me here for?" Vi panted out.
"Everything used to quiet down when I was tinkering away. Maybe it could work for you too, sis?" Jinx said, lowering the hood from her head.
Vi's throat tightened as she saw her sister's face. She had waited so long to hear her voice again. Without warning, she rushed forward to pull the girl into a bone crushing hug, only for her to trip over the chair and fall head first into the dirt.
Vi looked up confused. She knew Jinx had shimmer in her system, but she never saw her move. Vi looked around for her sister, but the young woman disappeared. It only took a moment for Vi to understand what happened.
Laughing bitterly Vi got up, "Guess I'm just as delusional now, huh Jinx."
After that Vi stopped going to the pit. She couldn’t turn a corner in Zaun without seeing her sister's face. So, instead of chasing after her delusions, she hid away in Caitlyn's library. Vi read every book she could get her hands on.
Reading had always been one of her favorite things to do besides fighting. Usually, she would read fiction. It was a way to escape the tough reality she lived in every day. But after that encounter with "Jinx" Vi decided to learn everything she could about engineering.
Powder was always the one with a head for this type of stuff. Vi loved listening to her ramble about one of her new ideas. Vi was smart, no doubt about it, but this just wasn't her thing. But now that her sister was gone Vi yearned for a connection to her. So if the only way she could keep her sister alive was to learn what her sister did, Vi would read every book she could get her hands on.
Vi started small at first. Finding things around the house to fix. She usually made it worse, way worse before she figured it out. It helped. But it wasn't enough. Fixing the broken record player wasn't intricate enough to keep her demons at bay. Vi needed something harder, more detailed, something that she could obsess over to keep her busy.
So naturally since Jayce was dead and no one else knew how to fix her gauntlets she decided to do it herself. She had to sneak out his designs for the gauntlets. Read more books about welding and forging but it helped. She was so involved reading Jayce's work about the gauntlets and hextech that she barely felt the icy cold numbness that burrowed itself into her chest when Jinx died.
Having access to Caitlyn's private library certainly had its perks. But once the gauntlets were finished Vi needed something new, or the crushing weight on her chest would settle back in.
She didn’t intend to snoop. Vi didn't like lying or sneaking around if she didn't have to. She was just awake, unable or unwilling to lie in bed and wait for the inevitable nightmares to take hold. So Vi chose to walk around the mansion.
She didn’t expect to see Caitlyn pull out some weird key nor did she expect her to gain access to some hidden part of the library. It was clear though, whatever information Caitlyn had stored away in there would definitely be something Vi never saw before. Which means it would be a big enough distraction to keep her mind busy.
Vi felt bad stealing the key from Caitlyn the next day. However the fact that it was so easy to do so without her noticing was a problem. She was going to tell Caitlyn to be more careful with her things after she gave it back to her. Though Vi never expected to see the things she did.
Vi's grip tightened around the book in her hand. Nothing could have prepared her for its contents. She must have reread it 100 times before the truth of the matter settled in. The uncomfortable realization seeped into her stomach like poison. The initial sense of disbelief ebbed away, opening itself up like flower petals for an all too familiar feeling.
Vi was fuming, and the walk to the enforcers station did nothing to quell her anger. Her mind was moving a mile a minute. Flashes of everything she's done, the choices she made, the people she lost. The things she did that were diametrically opposed to her own personal wants and needs. She pushed her own trauma and pain to the side for the sake of helping someone else navigate through theirs and for what?
Vi didn't even speak to the woman at that front desk. This wasn't like all the other times she walked into the station these last few months after the war ended. She didn't have time for small talk. Vi had one thing on her mind, and the rage inside her begged to be unleashed.
Vi was given bewildered looks from the enforcers as she stormed towards the sheriff's office. It was clear she was on a warpath, and no one wanted to be caught in the crossfire. Vi barged into Caitlyn's office, ignoring Seb, who was in the midst of a conversation with her.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!" Vi screamed at Caitlyn.
The loud, unexpected outburst startled both enforcers.
"Vi!?" Caitlyn asked in shock.
"I thought I knew the type of person you were, but clearly I was wrong. I should have trusted my gut when we first met," Vi sneered.
Seb rose from his chair and looked from Vi to Caitlyn before quietly exiting the room. This was clearly not a conversation he wanted any parts of. Caitlyn followed behind Seb, closing the door as he walked out and spun around to face Vi again.
"You need to calm down! Whatever," Caitlyn motioned towards Vi, "this is about shouldn't be handled here."
"Oh, I'm sorry, cupcake. Are you worried about your little enforcers hearing about the fucked up person their sheriff is?," Vi replied.
"Violet, I truly have no idea what has gotten you so riled up," Caitlyn said, walking back behind her desk, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Vi slammed the book on Caitlyn's desk. Caitlyn took one look at the pages the journal was opened to, and her face dropped.
"You've been lying to me all this time," Vi said.
"Vi, you need to let me explain," Caitlyn said softly.
"No, go ahead, Cait. Explain to me how after months of me grieving. After all of the nightmares you helped me calm down from, all of the tears, all the nights I came home bloodied and broken and drunk beyond comprehension, you could keep this from me!" Vi bellowed.
Caitlyn was stunned silent. She didn't plan on this being the way Vi found out. She wasn't even sure if she ever wanted her to find out at all.
"6 fucking months Cait. You knew for 6 months that my sister was alive! Why the fuck didn't you tell me!" Vi asked.
"It was just a theory at first. I wasn't sure if it was even possible. I didn't want to get your hopes up for it to be fasle." Caitlyn answered.
"Do you think I'm dumb? That the ex con from undercity isn't smart enough to understand the words YOU'VE written clear as day."
"I never said that Vi. I know you-"
"Clearly, you know nothing about me because you thought keeping this from me was a good idea. You suspected she was alive from the very beginning. And then you sent someone to look for her. Did you plan on killing her and not telling that either," Vi said through gritted teeth.
"I wanted to confirm my suspicions. I never intended to hurt her if she was found. The mission was recon only," Caitlyn quickly responded.
"And why should I believe you? You were willing to possibly shoot a child. You convinced me to use the Grey against my own people, you became a gotdamn dictator all with one goal in mind."
"I wasn't in my right mind I was grieving-"
"I have never stopped grieving! I have lost my parents, Vander, my brothers, my sister. I lost 7 years of my life, MY CHILDHOOD, in that fucking prison. Everyone in Zaun is in a perpetual state of mourning. That doesn't give you the right to lie to my face."
"And what would you have me do Violet! Tell you your sister is out there somewhere like I haven't watched you spiral out since the day it happened."
"She's my sister. I have the right to know."
"If she wanted you to know she wouldn't have let you think she was dead."
Vi flinched at Caitlyn's words as if she were struck. Those thoughts had been swirling around in her head as well. Just as biting as the fact that Caitlyn knew she was alive but chose to hide it from her anyway.
"This is about your actions, Cait, not hers."
"If I told you, you would have left.
"Like you left me in the tunnels?"
Caitlyn's eyes filled with remorse at the mention of their break up. Slowly Caitlyn walked around the desk towards Vi, hoping they could resolve this somehow.
"Vi please-"
Vi backed away from Caitlyn's outstretched hand.
"If I make a mistake, if I choose wrong, that's my burden to bear. But at least it was my choice."
Caitlyn lowered her hand as she stared into Vi's eyes, silently pleading for her not to do this.
"I thought this would be different. Guess I chose wrong again, huh?"
"Violet, no, I can fix this. I know I've made mistakes, but I'll do anything to make it up to you."
Vi snatched the book off the desk and looked at Caitlyn with indignation, "The only thing I want from you is for you to stay the hell away from me."
Vi walked out of Caitlyn's office. She didn't have time to waste being angry with Caitlyn anymore. She needed to get her stuff and get on the next air ship out of here. She wasn't going to lose another second of her life away from the one person who mattered to her the most. Vi was going to find Jinx if it was the last thing she did.