Chapter Text
Caitlyn was unsure how many hours had passed, just that it’d been a long time since Jinx left and her anxiety was building with each passing moment. How long would it take Jinx to notice the gemstone was gone? Would Caitlyn be able to withstand her wrath, even to the point of torture? Would she be able to keep the location secret under such conditions? Had things gone terribly at her parent’s house?
Despite it all, the dreadful anticipation and soaring anxiety, she still worried for Jinx. The betrayal would sting, she might even end up killing Caitlyn over it, and then Jinx would never have anyone who truly cared about her in her life ever again. Something about that struck her as very deeply, truly sad. There was some insanity in the fact that her own life mattered little in the equation, but perhaps she’d simply been insane the entire time and was only now realizing.
Just to give herself something to do that wasn’t overthink and worry, Caitlyn stretched and began doing basic exercise. Jinx had no workout equipment, not even makeshift dumbbells, so she was limited to things like pushups and sit-ups. Not the most rigorous or challenging routine, but with the little amount of food she’d had, her body was more tired than usual. As if on cue, her stomach churned and rumbled.
She’d ask Jinx to get her some proper ingredients and offer to make them both food as enticement, and perhaps they could enjoy a peaceful evening before the impending implosion of their relationship. It wasn’t an exceptional plan, but it was a plan, and that would have to be enough.
Caitlyn had just finished a set of forward lunging stretches when she heard the familiar whirring sound of a firelight hoverboard. It only took less than a day of spending time in their cavern to become intimately familiar with the sound, which meant Jinx had finally returned. She looked up and realized several things in very quick succession.
The first was that Jinx was absolutely covered in blood from the waist down, holding a massive wound above her waist that was still weeping blood over her small fingers. She looked half-dead, the glow of her eyes barely visible through half-open eyelids, her skin pale like the snow that haunted Caitlyn’s dreams. The large bag she’d taken with her was strapped around Jinx’s shoulder and waist, sitting on her back almost like a quiver, only weighing her down if her hunch was anything to go by.
The blood in her veins felt like ice and she moved on pure instinct, diving to intercept Jinx before she crashed or worse, missed the ground completely. Their bodies collided hard , the wind knocked entirely out of the former Enforcer as she held tight to Jinx’s cold body. Despite the usual heat of Zaun, her skin felt like ice to the touch, and panic shot through Caitlyn like fire trailing kerosene.
“Jinx?!” she screamed, flipping their bodies over so that Jinx was in a supine position. She moved Jinx’s half-gloved hand off the gaping wound and felt the blood drain from her face as she took in the carnage. Jinx’s eyelids closed fully and Caitlyn put one hand on her cheek, moving to hold her head up.
“Jinx?! Jinx, can you hear me?! Fuck — Fuck !”
She laid her head on Jinx’s chest and heard the faintest heartbeat, letting out a haggard exhale of relief.
“Jinx, stay with me, okay? Please stay with me.” she said, stroking her thumb across Jinx’s face just under her eye, frantically trying to figure out what to do. She needed to get Jinx to the bed, so she thread her arms carefully under the woman and hefted, all of her muscles screaming in protest. Jinx made a small sound and Caitlyn felt her heart stop, leaning down to press her cheek against the top of Jinx’s head.
Jinx pressed weakly into Caitlyn’s body, the smallest of movements, curling slightly further into the older woman and Caitlyn’s grip tightened instinctively.
I’ll never let anyone hurt you.
Caitlyn understood. She completely understood.
The next couple hours passed in a blur of adrenaline. She cleaned Jinx’s wounds with some kind of foul strong grain alcohol she’d found while snooping and one of the only clean rags she could find. Jinx hissed and grunted, occasionally mumbling as she stayed just on the brink of life and death. Caitlyn spoke to her in soft, soothing tones as she worked, using fishing twine from Jinx’s lab to sew up what little of the wound she could, knowing full well she would have to cauterize the rest.
She put a rag in Jinx’s mouth like a gag and got into the vile work, doing her best to ignore the screams of pain that ripped from Jinx’s mouth despite the death grip her teeth had on the gag. She tried to ignore the way Jinx’s body was healing her faster than any normal human healed, especially with such a grievous injury, but ended up vowing that if she ever got the chance she would blow Silco’s head clean off. Whatever sort of ‘treatment’ Jinx had undergone after the bridge may well be the only reason she was alive, but that did little to quell Caitlyn’s fury.
She barely remembered finishing up the wound care. Her hands were shaking, her heart beating out of her chest, and the moment it was over Caitlyn collapsed onto the hard floor beside Jinx’s bed. Her eyelids fluttered shut and sleep claimed her despite her best efforts.
“— IN MY GODSDAMNED HOUSE! MY HOUSE! MY HUSBAND COULD HAVE DIED AND THEY HAVE MY DAUGHTER !”
Cassandra Kiramman, her hair a mess, with deep bags under her puffy eyes, slammed her fist down on the council roundtable. She was met with several tense beats of silence as the other Councilors became increasingly interested in their nails or the floor.
“So help me gods, I will bury all of you,” she said harshly. “I know exactly who and where to squeeze to completely bleed this country dry and believe me, I have nothing left to lose. We make a move today !”
“…Is there evidence of your scion’s capture that the council is not aware of?” asked Salo, his usually repugnant mood largely unchanged by the circumstances. He blithely tapped his long nails against the table as if bored.
“Private security swept every corner of that room after last night and found her clothes, jewelry, and toiletries missing. The most valuable objects had not even been touched . Why do such a thing, if not to make her feel more at home? More comfortable in that filth while they fill her head with gods only know what? It ends now !”
“I believe that Councilor Kiramman intends to put forward a movement to begin operations against shimmer factories sooner than expected due to a national security risk,” said Jayce, standing. “I second this and put it to the council as a vote.” Mel beside him gave a small nod and demurely raised an arm. The others, slowly, followed suit.
Even Salo begrudgingly put his own arm up, leading to a unanimous agreement. The Councilors
shuffled out of the large room not long after, but Mel stayed seated with her eyes a million miles away. Jayce straightened his tie, the red one he’d just recently gotten back, and cleared his throat.
The sound resonated in the otherwise empty room.
“Penny for your thoughts, Councilor Medarda?” She looked up at him and blinked in surprise and he felt his heart swell.
“Ah, my apologies. It is simply that…well, when considering the facts of the break-in, I believe Cassandra made a large misstep.” she said, idly observing her nails.
“In what way?”
“ Think , Jayce,” said Mel harshly, though there wasn’t any real bite in her words. “Why would someone who is holding Caitlyn hostage want to steal her clothes and other personal effects, but not anything valuable? No other rooms were disturbed, and the perpetrator entered and exited through the window. You’ve been to her daughter’s room, I would assume — would you say it’s easy to find unless you know which room to look for?”
“I…wouldn’t, no. Kiramman manor is large and many rooms look the same. What are you suggesting?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“At the moment, I am suggesting nothing. I simply have a grave feeling there’s something to this we’re not seeing, and perhaps that something might point us towards the reason why the enemy is seemingly trying to make a high-profile captive more comfortable in her captivity.”
“…We allowed Violet concessions for her freedom and willing cooperation, despite the differences of national identity, against a common enemy.” Jayce said, realization in his words.
“Yes,” said Mel, holding his gaze with a grim expression on her usually neutral face. “And perhaps, if her claim of being romantically linked to Caitlyn is true, she may be our only hope of avoiding all-out war.”
“I believe her,” said Jayce firmly. “There’s no other reason why she would act the way she’s been acting if it wasn’t true.”
“Perhaps. It does not fill me with much joy that our best hope lies with her.”
“You think she’s lying ?
“I don’t know. I wish not to. It seems far too good to be true. We lose Caitlyn, and at the exact moment we do, a prisoner confined until mere days ago- who has never met her before- shows up claiming romantic attachment. The footage from the bridge shows her there holding Caitlyn, but…forgive me if that is not enough.”
“We have to talk to Violet together. United, as we were, not to further our own ends. Can we do that?” he asked quietly. Mel stood, took the two steps over to him, and pressed a small kiss to his cheek.
“We can certainly try.” she said, and they exited with a plan.
Caitlyn shot up, the horrific scenes of the night prior fresh in her mind. Her whole body hurt , with no inch of her that wasn’t bone-deep sore from stress and exhaustion. She pulled herself up to her feet using the edges of Jinx’s bed, careful not to disturb the sheets lest she wake the sleeping woman.
She nearly screamed and woke Jinx when she finally looked at the wound — or rather, the large mass of scar tissue that used to be the wound. Tears filled her eyes and she couldn’t stop herself from lightly running her fingers across the fresh skin, choking back a cry to remain as quiet as possible.
“By the gods,” she whispered mournfully. “What did he do to you?”
Jinx’s hand meekly closed itself around her own and her gaze snapped like a whip over to the newly-conscious woman.
“I’m sorry,” Caitlyn breathed immediately. “I hadn’t meant to wake-“
“Shhhhhhh.”
Her voice sounded far away, like she was pulling it from somewhere deep within. Scratchy and breathy, but Jinx.
“My Caitie…” she said, giving the lightest, barely perceptible squeeze of her hand. “My…. m…..”
Her eyelids fluttered and her grip relaxed as she fell back out of consciousness, and Caitlyn couldn’t bite back the sob that came ripping out of her. All the worry, stress, misery, rage, and pain she’d felt since her life flipped upside down came out in the form of heaving cries, her tears glistening across Jinx’s pale skin as they fell. She cried until her voice went hoarse, her eyes dried up, and she was just a sniffling mess. It could’ve been an hour or it could’ve been ten minutes, and lost in her grief as she had been, she had truly no idea.
Jinx slept through all of it somehow. Even when Caitlyn laid her head down on her waist, cheek to bony hip, she remained unroused. When Caitlyn finally moved some ten, twenty minutes later, she came away sticky with sweat and tears and her body immediately protested the removal of skin to skin contact. She trailed her finger along the soft imprint her face had left and it came up slick.
If you’d placed a gun to Caitlyn’s head, she still wouldn’t have been able to justify what happened next.
Tentatively, slowly, curiously, she brought the finger to her mouth and placed it on her tongue, tasting salt. As if spurred on by already crossing the line, she leaned down gently and dragged her tongue across the hot skin. She heard a sharp intake of breath and looked up in horror to meet Jinx’s shocked, dimly glowing violet eyes.
“I…well, um-“
“Naughty…” breathed Jinx, voice low and husky. Caitlyn sat paralyzed, unable to speak or move.
“Come.” Jinx whispered and beckoned with a single, weak finger.
Her heart beating fast in her chest like a ticking bomb, Caitlyn moved slowly. She crawled up fully onto the bed despite the lack of room, positioning herself so that her legs sandwiched Jinx’s right, aware of how close her knee was. Holding herself up over Jinx’s body like she was going to lay on her, their gazes held and she waited.
Jinx’s right hand came up to splay across Caitlyn’s cheek, the smallest of movements and yet it sent the older woman soaring. She moved to pull Caitlyn forward and felt strained resistance.
“I don’t-” Caitlyn tried to begin protesting to little success.
“Shhhhh.” Jinx cooed, putting the slightest amount of force into her pull. Caitlyn’s head came pliantly down and their lips slotted together like they were made for each other, Jinx’s tongue lining Caitlyn’s bottom lip. Caitlyn sighed into her mouth, letting every aroused moment she’d spent pent up slowly begin to release. She hungrily deepened the kiss and pressed her leg further in between Jinx’s, drawing the sweetest moan from her she’d ever heard. Heat and passion built until they completely eclipsed anxiety and reticence, and Caitlyn felt herself falling away into Jinx’s touch, scent, sounds, and softness.
For a woman who’d been on the brink of death less than half a day before, Jinx was matching her passion in equal measure. Her hands explored from Caitlyn’s neck down to her collarbone, then trailing to squeeze her slender fingers into the older woman’s breast, causing Caitlyn’s breath to hitch harshly. Jinx’s skin was hot to the touch and Caitlyn desperately wanted to get burned.
“You sound pretty,” whispered Jinx. Their kiss broke and heat flooded Caitlyn’s face. Their eyes met and she saw raw, unbridled passion in Jinx’s gaze. “I want more. I want it all .”
“Jinx, we… I can’t…” Caitlyn tried to say, but Jinx pressed her finger to her lips.
“You won’t hurt me.” she said reassuringly.
“You need rest .” Caitlyn replied defiantly, breathing heavy and hot.
“I need you .” Jinx said, pointed and hot.
Gods above.
“You’re hurt,” Caitlyn protested firmly, summoning all the strength of will she possessed. “I almost watched you die in my arms, Jinx, I… I thought you were dead. I don’t think I can just-“
Slow but determined, Jinx pulled herself up on her elbows, straining to plant a small kiss just under Caitlyn’s eye on her cheek.
“You’re so pretty when you cry,” she said quietly. “Has anyone told you?”
Fuck .
“Jinx-“
“I want to make you cry for me.” she whispered, and kissed Caitlyn’s jaw, letting her lips linger just a moment longer after. It felt like everywhere she was touched resounded throughout all of her, sending sensation to every inch of her body. The rationality tried desperately to fight the growing lust, trying to ignore how the length of her was straining against her clothing.
“Jinx, listen-“
“I wanna hear you scream my name so loud they can hear it topside.”
She kissed the corner of Caitlyn’s mouth.
“ Jinx-“
“You helped me, saved me,” she said into Caitlyn’s ear, nipping at her earlobe, “Let me help you now.”
Jinx nudged Caitlyn’s head up with her nose and trailed kisses down her neck, tracing the path she just made back up with her tongue. Days and days of pent-up tension surged in Caitlyn and she felt her lower half twitch with desire, doing everything she could to keep her arms straight even as they shook.
Fuck . Gods, fuck.
The dam that was her strength of will burst open and desire flooded her senses, pushing for more, more, more . She and Jinx collided like stars exploding, desire and heat surging through her as she kissed and licked hungrily into Jinx’s mouth. The smaller woman made a genuine noise of surprise into Caitlyn’s mouth when she went to support herself on one hand so she could touch Jinx with the other, and every single voice of reason died away in the noise of Jinx’s little moans and sighs.
Jinx’s hands continued to grope and grab at any of Caitlyn she could reach, trying in vain to remove her top.
“Cait-“
Wordlessly, Caitlyn sat up on her knees and shed her shirt in record time, leaning down again to greedily recapture her lips. She slid her free hand under Jinx’s small top, her fingers gliding against the smaller woman’s soft breasts. Her nipples peaked, waiting and wanting, practically begging for touch.
“Caitie, ohhh… shit ,” Jinx’s voice trailed off into breathy nonsense as Caitlyn pinched her nipple and tugged gently, trailing kisses down the side of Jinx’s face to her collarbone. Fueled by curiosity and lust, she gently bit her neck just before her first cloud tattoo and Jinx made a delicious sound somewhere between euphoria and genuine surprise. Their bodies felt like one being of lust, noise, and fire as her teeth sunk in.
Jinx threaded her hands through Caitlyn’s hair and pulled gently at the base, a small and pleasant pressure that made her feel so fucking alive . She sucked at Jinx’s skin, biting down harder to get a better grip, wanting to mark her dark and deep. She didn’t stop at her neck, trailing down her body with possessive bites and marks that drew the sweetest groans from Jinx’s lips like an invigorating orchestra of pleasure.
“I want… on your lap,” said Jinx weakly, her voice thick. They were both breathing heavy and hot, and yet neither seemed willing to break back into reality.
“Can you move?”
“…not alone.” Jinx admitted.
Caitlyn carefully, and with as much grace as she could muster, climbed back off the bed.
“Promise me you’ll tell me if anything hurts.” she said, making sure she sounded as serious as she was.
“Cross my heart.”
It wasn’t the most assurance, but Caitlyn slipped one arm under Jinx’s legs and used the other to lift her into a perfect princess carry. It struck her that it was the second time in two days she’d carried Jinx like this, and something about it felt startlingly right. Jinx grunted as they rose, the smallest noise of pain, but Caitlyn froze immediately.
“Jinx?”
“Fine- I’m fine, just a little - ah, bit shot in the back.”
For the most fleeting of moments, Caitlyn considered dropping her, and instead gently turned to slide herself onto the bed in the place Jinx had been. Resting her back against the cold ‘headboard’, Caitlyn made sure to keep a firm grip on the smaller woman as she settled Jinx almost diagonally in between her crossed legs. Her arms came up and interlocked behind Caitlyn’s neck, using her for support as she leaned up.
Taking the clear invitation with a smile, Caitlyn hungrily recaptured the sensation of kissing Jinx with wild abandon. It was mere seconds before one of Jinx’s hands broke off and buried itself back in Caitlyn’s long hair, getting a firm grip at the back of her head. The older woman let out an involuntary noise of pleasure so loud she surprised even herself, and Jinx muttered something filthy under her breath that she was too far gone to catch.
Jinx’s other hand, devious as it was, snaked down Caitlyn’s body, grabbing and teasing at her breasts fervently. She broke the kiss to join the hand with her lips, taking one of Caitlyn’s peaked nipples in her mouth and swirling her tongue around it. Caitlyn swore and threw her head back.
“Jinx, gods, you’re so- hooooh shit -“
Jinx’s mouth remained on her chest but her hand continued lower and lower until she was gently but quickly rubbing at the outline of Caitlyn’s arousal, sending her soaring with pleasure.
“I want you. Please .” Jinx begged, her voice low and thick with lust.
“If we cross that line, I… I don’t think I could stop, Jinx.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” Jinx quipped immediately, looking up at Caitlyn with her glittering eyes that made it hard to think rationally.
“ Jinx ,” Caitlyn said, her own voice husky and raw and desperate , pulling herself back enough to consciousness with immense effort. “I won’t hurt you. I want to — need to — know when to stop.”
“Don’t want you to stop.”
“Jinx, I’m being serious .”
“Me too ,” said Jinx in protest. “I can handle you.”
“ Shit ,” said Caitlyn, praying she wasn’t as red as she felt. “I swear on my life, Jinx, I will go lock myself in that room again. I’m not doing this — any of this — if it’ll seriously hurt you. I mean, gods… look at you…”
Caitlyn’s eyes caught on the massive scar once more and it was like heaven had cracked a bit, just enough for doubt to creep in.
“…we shouldn’t even… oh gods, what have I-“
“No!” said Jinx, a wild look in her eyes that hadn’t been there moments prior. She seemed possessed by a strength Caitlyn was sure she’d hadn’t had moments prior when she practically leaped up to snake her arms around Caitlyn’s torso. “Don’t leave! Please!”
Reality set in.
Shit .
What the fuck had she done? Jinx had almost died and Caitlyn had taken advantage of her weakness to satisfy her sick urges. Even worse, she’d somehow managed to seduce Jinx into the ridiculous fantasy. Jinx, who just needed a real friend, and Caitlyn, who had almost just fucked her on bedsheets freshly stained with her blood. That wasn’t even to mention Jinx hadn’t yet discovered Caitlyn’s betrayal — she felt bile rise in her mouth.
“I should, um, a shirt,” she said dumbly, trying to move, which only caused Jinx to tighten her grip.
“You can’t go,” whispered Jinx, deadly serious. “I love you.”
Caitlyn froze. The entire world froze with her, it seemed, and she felt herself begin to shake slightly. She looked down slowly, meeting intense, glowing purple eyes that regarded her like a prey animal to be pounced on. Gone was the somewhat scared, vulnerable girl, gone was the quiet, sultry girl, replaced by a vicious, single-minded possessiveness.
“ What ?” Caitlyn asked in quiet horror.
“I love you, Caitlyn. You can’t leave, you’re mine now. My Caitie.” Jinx said, pressing her nails deeper into Caitlyn’s back where she held her, so hard she was scared she might draw blood.
Fuck.
On a bright and beautiful Piltover morning, Ambessa Medarda stepped off an airship, looking forward to seeing her favorite child and body buzzing with the excitement of war on the horizon. She took in a deep breath of fresh air and set off, plaything in tow.