Chapter Text
“Vi!” Powder’s voice was crackly on her cell from Zaun’s trademark shitty signal, but it was still good to hear her voice. “We’re almost at the airport to pick you up, you fucking gold medalist!”
There was screaming and whooping from everybody else in the car, and Vi laughed, throwing a glance over her shoulder to make sure her conversation was still private.
“I’m so excited to see you, Pow,” Vi replied, trying to keep from choking up.
They hadn’t had the money for airfare for her family to go to the Games, so they’d had to have a watch party back home.
Vi wasn’t too proud to admit that she’d bawled like a baby watching the videos of her family and friends screaming encouragement at her during her run.
“It’s a good thing you spend all that time in the gym, so you can hold that shiny hunk of metal up,” Pow teased, and Vi laughed along with everybody else in the car, and then cut herself off because she was running out of time.
“Hey, listen,” Vi started, tossing another look over her shoulder and smiling. “You brought the big car, yeah?”
Over the staticky line, Pow was now loudly singing the Zaun national anthem, and there were a bunch of loud rustling noises that made Vi wince before her dad’s voice came through. “Hi, sweetheart, what was that?”
Another look over her shoulder told her she was really out of time. “You uh…you bring something big enough for skis?”
______
A little earlier…
Vi stretched as she waited with her and Caitlyn’s bags.
They’d sat next to each other on the plane by some weird fluke of fate, and they’d exchanged numbers because Vi’d actually remembered to ask. She was feeling a whole lot goddamn better than she had this - yesterday? The time change was throwing her off.
It turned out that Caitlyn had wanted to see her again as much as she’d wanted to see Caitlyn again - she’d felt the same sparks and the same chemistry, and Vi knew now that she wasn’t alone. It was…honestly kind of the best feeling ever.
She was waiting with their carry-ons and shit while Caitlyn made a pit stop, and then they were gonna go out to get their bags together.
Vi needed to get her shit because she was home, and, since it was an international flight, Caitlyn had to grab her shit and re-check it, which was apparently a nightmare because she had to check both skis and a gun. Shit was hard enough with a snowboard, Vi didn’t even want to think about having to deal with a gun on top of all her gear.
“Much better, thank you,” Vi heard from her left, and when she looked up, a smiling Caitlyn was patting her hands dry on her thighs.
Vi set her hand on the handle of her little suitcase and pulled it out of reach when Caitlyn went to grab for it. “No problem, Cupcake.”
Caitlyn pursed her lips at her and looked pointedly at her bag. “I can get that.”
“I know,” Vi told her, winking as she hefted her duffel over her other shoulder.
If she was being a little cheeky, sue her. She wanted to do the chivalrous thing.
What that said about her feelings about Caitlyn, she didn’t really want to know.
Vi wasn’t an asshole, sure, but she also didn’t usually think about things like chivalry.
Sighing and rolling her eyes, Caitlyn fell into step beside her as they walked out toward bag claim.
As Vi shouldered through the revolving door holding probably too many bags for the little compartment, she was hit - again - with the thought that this was…it.
Caitlyn was leaving, and it was goodbye for real, this time.
They had each other’s numbers, but Caitlyn had said she didn’t get to Zaun much, and it wasn’t like Vi had the money to fly to Piltover…
They’d talk, Vi was sure, and they’d figure it out, if there ended up being anything to figure out (Vi really hoped there ended up being something to figure out) but she still didn’t want to say goodbye.
Caitlyn laughed as she came through the revolving door behind her, rolling her eyes again as Vi got her balance.
“Oversize always takes forever here, so we’ve got a while,” Vi remarked as she started walking to their carousel.
It would honestly probably take a while for their regular-size bags to come out, too.
With that storm and all the flight cancellations, Vi wasn’t even sure her bags had made it, but she could hope.
Vi saw Caitlyn nod out of the corner of her eye, and then she spotted a good space to wait - room enough for all their gear and for them to stand and be able to stretch a little.
Caitlyn hadn’t complained the entire flight, but Vi’d seen her wincing and shifting her legs around.
She was tall enough that Vi figured she had to be really uncomfortable after the flight. There really wasn’t any room on planes anyway, and there definitely wasn’t room for legs like Caitlyn’s in economy.
Once Vi’d set all their shit down and they were camped out to wait, Caitlyn checked her phone - and apologized for it, which was fucking wild - and then started stretching out a little bit while Vi tried not to be a complete pervert.
When she failed at that, Vi checked her own phone.
She had a bunch of messages from her family - including a few from her dad apologizing that they’d be a little late to get her because Pow had had one of her harder mornings.
Vi replied to everything that was time-sensitive, and then shoved her phone back in her pocket.
“Congratulations!” someone told her as they walked past, and Vi grinned, waving and thanking them.
She was still in her Zaun kit, and while she wasn’t wearing her medal, people were still being really nice.
Caitlyn looked fucking amazing, but she wasn’t in her Piltover kit, which Vi was curious about. She hadn’t asked, but she figured it had something to do with the fact that Caitlyn wasn’t…wasn’t that proud of winning a medal, didn’t see it like the special, amazing thing that it was.
Or maybe the Piltover kit was just itchy or something.
After that first person had congratulated her, Vi had gotten pulled into a couple photographs - and held a couple babies, which was sort of weird thing that had been happening since she’d won…people just kind of handed over their kids no problem - but now she was turning back around, and…Caitlyn was still stretching.
Vi did a lot of stretching, herself.
She was limber.
But…she had nothin’ on Caitlyn.
How does she even get her leg up there–
Before Vi could think too much about where else Caitlyn could put her leg (preferably while they were both very naked), the buzzer for the baggage carousel went off, the blaring yellow light with it.
Caitlyn jumped and almost lost her balance, and it turned out Vi’s inability to not be pervy as shit was coming in handy, because she was able to catch her before she tipped straight over onto her face.
Laughing, Caitlyn rearranged her leg. “Thank you,” she said, and Vi grinned at her, resisting the urge to plant one on her.
She was just…so gorgeous.
But they weren’t together, and she didn’t know how Caitlyn felt about PDA…
A second later, a quick press of soft lips on her cheek answered that question.
And, now, Vi was blushing like a virgin, which Caitlyn seemed to find hilarious.
“You know what–”
“Oh, that’s my bag,” Caitlyn commented, walking away before Vi could come up with a retort that made it seem like she wasn’t some lovesick loser.
Vi went back to being stupidly horny as she watched Caitlyn lift her bag off the belt no problem.
It looked like it was probably heavy, and Caitlyn’s muscles were standing out underneath her snug sweater…
And she needed to get a fucking grip.
Rolling her bigger suitcase - that matched her carry-on - over, Caitlyn said, “Alright, one down, two to go.”
“Yeah,” Vi replied, spotting Pow’s graffiti, “one down for me, too.”
As she jogged over to grab it - and also the bag the elderly lady next to her asked her to pull off the belt, Vi hated that, even with how long oversize was probably going to take, they were still going to have to say goodbye soon.
Lugging her shit back over to where Caitlyn was standing in the middle of a bunch of bags…
Vi had an idea.
It was insane.
But it was an idea.
By the time Vi got back within talking distance, Caitlyn had pulled out a piece of paper and was frowning at it.
Noticing Vi’d come back with her bag, Caitlyn waved the paper - it was her boarding pass. “I have to admit, I’m not…particularly looking forward to my next flight.”
Vi’s heart skipped in her chest. “Long day, huh?”
Caitlyn’s face was unreadable as she looked at the pass for another long moment. “Mm.”
Vi watched her as she carefully tucked it away, and then seemed to square her shoulders. Set her jaw.
And then she sighed and shook her head, commenting kind of off-hand, “The flight home is always my least favorite part of any trip.”
Vi couldn’t relate - she got homesick real bad, and while she’d loved being at the Games, even the air felt better now that she was back in Zaun. But..yeah, after what Caitlyn had told her? She could see why she didn’t feel the same way about going home.
Maybe her idea wasn’t so insane after all…
“Do you…do you maybe…” Vi shook her head. “Nah, it’s stupid.”
Because it was. It was so stupid.
Caitlyn’s face shifted from unreadable to curious. “What is it?”
Nerves fizzing around in her chest, Vi took a deep breath.
Fuck it.
“If you don’t have anything important waiting…do you maybe wanna stay?”
Vi watched Caitlyn’s eyes widen…and she listened to the fucking deafening silence between them…and she thought, again, about how insane it was to ask something like that.
She started to stammer out an apology - tried to fix this fucking disaster before she ruined everything - but then…
But then, Caitlyn’s lips were on hers, and hands that already felt familiar after one night were cupping her face, and it felt like time stopped as they kissed softly but deeply.
And then Caitlyn pulled back, and said three words that made Vi’s day - maybe her life, honestly:
“I’d love to.”
______
Now…
Vi barely dodged somebody coming through the automatic doors as she jogged through them to go find the car she knew was pulled up at the curb.
Her dad had called her the second they’d gotten to the airport, and Caitlyn was still held up getting her shit, but she’d told Vi to go ahead, and…
Vi whooped as she caught sight of her family standing outside their huge SUV, running toward them and throwing her gear down to crash into them.
She might have been crying as the five people she loved most in the whole fuckin’ world slapped her on the back and hugged the life out of her and screamed “you’re a fucking Olympic champion!” in her ear so loud she figured she was probably deaf.
The huddle broke a little bit so that she could get the life squeezed out of her by everybody individually, and then she was wrapped in her dad’s arms and he was lifting her off the ground in an enormous bear hug.
God, she’d missed her family.
He set her back down, kissing her on the top of the head and telling her, sounding choked up, “Proud of you, sweetheart.”
Vi burrowed in deeper to the hug, squeezing him back.
Her dad knew the most about how hard all this had been for her. He’d been the one who’d helped her with loans, and gear, and trying to make ends meet - both for the family, and for her to dream big.
It meant a lot that he was proud of her - and that she’d been able to do everything she could to earn that pride.
It meant a lot for all the lows to be worth it.
He gave her a final, big squeeze, and Vi pulled back, wiping her eyes and sniffing.
“Olympic champion…and snot goblin,” Pow intoned from next to her, and Vi glared, then laughed when Pow held up a box of tissues.
Her baby sister had come prepared.
She grabbed a couple and wiped her eyes and blew her nose, and then…
Well, she had some preparations to make.
Mainly she needed to try to see if she could make it through any part of today - and hopefully Caitlyn’s whole visit, which was gonna be at least a few days - with her dignity intact.
She figured probably not.
But she might as well try.
“Okay, so, listen–” Vi started.
“Wait, did you meet someone?” Pow asked, her eyes going wide.
Guess Dad didn’t really fill them in.
Vi hesitated just long enough for her family to put two and two together.
“You did! You fucking met someone!”
“Damn, I guess they hand out all those condoms at the Village for a reason.”
“She’s gay, dude.”
“I know she’s gay, but I just meant in the, you know, general Olympic fucking sense–”
“Wait! Did you…” Ekko started, and Vi shoved her hand over his face because she knew what he was going to ask and she didn’t need more questions when the person he’d immediately figured out was here was about to walk through the doors any fucking second.
“Everybody shut the fuck up!” Vi commanded - well, tried.
Her family wasn’t really known for their listening skills.
“I did make a friend when I was at the Games–”
“Yeah, a friend with benefits!” Pow hooted, slapping hands with Mylo as he whistled his very unhelpful encouragement.
“A friend, ” Vi repeated, “And she didn’t have any plans after the Games, and we were on the same flight anyway, so I sort of…well, I sort of invited her to hang in Zaun for a while.”
Absolute.
Dead.
Fucking.
Silence.
Greeted her announcement, and Vi figured she should take the opportunity to ask the question she really needed to ask,
“Anyway, her name’s Caitlyn, and she’s cool - you guys’ll like her - but could you please, please not make me look so stupid she immediately regrets agreeing to stay?”
The silence continued for another long moment, and then…
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Not a chance.”
“I knew it! I gotta ask her more about biathlon. …also, no.”
Her dad just shrugged.
“Great,” Vi muttered.
She checked over her shoulder and saw Caitlyn coming through the doors, moving slowly as she rolled her suitcases - which were somehow stacked on top of each other now - and carried her skis and her gun with the other arm.
It didn’t look like she was about to drop everything, so Vi just raised a hand up, waving and waiting until Caitlyn very clearly saw her before she dropped it.
As Caitlyn started walking toward them, Vi could almost feel her family realizing who she’d waved to.
“Fucking hell, Vi, did you go to the Olympics or Fashion Week?” Pow muttered.
My just whistled again as if to sagely agree, “Damn.”
For what it was worth, Vi agreed with them, but Caitlyn was almost to their group, and she didn’t want to give her siblings any more ammo to execute her with at dawn - or in the next five minutes.
“Hey,” Vi said as Caitlyn got close enough to talk to, and then she sent one final prayer up that her family wasn’t about to roast her alive so bad Caitlyn just got straight back on the plane.