Re:Broken Gears

Chapter 1: Cat and Mouse

Caitlyn let out a heavy, weary sigh as she saw yet another random, inconspicuous civilian pass her cruiser.

The Sheriff of Piltover was on a solo patrol, the first one in a long while, and the boredom was finally starting to drain her to the point of exhaustion.

She had never really been one to handle idleness well, and unfortunately this solo patrol is a void full of it. She just wishes her partner was able to be here with her like she would usually be.

After all, Vi always made things a tad bit livelier with her ridiculous, yet in all honesty, amusing antics. And when she did, Caitlyn, for her part, would always entertain herself by seeing how long she could withstand not chastising the bruiser for said antics.

It was an admittedly pretty odd, but fairly functional, system for the two of them. Over the few years they've known each other, it has kept them sane on the drearily long patrols, especially on the completely unproductive ones.

But sadly for her, it was not the case for today, as Vi wasn't here to make things entertaining and to fulfill their system.

No, today called for some alterations to the duo's usual patrol session, much to Caitlyn's displeasure.

Today, crime was unusually high in one of the financial districts, presumably as a result of a rising group of bank robbers making their mark. However, all the while, there were also some sightings of Jinx, the city's most infamous, in this district that Caitlyn is currently patrolling.

So as such, the duo commonly known as Piltover's Finest was forced to split apart in order to cover both districts and aid their fellow subordinating officers in each.

Caitlyn, for her share, had taken to this merchant street in lower Piltover, knowing it was probably safer for the city to have her watch for the terrorist rather than her volatile, and easily perturbed partner; while Vi went to the financial district in an attempt to catch the robbers in the act.

In her eyes, Caitlyn had found the split to be fairly reasonable at the time. Vi would be a great deal of aid to their subordinates in the area with her combat skill if any conflict were to erupt with the robbers. And likewise, Caitlyn would use her own officers and her experienced tracking skills to watch for, and potentially catch Jinx. Overall, the split would be a win-win situation for both parties.

However, what Caitlyn hadn't anticipated was how damn boring a solo patrol could be. Or rather, she merely forgot how boring it would be.

She sighed once again and placed a hand on her brow in utter annoyance.

"I knew I should have at least taken a recruit with me in this car…" She murmured to herself, thinking out loud. "I could've instructed them, instead of sitting here alone gazing at nothing for hours. But no, I had to send them all out in the field. Brilliant idea Caitlyn..."

Caitlyn removed her hand from her face to return her gaze to the daily commute of the lower district's citizens. She had seen nothing out of the ordinary so far, so she just watched on as the people moved along, living their lives.

I suppose it at least beats paperwork, she thought idly.

Contrary to any popular belief of the kind, Caitlyn actually hated paperwork. It was a hell to go through and was even worse when Vi put her own off, and Caitlyn had to do it for her.

Honestly, Caitlyn absolutely loathed having to go through Vi's unkept documents, as well as all the complaints filed with them. It was tedious, irritating, and if she had to see another 'formal letter' about the bruiser's excessive actions regarding a certain blue-haired criminal's rampages, she would lose her mind.

...Oh, speaking of which, Caitlyn wondered why she hasn't heard anything Jinx related yet. If the reports were true-which she assumed they were, seeing as most of the kind were-Jinx should be somewhere in this district.

But if that's so, then why is everything so... peaceful?

It wasn't in Jinx's nature to be quiet. No, she always preferred to be obnoxiously loud. So, if that is the case, why is there no chaos, no explosions, no destruction, no anything?

It just made no sense.

"Where is she?" Caitlyn muttered, frowning. She reexamined the crowd with extra scrutiny, searching for any out of the ordinary. But still, she found nothing.

Letting out a sigh, she decided to move on and check other parts of the district. Jinx had to be here, somewhere…

Powering up her cruiser, she waited for a married couple to move past the street to drive off. However, just as they passed, she managed to catch something unusual out the corner of her eyes.

It was a cloaked figure buying something from one of the outdoor street vendors. And while that wasn't too alarming in itself, Caitlyn went wide-eyed as the figure turned slightly, revealing its face.

It was pale and smiling and framed by two infamous violet orbs.

"Jinx…" Caitlyn growled out as her own eyes narrowed.

So the reports were true. But what is Jinx doing here...buying...bread? She mostly destroys the richer districts, never any of the poor or middle-class areas. And she definitely doesn't come down here to buy groceries...or does she?

Caitlyn was truly perplexed at seeing the criminal here doing something so...common, especially outside her usual sightings. But as a moment passed, she realized that the 'why' is not so important right now.

No, what is actually important right now is figuring out what she is going to do next. However, she found herself in a dilemma trying to do so.

Although typical protocol required her to call in for backup for a major and/or dangerous criminal, several factors made her hesitant to believe it to be the correct response to this situation.

For one, backup meant both inexperienced recruits and Vi.

She couldn't trust the recruits with the capture of the city's most infamous, and Vi, when faced with Jinx, meant massive, unnecessary property damage simply from the enforcer's chase. Caitlyn really did not feel like dealing with either and especially not more paperwork.

Also, for two, this was a good chance to trail Jinx to her hideout. If the bread was any indicator at all, Jinx most likely made her dwelling nearby, giving Caitlyn a general location already. In addition, it seemed that Jinx didn't even notice Caitlyn, as the criminal made no indication when she glanced in her direction.

All in all, it was the perfect opportunity.

As long as she remained silent and subtle, Caitlyn could easily trail Jinx and discover her base of operations, and later, return with a strike force to arrest the criminal unsuspectingly.

It sounded like the better choice to her, so after a moment's delay, she exited her cruiser, taking her iconic hat and rifle off the passenger seat to bring along with her.

Once out of her vehicle, she cautiously glanced over to see if Jinx still hadn't noticed her. To her relief, such was still the case, but Jinx was beginning to leave the bread vendor. If she didn't hurry, she'd lose the trail.

Silently, she starting making her way over to Jinx's location, politely excusing herself as she pushed past several pedestrians barring her path. When she finally got over to the bread stand, she found Jinx entering a nearby alleyway.

Frowning to herself, she paused at the entrance, wondering if she should continue. After all, it would be extremely risky to do so at this point, as Jinx would merely have to turn her head to notice the trailing Sheriff.

However, after reminding herself of the potential information she could gain, she decided that the reward was worth the risk and pressed on, following Jinx into the alleyway.

After several minutes of trailing, Caitlyn began to wonder if Jinx herself knew where she was going; because for Caitlyn, it really seemed like the criminal had no clue whatsoever.

Jinx merely skipped around, giggling to herself as if she hadn't a care in the world. As such, she made several mistakes, not paying any attention to her surroundings, and ran into numerous dead ends and crowded streets.

It had caused quite a lot of close encounters for the trailing Sheriff actually, as Jinx would often quickly turn around to navigate from her mistaken paths. Luckily, she hadn't spotted the quick responding Sheriff yet, but Caitlyn wondered how much longer she could keep things up.

After all, all it would take was one slip up, one moment where she can't hide in time, for Jinx to catch her, and then it would be all over.

No, she thought, silencing her doubts. She can't think about failing right now. She just has to stay determined to succeed in finally capturing Jinx, and remain patient and cautious in her endeavor. Shaking her head, she returned her focus to her target.

But with Jinx turning into another street, Caitlyn sidetracked again, as she idly noticed something odd: no one was taking much notice of Jinx's presence.

Caitlyn had first assumed that the cloak merely threw them off from identifying her, but the hood of it had been thrown off by the wind a while ago. There should be no reason as to why the people of this district couldn't recognize her.

So then...why was no one scared, or angry, or…anything out of the usual? They were acting like this was all normal, like Jinx wasn't a wanted terrorist casually walking down the street.

She narrowed her eyes at the realization that these people seemed to be...protecting Jinx. But why were they, is what Caitlyn wanted to know.

What did they have to gain from protecting such an individual? Caitlyn needed to know, but she couldn't mull over it or pull aside a person for questioning. She simply didn't have the time, as Jinx was already skipping along into another alleyway.

But she made a mental note to get to the bottom of it, right as soon as Jinx was secured in a jail cell. After all, she couldn't just let this level of corruption persist in her city.

Clearing her thoughts, she continued to follow the bluenette into the alleyway.

However, out of nowhere, Jinx suddenly quickened her pace, dashing through the alley before turning around a corner into a split branch. Caitlyn frowned to herself as she wondered why the girl would take such a rapid change in speed, but continued deeper into the alley, matching pace as silently as possible.

But as she entered the split off, she instantly identified that it was a dead end and that Jinx was nowhere in sight…

She had been tricked.

Alarm overtook the Sheriff, and she reached behind her to take her rifle out its harness. It was in her ready hands within seconds, and her eyes darted around as she scanned the alleyway, looking behind trash bags and the receptacle for Jinx. Scowling, she cautiously walked over to the receptacle, knowing that Jinx could possibly be hiding within.

Balancing her gun on her hip, with one gloved hand rested on its trigger, she readied her other hand to open the lid. Stilling her breath, she started a mental countdown to prepare herself.

3…

2…

1…

With a sudden start, she swung open the lid, and instantly returned her hand to her gun, raising it to fire. However, her eyes worked before her hands did, and noticed that nothing was inside. Calming herself and setting her gun down, she further examined the dumpster, but still found nothing out of the ordinary.

Confused and agitated, she backed away from the receptacle, wondering where the hell Jinx could've gone. But as familiar cackling resounded somewhere above her, she dreadfully realized her mistake: she didn't check upwards first.

"Sorry, Hat lady, but this cat and mouse game is starting to get a lil' boring. So I'm gonna have to end things here. See ya!"

Hearing the criminal's shout, she looked up to find Jinx perched high up on a fire escape above her. She acted fast and took aim with her rifle, crosshairs lining up right on Jinx's torso. However, it was as if time slowed for her, and before she could pull the trigger, Jinx fired first with her infamous rocket launcher taken out from under her cloak.

The rocket hit its mark against the building opposite of her, and the resulting debris instantly started to rain down upon the surprised Sheriff.

Fear seized her as she realized that she had no possible means of escape with how the majority of the debris was falling near the entrance, and she dropped her gun, stumbling back near the rear of the alleyway.

However, nowhere was safe for the Sheriff, and as more debris fell, she cowered into a protective ball in hopes of protecting her head and vital organs. But sadly, while the shell seemed to withstand the assault, the pathetic shielding did little to protect her from the excruciating pain of the debris colliding against her frame.

It caused her to let out an involuntary, agonizing wail, and blank out for a moment as the dust settled. But once she came to, a moment after, she was fully reminded of the immense pressure and pain.

The soul wrenching agony was more extreme than anything she had ever felt before, and it led her to believe she was in the process of dying. After all, it sure as hell seemed like she was. Especially so with the warm pooling liquid growing beneath her abdomen.

...So...is this it?

...is this how I die?

Bleeding out after being idiotic enough to chase after Jinx without backup, and without realizing that she was leading me into a trap all along? It's such a horribly cruel end…

She was bitter as she lied underneath the rubble. Her breathing was getting shallow, and she realized her body was starting to enter shock, as everything began to feel numb. With her slowly losing blood by the second, if she were to enter shock now, she would surely perish being unattended to.

She needs to stay conscious and find help from somewhere, anywhere, before she bled out. But how could she?

All her recruits were blissfully unaware of the fact that she had taken off on her foolhardy pursuit and were still searching for Jinx elsewhere. And as for Vi, she was in a different district entirely.

No, there is no way of contacting anyone.

Breathing heavy and unsteady, she lied there, desperately thinking of ways to save herself. But each passing thought proved fruitless and impossible, further panicking her. And with her body starting to fail, growing numb and colder as time passed, she felt hopeless.

She really has no option, has she?

...This is actually it. I'm going to die…

She whimpered softly as her grave reality finally set in. It is one thing to know that you are dying, but it is an entirely different thing to be completely helpless in preventing it. It was especially terrible to her knowing that no one was coming to her rescue.

She was just stuck here…left for death to claim her…

…

…

"Yo, Cait."

…

What?!

Caitlyn stilled her breath and tears at the sudden sound. Her mind instantly forgot the fear and hopelessness it had been plagued with a moment before, and swapped gears to find out where the voice-her partner's voice-came from.

Her pocket, she deduced seconds later. Vi's voice came from the pocket on her belt.

"We finally finished things out here and are going for lunch. How are things going over there? You see her at all?" she heard Vi speak. "Cait? You there?"

Yes. Yes! I'm here Vi.

She realized that Vi was speaking to her through the small radio transmitter on her hip and that the small device was still intact despite the rubble on top of her.

It somewhat amazed her that it had withstood the impact of the debris, but she ignored the thought for now. Right now, she needs to focus and get to the device immediately to alert her partner to her plight.

It was located on her right hip, so all that was required was a simple reach with her right arm to press the broadcast button on it, and then call for aid.

But as she tried to reach it, she found her arm to be unresponsive. It had sent a tremendous surge of agony, accompanied by a gasp and black dots dancing over her eyes-through her to even use it slightly, telling her that something was very wrong. But she realized why immediately.

She had covered herself with her right side when the bricks came crashing down. As a result, her right arm was disabled, and most likely broken. Whether it is permanently out of commission or not stands to be seen, but she definitely cannot use it right now.

She will just have to reach over with her left hand now. That is, if she is even capable to still do so, for there is a very real chance she cannot.

Hoping like she had never hoped before, she attempted to shift her left arm to test it.

Thankfully, as she twitched her fingers and flexed her muscles she found it to be fully functional. With that reassurance, she navigated it through the tight space around her and reached for the device.

However, black dots were increasing in her vision, threatening against any action. She hadn't much longer before the blood loss and stress consumed her conscious. She needed to get a message through now before it is too late.

Focusing her resolve, she grabbed her radio and pressed the transmit button.

A small beeping noise sounded out, and her partner's voice came through, relieving the desperate Sheriff.

"Caitlyn? Is that you? What's going on? What took you so long to pick up?" came her partner's somewhat annoyed questions.

"V-Vi...need help...Jinx trap...please come," Caitlyn weakly murmured, her voice starting to die along with her consciousness. She hoped that she had been loud enough to be picked up, otherwise all her efforts would all be in vain as she did not have the energy within her to speak again.

"Caitlyn?! A trap?! What happened? Where are you?!" Vi responded, now equally alarmed and distressed.

She did it. She got through. Weakly smiling, she lost hold of the device, dropping it into a crevice of debris.

"Never mind, I'll track your location. Just hold on, I'm coming to you Cupcake! Stay on the line, and I'll be there in a few minutes!" She heard Vi continue to speak.

However, the Sheriff could not reply, nor heed Vi's request, as her vision was already rapidly fading. She was content, however, smiling as she knew that she would be fine. She was more than confident that her partner would be able to save her in time.

But right as she went into the good night, she saw something and could swear it was some light cracking through the debris and violet eyes gazing down at her…

Welcome to Broken Gears Remastered, or simply Re:Broken Gears.

This is a remastered version of one of my best stories, Broken Gears. One that will hopefully hit every single point that I missed last time, and will fully flesh out the story. Unlike with the original Broken Gears, I now have experience in writing and with it, I seek to perfect this story so that I may look back on it and feel happy with what I created.

So as such, if you are a previous reader of mine, you will find that this story goes deeper into the plot, reveals much more of the setting, and showcases better, more emotional characters. Most importantly, I will do my best to make the characters unique from each other with actual personalities of their own. Basically speaking, the story will not only be retold but in essence, recreated.

As for those of you who are new, this is a adventure/redemption story, that focuses on a Caitlyn and Jinx romantic relationship. It will cover some more mature themes such as implications of rape, strong language, implications of sex, etc. so if you are uncomfortable with any of those themes, I would not advise you to go further with this story. I do not feel any of them are covered so heavily that a M+ rating would be necessary, but I feel a warning is still fair.

Anyways, if you happen to enjoy the story, please make sure to favorite/follow and leave a review.

Each and every sign of participation (especially in depth reviews, I love those) shows to me how much you guys care about the story and my writing and inspire me to write better and more often, so I would truly appreciate if you took the time to do so. Even if you are new to it, and have little more to say than "Great chapter", it stills means a lot to me, and I will take the time to read it just like the rest.

At any rate, with all that said, I would like to welcome you all to the story, and I hope you all enjoy it.

Oh, in addition, I will be trying for a weekly update with this story (to those who have followed my works in the past, it's a surprise, I know), and will attempt to get a chapter out every Tuesday/Wednesday. So stay tuned, and thanks as always to my beta reader, Lux Du Couteau for helping me with this.