An- Hello again! Finally finished this chapter. Vi and Cait have been on my mind quite a lot lately and I'm glad I could kind of theorycraft a bit of their earlier history. I hope you all enjoy fam, Your support has been nothing but amazing and I love writing for you all. Thank you for enjoying what I do.

Move/Halt

Her brain rattled with such an aggressive drone, causing her to rise to her feet arms swinging out to attack the ones responsible for the ringing in her skull.

A mute noise of surprised annoyance bubbled from her throat as she found her wrists manacled tightly together. "What in the f.." She half snarled in her dazed and confused state. She caught her balance as her left knee gave out, pain shooting up to her thigh making a throaty groan break out from her snarled lips. She put most of her weight into her right leg.

"Son of a mother fuc-" She gasped as she looked to the bleeding through a bandage wrapped around her upper calf and lower thigh.

Now she had in fact woken up in worse states before. Many times from drunken benders, over-exuberant party nights, lust-driven bed partners and one too many brawls that usually caused a coy fox-like smirk to cross her blood-stained lips, cigarette hanging from the corner of her mouth.

But never had she found herself chained, injured and heatedly pissed under the roof of one of the Piltover Police precincts.

Her temper rose like an agitated Demacian diamondback cobra; flaring and hissing, ready to strike at the unlucky perpetrator who forced her in this uncanny position.

Really in the back of her over steamed mind, she knew she only had herself to blame. She had been careless, stupid, an outright idiot. She tried to stay away from creating patterns, to be unobvious, but rather than planning like a smart criminal she trusted her gut and herself.

And the first rule of the streets was to never trust anyone, not even yourself.

However, in the state she was in, she would never admit that.

Hell her pride rose on the back of its hind legs and reared with ugly energy that made her metaphorical hackles rise, making that factual statement burn up into the incinerator of her mind.

Quick to instincts, her eyes darted around the small plaster cinder block wall enclosed cell. A small wooden bench laid suspended against the right-hand wall. The paint colour was an odd pine silver, obviously trying not to be white and obviously trying not to be joyful. It was just enough to be a pointless void bringing colour to let a mind wander effortlessly.

The wall in front of her was nothing but long iron wrought bars. They shadowed over her face as she awkwardly sauntered to them.

It was then that she noticed the officer standing guard across from her cell.

Vi's eyes burned bright violet as her chest heaved. Violence coursed through her veins calling to her like a desperate siren. Her knuckles clenched tightly into balled fists, making the manacles rattle with her shaking. She ignored the dizziness making her body feel faint and tired.

The officer regarded her coldly. His eyes focused on nothing in particular. He sighed greatly as he grabbed the walkie at his belt.

"She's awake." He breathed monotonously. It crackled back an inaudible response making the officer look up to the ceiling. "Of course. I'll have her marched over." He replied. He returned the radio to his belt. "Turn around and face the wall." He ordered sharply.

"Fucking make me, Pig." She growled. "You ain't takin' me anywhere."

The officer raised his eyebrow. "Turn around and face the wall, convict." He repeated calmly.

"Call me that one more fucking time."

"I will not tell you again, convict. Turn around and face the wall."

"You cocky fuck!" She chuckled. "You know what I do to people like you? Fucking unchain me and I dare you to make me 'turn around and face the wall'" She mocked with a malicious grin.

The officer gave a small sideways grin and shook his head. He jingled his keys in front of her face. "Don't make this harder on yourself then it has to be. You come with me and you could be out of here by the end of the night."

"Go fuck yourself."

The officer gave another great sigh. "Look, the boss just wants questions. You answer them, you can go. No strings attached."

"What about a lawyer?" She muttered. "What about my right to one, eh?"

"Can you afford one, convict?"

"Don't fucking call me that. As far as I know, I haven't been charged with shit!"

He ignored her. "Can you afford one?"

He watched the way she glowered at him. Annoyance is clear as day laying brightly in her violet eyes. She looked up to the ceiling cracking her knuckles with her thumb pressing into her fingers before she returned her agitated glare to the young officer.

"Nope." She spat.

"Well if you want one, you can wait about six months for a public rep to process your application and then another month before they take your case, thus meaning you forfeit yourself to our custody until you get a legal representative." He informed her. "Or you can come with me and be done in thirty minutes, tops."

Her jaw tightened. Her left leg felt numb and her right leg shook from holding her up for so long already.

Fuck how could she get so weak like this?

"Gods above." She snarled as she turned to the back wall and placed her dizzy head along the cool pine silver cinderblock.

"Thank you for your cooperation, citizen." The officer breathed as he unlocked the cell door.

Vi's knuckles clenched in annoyance. "I ain't one of you piltie fucks." She mumbled at the wall. Her vision slurred slightly but she shook it off, concentrating on the cool feeling of the wall to keep her conscious.

Fucking must have gotten a concussion.

She tries to bring herself back to what last happened to her, but the fuzzy feeling of betrayal and the scent of blood lingers in her memory, causing her to shiver.

She feels the officer's hand enclose around her shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked, concern lining his voice.

"I'm fine." She growled in response. "Just not used to letting a dude get handsy with me." she half chuckled to herself.

"Well if it counts for anything, I myself, am not quite used to being handsy with a woman either." Vi could hear the tinge of a slight smirk in his voice.

A new sense of camaraderie washed over her slightly. A one-of-us moment that made her like this pig a tiny bit more than absolutely hating him.

"Fair enough." She snorts.

"Right this way." He gently guides her out of the cell and through the holding area. They walk in silence accompanied by Vi's limping gait and the manacles clinking against each other. The bullpen was full of tension, paperwork and the smell of stale tobacco. It honestly made her feel queasy. Paperwork was easily the cause of the tension, and the stale tobacco obviously belonged to the middle-aged detective who clenched his pipe between his teeth as Vi locked eyes with him.

"Son of a bitch." Vi cussed sharply.

"They finally caught ya pinky? Told ya you were heading down the wrong path. It sure is quite the scene seeing you in cuffs. About time we brought in the right human trash." He beamed, throwing his manila folder on the top of his desk. He grinned widely and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fuck off, Hayward." She warned as they walked past.

"That's Lieutenant Hayward, pinky." He called out after her.

The officer guiding her through the station gripped her shoulder tighter and pushed her roughly as she tried to lunge toward the detective.

"Liking the veneers, Hayward. How was sucking off Gus for the cash to pay for that shit, lieutenant? Huh?! Last I heard you were fucking around the fight pits gambling tough cash from his bank loot after he took out the vaults! Is that how you got him to pay for my fucking handy work on your ugly fucking face? Hope you like FUCKING CORRUPTION CHARGES YOU OVERGROWN DICKWAD!" She bellowed.

"You little bitch!" He roared, slamming his hands on his desk as he got up, pointing a menacing digit toward Vi. Another detective moved quickly to put a hand on Hayward's chest to keep him from attacking the cuffed young woman.

"EAT TOE RUBBER YOU MOLDY FUCKER!"

The officer pushed her roughly as he blocked her view of the lieutenant. "Just keep moving. He just wants to egg you on."

"No fucking shit sherlock. Voids, you should be a lead detective. You solve things pretty fucking easily it seems." She spat.

"Simple observation." He muttered dryly.

"Fucking hell." She cussed angrily as they rounded the corner and made their way into a new hallway. "Really fucking hate that crusty asshole."

"Is it a surprise if I say that we all do?"

Vi gave a hard snort. "Not at all. Gods what a fucking piece of garbage. Can't believe you idiots have him around."

"He's from the old guard. Can't really do much until he retires; contracts and legal litigations are quite the handful."

"Fucking please," The pinkette snapped, her aggression smouldering under her skin. She brought up her cuffed hands to rub at her nose in annoyance. "Just sounds like you're scared of him."

The officer gives a grunt in agreement. "It annoys me just as much as it annoys you."

Violet eyes side-eyed the officer. "You're new here, aren't ya?"

"Now, who should be a lead detective?" He smirks.

"Simple observation."

The officer can't help the chuckle that bubbles out from his lips. The side smile he gets in return from her makes him shake his head as he coughs to hide the fact that he's been laughing. He licks his lips and gains control of himself before he knocks on a heavy oak door, that has been carved into. Gold lettering painted on the oak announces who owns the office.

"Sheriff, huh?" Vi asks with a great sigh, rolling her sore shoulders and making the bones crack.

"Yep."

"She in a good mood?"

The officer smirks as they watch the door, hearing heeled boots make their way across hardwood flooring.

"Never."

"Fuck."

The brass door handle turned and Vi pulled in a large breath.

Piltover's youngest Sheriff regarded Vi with a cool levelled icy stare. Her raven black hair was tied back into a tight ponytail, revealing most of her sharp facial features and the soft features around her cold eyes and button nose. A perfectly manicured eyebrow quirked as she regarded Vi's cocky raised chin.

"Thank you, Officer Turner, I can handle it from here."

The young officer gave a quick nod before he left the Sheriff and the brawler alone.

Caitlyn moved to the side of the door, gesturing for Vi to come in. With a defiant sniff, the pinkette moved forward, keeping her manacled hands up to her stomach as she limped forward. Behind her, she heard the heavy door close.

The office was...not what Vi was expecting.

The walls were a light steel gray that gave the room a fairly professional vibe to the room. An L shaped desk welcomed her with baskets of organized parchments and manila folders. Behind the desk was a tall leather office chair and behind that a solid brick wall. Two matching black leather chairs sat precariously before the desk.

"Please take a seat."

Vi turned her head to watch as the sheriff moved languidly past the brawler and toward a metal filing cabinet resting against one of the gray walls. The sheriff bent down to retrieve a file.

The pinkette rose an appreciative scarred eyebrow to the view of Caitlyn's behind, tilting her head slightly. The sheriff rose and Vi quickly returned her cocky glare toward the matching chairs. She plopped into the leather, waiting with a tight-lipped expression as the sheriff sat at her desk.

Caitlyn opened the file, thumbing through reports and long paragraphed descriptions. "You don't have a full name or a date of birth. Not a single arrest, but a massive list of criminal deviancy cases.A long history of gang affiliation. More warnings than I can count. "

"Well. you can never have too many warnings." The pinkette chuffed.

The sheriff tilted her head sideways, studying the young woman with perceptive eyes. "I quite like getting to the point when it comes to questioning suspects. However, you have pulled me through such a goose chase the last few weeks, that I have no idea which point I need to make."

"That mean I can leave?"

"Absolutely not."

"Well, then figure out which fucking point you wanna make, so I can get the fuck outta here." Vi stated flatly, keeping her violet eyes menacingly pinned to the sheriff.

Caitlyn returned the stare cooly, completely unblinking as she regarded the brute. "You were running away from me and someone else. I want to know who that someone else was."

The brawler leaned forward placing her arms on her thighs. "Why?"

Ice blue eyes took the challenge with widened pupils. "Because I believe that whoever else you are running from may have something to do with the assaults of my uncle and many other victims."

"Listen lady, I run from a lot of people. As you said 'a long history of gang affiliation'. I get in one fucking fist fight my number is up, people start talking and then guess who is hunted for like half the year?"

"Yes, but someone who gets targeted specifically almost instantly after an altercation?"

Vi shrugs.

"Tell me who it was that sent those two men at your apartment."

"Do you know the saying 'snitches get stitches'?"

"If you do not answer I will have to charge you for tampering with an official investigation."

The brawler shakes her head. "You're fucking ruthless."

"Thank you." The Sheriff grabs at a notebook a dips her quill in an inkpot. She looks to the pinkette with an emotionless expectation. "As I see it, you have a choice between your freedom or from helping me find the people that assaulted my uncle. Choose wisely, Vi."

The brawler glares at the Sheriff with an intense glower. "What's the mattress selection like for the prison here? They got some education programs happening right now?"

Caitlyn's eyebrow twitches.

A devious grin spreads through Vi's lips in Victory.

The sheriff's nostrils flare as she takes a deep settling breath. "Do you know that they attacked again?"

The grin falls off the brawler's face quickly. "Don't fucking do that. Don't lie to me to get answers. That's real fucking low."

Caitlyn's eyes flick up dangerously. She pushes over an article from the Piltover Gazette, catching Vi's attention to the white and black print.

Deramore Boat Warehouse Torched.

"My uncle was lucky enough to have escaped with minor burns. Everything in the factory was looted, all of his blueprints, pay statements, everything."

Vi takes a moment to let the information sink in. She brings her manacled hands up to her face, pulling at the skin as she lets out a deep breath. Anger grows in her chest, nearly boiling over. "Get these fucking things off of me." She never knew she could speak so evenly, this mad.

"No."

"Get the cuffs off. You won't have to worry about an investigation because I'll handle this."

"You'll handle this?"

"They wanna fucking toe the line, then let 'em. They want to cause some trouble, get my attention? Fine, but they best fucking believe I will break every gods damned bone in their bodies."

"This isn't the streets. Laws are set in place for these reasons so that I can make sure that proper justice is served. If you let me know who has been following you, I can see if they are related to the attacks on my uncle and his factory."

"With corrupt pigs under yer fucking belt?" Vi snorts. "Yeah good, fucking luck with that. As soon as you come up with a fucking plan, they're gonna know yer coming for them, goody two shoes." She shook her manacled hands. "Get these off of me and I will show you proper fucking justice."

"I agree that there is a corruption issue within my precincts. It is a situation that I am dealing with."

"You've had this job for, what, two years now? Great job dealing with it."

"Fourteen months actually."

"Voids." Vi shakes her head incredulously. "And you wanna take one of the most dangerous gangs to walk these alleys? You're going to get eaten alive."

"And you won't?"

"Fuck, no. I grew up with these sleaze dicks. I know how they think since I was one of 'em. You, on the other hand, yer just a fucking Piltie and I can bet you got yourself a fucking hedgefund, an estate, probably a nice car. Let me guess, your mommy and daddy haven't been intimate in a long time and it makes you so sad." Vi mocks.

"You shouldn't judge a book by its cover." There is a subtle warning in that statement.

"I don't need to judge the cover when I've heard the story enough times."

"Do you know how I got this job?"

"Daddy's networking?"

Caitlyn disregarded the brawler as she rose from her chair. She reached beneath her desk to grab at a watering can. She sauntered toward a small plant that sat atop the filing cabinet. "At thirteen, I was able to track and capture a bunch of brutes like yourself, that had mugged my father. I was scolded, obviously, but I found that I had a knack for fixing criminal tendencies. It wasn't until I was eighteen that I stopped my vigilante lifestyle and joined the police academy."

"Fucking yawn. I don't care about your lame ass origin story." Vi rolled her head back and lifted her manacles again. "Fucking spare me your sob story and get these bloody things off of me so that I can get on with me serving the biggest can of whoop-ass the lower ring has ever seen."

A tight sigh caught Vi's attention. "Do you know that I was the one in charge of the colossal bust?"

Vi's head snapped back to stare at the woman incredulously. "You did that?"

"Every moving piece, every order." She returned to her chair and pressed her hands together on her desk. "I had just been promoted to deputy sheriff when they gave me the assignment. Sheriff Brifdoon, before me, was an old man who was just at the edge of retirement and couldn't care less, so he gave me as much authority that I needed."

"You made the sirens back off to Zaun. You practically reopened a power struggle for Piltover."

"I've been using that bust as bait, to keep tabs of gang activity. Anything that so much as moves the wrong way in the underground, I know about it."

"But you didn't see the assaults coming did you?"

Caitlyn pinches the bridge of her nose. "I did not."

"So we come full circle." Vi begins. "Look, I'll even deliver the head guy to yeah. Just let me out of these and you will never have to worry about me or them again."

"You're trying to bribe your service?" A strange look crossed the sheriff. It was a mix of mirth, incredulity, and disbelief.

"We want the same thing. To give those fucking dicks a taste of their own medicine. I'll give you the head of the gang, if you let me free."

The sheriff opened her mouth and then on a second thought closed it. "I...you…" She then began to scribble in her notebook. Sharp lines were dug into the paper with ink, followed by flowing cursive. A few minutes passed making Vi give the sheriff a screwed expression.

"What are you doing?"

"Silence, I'm thinking." Caitlyn cut hotly. Another few moments passed before, finally, the sheriff sat up straight. "Alright, but I have terms and you need to agree to them for me to let you go."

Vi was taken aback. Did this actually work?

"One, once you are free, your sole purpose is to find and apprehend the leader. You have three weeks to do this. I'm giving you some leniency since you are injured. Two, you must keep to the law."

Vi snorted. "Fine. Easy."

"Three, I am going to supervise you and follow you throughout the process to ensure that you, keep to the law and don't leave the city."

"Abso-fucking-lutely not."

"Then we have no deal."

"You aren't gonna fucking boss me around if I'm doing this. We're equals." Vi argued hotly.

"Partners?"

They both stare at each other. Simultaneously they both answer that question in unison.

"No!"

"Equals?" Caitlyn takes a moment to mull over the thought. She then reaches into a drawer and rises from her desk holding a ring of keys. "Fine, I can agree to that. However, if you so much as show any inkling toward breaking any of these terms, I will arrest you on the spot." She makes her way to Vi, who holds up her wrists gratefully.

"Sure thing. Whatever, I'll keep on the line."

Her brow furrowed as she watched Caitlyn hesitate, holding the keys to her chest.

"As a sign of good faith, tell me who has been following you."

Vi sighed. "You really push to make sure you get what you want, don't you?"

"One could say I was a bit of a 'spoiled piltie'."

This would be a tipping point. She could sense it in her gut, in all honesty. Could she trust the Sheriff to let her deal with the situation, or would she turn the tables on Vi? She seemed like the honourable type to keep her word. Plus Piltie cops wouldn't be able to handle Zaun, so in reality, to even get her stupid tiny hands on Rolum, she would need Vi to get her there and out in one piece.

"Give me your word that you won't double cross me. Give me your word that you won't turn around and try your own assault once I give you the information."

"I'm not stupid. I'll give you my word, but I believe, you and I both know that for this to work out, we both need to rely on each other."

"Ugh, don't fucking slow me down. I ain't carrying any dead weight, that's all I ask."

"You are underestimating me, Vi."

"I have my reasons to underestimate anyone I meet. It's how I survived."

"I've given you my word. Now, give me names." She raised an eyebrow to Vi as she jingled the keys to the manacles.

"Rolum, he is the leader of the Cogs. An ex sumpsnipe back in the day." The brawler sighed.

Caitlyn made quick work to the manacles, the metal sliding off of Vi's bruised wrists.